I Remember....

[sspielman]

One of the great things about this Forum is that there are a great number of participants who have been around cycling for a LONG time. I am sure that there are alot of us who can make these same claims...I remember:
*racing in a leather helmet
*when ALL high performance tires were tubulars
*when Campagnolo gruppos came with a metal pump head
*when racing bikes had 5 rear cogs
*when the chamois in shorts was real leather
*when cleats had to be nailed onto shoes
*when racing wheels had 36 spokes
*when a French guy usually won the Tour de France
*when the guys who raced every sunday would go cycle touring on their vacations in the summer
*when you had an instinct to loosen your toe straps before coming to a stop
*Clement still made tubulars....in Italy
How about some of your recollections?

[Bill Bove]

I remember wearing suspenders to hold up my wool shorts, especially in the rain.
I remember buying those shorts from Grace Jones.
I remember putting a cabbage leaf under my leather hairnet helmet on hot days.
I remember seeing my toes.
I remember when CatEye computers were the size of your fist.
I remember "The Thief From Vicenza" and "ABC" bikes.
I remember not feeling all alone after going to the theatre to see that new bike movie Breaking Away.

[jmewkill]

- Cable guides bolted on.
- 52x14 was the big gear
- 42x18 was the climbing gear.
- bar tape = tressotape
- you rode in new shoes with no cleats to find where pedal left the "cleat position" line.
- when it rained you flipped the bill of your bike cap down.
- wheel build choice included high flange or that new fancy low flange

But I sure rode a lot.

[coylifut]

bike shops smelled differently back in the day.

[Kevan]

stone wheels.

[AgilisMerlin]

i remember when freewheels came in their own cans. :banana:


and strips of leather kept your brains from spilling out on the road. :D

and these ALE annodized BLUE were my first true racing toe clips





AmerliN

[sw3759]

i remember 7 speeds and downtube shifters... :rolleyes:

[stevep]

$200 retail bikes that came with sew up tires, gitane interclub...
" what, you have to what the tires? glue? what do you mean by that? huh? glue? really?"
cotter pin cranks
valentino derailleurs
heinous quality french bikes ( which led to )
great quality japanese bikes ( which killed the above )
suntour rear derailleurs

[mikemets]

- Campy and Shimano were the only practical group options
- Serotta didn't offer a carbon frame, and not even a ti/carbon for that matter
- a 16 - 17 lb bike was considered light

well, I've only been cycling for 4+ years ;)

[soulspinner]

Alfredo Binda straps-still have em somewhere...

[Ti Designs]

I remember when a new Serotta frame cost $400

I remember when you had to wear black shoes and white socks in races

I remember when the smallest chainring on a Campy crank had 44 teeth

I remember when Robert (A.K.A. the french guy) worked at the Bicycle Exchange in Harvard square

I remember inch pitch chains and cogs and chainrings

I remember when there were standards in the bike industry.

I remember the first Trek bikes, the first Cannondales and the birth of Specialized.


I drink to forget all these things...

[manet]

I remember when a new Serotta frame cost $400


I remember when Robert (A.K.A. the french guy) worked at the Bicycle Exchange in Harvard square



manet's serotta (green nova) was purchased from the french guy

[AgilisMerlin]

give some dates manet and ti design. please.

Curious


AmerliN

[72gmc]

i remember learning to use cleats and toeclips... and, with a 16-year-old's excitement, making the straps waaaay too tight.

i remember buying silver cinelli bars and a 1A quill stem from a little catalog company called performance. i kinda miss that little company.

[manet]

give some dates manet and ti design. please.

Curious


AmerliN

'80, '79 (?)

[Ti Designs]

give some dates manet and ti design. please.


Robert started working for Wheelworks in 87 or 88. I bought a Vitus and my Serotta Titan from him back in the day.

I too remember those old Cinelli handlebars - I still use 'em!

[AgilisMerlin]

'80, '79 (?)


i was riding my schwinn varsity, suntour blue line, silver on trails in the woods back then, good times................my parents thought i was crazy

sorry, toooo many beers clogging my synapse...........suntour blue line was on my first Trek.........my dad made me buy the size too big.



