Built to last
Mon, November 28, 2022 One of the highlights for me when watching the cycling Grand Tours like the Tour de France, and Vuelta a Espana, is not only viewing, the beautiful mountain scenery, but the architecture of the old buildings as the race makes its way through towns and villages.
Magnificent churches and cathedrals and castles built on mountain tops, that have stood for centuries, and many taking over a hundred years to construct. Built from blocks of stone hewn by hand into precise shapes and sizes, then carried up ladders or winched up by rope and pulley.
Whatever method used, it was without the aid of mechanical cranes, and was labor intensive. By the sheer size of these buildings, and the fact they remain standing after 10,000 years or more in some cases, shows that the construction, was precise without the use of sophisticated survey and measuring devices.
The point I am trying to make is that buildings all over Europe were constructed with brick or stone. They were built to last, and even simple stone cottages built for farm workers are still occupied today, some as old as 600 years, or more.
These were not built with the precision of the great churches and mansions built for the wealthy, it appears many were built with very little measuring at all. Some have walls, ceilings and floors out of square, doors and window frames the same.
It is the crudeness of the construction and lack of planning that adds to the beauty of these European towns and villages, as the buildings tend to blend with the natural landscape.
As I write here about “Crudeness of construction,” my thoughts are drawn towards the construction of houses in America today. Although designed by skilled architects and regulated and planned to an extent they all look the same. If I think about the actual construction of the modern home, its methods are extremely crude.
Wooden framing with chipboard nailed to the outside, followed by a thin plastic sheeting, and vinyl siding. Sheetrock on the inside with glass fiber insulation between. Plastic window frames and doors on all but the more expensive homes.
It seems to me that all construction and manufacturing today is carried out with no thought of a product lasting any length of time. In fact it appears that there is a deliberate planned obsolescence, thus ensuring future sales and continued consumerism.
In the meantime, the worlds populace is being fooled into thinking that if we just switch over to electric vehicles, all our problems will end. When the truth is, more and more items are being produced, made from plastic, and sold in plastic packaging.
Although consumer items are being produced cheaper, and they wear out faster, or more likely become obsolete in a very short time. Plastic is the one thing that lasts forever. One cannot burn it, and can only recycle so much, and how much can we continue to pile in landfills?
When I built hand brazed, lugged steel bicycle frames, I was simply following a standard procedure that had been set at the beginning of the last century. It was what my customers expected.
The technology was in place that I could have TIG or MIG welded frames, but that was not what my customers expected or wanted.
When the large corporations took over in the early in the early 1990s, they massed produced frames in fewer sizes, and then with their marketing clout, convinced the consumer that this is what they needed.
One can argue that since that time there have been many technological improvements made to the bicycle. However, the costs of buying and maintaining a bike has risen tremendously, and with each technological advance the old tech is obsolete.
The bicycle basically such a simple machine, how much technical advancement can they inflict upon it? Does a bike used just for the joy of riding, really need electronic shifting and hidden brake cables?
Reader Comments (11)
Technology seems, more and more, to want to remove the human being from the very essence of riding a bicycle, or driving a car, for that matter. I watched an advert for a car, can't remember the make, which drives itself! I enjoy the interaction between myself and machine and the more basic, the more enjoyment i seem to get. Maybe i'm just old fashioned LOL.
Agreed sjr. Consumerism in general is out of control. Perhaps a way to explainiw unemployment with issues finding workers is tbat wd have over overbuilt tbe onsumer outlets. How many KFC'S and Walmarts do we realy need?
My home was built in 1933. Building codes in Georgia must have been very difficult than today or even nonexistent.
The house has no footings at all. Best I can tell the brick foundation was laid directly on the the ground. In some places the brick starts 7 feet below grade and in others just a few inches below grade.
That was a cause for some concern 10 years ago before we bought the place. Considering that it stood for 80 years at that point with no shifting or movement gave me some assistance that the house is well built.
As old houses go it constantly needs something fixed but is aging gracefully hopefully like many of us! Happy holidays!
Hi George, have worked on older homes in Georgia and Alabama , the materials were better, heart pine framing, real wood floors, today’s housing is built with spruce studs, fake flooring, soft finger joined soft wood. Most of my work now is repairing newer homes not the older ones. No matter how munch the new house cost, 200,000 or more it all comes from Lowe’s or Home Depot
Can't disagree with many of your observations, but context is important. We seem to ignore survivor bias. European urban development predates much of North America by a thousand years or more. Hunter-gatherer societies did not build cities.
