This week I go streamlined on a single-speed bike
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quite possibly the prettiest thing a girl can have between her legs
You might’ve noticed everyone’s into “simplifying”. It’s very recessional chic right now. People from all walks are chucking stuff out and packing up what’s left to go live in Bali. Or on a goat farm. Luxury car manufacturers and banks are flogging simplicity in their advertising slogans and a new self-help genre has spawned showing us how to consolidate our remote controls and live without a waffle-maker.
Admittedly, I’ve previously ridden this altruistic bandwagon myself, decluttering my books and hosing out my email inbox. But I’m now wondering if “streamlining” isn’t a better way to go. “Simplifying” tends to have a certain The Good Life vibe to it, don’t you think – a bit grubby, earnest and requiring a fulltime commitment to composting. When, let’s face it, most of us could relate to Penelope Keith when she’d look over the fence in despair at her neighbours’ muddy mess.
Simplifying is about reversing our erroneous ways, uprooting our lives and ridding ourselves of things. Which is kind of sad and harsh and really hard to achieve. Streamlining, however, is gentle. It’s about shaving off excess, and perhaps steering the boat a little to the left, for a more flow-y ride. It’s a smooth, glide-y ethos for life, and an elegant aesthetic. No gumboots required. Yes, streamlining makes life better. Of that I’m sure.
This thinking started a month ago when I looked over at my dual-suspension, knobbly-tyred mountain bike in the hall and thought, what a cluttery, clumpy contraption you are! Throughout my journey in this column I’ve been told by life-bettering experts you should only surround yourself with possessions that reflect who you are and where you want to go (which, in a previous column, saw me finally toss the dried roses from an ex that’d been collecting dust for three years). “Lumpen, knobbly and with aggressive bar-ends” was not who I wanted to be any longer. Nor something I wanted between my legs! The bike had to go and I sold it on ebay the following week.
I then went about replacing it with a 9kg single-speed bike (yes, no gears!) that darts and swoops like a cormorant. It’s orange with white wheels because it makes me happy that it is. And made from antique parts, assembled with a friend who poured love into every ballbearing adjustment. Check her out, above.
My friend Reuben helped me build her and is available to build one for you, too. He builds with love and fantacisism from parts he finds from around the world. My frame, for instance, is from Paris. The white leather seat he found on ebay. He really is very clever. Email him: reuben@viceaustralia.com.
And how’s it feel to ride? Totally streamlined. Single-speed bikes are huge in New York and London and taking off here. Along with fixies (fixed-gear bikes with no brakes) they’re about shaving off all but the necessary componentry for the most lightweight, agile ride possible. So to get up a hill you have to rely on your own raw strength. No gears; no trappings. There’s something very honest and unadulterated about it. “Or Calvinistic,” said my friend Matt P. when I explained the fad’s austere appeal.
just a cute pic of japanese girls with their single-speed steeds courtesy of http://fixedgearbikes.blogspot.com
Or, as a skinny tie-wearing kid hollered to me at the traffic lights the other week, “It’s not a bike style, it’s a life style”. Totally streamlined, I shouted back like I was 22.
So, anyway, since then I’ve been wondering how I can streamline the rest of my life.
A wellness blogger I follow wrote recently she works to a streamlined mantra, “I always travel carry on”, by which I take to mean she streamlines the stuff she packs on trips so she can move with more ease through airports (and beyond). I like this. What’s my streamlined way-of-living mantra? “I run with a single key” is one I work to. Each morning I go jogging, I pull on the one running outfit (which I keep in the one spot in my room) and take only my front door key, shoved down my bra. I’m out of the house in five, no stalling for water bottles, phones, lip gloss or loose change. Clean, quick, out the door and into it.
“I shop without trying on” is another. I buy the same brand of knickers, jeans and sneakers year in, year out to avoid having to try them on. In, purchase, out. No change room lighting to drag my spirit down. Then there’s “I read without toggling”. I now do all my overseas news reading via twitter. Most papers post their best material with a link on the social media site: my reading all in the one spot, slick and fuss-free. Or perhaps my mantra is (simply), “I ride unadulterated”.
I love those bikes. I think I’d stick with ones with brakes though!
I’m be interested in your blogroll! who are some recommended wellness bloggers?
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A beautiful bike & I like that the bits and pieces come with a story…..not convinced about the no gears especially when it comes to steep hills and long rides though! Enjoy.
