Evolution! or... It Seemed Finished at the Time.

So I'm looking at the Volare the other day, thinking: Alright, yeah. That sucker is finally finished.*

...And I got a serious sense of deja vu. As if maybe I'd thought that somewhere, sometime before. Like when I set it up single speed and absolutely fell in love with the frame and the ride:


...or when I missed the top-end speed and added some Cyclone derailleurs. Long cage and wide gears for all-purpose goodness:


...or when I was sure that setup demanded barcons. At which point some Superbe non-aero brake levers were an obvious choice as well:


...and when I realized that no, actually I hated the barcons so I found some NOS Cyclone levers. Yep. Thought it was finished then, too:


...and here I am now, thinking for sure this is it. Done. Racier, with narrower gearing and short-cage RD. Superbe shift levers back on there. Red tape solved the aesthetic issues created by the skinwall tires. And it's all over but the ridin', so to speak:


...and the punchline is I actually left out a few in-between, transition versions of this monster. When I think about it I realize two or three other bikes have undergone this process as well, where it's less a "build" than a trial-and-error evolution toward that just-right balance of whatever the hell it is I'm looking for at the time. In this case it's been about a half-dozen iterations in 15 months. End result? Pretty freakin' sweet.

But man. Who else takes this route with their bikes? Let's see some evolution!


*Finished, in this case, does not include an upcoming wheel rebuild on new rims. The word has become borderline meaningless anyway.