Disagree
Is the lazy way out of restoring a bike. Personally I'm sick of them and the whole 'rat' mentality. But as long as they're doing it to houspainted bike, or bikes that were partially complete or rust buckets to start with, makes it a little easier to stomach. Part of Americas new direction-- lowest common denomiinator thug culture of what the media tells the gullible is 'cool'. The result? Armies of mindless followers opting for the same Bling status symbol of mediocrity. I will however say that I've seen some creative work in the rat realm, but the majority is the usual predictable vintage satin black frame with mixed make vintage parts and then the made in China bling 'add-on' ingredients to top it all off. Some people will go the extra yards to do something exceptional. Any one see Dawalts shaftie? Pretty remarkable. But that's a very small percentage of the rat custom scene... most are pretty >ick< ghetto!
I think it's lazy to look at a prefectly restored bike hanging on a wall. I ride my bikes. Really ride them, everyday - even in the Colorado winter. I spend several weeks riding and fine tuning the seat height, handlebar angles, etc to make a comfortable and fast ride. Each bike gets a total rebuild at LEAST 3 times a year out of necessity. I never remove or damage original paint, I only repaint bikes that have been previously house painted. I don't cut the bikes or chop them into barely ridable pieces of 'art' either, don't understand that mentality at all, but if you own it, do as you will.
Last summer my friends & I rode an unrestored '40 Schwinn DX in a cruiser relay race downtown and won the race by a lap and a half. We beat skinny kids on skinny tire bikes with shaved legs and drilled out hubs, we beat teams with 5 speeds on their bikes. We won not only the race, we won oldest bike and oldest team. We won because we ride our bikes, not by sitting on our 'lazy' asses and spending thousands on a bike that is too valuable to ride.
I truly appreciate the restorers out there, don't get me wrong, but to call 'rat' bike riders lazy is just ignorant. When is the last time you went on a 40 mile fat tire bike ride? We did last weekend and will do it again all summer long.
My bikes are loved and upgraded as needed, but all with vintage american parts. It's like the old motorcycle saying, 'it's not what you ride, it's that you ride' So, I'd suggest putting together a bike that you can ride, take a fall on, maybe get a scratch or two and go outside and put in some pedal time.