AmerliN :)

[PanTerra]

I remember:
*when we didn't wear helmets. The leathernets were in the performance catalog, but I opted for the V1-Pro
http://www.bellbikehelmets.com/images/history/V1pro.jpg
*when I got my tires at KMart
*when I sported a stermy archer 3-speed stick shift on my top tube.
*when Motobecane and Mercier were actually made in France.
*when the chamois in shorts was a chamois. I still have a pair of these wool shorts, but I haven't been able to get into them for 20 years.

[David Kirk]

Cloth bar tape
Leather soled shoes
Aluminum stem bolts
36 hole wheels
5 speed freewheels
Galli Ti toe clips
Toe strap buttons
Drilling shoes for Look cleats
Twisting the toe strap through the pedal so it won't slip
Tubulars...always tubulars
Latex tubes holding air for just hours
Mechanical odometers going "tick...tick...tick...tick"
Suntour Superbe track pedals
Needing a huge wrench to remove a freewheel
Alloy crank arm bolts
Campy pedal dust cap wrenches
Riding for hours without caring when I got home
Riding with my best friend

Dave

[AgilisMerlin]

i remember when nashbar was newpaper and sold campy components. In my early teens i thought palo alto catalog was da' bomb............y'all


AmerliN

[Ti Designs]

Before Bike Nashbar was Bike Nashbar it was Bike Warehouse. They sold frame tubing and lugs back then...

[Bradford]

I remember when I once said "Mountain bike? What the heck is a mountain bike?"

[AgilisMerlin]

you see, my mind has already started to wander at 38 years old. :)



AmerliN

[coylifut]

I remember everything on Dave Kirk's and Speilman's list. A few things on Steve P's list pre date me. I got into cycling 1n 78 at age 15, with a couple of different breaks along the way.

how about that little bent Campy 10mm wrench for adjusting the two bolt Nouvo Record seat post. I still have that tool.

[atmo]

does anybody remember laughter atmo?

[manet]

laughter

[14max]

does anybody remember laughter atmo?

I hope so...

[trophyoftexas]

Momma!

[DarkStar]

I remember my first custom frame, handbuilt with a blend of SP and 531 tubes, Cinelli BB, fork crown, and campy dropouts costing me the incredible sum of $365!

[swoop]

i remember hair on my head and not in my nose and ears.

[old_school]

I remember when there were these places called dumps that you could go to and find wicked cool bike parts. And, if you had a hack saw at home you could cut up a few forks, stick them together, and pedal around town like Easy Rider.

[Cary Ford]

I remember a midnight at the oasis. And being single.

[Fat Robert]

not officially old, in forum terms (I'm 40)

I remember:

lining up for a race in a leather "helmet" (sucked)
the cool wool bag that vittoria shoes would come in (the shoes sucked)
natural chamois (sucked, imho)
thinking benotto tape was cool (it wasn't)
thinking it was cool when I upgraded, and then a trek rep gave me a neat-o, "fast" AL frame (it was not neat-o, or fast. it sucked)


lemme see...1980s...hormonal, always injured, fast, riding sh__ty gear

2000s...neurotic, healthy, not fast, riding stuff that works


I take now

[PK9]

* 36 hole Arc en Ciel rims
* the buzz of tire savers keeping the tubies glass free

[CarbonTi]

Way back when when as a lad...

Peugeou PX-10's being attainable race bikes @ $250 and Italian coutre bikes like Cinelli, Masi and DeRosa being unobtainable at any price unless you knew someone who knew someone

In NYC, Toga was still in Alphabet city and Stuyvesant on 13th St.

The Wheelgoods catalog

Wool jerseys with buttons on the pockets, wool shorts with drawstrings that didn't stay on so well. Detto Pietro shoes and TA cleats

Clement tubulars

Campagnolo Nouvo Record if you could afford it, Stronglight cranks and who cares what-else if you couldn't

[manet]

I remember when there were these places called dumps that you could go to and find wicked cool bike parts. And, if you had a hack saw at home you could cut up a few forks, stick them together, and pedal around town like Easy Rider.

parallel lives.

and do you remember watching a friend fly over the handlebars of said chopper bike, with
unattached front wheel, as the fork with it's slipped blades dug into the ground.

i remember laughter.

