Your first "REAL" road bike?

[William]

Sorry if I'm re-hashing something that has already been done. :)


What was your first "real" road-racing bike?

I'm not going to count the Lime Green Schwin Varsity, or the Schucks Monte Carlo, or any of the BMX racers I had. My first "road racing" bike was a 1993 Fuji Roubaix. 63cm, 59-ish TT. 105 equipped with DT shifters. After the first ten miles I chucked the saddle that came with it and tried a few others until I found one that agreed with me. I switched out the original stem and seat post to get the reach and height I needed (Zoom mtb stem & AC mtb post). I also switched out the 175mm 105 crank set for DA 180mm. Other than that I raced it just as you see it. Even though it was a wet noodle when sprinting, it had a nice feel to it and I won a lot races on it. Unfortunately right after this photo was taken, the frame was broken in a crit. In the last corner, someone planted a pedal and caused a major pile up. I was able to avoid the guy who caused it when he slid across the ground in front of me, but I shot off the course into a big Rhododendron bush...ouch!

What was yours?

William

[bostondrunk]

'Dale, I dunno, 1991 I think, 105 dt index, original look clipless. Actually was a really sweet bike! :beer:

[pale scotsman]

I guess besides my Huffy Aerowind, now how many remember that bike, it would have to be the '86 Cannondale R series with Shimano 600, DA down tube shifters and seatpost. A sparkly redish color with yellow benotto tape, yellow toe straps, and yellow cables. This was the first year of SIS and I loved the 'dale. Never noticed it was stiff.

[Russell]

Bianchi Stelvio - early 80s; I think that was the model name. It was a grey bike. Don't remember the components used on it - low/mid level. Good enough for office-park crits.

[LegendRider]

1991 or 92 Trek 2300. Tob tube, down tube and seat tube were carbon and the rear triangle and lugs were aluminum. The aluminum was painted neon yellow with black paint drizzled on it. The bike had 7 speed Ultegra with down tube shifters. I put a Tioga stem and Scott Drop-in bars on it along with a then brand new Flite. It wasn't a bad bike at all...

[Bruce K]

Slightly used Trek 2100 that was 1 size too big.

It did the job ... got me hooked for as long as my legs will last.

BK

[coylifut]

Columbus Sl, all Campy Nouvo-Record, Clement silk sew-ups, Regina D'Oro chain and freewheel, Pink Benotto plastic tape, Cinelli 64 bars and XA stem. I still have it. I rode it yesterday, but now it's a fixed gear.

[Spectrum Bob]

Mine was a mid 70s Bianchi Special Red, down tube friction shifters – rode my first century on it.

[djg]

I guess I'd count the Gitane Junior Racer I got at the age of 13 ... mystery steel tubing, simplex gearing, and a hard plastic saddle. That was the transition from bombing around on stingrays into something like cycling. Not that there's a darn thing wrong with bombing around on stingrays.

But for racing I'd start in college with a Raleigh I got out of a container that had been destined for France. 1980. 531 pipes and a mix of mostly french componenents. Very light for its day and lively. I added a set of race wheels I bought used. Record high flange hubs laced to fiamme rims. Clement tubbies and it flew. I did my first couple of seasons of racing on that bike--wish I still had it.

[OldDog]

'73 Schwinn "voyaguer", upgraded with first generation Dura Ace('74?) Then in '75 purchased a NOS '72 Paramount P15 Tourer. Still have it, wished I had the Voyaguer too. First racing bike was a '75 Peugoet (spelling?)PX10, it's gone :(

Them was 'da good old days!

[Matt Barkley]

1987 Miyata 312 with toe clips.

[zap]

'86 cannondale w/ultegra. 400 bucks :rolleyes: Great first bike.

[TimD]

An orange Raleigh Record 10-speed, circa 1973. Brooks leather saddle, wide-flange hubs. Nice bike, but unable to withstand the abuse imparted by a 14-year-old. On this bike I did win the one and only bike race I have ever entered :)

After a succession of mongrels and Schwinn Breeze single-speed wheelie / skid / slide / ramp / woods bikes, I ended up with a Kabuki (Bridgestone) 12-speed, circa 1980. Ultimately stolen out of my basement.

Next, a Cannondale R600, 1985, with Shimano 600 and downtube shifters. Purchased for the then-astronomical sum of $650. A gorgeous color, Sea Sprite Green, approximated today by Serotta's Porsche Bebe. Wicked stiff, but a lot of fun. On this I rode a Vernon, VT - Vernon, CT century during which one of my buddies ran over a goose, a solo tour de Martha's Vineyard during which I completely and utterly bonked, and a drunken, impromptu pursuit on the Charles River bike path which ended when another of my buddies took out a lamp post at full speed and I went over the bars in avoidance, breaking my arm, but not my bare head.

TimD

[spiderman]

took me out for a birthday dinner...
and for dessert
brought out the lemond alpe d'huez/105's
and the whole place broke out
into happy birthday, clapping and cheering!

[Too Tall]

72' Bottechia all campy w/clement tubies. Ahhh, the flexible flyer.

[Jeff N.]

My first ever road bike was a JC Higgins that I mowed lawns for money to buy from a neighbor. My dad eventually rode it after I got a Centurion LeMans RS I found on sale. I remember it said, on the seat tube, "Designed in USA...made in Japan". Before that, there was my Root Beer-colored Motobecane Mirage. Weighed a ton, but I rode that bike daily to college. One day, when I was moving from one apartment to another across town, it got ripped off. Some scumbag out there is probably still riding it. Jeff N.

[Dekonick]

Not counting the usual first time bikes (although I rode my arse off in high school - I just really liked riding.)

First 'true' road bike (purchased from a college friend - it was easily 2 sizes too small. I think it was a 52cm ) a green Univega with shimano 105 (indexed - my first indexed shifters!) down tube shifters, 6 speed rear. Think this was 1991 (prior to this I rode whatever was around... nothing good)

Moved from that to a 58 Specialized Epic with 105 STI (7sp rear) - decided after a year it was not for me - so I decided to take the BIG jump - and I have never looked back - 1993 (or so) Serotta Colorado CR. I guess if you asked me what was my first REAL bike, this would be it. Shimano ultegra 600 STI 8sp rear with ultegra hubs, mavic ceramic open pro rims.

[Jeff Weir]

1979 Austro Daimler Superleicht w/Campy NR. Still have it!!!

[mikemets]

2003 Calfee Luna Pro

[bags27]

In the early 70s got a Mercier (when it was made in France) with Clements. It was purple and I called it (and wrote it on the TT) "he isostephanos Salaminia". Isostephanos means "violet-crowned", the great Greek poet Pindar's epithet for Athens. Salaminia was the Athenian official ship of state. (He just means "the."). I was in graduate school at Berkeley (in ancient Greek history, naturally), and nearly everyday would run that thing up Grizzley Peak and down Claremont Ave.--where I'd inevitably have a blow out. Loved that bike, and stupidly gave it to a friend when I got a job in Madison Wi., thinking I wouldn't be biking in the flatlands and when struggling to write lectures. Contented myself thereafter with hybrids and mountain bikes, mostly for transit, and missed a couple of decades where I could have really enjoyed road biking.

[scottcw]

In late 2000, I bought a Sycip steel bike to start training for the August 2001 Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride. I did not ride it very long as I bought a Legend Ti in the spring of 2001.

[RABikes2]

1984...Club Fuji :rolleyes:

[weisan]

1986 Italian-made Olmo creamy white lugged steel, Shimano 105 grouppo (those with the greenish tint on 'em) - still have it, in my parents' house.

I LOVE THIS BIKE.... :banana:

But on the other hand, if I am really truthful and care to admit, I guess you can consider my first true road bike is a Taiwan-made 83' Fuji, lugged steel bike weighs at least 28-30 pounds, its headtube decal is a picture of Mt Fuji (no kidding!), and its color scheme is wild in that it's blue and shimmers under the sun like those sparkling paint my kids play with these day. In fact I still have it at the old house, converted into a fixie. I remember hooking it up with an old-school Speedometer that has a dial needle and runs on a cog attached to the wheel at the axle. It's so mechanical and archaic now that I think of it but it works!!

There's a story behind it. I rode it in my first ever road race, was sitting pretty in the second group of the peloton among a bunch of shiny Raleighs, De Rosas and Colnagos. Going into 50 miles mark, those guys just keep looking at me and thinking, "What in the world is happening, who is this kid, we need to do something," I bet they couldn't wait to spit me out like a parasite. Well, no need for them to do that, I did it on my own, ran out of water at 60 mile, went into terrible cramps and had to be picked up by the SAG wagon. What an unforgettable amateurish mistake!

:D

weisan

[don compton]

a celeste green bianchi superleggero with a campy nuovo record gruppo. i wish i still had it.
don c.

[Todd Owen]

1973 peugeot u-08 blue. simplex components came with tool bag and a checkered flag

[Redturbo]

A Shogun, I don't remember the model. Got it when I was a Jr in high school (1979). All I remember was that it was fast.

turbo

[BarryG]

mid 70's Viscount Aerospace Pro (remember those?) followed by a Dawes Double Blue (fantastic bike, 531DB frame) that I bought in a Dublin market in '78 during a one year work gig there - wish I hadn't sold it in '93.

Barry

[weisan]

a celeste green bianchi superleggero with a campy nuovo record gruppo. i wish i still had it.
don c.


Don, I finally found your bike after all these years!!!
http://i21.ebayimg.com/02/i/02/8a/a3/16_1_b.JPG
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7104782391

:p

[JohnS]

1998? Ferrari red Bianchi Campione that I upgraded with Veloce derailleurs and Chorus brifters and Eurus wheels. I ended up giving it to my sister after 3 years and 6200 miles and bought my Concours.

[dirtdigger88]

1984 Raleigh SuperCourse. I got this bike for my 14th birthday. As I mentioned in my post about the Stumpjumper- I did not know what I had at the time. I was still trying to jump curbs with my new road bike. I held on to that bike until I was 24 year old. I gave it to a guy who was going to college and needed a bike to get around.

The first real road bike that restarted my love for the road was my 2001 Lemond Zurich- I bought it to stay in shape for MTB races on the weekend. It only took about a month for me to see that I would be riding the Zurich way more that my FSR. :D

Jason

[Ahneida Ride]

Early Seventiies Carlton Raleigh Competition. 531, Record + Zeus mix.
Still got it !!!

[terry]

in 1975 i bought a motobecane grand record, reynolds 531, some campy record, TA 3 arm crank, weinmann brakes and clement sew-ups. i haven't stopped riding sew-ups since.

