21st Century Koan...

So this guy was arguing with one of his "mates" about whether the he should ride his Look 595 with SRAM Red (a bike that costs more than my first car...and my second...combined) daily. Or, should he not ride it as often to "save" it. Here is my answer:

So, in essence, you're asking me if you should ride a Look 595 as a commuter. Before I (re)found my bicycle, I was hopelessly addicted to flyfishing, poring over information like a Deadhead with the newest edition of High Times. I could not read enough or learn enough. I found an author I really enjoyed, named John Geirach, who wrote extensively about his relationship with his best "mate" A.K. Best.

The thing about flyfishing is that it's not dissimilar to cycling in the amount of time, effort and, yes, money one can drop into it. John one day asked A.K., in effect: "If you couldn't fish with the most finely crafted, tightly honed, perfectly made gear in the world, would you continue to fish?" A.K. said that he would not, then returned the question. John said if it were punishable by death, and all the rods were burned, and barbed wire were strung along the streams, he'd grab a pitchfork and some wire cutters and fish by moonlight. That's kind of where you and CS are.

To your question. Should you be riding a Look 595, fully swept with SRAM and all the requisite "bling" to make it a work of art on your around-the-town commute? Should you respect that work of art, recognizing that its very being should be preserved for the long-term, protecting it from the horrors that can befall it in the outside world?

Or, should you recognize that the function of a bike defines its purpose, and that if you fail to use it for its purpose, you relegate its very soul to a realm of less than what it is, in effect destroying its essence by neutering it?

Is that what you are asking? If so, then the answer is MU!