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hey Sarah I only learnt how to ride a bike last year (at the ripe old age of 25) and I must admit, the newfangled streamline ones do leave my mind feeling zen and uncluttered. If only I had the gluts to pull off using no gears!
By the way, they chopped off the last sentence in Sunday Life! So then I came here to read the rest. I do like the lovely new picture you have headlining your column- zen white top and pants; ohmmmmm. It’s a pleasure reading your column every Sunday xx
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February 7th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
I love that you’ve just learned! What an amazing experience…I still remember learning when I was about 4….the feeling of my Grandad running along behind me and then letting go of the seat. And being determined not to fall.
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Pretentious much?
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[...] In Which a Girl Falls in Love with a Single Speed Bike by Sarah Wilson Just as it says, Sarah falls in love with her new bike [...]
How is discarding a perfectly functional bike and spending excessive amounts on an inferior product considered “simplifying”?
Fixed gear bikes are a massive con, served up for the sort of salivating morons who do backflips everytime Steve Jobs holds a press conference.
Don’t confuse a penchant for overpriced (though albeit well marketed) consumer goods for a “dedication to simplifying one’s life”.
Also Sarah i would be interested to know how long you and Rueben have been “friends”… perhaps you should let everyone know how much these bikes cost to those of us who aren’t flogging them to blog-readers.
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February 9th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Hey Geoff, thanks for your thoughts…I thought I’d provide a few extra details because you seem rather upset. I can no longer do off-road riding due to illness. Due to the same illness, riding a big clunky bike around town was also proving too strenuous and a waste of my energy. So it sat there, unridden. Which pained me. I agree – discarding on a whim is wrong. But – and I”m not really defending myself, but painting a picture – every consumerist decision I make is very considered. I advocate this. In this case a one-speed bike was a mindful purchase and the lightness and agility fitted my brief. Reuben is a friend’s partner in Melbourne. He built the bike from second-hand parts. I have no idea what you’re implying by the “inverted commas”.
Also, I don’t think advocating a love of a bike is going to do harm. Surely the opposite?
Hope that helps.
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I would have thought the implication of the “inverted commas” would have been clear from the second part of that paragraph.
How much did you pay, and how much does Reuben normally charge?
You are just part of the machine Sarah.
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September 11th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
geoff, why are you being such a jerk? If you dont want to buy a single speed bike, don’t… If you do, buy one. If Sarah finds happiness from riding a bike put together from various parts by a friend then good for her… Sarah gave out info on Rueben so you can contacty him about prices yourself, and the amount of money she spends is none of your business.
As a side note, writing inverted commas in inverted commas negates the meaning of inverted commas. FYI
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Geoff said…
How is discarding a perfectly functional bike and spending excessive amounts on an inferior product considered “simplifying”?
Geoff, Sarah did not “discard” the mountain bike, she sold it. And replaced it with something that was more suited to her lifestyle. That is the definition of streamlining (which Sarah is advocating as opposed to simplifying… did you even read the article?).
Sarah, I am constantly trying to streamline my life and I love the idea of only surrounding myself with possessions that reflect who I am and where I want to go. My problem is that who I am and where I want to go changes every week. Hopefully, as I get older and wiser, I will get better at it.
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[...] came across this description of Streamlining from Sarah Wilson’s Sunday Life magazine post, and simply adore it. “Streamlining, however, is gentle. It’s about shaving off excess, and [...]
Sarah, I really liked your post on streamlining. I’m about to finish up in a job I’ve held for the past 11 years, as the result of a restructure. I’ve actually been working in the same industry since leaving uni. I do not have a particularly high regard for the way that the industry works now. Large corporate firms turn fantastic, smart, graduates into high billing lifeless husks. I’ve decided to set up a consultancy and do the work from home, for the client’s I like to work with, at a much lower cost.
I’d been contemplating the things I need to do to get this under way when I read your post, which helped to clarify what I wanted to achieve in my new venture. I don’t want to throw it all away, I want to continue to provide great service to my clients without all of the corporate excess. I will also have time to work on myself a bit, pursue an interest in digital photography, visit family in Adelaide a bit more often. Who knows, I might even buy a bike…..
Love your work.
