the art of gear

Thu, Jan 8, 2009

So after my recent hub rebuilding with The Monster I cycled to work yesterday, only to have the freehub pack in about 2 miles from the finish. It happened years ago on another bike I had. That feeling of spinning wildly but going nowhere, slowing down to a teeter on clip-ins and finally jumping off with an air of finality. When the freehub, or freewheel on older bikes, goes, it’s terminal and it’s time to start pushing. It was still quite dark and the walk to work was very pleasant as the road was quiet and deserted and my mind wandered to thinking what wheel I could get to replace the old one. The bearing races are pitted and worn and the freehub body is a cheapo that doesn’t come off, so can’t be replaced, so I need a new wheel, which I ordered last night. Mavic Aksium, black, M10 Shimano hub, bladed spokes and sealed cartridge bearings, plus a free Cateye light set thrown in! Only bummer was the 20 quid postage from Cheshire but the wheel was heavily discounted and the M10 version is hard to find now as apparently it’s been discontinued. The alternative of a Campagniolo hub would have meant new shifters too, so not an option.

I do seem to get quite excited about bike gear, whereas walking gear is just a means to an end, as Darren has just reminded us, the pleasure new bike gear gives seems to be vastly greater in comparison. Maybe it’s the shinyness. I used to love buying new climbing gear. Nuts, hexes, friends, quickdraws. Those shiny silver, beautifully shaped krabs. For ice climbing, the technicality of a deadman would keep me occupied for hours while a warthog was a work of art. Bike hubs and cassettes could be used as ornaments in their own right, while some of the titanium crank arms and chainrings are superbly crafted art pieces.

Compare all that to green walking gear. You do see people out in the hills in red tents and dayglo jackets but they’re surrounded by a natural vacuum, devoid of wildlife, which has seen them coming from miles away. Rather, I prefer drab colours, green and black and brown and the quieter the better. It’s quite difficult to get excited about a green jacket but it is nice to put on a brand new one in the face of an approaching storm. But as Darren said, walking gear is a means to an end, whereas cycling or climbing gear can actually be an end in itself. Designing the right setup for your bike takes a lot of gear research and maintenance, while placing ice climbing protection calls for matching the right tool to the right situation.

Gear as an art form can definitely be applied to climbing gear, in contrast to the solely functional form of walking gear. Next time you’re at the Clachaig Inn, take a look at the door handles. They’re old ice axes! How many people use krabs for keyrings? You’d never use an old boot for a keyfob! You don’t see a huddle of people at the bar crowded round an old goretex jacket but I’ve got a very very old ice hammer that is truly a work of art that sparks off conversation whenever it comes out of the cupboard.

At the end of the day though, the gear we buy should take a back seat once we’ve got the research out of the way, allowing us to engage with the natural world slightly more comfy than before. And it’s the natural world that keeps us mentally active as well as nourishes our spirits, as this article describes.