[atmo]

parallel lives.

and do you remember watching a friend fly over the handlebars of said chopper bike, with
unattached front wheel, as the fork with it's slipped blades dug into the ground.


ah ha ban the qr skewers atmo

[taz-t]

does anybody remember laughter atmo?

Is there a bustle in your hedgerow?

[pale scotsman]

I remember walking into Proteus bike shop in College Park MD, in the fall of '86, and buying a bad *** beer can bike with a mix of dura-ace and 600 sis for $610. That thing rode like a freakin' dream back then... rigida rims, benotto tape, 19 mm michelins with the cool strip that made it aero with your rim. Man, those were a biotch to change.

[PacNW2Ford]

Those newfangled narrow "Ultra-6" freewheels (what's a "freewheel"?), six cogs in the space of five! Remember the boards full of cogs at the bike shop?

Along these lines, I was helping a friend shop for a new bike. The bike shop kid asks what kind of bike are you riding now? My friend answers "It's a ten-speed". The kid says "Ohhh, you already have ten-speed!". I say, "No, he means two gears in front and five in the back". Kid: "Ohhhh...wow."

What is the oldest bike part or accessory that you regularly use? For me it is a Silca track pump I bought in 1981. 25 years old, still pumps air.

[PBWrench]

The sweet pungent smell of Campy grease in the round white plastic tub.

[saab2000]

I remember:

-Hairnet helmets
-Bell Biker helmets on others
-Wolber Invulnerable tires.
-My first CXs. WOW!
-Not realizing how good some things were 'til they were no longer available, like real Turbo saddles and Simplex Retrofriction shifters.
-The first aero brake levers. They were the shizzle and I HAD TO HAVE THEM!!!
-Not getting clippless pedals. I was the only person on earth who didn't have some issue with shoes or feet and so never bothered to change until about 91 or 92. Except for some tryouts. But they never did a thing for me.
-when all race bikes were lugged steel and the new fancy stuff was SLX
-Mavic hubs. The gold standard.
-When Greg Lemond and Stephen Roche were skinny
-When chamois or pads were not like diapers
-When riding a criterium with a skinsuit made you think you were fast
-Thinking the "Masters" racers were "Old dudes". Now I would be racing with them if I still rode races...... :beer:

[Tailwinds]

When Colorado Cyclist catalogs had pix of beautiful, lugged Tomassini's.

Pretty, silver quill stems.

Watching the '99 Tour de France after riding w/my newfound riding buddies and hearing them explain it all to me ("attack?" what is that??)... and seeing their suprise at Lance's comeback.

Hey, I've only been riding since '99.

[bironi]

My first pair of leg warmers were sleeves cut from salvation army wool, and I used rubber bands to help hold them on my skinny thighs.

I remember carrying a boda bag of wine for rides to rock concerts and a multi-day tour.

I remember doing a multi-day tour with a full backpack. I hit a diamond shaped sign with my backpack while riding the sidewalk on the way out of Seattle the first day, and did a face plant into a laurel hedge, my buddies had to help pull me out. Man, day two was tough on the sitbones.

I remember the AMF I had to push up most hills as a kid, but man I could kick some butt going down.

I remember winning a Huffy bike at a Seattle Rainiers baseball game at Sicks Stadium. It was a pos, but compared to the AMF it was a big improvement.

I remember hitching across Canada, and crossing paths with someone who paid $800 for a fancy road bike.

I remember waiting a couple years before switching to clipless pedals.

[OldDog]

Nuovo Record triples with 54/49/36 rings
Bata Biker shoes
Ideale saddles
1st generation Dura Ace, still have a crank and hubs w/ suntour freewheel

[steelrider]

I recall walking through Velo Sport in Berkelely and being simply amazed by the beautifiul Italian lugged steel frames.

[BBB]

Pineapple Bob in the Bridgestone adds...

