Bike Writing

What is Kinobi?

Kinobi is both a Japanese word and concept, referring to beauty in form and function. It refers to something that exhibits beauty by elegantly fulfilling its needed functionality. Kinobi is a state where functionality becomes beauty.

I learned this from a Japanese company called Montbell that makes outdoor gear (and thus, quite indirectly, from GP). The above quote comes from a more random googlized source, but gives the same meaning, so we'll go with it.

Finally, we have one word to encompass the phrase "form follows function", which in itself is simply shorthand for a much larger feeling.

That feeling, as I see it, is the difference between looking good and getting the job done. Now, of course, some things can do both. But in terms of what we're talking about, this is form:

While this next image, is function...

See what I mean? They're certainly two different ways of looking at things. Someone who sees things as Kinobi might love the looks of the second (assuming it works- we don't know that since it's just a picture)... while someone who loves old jukeboxes might feel like that turntable is just cold and heartless.

It's also the difference between historic cultures. Rococo France in the late Baroque vs.1960s De Stijl/Van Der Rohe Minimalist Design. The latter is of course also associated with traditional Japanese ideas like futons and paper walls, but that goes far beyond one blog post.

But the upshoot of all this is still that IT HAS TO WORK. In cycling, we see this in the fixie movement right now. A person can get so involved in stripping away the superfluous that essentials are lost. Does a bike gain anything by foregoing a few ounces of bar tape, for instance? Or can this be its own kind of rococo? Ornateness in Kinobi clothing? If the bike doesn't work, then it isn't Kinobi, it's stupid. In Montbell's particular case, you can strip down a tent of things it clearly doesn't need, and end up with a lighter tent. But if it leaves you shivering all night, it isn't fulfilling its primary purpose, is it?

And if a bike makes you simply crash more (I'm thinking fixie without a front brake) it is not beautiful in its minimalism, it is stupid. Single speed mountain bikes walk this edge as well.

And I say this as one who rides and loves them: it's a matter of appropriate tools. If you are getting regularly injured or damaged physically by riding a rigid singlespeed, you're not gaining anything, you are being stupid. You either need to work on skill if that bike is what you want, or you need a different bike. It clearly is telling you that it is not working for you.

Speaking for myself, I've found myself to be just as fast (as if that is the objective truth of cycling anyway) with a rigid singlespeed as I was with a geared full-suspension bike. In fact, faster: because I'm not searching for gears or trying to adjust my compression or rebound or whatever to make the suspension work right. All you have is what you see so charge at that hill and if momentum's not enough then you get off. Simple. Kinobi, in my mind. And FOR ME, that makes riding more fun.

Someone else might not have a mind that is offended by the sight of all those cables and wires and controls. That someone might love their remote adjustable seatpost and automatically adjusting front and rear suspension. And feel that it works perfectly for them! Maybe they track all their rides with a GPS cyclocomputer, and download each one as soon as they get home. And that's great, because they are doing what feels right for them. They are following what makes their recreation feel fun to them. Perhaps they work during the day as a scientist, and this makes them feel like finally they're using technology for themselves, rather than their employers. Who knows?

But for me and others I know, Kinobi is where it's at. Sheesh. Feel like I should've stripped down this blog entry to Kinobi!