Ok. I’m not buying into the whole ‘horses for courses’ argument.. I say, have a bike? Ride it. Ride it anywhere. Ride it hard. I’ve seen fixed gear off road, BMX in XC races, Downhill bikes in enduros, XC bikes in downhill races, and touring bikes in timetrials. Each time, the pilot of the ‘unorthodox’ bicycle is having a dead-set hoot! But if we change tack slightly and talk bike riding from an asthetic point of view, seeing the correct tool for the job being used is often much ‘easier on the eye’.
My case in point is illustrated by the two following video’s. The first is the ‘Bootleg Sessions’. Watching freestyle fixed gear is like seeing a game of first grade rugby, it looks very impressive, that is, until you see the All Blacks play. Cue the second video. ‘Erik Elstran’, in comparsion to the first, is like pitting the All Blacks against the Glenorchy first grade side, the difference in playing abilities is immediately evident. Horses for courses? Nah, I’d just rather see Carlos Spencer play.
Bootleg Sessions v.3 — Full Trailer from Ride/Relax Productions on Vimeo.
Erik Elstran – April 2009 from North of Ten on Vimeo.