[Too Tall]

Riding a century with Sspielman and doing a sumersault!!!
Mel Pintos secret invite only stash of campy goodies
Walking around with a Campy T wrench in my pocket as cool as any switchblade
Nuvo Record with a DATE STAMP :)
Wing Nut QR ;) on my first real racer
Anything that said Cinelli
Bob Jackson frame dad made me give back to Mel Pinto "***" $300 paperboy $$s
Emily Kay (sp?) shorts you could eat if starving on a long ride
Plastic tabs on the Binda straps were pimp
Regina Oro chain SUPER MEGA PIMP
Glucose tabs before the hill sprint = cheating

Sweet, thanks Sspielman you da man.

[Elefantino]

I remember filing my cleats in order to allow my heels to move back and forth a bit to give my knees a rest.

This later became known as "float"

[alancw3]

i remember:

when a 1958 raleigh lenton grand prix cost $125. (my first racing bike)

when a 1960 schwinn paramount p-11 cost $352, per their catelog. i lusted for one of these.

when i first raced and drilled holes in the side of my brooks saddle and laced/ chincked up the side panels with a rawhide lace.

when a 53/12 was a real gear for the flats.

going in my grandmother's barn and finding a whizzer/schwinn motorized bike.

[gt6267a]

i remember hair on my head and not in my nose and ears.

I remember the hair on my head migrated to my back.

I remember my Cannondale crit 3.0 with rx 100 group. That thing was sweet.
I remember coming home after my first bike ride and telling my mom I hit 43mph.
I remember my mom ordering my father to get me a helmet.
I remember picking out the yellow and black helmet Lemond wore.
I remember my father and sticker shock.
I remember telling him that I would not wear any other helmet so unless we wanted to go home empty handed, he had to buy that helmet.
I remember loving that helmet and riding like Lemond, at least in my own mind, all over the Lehigh Valley.

[dbrk]

Riding this bike, listening to this music. In fact, I still ride this bike and as for the music, if it's not Weather Report, Miles, et.al...you know, lugged steel music on lugged steel bikes. Not retro, just my preference.

dbrk

p.s. this bike has since been made right again...

[obtuse]

here's some stupid pictures of things i like to remember.


obtuse

[BB63]

Never wearing a helmet, except to race.
Sun Tour being the good Japanese parts. Shimano was what came on department store bikes.
Searching the scores page in the Post sports section for Tour De France results.
Putting on new white cloth bar tape every saturday for the race on sunday, and actually riding enough during the week to get it dirty.
Taking home the first set of Super Record pedals we got at Proteus when I worked there, and then bringing them back the next day because I just couldn't spend $35 on pedals.

[Grant McLean]

Standing in front of the window of a bikeshop in midtown NYC, with my mouth
hanging open. I was wearing my "english beat" t-shirt, desert boots, and
tapered jeans.

There was a metallic purple 3Rensho hanging in the window. A girl walked
past and said, "hey, cool shirt". That was a great moment.

g

[atmo]

Standing in front of the window of a bikeshop in midtown NYC, with my mouth
hanging open. I was wearing my "english beat" t-shirt, desert boots, and
tapered jeans.

There was a metallic purple 3Rensho hanging in the window. A girl walked
past and said, "hey, cool shirt". That was a great moment.

g
that girl gets it atmo

[catulle]

I remember when the way you arranged the brake cables as they arched towards their destination was a fashion statement.

I remember when shellac was the only glue for tubulars.

I remember when the only color tubulars were orange silk tubulars.

I remember when all cranks were attached to the hub with pins.

I remember when all bicycles where delivered with a small leather pouch behind the saddle; and some even carried a few tools.

[cdimattio]

- Simplex Super LJ, Huret Jubilee, Zeus 2000, Suntour Cyclone
- Mafac, Dia compe, Weinman, Universal, CLB brakes
- Fiamme Red/Yellow Label Rims
- Airlite hubs
- French Threads

- Innovative and stiff Duegi wooden soled shoes
- Owning an iron cobbler's shoe for for attaching cleats
- All shorts are black, all summer cycling clothing is wool

- Boston, Confente, Della Santa, Ross 'Signature line'
- Hetchings, Holdsworth, Butler
- Paris Sport, Astro Daimler; Graftek, Teledyne
- Paramount Track bikes

- Jim Redcay building frames in an old Lambertville Schoolhouse

- Kopps cycle and Richard Sachs still going strong

[Dekonick]

here's some stupid pictures of things i like to remember.


obtuse

That statue of Waterloo reminds me of my elementary school as a kid. St. John's....

I also remember watching the TDF prologue in Brussels - Hmm what year was that... 1979? 1980? Hmmm

I remember the whine of rim generators

I remember when old women rode bikes...oh yeah - they still do in Europe...

I remember my first 10 speed - a Takara Sport. I remember lusting for a Schwinn...

I remember watching Greg, Bernard, Merckx, and many others- race live and on TV

I remember BMX bikes - when Diamondback was the bike to have...

I remember when you could get air at a gas station for free...

I remember biking miles to get to 7-11 for a slurpee (summer visits to the family in the US - I would have killed for a 7-11 in Belgium as a kid!)

I remember a simpler time - :)

[tch]

Riding a few days in new shoes without cleats so the pedals would "mark" where to install them correctly.
Simplex plastic derailleurs.
My brown Raleigh Super Course that I bought for $125 of my own hard-earned money in 1971. I had to get my father to drive me two hours to Chicago to get such an esoteric machine. I rode it every day and loved it and it was stolen that fall and I never really recovered.

[Karin Kirk]

I remember when Velo News was a little newspaper.

I remember being very resistant to the idea that I had to get cycling shoes because they were all so dang ugly. The black leather turned my socks black.

I remember Winning magazine and Winning Club, their excellent development program, which was my first team.

I remember being schooled by the local cycling club. I mean "schooled" in the old fashioned sense of the word - they took me under their wing and taught me everything.

I remember when Americans dominated international mountain bike racing.

I remember Bob Roll passing me at a mountain bike race and yelling at me to get the *@%! out of his way.

I remember my first Serotta, which was made even more awesome because it had custom, NEON paint.

I remember the Skidmore mountain bike race, which was always held this weekend. It was a perfect race.

I remember meeting a tall and handsome young framebuilder who had just moved to town to work at Serotta. I remember falling for him - big time!

[bcm119]

I remember riding my friends Haro bmx and thinking, now thats a hot bike!

I remember my first case of bike lust- for a Hutch bmx.

I remember racing my big brother and his friend on my Schwinn 5 speed and the stem came loose in the steerer, causing me to hit a large oak tree at about 20 mph.

I remember mowing lawns all summer so I could get a low end Peugeot with Exage.

I remember when the best tires I could afford were IRC triathlons.

I remember being jealous of my brother's bike cuz it had Weinmann brakes that were white.

I remember reading stacks of Bicycle Guide.

I remember wearing sunglasses with foam on the brow and keeping them in their plastic capsule case.

I remember my first helmet- white and purple Bell "softshell".

I remember replacing the nylon toe straps on my trek 1200 with leather Christophe straps cuz they were way cooler.

I remember in college soon after getting my first Look pedals, I lived in an old house up a flight of wooden stairs and falling all the way down to the bottom, with my bike.

[slowgoing]

I remember seeing my first external rear derailleur and wondering how come it didn't have a cable extending from the interior of the hub like my 3 speed spyder bike.

I remember brake lever extensions where you could brake without moving your hands from the bar tops.

I remember stem shifters, and then a few years later, bar end shifters.

I remember when brakes were "center-pull" or "side-pull." Cheap bikes like mine had center-pull.

I remember removing the toe clips and straps because I only used the other side, and they dragged going around corners.

[shinomaster]

I remember:

BMX
John Tomac
Julia Furtado
Yeti Biycles--Effin rad
my first real bike, a lugged steel trek 950 mtb
Ritchey megabites
Onza
the first clipless mtb pedals
the first rock shocks
Winning magazine
Greg Lemond
neon
when sti was new...the first pix were seen on some guy named Geerts bike
MTB action
doing road rides in my Grateful Dead tie dyed tee shirts
life without coffee, beer and sex (with women) what was I thinking??!! :no:

[Karin Kirk]

I was wearing my "english beat" t-shirt, desert boots, and tapered jeans.