Peter
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February 16th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Peter – that’s bloody inspiring. Big move. You should read Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Work Week …
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Hey Sarah, I have just discovered your blog and I think it’s really great. Thanks for explaining your simplifying mantra, and your choice to swap your mountain bike for a single speed, so well. I’m a keen mountain biker, it’s a shame you can no longer do it but big ups for replacing it with something else you enjoy!
Also I really appreciate a point that is expressively, eloquently and politely made – it’s a shame that some people fall back on the use of things like “inverted commas” as a substitute for engaging discussion.
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February 16th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Yes, the inverted commas thing is a lazy device!
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Love the Blog… Geoff sounds a little “grumpy”
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Thanks for the kind words Sarah. I shift between excitement about my plans and a sense of being overwhelmed by it all. Sometimes I go from one extreme to the other over a cup of coffee (…think I need to cut down!). Tim’s book has been sitting in my book case unread for a few months. Hopefully I’ll get time to read it now.
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Peter, 4 Hour Work Week is fantastic, particularly for somebody starting a small business, like yourself. I loved it, if only for his sole piece of advice for me (a uni student) – do your assignments at the last minute. Any excuse to procrastinate!
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Hi Sarah.
I love your blogs! I usually check in every day or so to read about your latest discoveries and insights.
I don’t understand why other people need to post angry comments on your site. I didn’t realise how upsetting single speed bikes could be to some people!
If you don’t like what Sarah has to say go read another blog (there’s plenty out there) and leave your sour comments there.
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Sarah, your enthusiasm is positively contagious. Keep it up. I love your simplifying approach.
I have always had cheap heavy geared mountain bikes, most recently, a $50 job, bought off the side of the road, and it did the job just fine i thought. But the thing is, I didn’t really get a sense of joy riding it. I think hunching over the handle bars and having an uncomfortable back position probably had something to do with it. I dont think my bottom appreciated being the principal shock absorber.
I recently upgraded to a single speed upright vintage inspired new bright sunshine yellow bike with cushioned wide leather seat, higher handlebars, and it has absolutely inspired me in a completely different way. The best way I can describe the feeling is as is I am riding a comfortable lounge chair through the landscape, surrounded by mountains, birds, clouds, people.
The single speed indeed has been a revelation. It has very much improved my endurance and muscle tone (legs, buttock, abdominals, arms etc), and there is no way out when you reach a hill, pump those legs, stand up, work hard at the right times, put the puffing effort in, and I’ve found it such a natural way to ride. Like walking up a hill, it’s harder, but it’s natural, and worth it. Your body has to do the work, and it readily adapts to the challenge.
But the best feeling is the freedom, the natural flowing feeling of effort and then cruising, it makes it interesting, you feel a great achievement My happy yellow bike seems to attract so many positive comments from passers-by. So if anyone sees a happy girl cycling along the Captain Cook Highway to Palm Cove, that’s me!
To be honest, the relaxed freedom, the slowness of appreciating the details of the landscape sailing by, the birds that flurry upon your path, the youthful fun escape of hopping on the bike for an explore (with a rewarding meal or ice tea at the journey’s end) is the most exciting revelation of this newfound biking. I’m sure the utter class and comfort of the single speed upright has been most responsible for this.
We work, we earn money, we can spend money so frivolously, and what do we have to show for it. I can honestly say that my bike is the best $500 i have spent in a LONG time. I love it.
Katherine
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[...] (I’ve taken to barefoot running), yoga, ocean swimming and home weights. I also ride a singlespeed bike. My thing is this: I set out to move every day for 20 minutes minimum. It’s the “every [...]
[...] “Simplifying is about reversing our erroneous ways, uprooting our lives and ridding ourselves of things. Which is kind of sad and harsh and really hard to achieve. Streamlining, however, is gentle. It’s about shaving off excess, and perhaps steering the boat a little to the left, for a more flow-y ride. It’s a smooth, glide-y ethos for life, and an elegant aesthetic. No gumboots required. Yes, streamlining makes life better. Of that I’m sure.” [...]
[...] “Simplifying is about reversing our erroneous ways, uprooting our lives and ridding ourselves of things. Which is kind of sad and harsh and really hard to achieve. Streamlining, however, is gentle. It’s about shaving off excess, and perhaps steering the boat a little to the left, for a more flow-y ride. It’s a smooth, glide-y ethos for life, and an elegant aesthetic. No gumboots required. Yes, streamlining makes life better. Of that I’m sure.” [...]