[davids]

It was a Motobecane Super Mirage. I'm guessing it was a '75. I'm sure there's a picture of the teenage me and the bike somewhere in my parent's photo collection. Beautiful medium blue, stem-mounted shifters... I loved it!

It replaced the Raleigh Chopper I'd begged for as a 9-year old, and it was mine until it was stolen out of the back yard of the house I lived in during my junior year at college, left outside by a housemate when we stumbled off to bed drunk, after our first house-party of the year. I replaced it with a Miyata 310, I think...

Here's a picture of somebody else's Super Mirage. It looks about right:

[MartyE]

1975 Viscount Aerospace pro, black and silver with requisite
death fork. Suntour Cyclone derailleurs and Mavic Mod E rims
with Wolber tires.

Marty

[bcm119]

'89 peugeot bordeax with 7 speed indexed shifting, exage components. I loaded it up and took it on a week long bike/camping tour in the Catskills when I was about 13, and from then on I was fascinated with road bikes.

[Dr. Doofus]

Your Doctor did his first juniors races on a Sears free Spirit that didn't fit, left over from his 10th birthday.

The next year (1981), lawn cuttings and Santa brought your Doctor a 531C-tubed Trek with Suntour something on it, that left his hands in 1984....

[slowgoing]

Mid seventies C.Itoh. I couldn't afford a Motobecane, Raleigh, Falcon, Gitane or Bottechia. I took the C.Itoh over a Kabuki or a Sears Free Spirit. It only lasted about two weeks before I totalled it and had to borrow my brother's single speed Huffy with 26" wheels for the next few years. Upgraded to a Raleigh Supercourse and then a used orange Swedish Crescent with 531 main tubes in college.

[RichMc]

Some of you guys make me feel old, but that's because I am. 1970 I bought my first Raleigh SuperCourse, 531 butted tubes, Brooks saddle and Simplex derailluers. Great bike and for a while I had to ride it everyday to college while I fixed up my Austin BugEye Sprite. A couple of years after I got that I bought a Mondia Special, full Campy w/ handlebar end shifters, sew-ups and a Brooks Professional saddle. That bike was beautiful and fast, but man, was that saddle harsh. The Raleigh was stolen at school. Still wish I had the Mondia but I didn't appreciate what I had at the time. It wasn't good for daily travel to school because of the tires. Sold it for another SuperCourse and some extra cash. Starving student you know. Not like today where Mommy & Daddy pay for everything.

[cookieguy]

After a few months on a 35+ lb Schwinn, I knew I needed a real bicycle. It took me a year and a half a saving a few dollars at a time to be able to pay the $400 for the bicycle (1983 or 1984). It's a mix of suntour, sugino, and miche parts. Approx 22-23 lb. It felt like riding a rocket. I still use it on my wind trainer.

I still remember a long walk home on wooden soled cleated shoes after going through both of my spare tires.....

[vaxn8r]

1983 Nishiki Pro. I almost bought a Trek like Froze...I think a 660...but when I saw this, decked out with Nuovo Record, and just a hair over my price range, I couldn't resist.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=3115

[soulspinner]

80s Cannondale(stiff) Superbe Pro, white Look pedals added in 1985. 21 puonds with MA 40 clinchers with Specialized turbos(flatted constantly...). Shook my kidneys but I was young and rode that rig a lot of miles.

[bfd]

My first real road bike - a Fuji Del Rey, for about $300 - it was considered by either Bicycling or Consumer Reports (or both) as the "best buy"....

[PaulE]

Does a Peugeot UO8 count as a real road bike? It sure did to me at the time. Mine was circa 1971, light blue with a leather saddle and Mafac brakes without suicide levers. I was 14 and had it a year or two when it was stolen off of my back porch. I then moved up to a yellow Dawes Galaxy, non-butted Reynolds 531, but still the same great Simplex derailleurs, which I had until 1992, when I sold it for a lot less than I paid for the Brooks saddle it had , the one with the wide rivets ground down to be flush with the leather. That saddle, a Sugino crank, and some Campy Valentino derailleurs were from an early 1980's upgrade.

If they don't count as road bikes, in 1992 I started riding again and moved up to a red Miyata 9-14 with 7 speed Shimano 105 indexed downtube shifters, and that bike was upgraded to 105 8 speed with brifters. I still have that bike on my trainer in the basement.

[don compton]

thanks weisan, if it were only 59 cm.
don c.

[JackL]

My first "nice" road bike was (is) a 1985 Dave Moulton Fuso with first-generation Dura-Ace click shifting. It's still the prettiest bike I own.
Jack

[Bruce H.]

After suffering through my first triathlon, (1983) I threw out my Schwinn Continental (39 pounds), drove to NYC on 14th street west side and bought a Bianchi Neuvo Racing bicycle. I have since had it repainted, and added custom made wheels from Mike Johnson in Lambertville, N.J.
I still have it but have not ridden it since 1992.
Bruce H.

[Tony Edwards]

I got a respectable Motebecane (all I really remember about it was it was silver) when I was 11 or so, in 1981. I got what I considered my first Nice Bike, a Miyata 310, in 1983 or 84. After that it was all MTBs for a while, before I got a DeRosa SLX Professional in 1994.

[shinomaster]

I'm still waiting for one!

[MallyG]

Condor Barachi, hand made. Reynolds 853 steel tubing, Chorus Groupset, silver paint with a retro yellow band on the seattube and downtube and yellow handlebar tape. The wheels were handbuilt by Mr Young at Condor. 'I keep a photograph, preserve your memory.....'

[Kane]

Vietnam was no longer a threat. I was 19 and free. In 1972 I sold my 1970 Fiat 124 Sedan and bought an Italian racing bike. Double butted Columbus tubing, full campy Nuevo Record, Fiame Red Label wheels with double butted spokes and Clement Del Mondo Seta (silk) tires. Wool shorts (they are still in great shape, but sadly the waist line is 34" not 31." The Dieto Peitro (sp?) shoes with the nailed on cleats completed the look. There were about 100 'real riders' in L.A. at the time. Horns honked, "hey queer, get off the road."
This was long before bike riding was to become way cool. Needless to say, my father was none too please with my investment strategy. I gave the bike to my nephew last year. With a lower bottom bracket and steel tubing it still descends better than my Ti bike. Fabulous, for the memory, but at 3:50 p.m. it's time to go for a mountain bike ride on my new Turner Burner. Why not the best!!

Cheers

[Kevin]

1979 Raliegh Super Course. Great bike, even better memories.

Kevin

[gaxi]

A early eighties Basso frame with very mixed parts (I remember Shimano 600 shifters / crankset / pedals, Weinmann brakes, Pelissier hubs, Mavic rims) in blue / yellow. The frame had a 62cm TT. After half a year I realised that something was wrong with this frame - my 2003 Legend has a 55 TT !

[Banjers51]

Hard for me to qualify "real", but probably would have to be the '72 Italvega "Nuovo Record" purchased during my senior year in college. Campy NR ders, hubs & headset; Stronglight cranks/rings; Universal brakes. I'm discounting the string of reasonable Bike Boom Japanese and Euro bikes I had before this purchase (Nishiki, Libertas, etc.) Used The first one I really fell in love with, however, was a '68 Cinelli SC purchased used in early '74 from Cupertino Bike Shop. Bought it as frame/fork and built up as budget allowed. Finally all Campy NR and some SR by mid '70s. Rode it to death, literally. No longer around, alas, but I suspect it remains the benchmark by which I measure all bikes I ride/own, just because it was my only bike for more than 20 years.

[geezohwiz]

a celeste green bianchi superleggero with a campy nuovo record gruppo. i wish i still had it.
don c.

Early 1980's (1983?) Bianchi Celeste Nuovo Record with Campy NR drivetrain, Modolo Brakes, Ofmega everyything else...and still have it!

[arsegas]

A hand-me-down Diamondback Travail, I'm guessing from the 1980's. The best part is that it is painted gaudy neon green so it minimized the chances of getting get hit by other traffic. Judging from the weight, I have a suspicion that I was riding not on steel tubing, but solid steel bars. It's still in my garage, now more of an antique piece.

I loved the Shimano 600 group with the downtube shifters though...extremely smooth shifting.

[pbbob]

back about 1975 took a bus from ball state to indy then to the bike shop. bought a blue peugot. don't know what model. rode it back to muncie, some 50 something miles on a big chef and a chocolate shake and collapsed in my hole in the wall apt. first real bike and ride over 10 miles. later I discovered someone had place a 531 decal over the original tubing decal. I probably way overpaid for that sewer piped special.
but it was a peugot and it was blue and at that time it didn't get any better than that for me.

[kestrel]

Late 70's early 80's Benotto 1500. A few Campy parts, front and rear derailleur and the hubs, Universal brakes. Benotto rims, can't remember who made them and let Benotto put their stickers on them. Nail on cleats, and had the spokes soldered at the cross (soldering was my addition, didn't come from Benotto).

[Zoomie80]

'84 Trek...either 500 or 560 model. Sad story in a way but learned aabput the importance of a trusted dealer and proper fit. See, I wanted a bike and didn't know much about 'em...went to an LBS and saw a bike that looked appealing. I took it out for a ride and seemed OK for the 5-min spin on one of the side streets of O'Fallon, IL. I asked the proprietor about his opinion about the size/fit of the bike...all he said was "were you able to ride it?" So I bought it. Rode it around the neigborhood but something just didn't feel right. Fast forward a couple of months after moving to Seattle and tried a "longer" ride of approx 10 miles and it was not good at all...just could not get comfortable. Bike was way too big...sold it immediately and researched bikes about a year before buying another Trek (700 Tri Series)...from someone I trusted.

Cheers,
Zoomie80

PS.
Stopped by the LBS a year after I bought the bike and they had gone out of business...

[wwtsui]

This thread is bringing back some fond memories of childhood -- I bought my first "real" bike used after delivering papers for a summer. It was a beautiful, dark blue, 1976-ish Peugeot UO8 -- little did I know then to appreciate a mass-produced bike with cutout lugs... Hated that Simplex front derailleur though -- the bike was effectively a 5-speed.

Sadly, I traded it a couple summers later (after having saved money from mowing lawns all summer) for what I thought was a better bike: a light metallic blue $350 Motobecane Super Mirage -- no cutout lugs, but 12 speeds, stem shifters, and a parallelogram front derailleur so I could actually use all the cogs. (Whatever happened to SunTour anyway?) That bike took me through the rest of high school, all of college, a couple years in Boston, grad school, marriage -- only to get stolen within the first 8 hours of our move to NYC after our honeymoon :( .