There was a metallic purple 3Rensho hanging in the window. A girl walked
past and said, "hey, cool shirt". That was a great moment.
I remember English Beat - I LOVED English Beat. I probably would have said the same thing to you.

[alancw3]

when the nashbar catalog was 90% parts and acessories and 10% clothing and apparel!

[NYC.Boricua]

bannana seats on my bike

sharkskin suits

putting a baseball cards on your spokes

Knit shirts~leather strips

braking your bike with the back of your sneakers

playboy shoes

giant u-shaped handlebars

mohair pants

riding the bike to the baseball park or the basketball courts

lacing up my converses or pro-keds with multicolored laces...ala Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe.

[PanTerra]

I remember when my dream bike was a Schwinn Le Tour. At 30 lbs, it was listed in the catalogue as ultra-light. :banana:

[bironi]

The cards in the spokes reminded me:

I remember making hydroplanes from wood scraps to drag behind our bikes in mock "Gold Cup" races. We drove nails thru the bottom to make sparks at night.

I remember going to Angle Lake cyclery to buy random decals of bizarre hot rod cartoon characters of the 60's to put on our bikes.

I am thankful that I cannot remember falling down a flight of stairs with my bike due to Look cleats. :beer:

[Zard]

I remember how crappy everything but the highest end Campy shifted.

I remember having to contstantly fiddle with the gear shifting mechanism on just about every ride.

I remember being a slave to what the local bike store stocked and that meant either it was a schwinn, raliegh or a peugeot.

I remember there was no internet, no forums, no mail order catalogs.

I remember constant saddle sores from wool shorts and chamois.

I remember never being able to find a decent cycle shoe because everything was a narrow italian black leather shoe that didn't fit my wide foot.

I remember how absolutely crappy the best clincher tire was.

I remember wheels constantly going out of true.

I remember having to invest in a tubular tire wheelset just to get a decent wheel.

I remember how crappy most brakes were.

I remember a downtube shifter on a peugeot snapping off in the palm of my hand, gouging me and requiring a trip to the hospital.

I remember having to wait a couple of weeks for receipt of velonews before I could find out what happened at the tour.

I remember my friend cracking his head on the pavement - no helmets back then.

I remember that there was no such thing as a mountain bike.

I remember how intolerent just about every motorist was to a bicycle rider.

I remember that every bicycle light made then was a complete joke.

I remember there was no such thing as a bicycle lane.

I remember jumping 5 garbage cans in the alley behind my house. That was pretty cool.

[PaulE]

My older brother and sister had kid-sized "English Racers". They were Drakes or Kents, with a single-speed coaster brake, front rod hand brake, and 22 or 24 inch wheels. Whatever they were, you had to drive 60 miles to get to a bike shop that sold that size tire. My brother and sister moved up to 26 inch 3 speed English Racers, my brother a Rudge and my sister an Armstrong. I got my brother's old bike.

My first new bike was a single speed Ross Polo Bike. My next bike was a 3 speed Raleigh Sports. I saved my paper route money for it and it cost under $60 with tax.

A classmate's older brother rode his father's 8 speed racing bike - a 4 cog cluster and two rings on the crank. No quick releases - big wing nuts held on the wheels.

Simplex and Huret derailleurs. Shimano only made an imitation of the Sturmey Archer 3 speed internally geared hub and fishing reels then.

Weinman and Mafac centerpull brakes. The good bikes then had centerpull brakes. The low quality bikes had the side pulls.

Clincher tires on 10 speeds were 27 inches, not 700C.

Department stores sold 10 speed "racing bikes" with 26 inch wheels.

Garden variety stems had an external hex bolt to tighten the wedge. Only the exotic stems had a recessed allen head bolt. Chances are there were absolutely no allen head bolts anywhere on your bike.

The only bike brands I knew were Ross, Royce Union, Huffy, Murray, Columbia, Schwinn, Raleigh, Peugeot, Dawes, Falcon, Frejus, Bob Jackson, Rene Herse.

