Properly, trip is now only a reminiscence, and it’s nice to be again on the fringe of the town in a panorama blighted by awful drivers in fraudulently-registered autos and strewn with discarded Citi Bikes:
It’s all the time a bit of bit onerous to come back again to New York Metropolis. (Although the photograph above is definitely Yonkers.) When pressed about why we stay right here, New Yorkers typically cite all of the “tradition” we don’t participate in after which finally 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 the town even worse, since you may’t get wherever with out having to dodge meals supply individuals on motorscooters.
“So which bike did you convey with you in your trip?,” you’re most likely not questioning. Properly, 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 12 months after a lot deliberation I made a wildly impetuous last-second resolution to convey a bicycle with none of these attributes. As a substitute, 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 Authentic 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 prepared 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. Positive, George Plimpton’s Y-Foil could also be particular, however George Plimpton’s Y-Foil signed by Admiral James T. Kirk can 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 all the time considered it as simply an aero bike for individuals with Tridork tendencies…
…I lately discovered it was designed to simply accept a suspension fork, and historical discussion board threads point out that it was in truth 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 may 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 lots of others have had this bike fully unsuitable all these years. This I assumed may very well be a enjoyable topic for a brand new Exterior column, and I’ve even received a name arrange with a former Trek engineer who labored on the bike to be taught 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 is able to most likely be the primary time any mainstream life-style 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 using 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 Concern.
Additionally like thongs, there has lengthy been prurient curiosity in bikes with out seat tubes. Contemplate the curiously named “Flying Gate”…
…which evidently you may nonetheless purchase:
Or how about an artisanal Y-Foil constituted of titanium?
And should you’ve given up on the concept of ever uncrossing your eyes once more there’s all the time the RoundTail™:
It can liberate you from the tyranny of the triangle:
With typical 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 hundreds of thousands growing composites to ship a extra snug experience. 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 likewise just like the Y-Foil it harkens again to a time earlier than it occurred to anyone that a better manner of doing that might be to design a motorcycle that allowed for barely bigger tires. Notice how no person right here is on tires wider than 25mm, together with these riders of ample body:
Talking of extensive tires, I didn’t solely convey the Y-Foil with me:
I could also be loopy, however I’m not silly.
