Nicely, trip is now only a reminiscence, and it’s nice to be again on the fringe of town in a panorama blighted by awful drivers in fraudulently-registered automobiles and strewn with discarded Citi Bikes:
It’s at all times a bit of bit onerous to return again to New York Metropolis. (Though the photograph above is definitely Yonkers.) When pressed about why we dwell right here, New Yorkers typically cite all of the “tradition” we don’t participate in after which in the end fall again on the eating places, which is the New York Metropolis model of Stockholm Syndrome. Plus, the eating places at the moment are simply making town even worse, since you possibly can’t get wherever with out having to dodge meals supply individuals on motorscooters.
“So which bike did you carry with you in your trip?,” you’re in all probability not questioning. Nicely, the terrain up there requires respectable tire clearance and wide-range gearing, and in years previous standout performers have included the Milwaukee, the Jones, and the A. Homer Hilsen. Nonetheless, this yr after a lot deliberation I made a wildly impetuous last-second resolution to carry a bicycle with none of these attributes. As an alternative, having famous its resemblance to the Starfleet insignia from Star Trek, I went with George Plimpton’s Y-Foil, a.ok.a. The Charity Trip Destroyer, virtually completely for a single photo-op:
That’s the Star Trek Unique Sequence Set Tour in Ticonderoga, NY–and sure, William Shatner will certainly be showing there in November:
I ought to level out that William Shatner is 93 years previous, so the truth that he’s nonetheless keen and capable of journey all the best way to Ticonderoga of all locations to entertain his followers is deeply spectacular. Whereas I’m not a Trekkie myself, even I’m tempted to return for the occasion, if solely to get the Y-Foil signed. Certain, George Plimpton’s Y-Foil could also be particular, however George Plimpton’s Y-Foil signed by Admiral James T. Kirk could be nothing in need of a priceless artifact.
However there’s additionally another excuse I introduced the Y-Foil. As a short-lived bike with a polarizing design the Y-Foil is one thing of a “cult bike,” in addition to a clean canvas upon which bike nerds of all stripes have projected numerous expressions of dorkiness:
However whereas I at all times considered it as simply an aero bike for individuals with Tridork tendencies…
…I lately realized it was designed to simply accept a suspension fork, and historic discussion board threads point out that it was actually particularly developed for Paris-Roubaix:
No. The final time Trek had a motorcycle disqualified for Paris Roubaix, it price them a fortune. The Y-Foil (Y66 & Y77) fashions had been designed from the get-go to be a Paris Roubaix bike, with a taller normal fork that you might substitute a Rockshox Ruby suspension fork for, with out altering the geometry.
So if the Y-Foil was truly meant to be a cobble-killer then I and plenty of others have had this bike utterly incorrect all these years. This I believed may very well be a enjoyable topic for a brand new Exterior column, and I’ve even bought a name arrange with a former Trek engineer who labored on the bike to study extra. Within the meantime although I figured I ought to see the way it handles Vermont gravel:
I’ll save the remainder for the Exterior column, which can in all probability be the primary time any mainstream way of life publication has talked about the Y-Foil since 1997, when it made the duvet of Bicycling’s Editors’ Alternative problem:
All I might discover was the duvet, however I wager they didn’t check it on gravel as a result of in 1997 driving bicycles on gravel hadn’t been invented but. Clearly although they had been so dazzled by the bike’s radical form and golden hue that they didn’t even discover it was within the small-small combo. I suppose it might be equally straightforward to not discover a shapely bikini mannequin has spinach in her enamel whereas taking pictures the Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit Subject.
Additionally like thongs, there has lengthy been prurient curiosity in bikes with out seat tubes. Take into account the curiously named “Flying Gate”…
…which evidently you possibly can nonetheless purchase:
Or how about an artisanal Y-Foil created from titanium?
And when you’ve given up on the concept of ever uncrossing your eyes once more there’s at all times the RoundTail™:
It’s going to liberate you from the tyranny of the triangle:
With standard diamond geometry, jarring vibrations are channeled on to the rider’s backbone. For any rider in any self-discipline, consolation issues, which is why bike corporations have spent thousands and thousands growing composites to ship a extra comfy journey. However they’ve been caught for many years, enslaved to the idea of a triangle.
Right here’s extra from the inventor:
Just like the Y-Foil, the RoundTail is designed to offer further consolation by introducing a bit of vertical flex within the rear–and in addition just like the Y-Foil it harkens again to a time earlier than it occurred to anyone that a better manner of doing that will be to design a motorcycle that allowed for barely bigger tires. Be aware how no one right here is on tires wider than 25mm, together with these riders of ample body:
Talking of large tires, I didn’t solely carry the Y-Foil with me:
I could also be loopy, however I’m not silly.
