Bicycles - anyone ride?

[colyn]

I have a Raleigh 10 speed I bought new in 74 or 75. Haven't taken it out for a ride in several years though..

 

[andrew]

I've got a 1970 Raleigh Professional (it was mink brown - a hideous color - now its mink scuffed) that was hanging in a barn until I bought it for $15 and built it up as a fixed gear (with fenders and, cringe, a heavy-duty front basket for commuting). When I put the basket on last year, my wife said "You are now officially a dork." Even better, a friend once singled it out from a rack of over 50 bikes by Harvard, saying "look at that piece of ****", but I wouldn't trade it for the world. It fits and rides like it was custom made for me. More so than the actual custom made bike I own (a Rhygin cyclo cross frame set) and very rarely ride these days.

I'll try to take a photo of the Raleigh - it's a beauty (if only in my eyes).

 

[monochromejrnl]

two commuters (i know it's silly) - Fuji road frame - fixed 42x16 (yes i'm a whimp) and a 1960 Raleigh Superb (branded as an Eaton Glider) - 3spd Sturmey Archer

weekend road/racing bike is an early 2000s Lemond 853 Reynolds, with Dura-Ace bar end shifters... it's a well balanced and very comfortable ride... centuries disappear beneath me on this thing...

 

[pvdhaar]

Like many others you'll find chirping in from the low countries I use a bicycle to go to work day by day. Its status is so utilitarian, that I don't even know the model. It's something cheap from a chainstore, cause I wasn't prepared to spend about 1000 euros every two years on a Gazelle that would start falling apart after six month of moderate use...

 

[MadMan2k]

I love singlespeeds.

My main bike is a Specialized BMX.. brakeless, pegless.

I also have a 70's or 80's Peugeot road bike that I got recently, really excited about getting it fixed up. Beautiful frame, steel with lugs and great paint job but some rust spots. Needs a new seat, tire, griptape, tightened wheels, and a legit singlespeed conversion. I just have the chain cut to the right length so that it works with all the gears on, and took off the derraileurs and cables.

Also a KHS Solo-one SS MTB frame that I haven't had a chance to build up, but I'm probably going to sell that one soon. And a DK 24" BMX cruiser, gave most of the parts to a friend but I'll try to sell the frameset and stuff.

 

[Didier]

I make about 5000 km a year with a self assembled race bicycle. Unpaint no-name 7005 aluminium frame, 3x8 Shimano 105 group with 52/42/30 and 11-24, Shimano W540 wheels, Spezialized sattle, SPD pedals. The kilometers count - not the brand name! (like "the pictures count not the camera")

Mostly I ride in the area of Zurich-Zimmerberg-Einsiedeln-Schwyz or in the Hinterrhein region in the Grisons. Lots of height km's included, especially in Hinterrhein. Could easly make the around-the-lake-of-Zurich-tour (100km incl. Obersee) but riding flat is boring for me. And there's too much traffic there.

My next bike (as the actual one is getting old) will be similar but with a better Shimano group (Ultegra or Dura Ace) and Mavic wheels.

Didier

 

[reub2000]

I ride a Giant Cyrpuss ST, which is a hyrbid. I ride it mostly for fun.

 

[c.poulton]

I ride an imported German Fahrrad Manufaktur T100 to work and back every day - about 18 miles round trip. - No pictures as yet.

 

[DMG]

Daniel, just checked your flickR..that's a sweet ride...

 

[Avotius]

I used too, not anymore though

my old man does though, his "other" very expensive son, a 18 inch GT Zaskar LE Team Edition in white with as many trimmings as a 10 course meal.

 

[didotcicero]

I ride a bike called Downtown from the Giant company. It was designed by dutch designer Basten Leijh as his graduation project for the Eindhoven (NL)based Design Academy.

It's quite different from other bike designs: the steering bar (is that correct english?) doubles as a lock. Here in the Netherlands bike theft is quite common unfortunally.

If a thief breaks the lock he won't be able to ride it since it won't work as a steering bar.

Great bike, not everybody's cup of tea though (based on the comments I get when I ride it).

 

[MadMan2k]

Wow, that thing is sweet. I'd ride one, but I don't live in a big city and need to commute...

 

[visiondr]

I make about 5000 km a year with a self assembled race bicycle. Unpaint no-name 7005 aluminium frame, 3x8 Shimano 105 group with 52/42/30 and 11-24, Shimano W540 wheels, Spezialized sattle, SPD pedals. The kilometers count - not the brand name! (like "the pictures count not the camera")

Mostly I ride in the area of Zurich-Zimmerberg-Einsiedeln-Schwyz or in the Hinterrhein region in the Grisons. Lots of height km's included, especially in Hinterrhein. Could easly make the around-the-lake-of-Zurich-tour (100km incl. Obersee) but riding flat is boring for me. And there's too much traffic there.

My next bike (as the actual one is getting old) will be similar but with a better Shimano group (Ultegra or Dura Ace) and Mavic wheels.

Didier

Nice bike ,Didier,

One question... an all aluminum bike... that hurts my butt just thinking about how harsh the ride must be. What's it like?

 

[Didier]

Ron
Not listen to the a§§ is the best advice. The sattle is slightly damped and the front fork is chromoly (chromium-molybdenum steel) which can swallow some shocks. And swiss roads are slick like race tracks... ...but I used it recently on Croatia, outch...

Didier

 

[dpetrzelka]

Thanks DMG- it was fun building a bike from scratch-

 

[Vics]

Mine is an old Topanga SE by Diamondback. Very nice silky steel hard-tail mountain bike. I used to commute, but cars kept hitting me so I gave it up. I don't heal that quick any more. I sure miss my commute of 8 miles each way!
VS

 

[visiondr]

Ron
Not listen to the a§§ is the best advice. The sattle is slightly damped and the front fork is chromoly (chromium-molybdenum steel) which can swallow some shocks. And swiss roads are slick like race tracks... ...but I used it recently on Croatia, outch...

Didier

Yes, I imagine Swiss roads are like Swiss watches; smooth. The chromoly should help quite a bit. However, maybe not enough for Croatian roads.

I'm thinking about getting a seatpost with some damping. I've seen the spring-loaded models around, though not much on race bikes.

 

[Henrik]

I need to fix a flat tire tomorrow

 

[markinlondon]

I'm riding a Masi road bike occasionally. I say that because I wish I could ride more. I just started commuting to work on Saturday mornings (I don't work Sunday or Monday) and it's great.

Hey Mark, Is that a Brooks B-17 saddle? What do you think of it?

My dream bike is a Rivendell Rambouillet. I wish I'd given more thought to the importance of dropouts and tire clearance on a bike. I can't put proper fenders or panniers on the Masi. Both would come in handy commuting in occasionally rainy Portland. Also, the ability to put slightly fatter and softer tires would help my aging bones handle the rough streets.

Hi Ron, yes that's a B17. I wouldn't ride anything else (except a B15 which all my childhood bikes came with, or a Flyer which is a sprung B17). If you buy a Brooks from wallbike.com they'll let you return it if you don't get on with it for a full refund.
I expect your Masi is beautiful and it's funny you mention Rivendell because my Surly is pretty much a copy of their Atlantis tourer (minus the lugs .).

Hey, Didier, you seem to have some spokes missing .

 

[dmr]

I do ride, but nothing fancy, a department store Huffy 10 speed, vintage 1980s.

I should ride more than I do, however.