When we left NYC in the early '90s for somewhere I thought I might ride again, we fell for the "multi-track" promise of hybrids -- one bike, road, off-road etc. Only problem was -- I hated that bike, and probably rode fewer than 20 times in the ensuing 10 years. Finally, 3 years ago, I walked into the same shop that sold us the hybrids, and after overcoming sticker shock, walked out with my current ride, a Lemond Zurich.

Now that I've caught the bug again, I'm scheming about getting the spousal unit hooked -- folks on this forum were very helpful in our tandem purchase earlier this summer... I'm also scheming about how to justify that custom titanium number that I just know will take me to cycling nirvana :p .

In the meantime, that lowly Zurich is still loads faster and more capable than its rider :crap: . I wish I still had that Peugeot, though. Thanks for giving me an excuse to reminisce!

[Frank]

Bought it in 1989, was tig welded in Mississippi Schwinn plant, blue with Suntour GPX components.

Rode and enjoyed the 1989 Hotter n' Hell 100 mile ride in tank top, tennis shoes, and unpadded Lycra shorts before I learned you couldn't do a ride like that on an aluminum bike or without padded shorts ;-)

[William]

On a lighter note:

I brought this out again in case there are any new folks on the forum who might like to add their experiences to the thread and bring back some cool memories.


William :)

[Joel]

First "Real" road bike was a '74 Peugeot PX-10 with the self exploding Simplex plastic group. Upgraded to the Simplex Super LJ set, which were wonderful. Bent the fork a bit when I ran into a curb - but when you're 14 years old that what happens. It got stolen two years later...I still miss that bike...

Replaced the Peugeot with a used '75 Raleigh Pro in Silver and Black. Cursed machine. Crashed it twice, and got hit by a car from a hit and run driver. The frame and I were totalled. The Campy equipment was fine.

Took the equipment and put it on a '80 Raleigh Team Pro (531) which I still have and still love riding on sunny Sunday afternoons.

Best,

Joel

[Andreu]

A Carlton....
I loved that bike
A

[quattro]

The year was 1973, life was simple, I had already had two Schwinn Continentals stolen, stepped up to the Schwinn Super Sport, the bike I dreamed of however, the Fuji Special Road Racer S-10-S. I purchased it used for $150, traded my clincher wheels with freewheel to a friend for his set of sew-ups with freewheel. What a joy, I was on top of the world, life was simple.

[Hard Fit]

Bianchi Limited - Blue

I still have this bike and after getting it back from my father, I rode it a little after my main bike bit the dust and did a lot of riding on it during the winter. After being on carbon fiber and now aluminum, it was a revelation to get back on steel. I now understand the "Steel is Real" that is trumpeted on this forum.

Still, I can't believe I rode this bike. The brakes were too big for me and the only way I could grab them was from the far reach of the drops. I couldn't stop by using the brakes from the top of the hoods. The old Dia-compe brakes really do not compare to the stuff made today. It somewhat scares me how long it takes to actually stop. The cranks bend like crazy, although this might be an adjustment problem.

I might convert this bike to a fixie, but I am not sure if it is worth trying to do it. After a winter of salt, it is starting to rust.

[ericmurphy]

1991 or 92 Trek 2300. Tob tube, down tube and seat tube were carbon and the rear triangle and lugs were aluminum. The aluminum was painted neon yellow with black paint drizzled on it. The bike had 7 speed Ultegra with down tube shifters. I put a Tioga stem and Scott Drop-in bars on it along with a then brand new Flite. It wasn't a bad bike at all...

I still have one of these, althought it's a 1990 model. But it sounds exactly like yours. It's gone through several generations of parts since then, but currently it has 1999 Ultegra drivetrain, 2002 brakes-brifters, CXP-12s laced to Ultegra rims, a Flite saddle, SR TallCoolOne mtb post, Cinelli stem and Modolo anatomic bars (the bars, stem, and post are from the original 1990 build-up).

Still a sweet bike, but compared to my Serotta it does feel a bit like a U-Haul truck. :-)

[dehoopta]

1987 Centurion Dave Scott Ironman. Purchased for $550 on extra student loan money. Shimano 600 components except for DiaCompe brake levers. First generation index shifing on the downtube. Used toe straps until a friend gave me some first generation Look clipless pedals. I still ride this bike today. Waiting to save enough denero's to buy my Serotta CdA.

[Kevan]

I did have a circa ’65 Schwinn Varsity Lime-green and loved that bike for about 4 years until it was stolen on its first day at Coral Gables FL High school…. the bastards!

Second bike, another Varsity, root beer colored, made uglier and heavier, with metal spoke and chain guards. Stolen within 24 hours of ownership. Father was super pissed! Okay…. new rule… use chain at all times, weighing more than bike and rider soaking wet. That thing could have prevented a Saturn rocket from lauching.

Third bike, a brief hiatus while father and son came to terms with second bike’s loss, Atiala (???), white, all aluminum, certainly lighter than the Varsity’s plumbing pipe. It and I got into a head-on crash on the bike path with a Schwinn Continental in Coconut Grove (Russ, pay attention here) on a blind curve of Douglas Rd and Main Hwy. I drove my incisors into the guy’s forehead and he twisted his fork to a pretzel and ended up walking. Looking down at my bike while resetting my teeth, all appeared fine until I noticed underway that my front wheel was rubbing the down tube. The frame was bent. My dad, being the genius he is, tied the bike to a palm tree and the fork to the bumper of the family car and pulled the frame sorta straight. You just can’t make this stuff up. The fork too was toast, even before the draw and quartering , so we dropped in a solid steel fork in its place. That lasted until the bike was stolen 2 weeks later…

Fourth bike, Raleigh Record. Had to be a 25 inch frame. It was a monster, but a beautiful golden yellow with black lugs. It too weighed a ton. Shifters were located on either side of the stem. Loved that bike and it never was stolen! Probably because it was so big.

College, drinking, driving, and women (all at the same time) became more important and not until I was fat, soft, with kids did I wake up to my passion…

Fuji Roubaix mid-90’s model. Bought thru Colorado Cyclist for $800 it had 105 brifters and was a sporty blue. Actually, a pretty good bike for the buck. Tig steel frame with some chain rub during out of the saddle climbs. Definitely felt some of my effort was being misdirected towards flexing the frame.

Calfee…

[weisan]

First "Real" road bike was a '74 Peugeot PX-10 with the self exploding Simplex plastic group. Upgraded to the Simplex Super LJ set, which were wonderful. Bent the fork a bit when I ran into a curb - but when you're 14 years old that what happens. It got stolen two years later...I still miss that bike...

Replaced the Peugeot with a used '75 Raleigh Pro in Silver and Black. Cursed machine. Crashed it twice, and got hit by a car from a hit and run driver. The frame and I were totalled. The Campy equipment was fine.

Took the equipment and put it on a '80 Raleigh Team Pro (531) which I still have and still love riding on sunny Sunday afternoons.

Best,

Joel

Wait a minute, I thought you were totalled. :D

[shaq-d]

heh, cool posts. my first road bike was bought this year, used serotta. i had no idea what a serotta was, but when i saw on teh classifieds at RBR that i could get a TI bike (it's a stock geom) for ~$1000, i didn't hesitate. i did research and hoped that 58cm was my size, and lucky for me, it is. it's a great bike and i love the campy chorus/record mix that came with it.

sd

[Fremont Dave]

In 1973, $250 bought me a re-built Dawes touring bike that I rode off and on until I acquired my first Serotta (a Nova Special X) in 1990. The Dawes is still out in the shed, unridden for many years. The Nova is hanging up in the garage and gazing with admiration at the 2001 Hors Cat that receives all of my attention.

[toaster]

I post this for purely vain reasons since like many I don't have the time to read of the very interesting posts here. It's not that I don't care, I just want to join the chorus. So, with out further ado:

My first real road bike was a Masi 3V with Shimano 600 Ultegra 8 speed and STI.

Steel baby!!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . on what you mean by a "real" road bike.

If an orange Schwinn Varsity counts, then that would be mine--bought it with money from my paper route delivering "Suburban Life" in LaGrange, IL. It was the first hundred dollar bill I ever held in my hand and I remember the bike was about $105 at the time. I put one of those rim generator lights on it and some "mini" fenders, because I was getting mud on me, but the full size ones looked so dorky! ;) . . . I have no idea what landfill or garage it's in now.

If an Orange Schwinn Varsity DOESN'T count, then it would be my '84 Vitus with Campy Nuovo Record drivetrain and early DA short reach brakes. I still have that one and it's fitted out as a tri-bike.

BBDave

[sspielman]

The allure of cycling must be strong, because some of the equipment that many of us used to start our cyclling careers would have discouraged less rugged individuals......My first "rider's" bike was an Atala "Grand Prix" It had to be one of the most sloppily built bikes that I can remember. I was 12, paid for it by grass cutting jobs, and very proud of it at the time. It had Campy "Valentino" derailleurs and "Tipo" hubs. It actually worked very well, and it fit. My second bike was a Libertas. It had a mix of Campagnolo Record and French parts....but it had a full Reynold's frame. This is the bike that I owned when I really became addicted to cycling. I wish that I still had it for sentimental reasons. A couple years later, I developed my first serious case of bike lust....for a Bertin. It had a beautifully constructed frame of Super Vitus tubing and was outfitted with the best French parts of the day...Simplex Super LJ's.....Stronglight 105.....Mafac 2000's....Ideale.....Atax....MAillard 700. Bertin made a beautifully constructed frame at the time. This bike was so nice that I still have a weakness for decent French stuff.....

[William]

Any new forum members want to add their first real ride to the list?


William

[chrisroph]

Italvega Superspeciale, a little too big. Columbus SP, chrome lugs, full campy nuovo record, brooks saddle (ouch! still hate them), 36 hole low flange hubs, fiamme red lable rims, clement campione del mundo tires, clement red cement, cinelli 1A stem, cinelli 63 (?) bars, regina chain, regina 5 speed freewheel;

then a yellow Guerciotti smaller, low to the ground, very rigid, big columbus stays and fork blades, a real descender;

then a Rickert;

then a bunch of other stuff.

[Larry]

.....Rode cross country fully loaded tour bikes for years.......Schwinn Super Le Tour 12.2, Schwinn Voyager SP (1986)....5,000 miles in less than 3 months.