The buildings we see and say "They don't build them like they used to" are the survivors. We have no way of knowing if the first 999 stone houses fell down and the only one we see 300 years later is the 1000th. People say this about 100-yr-old old wooden houses in Maine - the reasons they have survived vary, but not burning down is a good start. Another is to be drafty, because drafty houses don't rot.
I have owned old house and new houses. There were plenty of horrible old houses - most of course long gone. New houses can only be so bad since most places have some sort of building regulations. I wonder why that is? Because so many old houses were so bad people died, that's why.
Wooden windows are not better than PVC. I'm tired of men just slightly grumpier and older than me telling me that :-) New homes are much more energy efficient (especially in colder climates). The windows don't warp, are warm and seal well. That's why most of Europe uses them - because the new stuff is often better
You think a house in Georgia without a footing is an issue?How about an entire London street of what were once fancy houses, but are now all apartments, five stories tall - without footings? I have a builder friend in London and the stories he tells would scare you
BITD, people worked with what they had. You had rocks - you used rocks. You had trees - you used trees. Peat/peat. Sod/sod. How about thse classy 600-yr-old sod houses? They were the best.
I expect more and more consumer bikes will be plastic. I have nothing against plastic myself. In fact, having traveled a fair bit, I have seen how plastic saves and changes lives. Try carrying water a mile from the river in a clay pot. We couldn't live today without plastic. But that doesn't mean we have to put up with the pollution. We should make manufacturers pay the recycling up front - built into the price of the plastic. And in our rich societies, all products should carry an environmental tax based on how easy or difficult they are to reuse, recycle or dispose of.
Let's talk about eBikes! :-)
Fun fact - you have to use a reusable cotton bag 160 times before it has a lower environmental impact than a "single-use" plastic bag. If you use that single-use bag again as a trash bag, then the cotton bag goes up to 320 uses to break even
This article relating to old/new construction popped up today. The link should be free to view
IN A LAND OF COLD, THE ARCHITECTURE IS TESTED BY HEAT
https://wapo.st/3GYYOcc
This is why I have purchased Japanese denim. The Japanese were introduced to Levis by GI's after WWII. Indigo dying was already an art. They essentially cooied 501s but have taken the denim to new levels. They also purchased all of the old shuttle looms. The bottom line: much, much higher quality.
Also a much, much higher price but actually cheaper per wear when all is said and done.
I could make a similar comment about heritage boots. Or pocket knives. Quality is out there but you have to seek it out.
Cary, Nitto of Japan makes the best Italian bike parts.
Based on the old joke, what is the best British roadster ?
A Mazda Miata.
The Good old days, ended with introduction of electricity
or was it Fire?
Funny you should mention the Miata - BITD, I had an MG Midget - oh, what a feat of engineering it was :-) I learned an awful lot about car repairs with that one
And today? I have a nice MX-5 Miata (six-speed, of course). Change the oil every now and then and you're done. New is better
New is not always better. I just finished performing some minor maintenance on my 1970ish Raleigh Sports. It consisted of a quick wheel true, adding some oil to the hub, and cleaning the chain. The bike is no longer a daily rider, however since 1982 it has seen over 50,000 miles of commuting in all types of weather, it isn't pretty, but I suspect it will still be rolling along just fine in another 50 years. A buddy of mine just shelled out for another plastic wonder bike after he broke the frame on his current one, this is the 3rd one in less than 5 years. Plastics have their place, however, they don't break down and go back to the original state from which they came, unlike cotton, wood, etc. They are notoriously difficult to recycle properly and just end up buried somewhere until the end of time.
The cycling industry is fast running out of gimmicky ideas which have little to no benefit for the rider. ABS brakes? Wireless groupsets? 12 speed cassettes? Aero gains only useful to pro riders?
If an electronic shifting component fails, what can a local bike shop do? Nothing, it's straight to e-waste.
The industry needs to reset and refocus on sustainability - move away from carbon as the default material and push to more sustainable and re-usable ones (yes, steel). Collaboration on standards and backwards compatibility with components to allow older bikes to be upgraded and have a longer lifespan.
eBikes present the industry with a challenge. As with electric cars, the good they can do for the world is profound but electronics are inherent to them and will ultimately fail and batteries need replacing.