nah that’s just a dick…
God, I’d rather be known as an uber-Fred than be beholden to such a long list of rules. I agree with just about all of them regarding actual riding, but the more fashion-oriented ones? No frame-mounted pumps or saddle bags? (I’d rather be uncool than have to take all that shit in and out of my sweaty jersey every ride.) Shave my legs? The straps of my sunglasses should go on the outside of my helmet straps?
Fred is ok.
Fred is just having fun.
God, I’d rather be known as an uber-Fred than be beholden to such a long list of rules. I agree with just about all of them regarding actual riding, but the more fashion-oriented ones? No frame-mounted pumps or saddle bags? (I’d rather be uncool than have to take all that shit in and out of my sweaty jersey every ride.) Shave my legs? The straps of my sunglasses should go on the outside of my helmet straps?[/quote]
It’s a deliberate extension of the sort of stuff discussed ad infinitum on roadie forums. Tongue in cheek but at the same time pretty close to the truth.
Good job, Miles. That’s not something I would do to my bike personally, but then again I never leave it out of my site and it’s parked on my property when not in use. Actually my hybrid, after 16 years of use, kinda looks old and beat up anyway, but I keep it very well maintained mechanically. I guess that’s the trick really - looks like crap, but rides like a dream.
[quote=“trubadour”]OP is now FAMOUS
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.tw/2012/08/pod-people-infiltrating-world-of-cars.html[/quote]
This may generate a spike in hits.
Spike in hits arrived. This YT clip averaged around 4 hits per day up to 31 July. On Aug 1 it had 1671 hits; Aug 2: 670; Aug 3: 527. All downhill from here, I suppose.
When I first read this post title, I thought it would be about uglification as a punishment for theft, which I would support, by the way…
OP,
I laughed pretty hard watching your video. Now that you messed with the chrome, wouldn’t your bike get real rust and not usable pretty soon? How about the rain? Will it wash away your chocolate?
Some people pay extra money to have things like guitars and jeans look beat up…perhaps this could catch on 
[quote=“fh2000”]OP,
I laughed pretty hard watching your video. Now that you messed with the chrome, wouldn’t your bike get real rust and not usable pretty soon? How about the rain? Will it wash away your chocolate?[/quote]
Glad you enjoyed the video. The bike frame and major parts are aluminum, mudguards are plastic. What looked like chrome was polished aluminum (handle bars, stem extender, cranks). So I don’t expect rust to be too much of a problem. Parts of the kickstand, rattrap carrier, and basket are steel, and subject to rust. But so far, no problem. For steel parts, I use a phosphoric acid based rust killer, then coat with anti rust paint. This bike spends nights under cover, but most days outside.
I made a chainguard for this bike out of an old cookie tin, and that is THIN steel. It will be hard to tell if and when the real rust begins. If it starts getting holes in new places, that will be a pretty good clue.
The chocolate mostly stays put because I dusted it on, then hit it lightly with clear lacquer. Some of it washes away, but enough stays on to look rusty.
The environment here is hard on machines. My feeling is that Taipei air is both corrosive and abrasive. I am guessing that it is a combo of acid rain and some kinda mineral fines in the air. Are we close enough to the ocean that there is salt in the air? I used to live in Florida near the beach. That took a toll too.
I hope you don’t live in Beitou, it’s notorious as the sulphur in the air along with the damp speeds up corrosion.
Next time I’m in the mood to steal a high-performance bike, I’ll check if it smells like chocolate.