1988- Schwinn Peloton....... kind of rough.

1990- Guerciotti......SLX......yellow and white. Nice ride.

1998- CSi......which I have upgraded components over the years.
SWEET RIDE !!!!!!

Larry

[ShockTreatment]

1973 Zieleman Type Special, with 531 DB and drilled Prugnat lugs. Bought the frame new and built it up with Campy NR derailleurs, 28 spoke Record hubs with Fiamme yellow label rims, Sugino cranks and some generic side pull brakes. Super light for the time and a beautiful bike. I wished I had held on to it.

[jerk]

it was called a "diamond"....really really bad belgian garbage. the jerk joined the hoelliert bike club so he could learn the language and the jerk needed a bike to join....so papa jerk took the little jerk to the bike shop and they got the jerk the 3rd cheapest road bike in the store....it was way too small......and it was a white and red fade. it's rims were all knurled and shiny and it had clement sew-ups on it.....but the jerk raced the hell out of the pos for three years....still have got it...it's in the old man's cellar...next time the jerk goes to visit him he'll get some pictures.

jerk

[rePhil]

My LBS couldn't give it away as index shifting had come to market and this one had mostly Suntour ARX and a mix of other components. Rode my first miles and century on it. It was relegated to a rain / beater for a few years until I got a better beater. I ended up selling it through the Road Bike Marketplace newsgroup to a woman on Team Saturn who turned it into a FG, for winter training.

[Zard]

Blue Peugeot circa 1975. The right downtube plastic simplex shifter broke in my palm while shifting and the piece of plastic caused a nice gash and trip to the hospital.

Upgraded to a gold Raliegh SuperCourse in 77 or 78. I still remember that it cost $321. Lots of lawns cut and driveways shoveled to pay for it. Still a great ride and a great day when I was able to finish paying for it and pick it up at the shop and ride it home.

[William]

My first road :bike:

William :)

[gasman]

you have WAY too much time on your hands. Get busy buddy.

[William]

you have WAY too much time on your hands. Get busy buddy.

Right! As soon as i finish these Bon Bons. :p

William ;)

[PanTerra]

Sorry if I'm re-hashing something that has already been done. :)

What was your first "real" road-racing bike?

I'm not going to count the Lime Green Schwin Varsity, or the ...

So I can't count my '72 Varsity? I thought is was a real road racing bike. In fact, I thought my '68 AMF English racer was my first "real" road-racing bike, chain guard and all. The varsity, a definite upgrade, had those derailleur thingies like my friends' Schwinn Krate bikes had, but instead of those Monkey bars it had racing "drop" bars. I did upgrade from that after it was stolen, to a Continental with the better center pull brakes and quick release skewers. Then when that was stolen, I decided that they weren't racing bikes so I decided I wanted a European racing bike and got a PUCH Pathfinder...made in Tiawan. D'OH! It weighed in at just over 30#s for a 25 inch. That lasted the first few years after college, when in 1984 I did the Hotter'n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls and barely finished the 25 mile route wearing basketball shoes and cut-offs. The most proficient guy in our group, after all he did do the 50 mile route, rode a Peugeot PSVN10. I knew then that my PUCH was really not much better than the varsity in the grand scheme of things. I couldn't afford the PSVN-10 at around $500.00, I bought a 1984 64cm Peugeot PGN-10 ($365.00 and put on Lay-a-Way) with 501 lugged frame and fork and an assortment of french components (Simplex, Nevar, Weinmann etc.). But after a few years I realized that this too was not really what I would consider a real road racing bike. These components lasted about 4 years. After seeing the Mercian frames of all different colors hanging in my LBS and hearing more about the 531 framesets used by the "pros" as THE frame material, I knew what I wanted. One day during a sale I found an '87 or '88 Peugeot Sante' complete with a 531SL Professional (red label) frame and fork. So all that to say that I believe the Sante' was the first "real" road racing bike, regardless of what it said on the English racer frame. No, really!

[PK9]

If Varsity's don't count, neither does my '74 metal flake, sea-foam green C.Itoh (like slowgoing's I suspect). Questionable paintjob over what were probably galvanized steel pipes. Severely overtaxed/underperforming Shimano Eagle dearailleurs.
Anyway, sold it in short order. Got a '75 Motobecane Grand Touring. A definite step up. Decent frame with Sun Tour/Weinmann/Normandy mutt gruppo.
Sold that in short order too. Replaced with a '75 Motobecane Grand Record with a 531 frame with Nervex scroll-cut lugs in tasteful black and red. Originally had Nuovo Record/TA/Weinmann muttt gruppo with Clement Elvizia tubies (like terry's I suspect). Except that I landed a job at the LBS and started upgrading it 'til it was almost full Nuovo Record -- w00t! It took 6 months to track down the French diameter (26.6 I think) NR seat post -- love those unique French sizes. Loved that bike though it was really too big -- the frame is now enshrined on the garage wall.

[Larry D]

A shiny black 1973 Raleigh Competition with Huret Grand Jubilee downtube shifters and deraillers. I used it up until my Atlanta replaced it in 1999.

I am now looking to "restore" the faithful ride as I have most of its original equipment that was "upgraded" when I worked in bike shops in the mid 70s.
:beer:

[ERDR]

scwhinn peloton. sort of a poor man's paramont. suntour superbe pro with sew-ups. sold it to move up to the real deal and bought the 1st of several paramounts. i am thinking of buying back the last one i had. i sold it to my brother and it just sits in his garage.

[ergott]

Schwinn Circuit circa 1997or98. Came with a Rockshock Ruby Metro fork. First thing I did was get that fork off and gat a Time Equipe. Then, I got a set or Rolf Vector Pros on a whim. By the time it was done, I bought a Dura Ace 9 drivetrain. Man did I waste money in a bad way. The worst thing you can do is upgrade piece by piece. After I got a C-40 I converted it to a time trial bike, then swapped the frame out for a Felt TT (650c front). Sold the frame and the rest doesn't have anything to do with my first road bike.

I must admit that with almost full Dura Ace and Rolfs (later Spinergys) the bike was real fast!

-Eric

[scrooge]

Mid 80s Nishiki Prestige--got it in Jr. High for @ $170. Nice peach (really pinkish) and yellow with Suntour components. Decked it out with areo bars and the works. When I outgrew that one, I traded it in for a bigger model wich I rode until 2 years ago. I put a giant stem and seatpost on that one to make it fit a little better. I gave it away when I moved, but wish I had kept it to convert into a commuter or something fun like that.

[colodale]

1989 Trek 1100, bonded Aluminum.

Rode for 10 years before a Serotta Atlanta replaced it. Standing and sprinting in the big ring was good for only about 10 pedal strokes before the flex in the frame caused the front derailleur to shift to the small ring. Not a very usefull feature :rolleyes:

Original components were low end Suntour stuff. The rear freewheel came apart and dropped balls out in my first race. Frame and fork only original bits still on it, but it still see's time on my trainer. Nice to have a bike to sweat on you don't care so much about.

Dale

[yim]

Motobecane 531 in ice blue color.

Shimano 600, Dia-comp brake and some Zeus parts, fema (spelling?) stem and bar.

[I'm Not Worthy!]

My first road bike I bought used off a lady in 1997 and it was ridiculously too small for me. :crap:

I stuck on a huge seat post and stem and thought I was hot stuff. I rode that thing thousands of miles and affectionately, and sometimes not so affectionately, nicknamed it the POS for Piece o' S***. Last summer I upgraded to an Ottrott and couldn't be happier. :banana:

[Vancouverdave]

An early 1960's Allegro that was @5 years old when I bought it with grocery-bagging money in 1969 when I was fourteen years old. It had fallen off of the previous owner's car, been crudely and inaccurately straightened, and thus had a frame that was as crooked as the Bush family--I could ride my Schwinn Collegiate no-hands but not this rig. It had Stronglight 57 cranks, Gran Sport derailleurs with bar end shifters, Nuovo Record high flange hubs, and Weinmann tubular rims with big, fat Clement GranSport65 tires--one step down from Elvezias! The gearing made me tough; we lived in the Hollywood hills near Griffith Park in L.A., and it was geared 15-22 rear and 46-50 front. By the time the seat tube cracked in two different places (due to the Cro-Magnon frame alignment job, not due to any power input of mine) I could climb Laurel Canyon, Topanga Canyon, Beechwood, or Outpost Road on it--LA readers here will be able to relate. Didn't then and don't have now any flat ground top end, the weeknight North Hollywood Wheelmen rides through Griffith Park were exercises in sheer futility on it. It did get me through about ten centuries and one Los Angeles Wheelmen Lowland Double, however.

[cycler48]

1987 Trek 1500 with a mix of Shimano 600 and Sante components. It still hangs in my garage.

[csb]

space pac

[victoryfactory]

Here is a picture (Bad quality) of me and my first "real" road racing bike.
It was a Zeus, made in Spain c1974 Zeus made their own gruppo of mainly
rip-offs of campy designs of the day (I'm sure they paid for that in lawsuits)
But it was sweet stuff and about 1/2 the price of Campy.

I'm the rider on the left, with the hat on. Taken somewhere (can't remember
exactly) during our cross country ride in 1979 YIKES! that's 37 years ago!
VF- Old Man

[DarkStar]

Hmmm, 1980 VeloSport SuperAero constructed with Tange aero tubing and Shimano Dura Ace AX aero gruppo. Very flash bike, but too much of a noodle for my 190lbs. Plenty of admiring glances when I showed up with it at a local crit. Stolen two years later and replaced by a custom Marinoni that I still own but no longer ride because of my fragile back. :crap:

[mso]

I guess I wouldn't take into consideration my 1972 Raleigh Gran Prix. So my first real Road Racing bike was a 1985 DeRosa w/Campy Record. Sweet bike, sold if for my Legend Ti in 97. I wish I still had it :bike:

[William]

Chance for the newer members of the forum to tell us about their first "Real" road bike.


William :)

[97CSI]

'75 metallic red Nishiki International with full SunTour/DiaCompe gear. Was a very nice bike, for the time. Traded it for a Fiorelli, which was a mistake.

[PBWrench]

First "real" bike was a late 60's Frejus purchased in 1973. Kinda beige with Nuovo Record, Universal brakes, Cinelli bars/stem, Fiamme red labels and a Unicanitor-Cinelli saddle. After awhile I repainted it myself, badly, and then had it chromed. I ended up selling the frame to a buddy, and put all the gear onto a brand new '77 Raleigh Pro frame. That frame lasted me until my first Colnago . . .

