FALLING IN LOVE

When I began creating my own bicycles, I hadn’t owned a car in close to 16 years.

Budnitz Bicycles Model No.3 grew out of the desire for a single, simple, perfect bicycle that I could ride every day of my life — whether crossing town for work, an adventure down a dirt path in the Vermont countryside, or just a bike that looked awesome rolling up to an art opening or performance I’d been invited to in New York City.

Yeah, I know — admitting that I want my bicycles to look good sounds superficial.

But after all, people drive cars and motorcycles simply because they’re beautiful. I’ve been a lifetime fan of vintage Porsches and Alfa-Romeos. Why can’t a bicycle look that good?

Reality is that when something we own looks beautiful, and is very well made, we fall in love with it. It becomes part of us.

There is a lot of hype among Buddhists and other spiritual types about not identifying with things (I’ve spent a lot of time with Buddhists and I know what I’m talking about). Many have convinced themselves that detachment is a step towards living an awakened life.

But I’ve come to believe that this is bullshit.

Identifying with something (or someone) is a necessary first step towards falling in love. Letting ourselves become attached leads to dependency, and dependency to heartbreak when the thing we love leaves us, or isn’t what we thought it was, or inevitably changes. Many people seeking enlightenment are really just trying to avoid experiencing feelings like sadness and loss that are a necessary part of being human.

Heartbreak is the privilege of love.

Back to bicycles:

My goal has always been to build bicycles worth falling in love with.

The majority of our bicycles are titanium — a material that is ultra-light, strong, and will never rust. Budnitz Bicycles are engineered to last a lifetime. True sustainability is owning just one very good thing, and using it over and over, rather than a garage filled with old bikes covered with dust.

Live this way and one day you will wake up and discover that you’ve become dependent on the things that you own and the people that you love. And then you are forced to face the heartbreak of losing them someday.

All things are like this.

Hold on too tight, and everything worthwhile slips through your fingers. Don’t hold on at all, and you miss living altogether.

– Paul Budnitz
Founder,
Budnitz Bicycles