Anyone into bicycles????

barcbsa

barcbsa

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Nov 16, 2000
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Here are my two bikes. Got the Litespeed Ocoee mountain bike about 3 or 4 years ago. Picked up the Litespeed Appalachian touring/cyclo-cross bike just this week. To me, nothing beats titanium when it comes to bike frames...

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I'm into bikes. Actually, i was/am a bike mechanic. Love working on those race bikes. I hate installing the 700 size tires though!
 
That Appalachian rocks! Here's my version, a Bianchi Volpe with some personal tweaks...

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And the current project bike: a 1984 Panasonic Sport 1000. Originally I was thinking about going fixed gear, but I'm no longer as ambitious or rich. Just want to true up the wheels, get rid of that horrible handlebar cushioning for some cloth, maybe put the shifters on the downtube, new Panaracer tires, and maybe get rid of the sissy levers.

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I started riding three months before my 40th birthday...that was a little over 3 years ago. When I first started I thought riding 10 miles was an accomplishment. Two weeks ago I rode 32 miles in just under 3 hours. My fitness level has greatly increased and I found I actually look forward to riding. I have a mountain bike but if you don't count Space mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Florida doesn't really have any mountains. I ride on horse trails and bike trails through parks and subdivisions in the neighboring cities. I've become very familiar with the layout of roads, streets, and have found numerous short cuts which have helped when driving. If you are looking for exercise that isn't a chore I highly recommend biking.
 
The Ocoee has "city" tires... I don't do real mountain bike riding, it's for the street and hard pack paths. We live about 4 miles from the Erie Canal and that's where the Ocoee mostly goes.

I had Tioga Clipman pedals on it up until this week. I've been wanting to try the Crank Brothers Egg Beaters for some time now so I bought a pair of 2ti for the Appalachian. Liked 'em so I bought another pair for the Ocoee. Much better than the Tiogas.
 
89 Schwinn Tempo---bought new in 93 at half original price---they were just looking to get rid of it by then----then in about 02 I updated the tires for rails-to-trails trail riding--downgraded the pedals to basic ones--to make it easy to bail if I had to. Its a dirt road bike now if you will.

02 Klein Quantum---beautiful bike--last year for the aluminium frame---too bad Trek killed off the brand.

03 Trek cheapie mountain bike
 
I don't have a good pic of my current ride; a 1970s-ish Cilo. Quite a nice little roadster with a Columbus frame, Shimano 600 components, etc.
I have extensively upgraded it over the last few years; started out with a 5-speed freewheel on the rear end.
Now wears an 8-speed Shimano wheelset and a modern 39/52 crank instead of the only-for-the-strong 42/52 that was on it.
Butted steel tubing makes for a pleasant ride, and the bike is very "relaxed" in the geometry department.
Good stuff for an old fart like me.
I'll see if I can't take a new pic or two.

In addition to riding my own, I repair/refurbish old bikes for resale. Made nearly 1000.00 last year, and almost as much this year. Put many rusted relics back into the hands of happy owners.
I also maintain our department fleet of patrol bikes....About 25 at present.
 
You are entirely correct. Titanium is the miracle material when it comes to bicycle frames. I ride a Xizang Ti cross country mountain bike and a GT Edge Ti road bike. I also have an old steel Avalanche for town beating and a 24'' Zaskar built up for trials. In road bikes, it absorbs road shock while maintaining stiffness in the frame. It's lighter than aluminum, and much less maintenance than carbon fiber or steel. Not to mention the metal itself is just gorgeous-argon purged welds are so smooth... and the brown color combined with platinum luster gives it a very distinct look, whether it's bead blasted or high polished. You sir, have a great taste in bicycles. I almost picked up a '99 Litespeed road bike with full Ultegra that I found lightly used in Florida for less than a thousand bucks. Still kicking myself for that one...
Sybex has been my bike porn of choice as of late though.
 
I was actually very lucky.

A guy in New Orleans had a Litespeed Classic on craigslist about 3-4 weeks ago. I wanted desperately to buy it but when I emailed him, he only responded to my first email (asking if the bike was still available) and then wouldn't answer any more emails.

I'm glad I didn't buy it, I really have no need for a race bike (the Classic) and the Appalachian is much better suited for me.
 
Into bicycles?

Not really. But I bought one a few years ago anyway.

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I used to ride everywhere as a kid, regularly 20+ miles after school. Then in my 20s I was a mountain biking instructor at Philmont. Not much actual instruction, just tour guiding, first aid, and mechanical assistance.

For whatever reason, riding is not as much fun as I recall and I've rarely ridden the above machine. :(

Still, I can appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the rides you guys have posted, especially the Bianchi.
 
I still have an old Schwinn with a 2 speed Bendix kick shift.

Had a friend in high school who dabbled in making bikes. He became a well known and respected frame maker. He actually would ride a fix gear bike between classes in high school in the halls with all of us who were walking.

Ric
 
Speaking of exotic frame materials; some time back a Russian aerospace firm that was in deep trouble as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union decided to turn their high-tech manufacturing skills to bike frames.
They marketed a beryllium frameset. A number of other manufacturers flirted with the metal and various alloys.
It was horrendously expensive, supposedly 25,000 bucks for the frame alone. Manufacturing presents dreadful problems as the dust is extremely toxic, and the end result is no better than titanium overall....
Needless to say, there aren't many such available now.

On the other hand, several "make-your-own" types have produced bamboo frames...
 
Oh, here's a picture of a Cilo which looks almost exactly like mine save for the white bar tape... I used black.
Also, my components are not quite so high end......

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I love the nice bikes, but hate the little piezo (sp) valve stems.

I am more of a cruiser/comfort bike person, just out for fun and middle exercise, my knees are shot and jogging sucks.

I found a large bike in a shop that was a year old so they knocked off a $100 then I bought a large gel seat and lost the hemeroid helper a lot of you all are using. So I got a starting level bike new for 400-425, Its a Jamus, but I am 6'8" and nothing at any of the big stores ws big enough for me and at the time didn't want to spend $800 on a trek which is the choices of the 2 bike shop in the big town 60 miles away. may not be fast and fancy but it goes down rough roads and I am have fun.
Pat
 
I'm with you on the big seat. I have a 2008 Specialized Rockhopper and I used the original seat once for a ten mile ride. My ass hurt for days. I replaced that seat with the biggest WTB seat they make and haven't had a comfort problem since.
 
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