[William]

:)

[jdoiv]

Cannondale w/105 index shifters. Probably put well over 8k miles on that bike. Good bike. Still have it. Don't ride it much though. Then again, I don't get to ride much at all anymore. Once or twice a week if lucky.... I need to win the lottery... :rolleyes:

[JeffreyG]

1989 cannondale criterium with custom paint, 105, the index shifting and oval biopace cranks. I bought it brand new for about $400.00 and I thought it was the cats a$$. It was stolen sometime in the early nineties. I did see one just like on EBay a while back but I couldnt spare the change to buy it, to bad it had the original pedals,reflectors and eveything.

Heres a pic of the one I saw on EBay. Not mine

[chrisroph]

About 1971 ital vega superspeciale, all columbus sp, pretty chrome lugs, full campy nuovo record, long reach brakes, campy steel road pedals with cristophe clips and binda extra straps, 5 speed regina freewheel and chain, high flange 36 hole hubs, clamp on downtube shifters, top tube cable clamps, and cable guides, cinelli 66-40 bars and 1A stem, unicanator saddle, and cloth hb tape.

[KevinK]

I bought used in 1978. It was built in Portland, OR by Mark Denucci (sp?). Had it repainted light metallic blue by Paul Schwyhart of Painting Specialties in Eugene, and raced my first 2 years on it. it was made of Reynolds 531 and it had very cool Mavic dropouts. I added a "diamond K" cutout to the BB shell. If it is still around, it is easily identifyable by the BB cutout.

Kevin

[beungood]

Not counting the Huffy and Schwinn in highschool, My first real roadbike was a 2004 Specialized Allez Comp Cro-Mo with Full Ultegra 9 on it. It has served me well and gotten me hooked on cycling and I still like it so much that I am having a hard time downgrading it to a rain bike now that I have the Spectrum....

[Fixed]

bro a used dark blue colnago I remember it said 68 mexico on it I worked in the bike shop all summer to get that bike sweeping cleaning the bathroom taking out the trash I think it cost $600 n. record zeus cranks with holes drilled in the chinrings .I used it when I got my first messenger job.cheers :beer:

[Cadence230]

1981 Univega Gran Rally with shimano 600 grouppo. It was a 23'' frame and I was 5'6''.

[shiftinjon]

My first real ride was an early 70's Swiss Allegro bought new in 75'. 531, Tipo, Pivo, Stronglight, AVA, Lyotard, Wolber, Simplex. It replaced a Japanese Campania that was stolen and was replaced by a Raleigh Pro. And so it began...

Here's a photo from www.campyonly.com of one with better parts. The dealer had these available in all levels of parts groups on the same frame but with different paint. The top of the line with all Campagnolo had this paint or the smoke paint job Allegro was known for. Mine was grey with red decals and red pinstriping.:

http://www.campyonly.com/images/retrobikes/2002/pg_full.jpg

[Argos]

1986 Schwinn Prelude, followed in 1989 by a Paramount. I worked all summer cuttin lawns and winter shoveling driveways to afford my two favorite teenage habits. Girls and bikes. I was 15 in 1989.

[jckid]

1987 Centurian LeMans 12-speed with downtube shifters, white handlebar tape, white to pink fade paint job, toe clips, and BioPace crankset. And I thought I was cool!

[justinf]

My first road bike was a Cilo, with brand-new at the time 105 componentry. Biopace! Index shifting! unfortunately the bike was totalled when I got hit from behind by a soccer mom's big wagon, then an hour later stolen at the mall after I limped there to call my mom. This was in eighth grade, I think. I didn't think there was a need to lock up the damage, but I was mistaken.

I guess it was lucky though--I was able to replace it with a Raleigh Team built up with Chorus from my parents' insurance. That was my first real real road bike.

[rphetteplace]

Trek 1000 black w/pink decals ooooooooooh yeah :banana:

[j2leslie]

First "pro" bike was a 1975 Peugeot PX10LE that I bought used for $250 in 1976 after it had been raced for one season. Super Champion red label tubular rims with wired spokes, Maillard hubs, Stronglight cranks, Mafac "Competition" brakes, Simplex plastic, Brooks Pro saddle, etc. Over the years I broke many of the components, but I still have the bike, now with Shimano 600 6-speed rear, Simplex metal front, Mavic MA-40 rims, Specialized hubs, original cranks and brakes, Campy C-record platform pedals with toe-clips...

After a few years of not riding, I actually rode it for a while this summer until my new CIII arrived. Now I'm spoiled with all Chorus, Speedplay x2's, Fisik saddle,... What a difference!!

[Dekonick]

Remembering old bikes...

I used to have this Takara Sport... 10 speed... rode it everywhere... sure wish I still had it even though it was just a mass produced boat anchor...

Do you ever lament the loss of an old bike?

[dirtdigger88]

I just found a picture of me on my first road bike- mom had it stuffed away in a photo album-

cool :cool:

Jason

[manet]

I just found a picture of me on my first road bike- mom had it stuffed away in a photo album-

cool :cool:

Jason

how sweet

http://www.brandi.org/grandpa/me_mom_grandpa_pics.jpeg

[H.Frank Beshear]

Cool Dads even smokin a blunt :banana:

[Rapid Tourist]

1976 Schwinn 10-speed with the bicentennial red, white and blue paint job. It was awesome. Friction shifters, brake levers under the tops and on the drops. I grew up in florida where there simply are no hills or inclines to speak of.

I remember that I rode that bike all the time and I never knew or understood what the shifters were for. No hills and no reason to learn. :)

Over the last many months I have watched the exact same bike slowly decompose at the metro station after being abandoned. Brought back some memories.

[dirtdigger88]

Cool Dads even smokin a blunt :banana:

dad was always cool like that :cool:

Jason

[MRB]

My first road bike was a Peugot PK 10. (?) The frame was 2 cm to big for me. I bought it new at a LBS at the tender age of 17, after earning money by cleaning sailboats all summer at a nearby yacht club. The frame was Reynolds 531 and some of the components were upgraded to Simplex Super LJ.

One time when I was iin a Crit in Missoula, my friends would yell on each lap "Make that Peugeot Sound!!!"

Before that I had a road bike given to me by a family when their son died. The bike was a Schwinn LeTour. He and I used to ride together. We dreamed of riding around a nearby lake someday.... the lake was 4 miles away and 2 miles around the lake... a 10 mile trip total.

Good Memories.

[shinomaster]

I'm still waiting for my first real road bike...

Schwinn Paramount :(
Serotta Atlanta :butt:
Cannonale Caad 4 :rolleyes:

Vanilla? Sachs? Hampsten?..Hmmmmm...... :p

[Ozz]

My got my first "10 speed" about 1974...it was some Japanese bike called Atami....I have never seen one since....probably a POS but I rode it a lot. Out grew it in high school and never replaced it.

After college (about 1988), I got a mountain bike (REI Novara Ponderosa). This was way before suspension....then I decided I liked riding on the road more....mostly cuz I didn't have to drive anywhere to ride.

In 1994 I got a Specialized Allez Pro. Picture is not my bike, but one just like it. I was all set to pull the trigger on a Davidson...but my wife-to-be thought the extra couple bucks would be better spend on a shiny chuck o' carbon crystal. The Specialized was still a pretty nice bike.....lugged steel.

I did get an agreement from my wife that for my 40th, I could get my "dream bike" with no (minimal?) budget restraints. That is how I ended up with my CSI.

[dirtdigger88]

My got my first "10 speed" about 1974....

dude- I think I was just taking off my training wheels in 1974. . . . :p

Jason

[Ozz]

dude- I think I was just taking off my training wheels in 1974. . . . :p

Jason
kids these days.....no respect for their elders. :no:

[dirtdigger88]

here is the "bike" I was riding in 1974- I managed to track down MY first mini bike- and get it back- I have most of the parts to restore it- I am waiting on a machine shop to build a new triple tree-

1973 Indian Mini- Italian made- Imported to the US by Indian- there were less than 200 of these ever brought into the states

My kid is gonna dig it one of these days soon

Jason

[Tailwinds]

dude- I think I was just taking off my training wheels in 1974. . . . :p

Jason

Ha, ha. I was just learning how to walk. :p

[William]

C'mon you newer forum members, let's hear ya! :)



William

[Jeremy]

Fuji S-12-S LTD. A black beauty with Suntour Cyclone. Silver panels, chrome crown, fork tips and dropouts. I worked in a shop as a teenager, put it on lay-away and paid for it out of my salary. I loved that bike.

Jeremy

[72gmc]

1986 trek 560. lugged 531 steel, shimano 600, specialized turbo tires that were the total package--narrow, lousy ride, wore out fast. greg lemond was a new tdf champ with his whole career ahead of him. i rode the heck out of that bike with my saddle all the way back and my funky oakley glasses. i still remember my dad taking me to get it. too bad i outgrew the frame.

[alancw3]

leftover late 1958 ralsigh lenton grand prix sunrise yellow(gold). i worked cutting lawns and shoveling snow for a year to buy that bike in 1959 for $105. i still have fond memories of that classic ride. this was shortly after raleigh had purchased lenton and before they cheapened the bike.

[bozman]

http://bikearchive.com/docs/98%20Reno.pdf

[harlond]

Peugeot PKN10E--Reynolds 531 in the main frame, Weinman 605 sidepull brakes, Stonglight 49D crank. It started with Huret derailleurs, don't know the model numbers, but the rear derailleur never worked worth a darn and was eventually replaced by a Suntour. Bought it around 1978, as I recall I paid about $500 for it, pretty high for the time. Replaced a World Traveler.

[catulle]

My first real race road bike was a new Legnano bought in 1965. I have a black & white picture of that bike which I can't find. It had pin cranks which I soon changed for a new set of modern aluminum Campagnolo. The new crank-set was a donation from the national cycling commission. I also switched the brakes for center-pulls, and had a pair of extra wheels with the Campy pista hubs. Pirelli were the tubulars of the day, and Brooks the saddle.

[mjmcgee]

I bought the less expensive model, with Suntour and Specialized components, and still wish that I had purchased the Campy equiped model. Still, the bike served me well for 8 years, until a rear dropout broke while I was riding. Specialized stood behind it, though, and I received one of the newer, lighter Allez's. That one lasted a year before the chainstay cracked, and I took the credit offered by the bike store (rather than just get another Allez) and purchased a Serotta TG. Still have it, though it is hanging on the wall now, but I will build it back up in the next month or so, as I have enough parts to do so again. I am also thinking about replacing the stock aluminum fork, would prefer an F1 or steel Serotta, but considering other carbon forks with either a steel or alloy steerer.

Thanks for reading. Mike

[Grant McLean]

It's totally great that so many on this forum have been enjoying cycling for
so long.

My first road bike was a Norco Monterey in 1981. I really wanted the next
model up, as my friend Geoff who got me into riding had a nice Bianchi,
and the Norco I got was nowhere near as nice as his bike... but look who's
laughing now!!

g

[wdlewis]

Mine was silver Raleigh International and I still have it and it's in super shape.

[jasont]

Heh, I'm the n00b.

http://alotofuseless.info/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=935&g2_GALLERYSID=f10de65d9aae07749913532e07f4eda2

Bought a few months ago :D

[PanTerra]

Heh, I'm the n00b.



Bought a few months ago :D

This is your "first real road bike?" That is just not right.

[fishbolish]

first REAL road bike :early 80s GIOS super record (blue),columbus SL,campy SR/NR mix, mavic gp4,cinelli bar & stem, GREAT RIDING BIKE, sold it for a beautiful pearl orange columbus sl Cinelli. (only to have it pass my way again many years later & to find it rode much better than the cinelli)should of kept it!,still looking today for a 59 cm of that era..............

[jasont]

This is your "first real road bike?" That is just not right.

Heh, yup. I'm a long time mountain biker that decided he needed a road bike. This forum inspired the lugged steel decision and I've always liked De Rosas.

[BoulderGeek]

Reynolds 531, Suntour Superbe Pro, second set of wheels in tubular, USCF Intermediate gearing straight block 14-19, Bennotto cello tape, Cristophe toe clips and nailed cleats on my wooden Sidis.

Life was good for a 14 year old.
:banana:

Prior to that I had done 2500 miles on an old steel Ross 10 speed that I won in a raffle.


jasont, that is a fine-a55 beginner bike! My envy is immense.

[Fat Robert]

my first real awesome bike will be here in...i dunno...6-8 weeks? stay tuned....

[Erik.Lazdins]

My first road bike was a Kia that I got when I was about 9. I rode it a lot, especially when all my friends went to summer camp.

A few years later we moved and I sold the Kia, but had saved up and bought with lawn mowing money a 1979 Raleigh Grand Prix. I rode that a lot, then I turned 16.

A few years later I rode it a lot again, replaced stuff then...

I bought a Trek in 2000 as it seemed to be a lot of bike for the money.

I recently got my first Serotta, a great bike, I'm quite surprised how good it is.

There are 2 more I'm waiting for but they aren't available/ready yet.

[BillyBear]

old c-dale R800 with full Shimano 600 groupo (shows how old it was, last I checked this model was decked out in 1/2 105 and 1/2 no name c-dale parts) ugly purple color. Most memorable feature was the almost vertical aluminum seat stays. damn bike was so stiff and unforgiving that if you happened to rolled over a dime you could tell if it was heads or tails!

[Ray]

I'm not new, but I guess I missed this the last couple of times around. Just scanned the whole thread - WOW, some cool old bikes.

My 'first' road bike (I'm going by it having drop bars - about the only similarity to what I ride now) was an early '70s Schwinn LeTour, which I had through high school. 10-speed, suicide levers, heavy as a brick (but not QUITE as heavy as a Varsity or Continental). Rode to school and back on this bike, got around a lot, but that was between my little kid 'ride for fun' stage and my adult 'ride for fun' stage, so it was generally transportation (a high calling, btw, but not one that inspires a lot of passion). I had a similar used lead pipe Nishiki in college that the salesman assured me was better, but I couldn't see or feel how.

I got back into riding in my mid-30s on a Performance mtb, and it took me all of a couple of months to realize that I really wanted a road bike, what with the fancy new integrated shifters and everything. So in September of '96 I bought a NOS early '90s Specialized Allez - red lugged steel - with RX-100 seven speed parts. Rode it through all of '97, including my first century. By the end of that season, I knew I was hooked big-time, so went through an extensive research project and late that year ordered a Rivendell road standard, which I got that winter and it was my number 1 bike from then until about a year and a half ago. Did club rides, solo rides, tours, centuries, commuted on it, slow rides, fast (for me) rides - I did EVERYHING on that bike. Many many many thousands of great miles and experiences on that green baby. I guess the Specialized was first, but the Riv was the first really NICE road bike. Don't ride it much these days, in favor of the Spectrum, but I still look at it a lot and hope I'll find a good use for it again.

-Ray

[PanTerra]

I'm not new, but I guess I missed this the last couple of times around. Just scanned the whole thread - WOW, some cool old bikes.

My 'first' road bike (I'm going by it having drop bars - about the only similarity to what I ride now) was an early '70s Schwinn LeTour, which I had through high school. 10-speed, suicide levers, heavy as a brick (but not QUITE as heavy as a Varsity or Continental). ...snip...

-Ray

Ah the Schwinn LeTour. That was my dream bike at one time, when I had a Varsity. In the brochure, it was part of the ultra-light group of schwinns, weighing in at a svelt 30 pounds. http://panterragroup.home.mindspring.com/emoticons/pound.gif

[johnmdesigner]

1989 I think...still going strong (even if the rider isn't). :rolleyes:

[dwightskin]

Two sizes too small Miyata 714. This bike had aluminum tubes bonded to internal steel lugs. Shimano 500EX 7 speed indexed group.

Nice light bike that got donated to local kid's racing development group.

Replace with a Bianchi Limited that actually fit.

Dwight

[Chuck M]

First road bike was a 1981 Vista Elite, black with gold pinstriping and Shimano 600 components that I got at the Ski Rack in Burlington VT. Sold it a year later to get money to move to Chicago. My first 'real' bike was a 1987 Schwinn Paramount Columbus SLX, emerald green made at what is now Waterford Precision. The P-mount was the first bike that showed me the difference between a great bike and the pretenders. Got my first Serotta in 1991, a black LT, and have ridden Serottas ever since.

[ti_boi]

1979'ish....Schwinn Le tour--suntour gears...black with red tape.
Man was I ever in heaven....Springfield, Illinois....*sigh*

That's me there with my first girlfriend...riding...yeah, uh, right... ;)

[River]

Used 70’s Raleigh Pro with Campy super record groupo, cut out levels and drilled chainrings. I loves the fastback seat stays the chrome tip fork and chainstays complementing that light blue frame. All top off with a beautiful Brooks saddle. I can remember the first couple of rides with my water soaked Sidi shoes going through the process of stretching those suckers out!!

[Vancouverdave]

An Allegro,bought in autumn of 1968, was @ five years old then-the bike, not me--red/gold fade paint, Stronglight 57 cranks, Gransport derailleurs with Ca py bar end shifters, Weinmann tubular rims with Clement Elvezia tubulars.
Rode it for two years until the previous owner's homebrew frame repair gave way and the seat tube separated from the bb shell. Rode my first century and double century on it, it was my perch for the whole weekend after my father's death to help me not deal with it. Rode it around my part of Los Angeles the day of the San Fernando earthquake looking at all the broken glass in the streets.

[shinomaster]

This was my 1992 silver brazed Paramount Japanese made production bike. It had a really thin tube set as I found out when I dented it in a lovely crash. Notice how baggy my size XS jersey was.

[Anthony]

A Univega Gran Rally (bought new circa 1982-83), Light Blue with maroon accents (cables, lettering, tape), and Shimano components (even though I was a big Sun Tour man at the time!). I bought it to get into racing, as before that I was primarily into touring. Wonderful bike--I rode it for about two years, and entered one race (and got humbled real quick!). Shortly thereafter, unfortunately, I tore up a knee playing basketball, and pretty much retired from riding.

However, I had several others before that, in order from newest to oldest: a Soma Sport tourer (smoke gray with Sun Tour components); a Bridgestone Kabuki Skyway (silver with Sun Tour components--another great bike, which someone stole--I'm still ticked off!); and a Ross Eurosport (a beautiful shade of royal blue, and heavy as heck, but it was cool at the time, as it was my first "ten speed").

Some great memories...and on the good side, I'm finally back in the saddle again after all these years, on a Trek 7200 hybrid. The knee feels great, and another road bike is definitely in my future!

[William]

your first "real" road bike. :banana:




William

[regularguy412]

My first 'real' road bike was my original 1988 model Cannondale Criterium ( the one that got hit by the pickup truck ). It came with Wolber T430 Alpine 32-hole, 3X wheels and Michelin Select tires (wire bead). Full Shimano 105 6-speed group __ WITH__ index shifting ( what a revelation ! ). It had a Modolo Ergo bar and a Nitto stem. The 170 mm cranks came with clip-style platform pedals __AND__ those 'new fangled' Bio-Pace chainrings in 39/52. It had a Tange headset. All this technology for a mere $600.

I am riding its twin right now, albeit with a few modifications, while awaiting the return of my CSi.

Now if this bike only really 'fit' me ........ :crap:

Mike in AR

[rwsaunders]

I got back into cycling in 1987 and I purchased a 1983 lugged steel Bianchi from the LBS that had been gathering dust in the corner. I was oblivious to the build; I just liked the burgundy paint job and the gum hoods.

I sold the bike four years later and the fellow who came to buy the bike complained that it had "sew up" tires. I told him that I didn't know what kind of tires they were, but I never had a flat so I didn't care. The components were made by some Italian company....Ignorance was bliss in this case.

[GregL]

1989 Trek 1100. Bonded Al frame with Cro-Mo fork. Suntour Edge triple group (Biopace, or Suntour equivalent thereof...), 7-speed Sachs freewheel. An all-around excellent bike that I rode for fun, fitness, road racing, time trials, and even lightly-loaded touring. As my knowledge of bike fitting changed and parts wore out over the years, I updated the bike with different components. The bar/stem/saddle/pedals were changed and the running gear eventually morphed to Shimano 105SC 8-speed.

I sold the bike in 2000, but part of it still lives on. The original 1989 Trek Matrix Titan rims refuse to die. They are still rolling on my cyclocross / dirt road bike after 18 years of use!

Regards,
Greg

[Karin Kirk]

My first road bike was a steel, lugged Cilo, with Shimano 105 and in my favorite colors of blue and white. I raced the heck outta that thing, and I remember being impressed that the 105 drivetrain never missed a shift, while some teammates on fancier stuff tended to disappear at critical moments in races, accompanied by the sound of crunching cogs. Or maybe the cause was their flexy Vitus frames, which sometimes seemed to shift on their own?