My buddy had a Schwinn Varsiety with a "Schwinn Approved" leather saddle that looked for all the world like a Brooks saddle that Schwinn must have had them make under contract. The Schwinn Approved derailleurs on that bike had to have been Huret.

Steel cottered cranks. Ashtabula cranks.

[palincss]

how about that little bent Campy 10mm wrench for adjusting the two bolt Nouvo Record seat post. I still have that tool.

And don't forget the other end: it adjusts the tension on Brooks saddles. That wrench has that funny bend in it so that it will clear the skirt on a Brooks Pro. One of them, a T handle wrench, and a Peanut Butter wrench came with my 1972 P15 Schwinn Paramount.

[palincss]

Nuovo Record triples with 54/49/36 rings
Bata Biker shoes
Ideale saddles
1st generation Dura Ace, still have a crank and hubs w/ suntour freewheel

I had one of those NR triples on my Paramount. I changed the granny to a 31T that Jim Merz made, which made a tremendous difference (and made me a confirmed gear freak for life).

I really liked the Bata Bikers, too - used them for several years, until I changed to Detto Pietros and then Sidis. And I had an Ideale saddle with the wide aluminum rails on my first tandem. Not as comfortable as a B.17 Brooks, but those aluminum rails were definitely cool. I'm sorry Ideale is gone.

[palincss]

I remember when brakes were "center-pull" or "side-pull." Cheap bikes like mine had center-pull.


I remember when brakes were center-pull or side-pull, and the cheap bikes had side-pull brakes. The quality bikes - the ones with double butted 531 frames - all had centerpulls.

And then Campagnolo came out with its side-pull, and everything changed. Of course, center-pulls are back in style now - the Paul's Racer is great.

[Skrawny]

I remember saving up to buy my first bike at "Price Club," then putting it together myself.

I remember a bike helmet that was a huge mushroom of styrofoam covered in lycra.

I remember on one of my first rides the rear derailer getting caught in the rear spokes and my nice helmet becoming a lycra bag of loose styrofoam. Gosh I was lucky...

-s

[NYC.Boricua]

...when returning from the handball courts on my 10-speed, bouncing the spalding handball on the ground as I am riding going home.

...playing stoop ball.

...riding on my ross and carrying a chain around my torso with a lock.

...playing fullcourt basketball for 2 hours in wrangler jeans a pair of cons and a colored nylon t-shirt.

...Riding my 10-speed with a krptonite lock.

...playing johnny on the pony.

[marcus]

Maressi kangaroo leather shoes, Yum

Pavarin cleats, D for right, S for left

A freewheel lasted for years

Regina chains good for 10,000 miles

Shift? Reach down, overshift, back off to re-center

Better get it into the 42 before the climb started

Track pedals on your road bike with Binda straps and perfectly positioned buttons

Silca impero with campy head

Toobies of course

Stem? Bars? Cinelli!

Large flange hubs

Benotto tape, about a buck fifty

Ideale 90 saddles

Loose ball bearings, PITA lock rings, but so nice when you got it just right

Those cool Campy HS and BB tools

Chrome forks and chainstays

[Team Murray]

I remember when a new Serotta frame cost $400

I remember when you had to wear black shoes and white socks in races

I remember when the smallest chainring on a Campy crank had 44 teeth

I remember when Robert (A.K.A. the french guy) worked at the Bicycle Exchange in Harvard square

I remember inch pitch chains and cogs and chainrings

I remember when there were standards in the bike industry.

I remember the first Trek bikes, the first Cannondales and the birth of Specialized.


I drink to forget all these things...

I use to work at the Bi-Ex when I was in college from 1982-1987. I remember Robert. He was always smoking the nasty old pipe. I use to work with Paul and **** in the parts department.

[Jeff Weir]

Life before power bars
Duegi 101's
Benotto tape
Cinelli Unicanitor Saddles
Wool everything
Citius cycling club
Alfredo binda straps
Huge rides with 1 water bottle
Spacing campy hubs from 5 to 6 speeds
Always being last in group rides
Some things never change