Am I Crazy to Use This Vintage Bike as Yard Art?

[Boris]

I guess that'd be alright.

 

[vincev]

You may be considered crazy regardless of the bike.

 

[AllisonB]

Thanks to all those who took time to respond. Y'all sound like a group of fun folks. I feel better knowing I'm not ruining something that should be preserved.

 

[GTs58]

That is a nice looking piece for yard art, and I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned keeping the bearings full of fresh grease and never let the tires go flat.

 

[JimRoy]

I have the rear dual baskets if you need them. Thanks, JimRoy

 

[cyclingday]

Yard art bikes are fun.

I say, as long as your still having fun, it’s all good.
PS. I’m just amazed at how well the chrome on the stem has held up on this one.
It’s slowly going, but it was the clear winner in the last to rust competition. Lol!

 

[bricycle]

Thanks for asking first!!!
Welcome to our Group!

 

[AndyA]

I'm conflicted. I wouldn't argue about aesthetics; after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Bikes are wonderful examples of industrial design and verge on sculpture. But, bikes are designed as a means of transportation and their form and beauty are based on that function. Decorative aspects of bikes make them cool, but are secondary to transportation. So, it seems to me that an abandoned bike that inadvertently becomes part of the landscape has a certain evocative beauty, similar to all those paintings that depict old boats on beaches. However, purposely placing a bike as landscape art seems a bit artificial, like the follies of 18th century England. A folly was a "fake" building constructed as a landscape decoration with little or no practical purpose. They included items like mock Roman ruins, Chinese temples, and Egyptian pyramids. So, I guess what troubles me a little is reducing a potentially ridable bike to a piece of decoration. In the end, it's "different strokes for different blokes."

A word about the all-white bike pictured above: So called " ghost bikes" are commonly used as roadside memorials at spots where a cyclist was severely injured or killed.

 

[Rivnut]

Apparently in NE Kansas, drivers and cyclist share the road better than in your neighborhood. I've never seen a "ghost " bike around here. Nor have I seen one in the other states I've driven in. (All 50 except AK, HI, NJ, and DE). That cheap import I bought would have gone to the junk yard otherwise. As has been said. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Ed

PS - please remind me where you live, I don't think I want to ride my bike there for fear of becoming someone's ghost.

 

[Freqman1]

I'm conflicted. I wouldn't argue about aesthetics; after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Bikes are wonderful examples of industrial design and verge on sculpture. But, bikes are designed as a means of transportation and their form and beauty are based on that function. Decorative aspects of bikes make them cool, but are secondary to transportation. So, it seems to me that an abandoned bike that inadvertently becomes part of the landscape has a certain evocative beauty, similar to all those paintings that depict old boats on beaches. However, purposely placing a bike as landscape art seems a bit artificial, like the follies of 18th century England. A folly was a "fake" building constructed as a landscape decoration with little or no practical purpose. They included items like mock Roman ruins, Chinese temples, and Egyptian pyramids. So, I guess what troubles me a little is reducing a potentially ridable bike to a piece of decoration. In the end, it's "different strokes for different blokes."

A word about the all-white bike pictured above: So called " ghost bikes" are commonly used as roadside memorials at spots where a cyclist was severely injured or killed.

Way overthinking this. Park it in the yard and plant flowers! V/r Shawn