After beating that bike to death over a few seasons of traveling and racing, I opted for a Serotta as my next bike. When I visited the factory to get my frame pump painted a matching color (neon green - hey, it was in vogue then), I met Dave for the second time and, well, the rest is history. All my bikes since then were built by him.

[rdparadise]

Reynolds 531, Suntour & Simplex group, genuine Brooks saddle, chrome steel fork and chain/seat stays. It came originally in British racing green, however, yours truly screwed it up when I powerwashed it at the local car wash. The paint came off, primarily on the seat stays like it was never primed properly. Anyway, I later stripped it and painted it bright red from several raddle cans.

I still have this bike hanging in my basement in the back corner.

Many good rides on this thing, however, it was primarily used for transportation and delivering newspapers, until I got a car and started to drive.

When I rediscovered cycling in the early 90's, I brought the old Raliegh out, had it tuned up at the bike shop and started training for the local MS ride. I did the 75/75 on this bike (aching like crazy the second day peddling back home) and went out and bought a Trek 2200 (3 tube carbon fiber, vintage 1993). Kept that for a few years and then bought my first used CSI in 98.

The rest is history.

Regards,

Bob

Ps. Karen, great story! :)

[RIHans]

My first "Real" road bike was a brand-new 1974 Witcomb, right out of the box. I was thrilled to build it up with a mix of Italian and Asian parts. Compared to the bikes I've had since then, well, newer is better in this case. There is a Witcomb web-page, and I found myself there not long ago (I think, a link regarding ATMO and JP Weigle). Lo and behold, there is Barry Wicomb, in front of the shop, holding a resto 1974 that looks like the one I had...in the fog of time. A nice trip down memory lane! Barry and I both have a bit of gray hair now.
BTW>>>Karin, I used to love those Cilos! Nice bike.

[TMB]

( sorry - posted in wrong thread) - oops.

[top_sgt]

my first "road" bike was a Schwinn Continental 10 speed i got for high school graduation. then traded it a couple years later for a LeTour, a couple later for a Super LeTour!! sun tour components, finger tip shifters!! thought i was it!!!
i rebuilt the super letour about 10 years ago and started riding again. bought a Schwinn Peleton pro, upgraded to Dura-ace!! didn't know then how "out of position" i was on the peleton.

got a concours cs about a month ago, the peleton has been "retired"!!!!!!!!!!

[William]

New members, tell us your story!! :)




William

[gt6267a]

1990 cannondale crit 3.0 with rx100 group, big boy blue with white accents. LOVE the paint on that bike.

i rode that thing all over the lehigh valley in high school training for water polo season. loved the bike. i stopped riding for 7 years and picked it up again at 27. what once was THE cheese turned into a nasty mess well beyond the blue of its skin. something about not giving a crap or just being flexible at 15 Vs 27 ... i picked up a zurich and then a crl and was much happier ...

[BURCH]

In college, I found a local wrench who found this old Cannondale frame in a basement somewhere. He built it up with ultegra crank and hubs for $450. What a deal. That bike got me across the country!

This is the only picture that I could find of the bike. That is my buddy in the picture with the bike at a hotspring somewhere in northern Idaho near Lolo Pass.

[14max]

*

[Fixed]

ross prof .
then pug .px10
cheers

[saab2000]

This was my 1992 silver brazed Paramount Japanese made production bike. It had a really thin tube set as I found out when I dented it in a lovely crash. Notice how baggy my size XS jersey was.

I used to have baggy jerseys too. Too bad they shrunk so much.... :rolleyes:

[ButtedMoron]

70's Schwinn, don't recall the model. was waaay nicer than a Varsity but not as nice as the Paramount. Long before the Le Tour. Had a T/A Triple and Campy Touring Mechs. If memory serves me right some decent center pulls. It was a lovely Viridian. I cannibalized the cranks and der's for my first MTB in '80 (Mafac Cantis Yum).
Bike was still in my possesion when it was stolen in 97.
oh later and 84 Merckx with Super record (has Nuevo pedals and seat pin)
gonna have JB repaint at some point

[Banjers51]

Well, while most of my friends were lusting after a Varsity or maybe even a Continental, I got the idea that I wanted something Italian, so I ordered a Legnano from a shop in San Francisco. This was in '65 or '66--can't remember--but it arrived about six months later, that weird yellowish green, and early Record drivetrain (steel cranks), Universal brakes, etc. Unfortunately, being a teen, I quickly outgrew it, but kept it anyway for years and years until some jerk stole it out of my garage, leaving me only the wheels--how weird is that? Many bikes after that, too many to remember, but lots of Italian steel. Ah youth...

Banjers51
"Putcher fangers on the strangs" E.Scruggs

[merckx]

1976 Motobecane Grand Jubilie. Reynolds 531 main tubes, gas pipe elsewhere. Mix of Suntour, Sugino, Weinman, Normandy, Ideale, Michelin. Began my racing career on it. Look where it got me.

[Samster]

An old Melton steel frame. 49cm (too small for me, but rode it well anyway...)

It was my first race bike. Handled beautifully as I recall. All Nuovo Record (except Super Record chainrings) with Saturae (I think) tubular rims and a 13-17 Regina Oro cluster. It had Clement tires (usually.) I built those wheels my self and was really proud of how well they held up.

I had to replace the fork because of a stupid accident involving the insertion tip of one of those cheap architectural lamps getting wedged between the spokes and fork blades while hauling stuff back from the bookstore during my first year of college (1981). Never handled the same afterwards. The new fork was black, and the top tube had a bit of slope because the frame was so short. Thus, it was presciently modern in several respects...

I sold it in 1986 after 7 years of ownership. I didn't ride again until 1997. It was red.

Joel (on this forum) may remember this bike.

[FATBOY]

Davidson Impulse with 8 spd Veloce ergo....whippy, springy steel that seems archaic now but I was the best rider that I will ever be on that bike even if it was not the best bike I will ever have.

[northbend]

My 1st large purchase after landing a good paying job (I think it was a little over 7 bucks an hour..) in 1979: Coicc San Cristobal. It took me 6 months after I got the frame to finally buy all the components and get it assembled. Campy SR, frame was silver with tons of chrome. Traded it to a co-worker in 1981 for his Bruce Gordon custom which I still have to this day. I think I got the better end of the deal. Thanks Tony, wherever you are.

Revision: I rode the old Bruce Gordon on the Chilly Hilly in February. Nice to get re-aquainted with an old friend. It also makes a good back up when my other bike is in the shop..

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj140/northbend/bikes/BG.jpg

[Grant McLean]

my 2nd bike was the 'real' one... '83 sarroni

-g

[DarrenCT]

trek 5200

i only started riding a few years ago :)

the trek was sold 1 year later.

[thwart]

My first real road bike... 1976 Schwinn Super Le Tour 12.2. College graduation gift.

Upgraded with Suntour Cyclone RD and Gran Compe brakes. And of course, Campy shifters. Back in the day took a lot of crap from friends (who were riding Motobecanes, Raleighs and Bottechias) for owning a Schwinn...

Had fallen in love with silver Cinellis and Colnagos but their prices were way, way over the funds available at the time. Lots and lots of miles the first 5-10 years of ownership, much less lately. Finally sold it on eBay 2 or 3 years ago for $100 more than it went for new. Still looked pretty good...

[cleavel]

Hi,

This was my first REAL race bike:

http://www.pbase.com/cleavel/image/68369420/original.jpg

I bought this 1975 model in the spring of 1976. $530 out the door. :)

It originally had Nuovo Record and typical Italian quick release paint. Restored it as shown during 1985 (fourth paint job and new 1984 Super Record components). It is on permanent display in my house.

[jtferraro]

My first 'real' road-racing bike was a US Postal TREK 5500, purchased in the fall of '02. The frameset was a left over from 2001. This past spring I sold it and had posted it in our classified forum.

[dbrk]

My first was a 1970 Dawes, bought new, followed by a 1972 Mondia Special made of 531 with Nervex lugs and, of course, a Swiss bottom bracket! I still have the Mondia; it hangs in the basement with a few other bikes now.

dbrk

[dbrk]

My first was a 1970 Dawes, bought new, followed by a similarly new bought-with-the-proceeds-of-being-a-shop-rat 1972 Mondia Special made of 531 with Nervex lugs and, of course, a Swiss bottom bracket! I have the Mondia; it hangs in the basement with a few other bikes now.

I've just recently "upgraded" to an Ebisu built with 6 speed Suntour. The frame's tubes seem strangely large to me in comparison to the Mondia. This shifting device has "clicks" for each of the gears, and so apparently "index" and the rear adds on cog to the usual five! I don't really understand the need for either of these innovations since I can shift as fast without the clicking and the extra gear adds nothing to the overall performance. I wonder what they will think of next to sell us!

dbrk

[girlie]

I saved an entire summer to buy my first race bike.....ultegra 9 speed Specialized Epic, carbon tubes with aluminum lugs - in blue. Though the first bike I got that was a ten speed...wanted it so bad.....my father did some welding work in trade for it.....it was also in blue:) It fit me better than my first race bike.

Loved both of them.

[saab2000]

It was on a Sanwa that I had my first real taste of the open road. It had alloy rims and downtube levers, etc. Probably had the most fun ever on that bike. It's been downhill ever since trying to upgrade the equipment, thinking (falsely) that that will enhance the cycling experience.

Anyway....

The next one and the first real race bike was a Gitane Tour de France. It was real, with Mavic rims and wolber tubulars and Spidel/Simplex components and a Bernard Hinault Turbo saddle. It hangs in a barn in Appleton, WI now. It is rideable, but has only a couple original components and has twice been repaired and repainted by Tim Paterek who made the rear brake 'long reach' and painted it some hideous purple and painted over the chrome. He was the Gitane contract person for warranty work and didn't give two dumps about the bikes. It broke once after he fixed it and he had to fix it again and was P/Od, more or less blaming it on me. My opinion of Tim Paterek is not high.

I digress.

Those were my first two sorta high end road bikes (the Gitane was legitimate high-end) and were my entry into the world of road riding. I have pictures of neither.

