Making Do is Where It's At

I have been gently teased for my inclination to rely on jury-rigged solutions and creations when it comes to bicycles (see, e.g., the adapter to avoid pedal strike when using 26" wheels in a frame made for 27" wheels, the second seat I built so my son could ride on the rack of my Raleigh Twenty, or the post-in-post extra-long seatpost I made for that same bike). Just last night, I solved a vexatious squeaky-brake problem on the old Xootr by entirely replacing the front wheel (I had already replaced the brake pads, readjusted the brake pads, and cleaned the rims, so I was out of ther options). And this morning, in anticipation of possibly riding to Middletown on the Raleigh with a trailer in tow (more on that later), I stole some pedals from one old, not-in-use bike to replace the questionable, mismatched pedals on the Twenty. So what I'm saying is, I don't think bikes need to look pretty or have matching parts or any of that. They need to go, because that's what's bikes are about - movement. But my scrappy, home-brew, spare-part-using aesthetic just had its battleship totally sunk by the owner of this bike, which I saw near Blueback Square a couple days ago: