going retro

[jts628]

i gave up mountainbikes and have been happily riding my ti paramount with record 9 with carbon this, titanium that, etc. i spied a late 80s merckx 7-11 in a size which is just a tad small, but which i can work with. full period 7 spd d-ace, gp-4s, etc.

with only room in my life for one bike (spouse, child, nyc apt), would i regret making the change and selling my paramount? i am in full blown bike lust mode, and having come of age in the 80s, a 7-11 merckx was, and has been, at or near the top of my
"bikes i wished i own" (along with a red/white tsx record bottecchia).

if i bought the merckx, it would be as a user, not as wall art, and the only changes i would likely make are to clinchers, and 8 speed so i could buy spares. will i regret the move?

decisions, decisions . . .

[znfdl]

Buy a vertical bike rack so that you can store on bike on top of the other and only take up the space of 1 bike.

[jts628]

finances also play a big part, can't justify tying up another grand or so in bike-related stuff. it's unfortunately a one in, one out scenario these days.

[Ken Robb]

I enjoy my Nuovo Record bike but I wouldn't prefer it as an only bike over a 9 or 10 spd. indexed system. I would prefer that my only bike have standard (now long) reach brakes so I could run up to 32mm tires though. My NR bike has them, as does Rambouillet. Allrounder and Hampsten have cantis which also take fatties.

[texbike]

JTS,

It's all about enjoying what you ride! If you lusted after the Merckx back in the day, go for it. The Ti Paramount is a great bike (a buddy of mine has one), but doesn't have the mystique and race history of the Merckx line. Besides, unless you race you're probably not giving up much in the way of performance.

I ride a 12 year old MX Leader with 8 speed Shimano stuff on it as my main road bike and absolutely love it. It was the bike I lusted for in college. The ride is smooth and responsive. The 8 speed stuff works flawlessly and is dead reliable.

Spares aren't a huge concern. When I can no longer find 8 speed cassettes, I'll switch to 9 speed downtube shifters, cassettes, and chains. When those run out......well I'll worry about that then.

If you plan to switch out wheels, find a wheelset with Dura Ace 7400 or 7700 hyperglide hubs which can accept both 8 and 9 speed cassettes. 8 speed downtube shifters can be found on eBay regularly.

Just make sure the fit is right. Otherwise go for it!

Texbike

[jts628]

JTS,

It's all about enjoying what you ride! If you lusted after the Merckx back in the day, go for it. The Ti Paramount is a great bike (a buddy of mine has one), but doesn't have the mystique and race history of the Merckx line. Besides, unless you race you're probably not giving up much in the way of performance.

I ride a 12 year old MX Leader with 8 speed Shimano stuff on it as my main road bike and absolutely love it. It was the bike I lusted for in college. The ride is smooth and responsive. The 8 speed stuff works flawlessly and is dead reliable.

Spares aren't a huge concern. When I can no longer find 8 speed cassettes, I'll switch to 9 speed downtube shifters, cassettes, and chains. When those run out......well I'll worry about that then.

If you plan to switch out wheels, find a wheelset with Dura Ace 7400 or 7700 hyperglide hubs which can accept both 8 and 9 speed cassettes. 8 speed downtube shifters can be found on eBay regularly.

Just make sure the fit is right. Otherwise go for it!

Texbike

like most of these "should i . . ." posts, i'm really just looking for a little validation, which your post just gave! i love my paramount, but there's just something about this merckx. maybe i'll keep it as is for awhile and finally get to be one of the cool kids who ride around with a spare tubie tied under their seat with a campy toe strap.

[Fixed]

merckx 's are great bikes friction works fine if you don't race cats on the new stuff.... the old stuff is great not much to go wrong
imho
cheers

[GoJavs]

Dude - I admire your willpower. Ti Paramounts are cool bikes. Steel Merckx's are keepers and if you run across a Red/White Bottecchia let me know too, I was in lust with those off the old Excel catalogs in the early 90s...

Back to the topic at hand, depends what kind of riding you do. I've found that although I love older bikes and friction/dt's, I need to have a couple of bikes with STI/Ergo around for those days when I want to clean out the pipes a little bit... :rolleyes:

In your situation, I'd recommend keep the Paramount and save up to buy an EM... :)