Sometimes the latest and greatest can blind you to the basics. High technology, cutting edge fashion, and the allure of newness can all be intoxicating. Luckily for wheel lovers and builders, the fundamentals are never far away. I spend days working on futuristic carbon fiber wheels but got an inspiring reminder about wheel elegance and beauty last week.

Svante Rödegård, from the Bay Area, sent me wheels from his father’s Monark bicycle that he’s restoring. This was his dad’s daily driver, Swedish made in 1950, no nonsense, utilitarian, and 100% simplicity.

Monark ca 1950