[Fixed]

bro you cats are too cool i still love the old bikes cycling is a lifetime sport bro how cool is that?
cheers

[MilanoTom]

Mine as a barely used late '80s or so Torpado (Aelle-R tubing) with 7-speed Shimano 105 downtube shifters. Over time I upgraded it to a mix of Campagnolo, including some ugly Veloce Ergo shifters. It was an interesting story - in was the fall of 1992, I was living in South Carolina and had just come off a miserable separation and divorce. I was just starting to get interested in riding and realized that my old Schwinn Continental was not going to prove satisfactory. The Torpado was pretty much the only road bike in a grimy old mom-and-pop Schwinn store in West Columbia, SC. Apparently, it had been purchased at another local shop as a gift by a husband for his wife. She took one ride and swapped it for a mountain bike. I bought it for $300 and rode the crap out of it over the next summer. Having and riding that bike (and making a host of new riding friends) was the only thing that kept me sane, and maybe even alive. . Anyway, the following year I bought another barely-used bike, a late '80s US-make Masi 3V, and eventually sent the torpado to a woman friend in Idaho, so she could ride roads instead of trails.

Every once in a while, I wonder if there's ever a reason for the way things happen as they do. Thinking about where I found the Torpado, it's nearly new condition, how it was the size I needed, and the extermely reasonable price, it almost seems as though it was sitting there waiting for me.

Regards,
Tom

[MilanoTom]

"...it's nearly new condition..."

I rarely mix my contractions and possessives. I feel so illiterate.

Tom

[Larry D]

A white 1972 Fuji 10 speed, the model I can not remember. It was followed shortly thereafter by a 1973 Raleigh Competition. I fell in love with that black bike with chrome fork tipos and chain stays. I still have it today along with the Huret grand Jubilee derailleurs. It is now awaiting some tlc to return it to its original glory. :beer:

[ti_boi]

Schwinn Super Le Tour......in black....so similar to thwart's.... :cool:

[onekgguy]

Last April marked the 30 year anniversary for me of my fascination with road biking. I wrote about it here (http://onekgguy.blogspot.com/2007/04/30-year-love-affair.html) and described my bikes along the way.

Kevin g

[Seramount]

A beautiful metallic gray 1975 (76?) Motobecane Grand Touring. Some specs:

Crankset: Takagi Tourney SP, 40/52 chainwheels, 170 mm cranks.

Pedals: KKT TPA alloy or Atom 440

Freewheel: Suntour ProCompe gold 14, 17, 22, 27, 32

Derailleurs: SunTour VGT w/Downtube shifters.

Brakes: Weinmann 99 Centerpull w/Dia-Compe levers and extensions.

Wheels: Hubs: Normandy high-flange with quick releases. Rims: Rigida alloy 27" X 1 1/8". Spokes: three-cross. Tires: Michelin Elan.

Saddle: Sella Italia padded suede

Seat post: SR P3 with Simplex binder bolt.

Bars: Pivo Pro Randonneur bend with black cloth tape.

Stem: S.R.

Price: $240.00

I thought I wanted to be a tourer, but the first time I rode it with loaded panniers, I hated the loss of speed and agility...after that, I knew I wanted a road RACING frame.

[don'TreadOnMe]

Trek 560 w/Superbe Pro

[jghall]

White Olmo with black anodized Galli components. One sweet looking bike, and a nice ride too.

[Steevo]

Missed this thread as well... too busy lurking.

My first real road bike and my first big purchase - wrenched in a shop all summer to buy it. A 1975 Bridgestone Kabuki Diamond Tourer - a model towards at the top end of their line.

All the nice Japanese parts of that era...

Cro-moly butted steel with chrome head lugs.

Sun Tour V-luxe ders. w/ those great SunTour ratcheting Power Shifters clamped to the DT.

Sugino Mighty Comp crank - still looks good.

Gran Compe center pulls,

Sakae bars & SR Royal stem, etc.

I still have it, but it needs to be refurbished. I keep thinking about setting it up for slow rides, trips to the local store, family riding, etc. Maybe new 700x35 rims, or even 650B if they can work. For now, it sits in the garage, and has a warm place in my heart.

[stevep]

i have had a lot of nice bikes. my first was a wretched pos schwinn varsity that i bought to commute to college on... maybe 5 miles each way.
i hated that bike. it was awful heavy and slow. finally was stolen and i was happily without a bike for a year and a half...
lucky for me that i took another swing at something better.
i got into the action with a raleigh grand prix... and was hooked by that bike.

[rounder]

My previous bikes were always ridearoundtheneighborhood specials, but in 1989 got a Scwinn for daughter when she was old enough. The next week, bought a Schwinn Traveler which was better than what I had before. Then the Tour de Trump came to Baltimore followed by Greg's win over Laurent Fignon at the TdF several months later. Flipped out and went immediately to the lbs and bought a Bianchi Brava in dark blue with celeste trim and Suntour GPX components, and sold the Schwinn. Rode it regularly until I got a Serotta in 1992. Kept the Bianchi until recently when I gave it to my nephew, who needed a bike for his new job as a messenger.

[dnades]

Bought a bright yellow Recordman lugged frame with polished lugs. Cottered crank.. Had it until a friend who wasn't watching where he was going and put it into the back of a parked car. Age 13 or so. Loved that bike. First real road bike. Upgraded to a Vista Silver Shadow(250$$ from the local bike shop)Lot of scratch for me at the time. No idea on the components- this is 1980 or so. Rode that all over Vermont (no car) up till about age 16/17. Even had a head on collision with my neighbor's car in a parking lot(he got it fixed for me even though I gave him a heart attack). What luck! I was avoiding a red light by cutting through the parking lot. I think my parents sold it when I went to college. I saw one locked to parking meter last year. Araya tubing. Kind of a sad looking thing. It was a great bike. I remember my girlfriend at that time rode a Huffy which must've weighed 35-40lbs. Then she bought a Motobecane. That was her first 'real' bike. She got tired of always being behind me so she got a lighter bike than mine. I guess my butt only had so much mileage in it. More bikes since then but that Recordman was real sharp for an eighth(sp?) grader.

[dutri42590]

My frist road bike was a 1989 peugeot triatalon.i got it in 2001.and it all started there. this was my dads old bike so i got it and still have it today.
JPR :banana:

[William]

Tell us, we would like to know what that first steed was.




William :)

[97CSI]

Metallic red Nishiki International with full Suntour gear in '75. Here's one like it in metallic blue. Wish I had been smart enough to hold on to it. At least I have been with the '87 Paramount.

[weiwentg]

no pics, but I had a Giant TCR 0 frameset, I think the 2001 model. red and black. very sharp. very racy. I won stage 3 of the Cat 4 Tour de Toona on that one in '03. then I had a bad crash and quit racing. I got a Colnago Dream Plus on closeout, then a few months later I had a car v bike, was severely injured, and got the Nago totalled (plus I was in the hospital for 2 weeks).

I ended up throwing the Giant out in frustration. it had been crashed multiple times and had a dent near the headtube. that was perhaps a foolish move. it was a good frame.

[giordana93]

first real race bike: 1983 Viner tretubi bought from Gus Betat & sons in New Orleans. Super bright blue with Italian flag proudly displayed in a few places, with the special New Orleans gearing: 44x52 Sugino mighty, in a mix of other Japanese componentry, except the Campy downtube shifters. it was supposed to be a 75x75 angles, a square 52x52. it was a handful bombing down the hills around Ithaca, NY, when I moved up there, and yeah, I had to change that 44! wish I'd never sold it.

[dave1215]

i bought one of these in 1986 to help me quit a pernicious smoking habit i had developed while serving in the united states peace corps:

[WadePatton]

Some sort of C'dale around 1986. 105 on the tube. It got me going.

And my current fixie is a Centurion painted 'zactly like the one above. :cool:

[C5 Snowboarder]

My 80ish Sekai - Still ride it even tho it is a heavy steel lugged frame - added the Brooks B-17 and widened the handlebars and added the Koolstop Salmon pads. Looks pretty good after 27 years.

[giordana93]

my best friend and first riding buddy bought a sekai the exact same week as I bought my Viner, and I almost mentioned it in my post above; same color as yours! his was completely chromed under the paint, so it looked brilliant in the sun. tange prestige I think?

[jpw]

Real? Who knows, but my first 'racer' was a Raleigh Arena 5 speed in blue from the Raleigh factory shop in Nottingham, England. My Grandmother bought it for me as a 13th birthday present - she worked for the company...when it was still a real bicycle company.

[Peter P.]

Hey William-

Since you bumped this thread, I read about your first "real" bike and saw the photo. Knowing how difficult it is to fit tall guys like you, I was wondering what your bike history was/is after the Fuji? Did you go custom immediately? Did you give up on finding stock frames tall enough? How have yo solved your problem?

[saab2000]

I will try to get a picture of my first real road bike. I have one somewhere. It is a Gitane Tour de France with Spidel components with Wolber tubular wheels. Smoothest hubs ever 'cept for Mavics.

The pictured bike is my second ever real road bike and was a borrowed frameset after my Gitane broke in a crash in 1986. Hit from behind in a mass pileup and the chainstay broke. Borrowed this from a buddy.

The Rossin fit better and is a better bike. Spidel/Simplex components on the Italian bike. Hmmm......

And tires worn down to the threads.

[dannyg1]

My love affair with cycling started when I was very young, I think I was 7 or 8. I had a Sears Screamer 2, a hot rod, and its front brake was maladjusted. My younger brother asked if he could ride it home from our friends house an I warned him about the neighbors driveway he'd be riding down into the street because there's a big downhill to the street and the bike wasn't stopping well. Needless to say, I almost lost my brother that day and realised, at that young age, you can't trust anyone but yourself with maintenance.

I became a shop mechanic, at 12 (!) and did that for 3 or 4 years, all the while graduating up the classes, until I bought for $350, my first real bike at 16: A Panasonic Touring deluxe (Full chromed frame w/ burgundy laquer. Dura Ace drivetain and black label Gran Compe centerpulls, 27" tubulars, an Ideale leather saddle ). It was a beautiful bike and my brother still has it, though it's rusted over the years and not what it was anymore. Like another poster's first, I bought the bike a size larger than I needed, thinking I'd grow into it, but it was just too big and when I was 23, I found my first amazing bike: A Spectrum 55cm that I bought on a sale display from the floor of a large mail-order bike store.

I'd gone to buy my dreambike at the time, a chromed Pinarello Montello and when I walked into the store, they had my Pinarello frame mounted on a rack right next to the Spectrum. I started to examine the workmanship up close and once i stuck my fingers into the bottom brackets of both, I decided that the Spectrum was so far superior that there was no way I was buying anything else. The Kellogg frame was actually finish filed smooth inside the frame!

The man whom had ordered the frame had paid a hefty deposit and the store was selling it for the balance, which made the frame the same price as the Pinarello..

At the time, I knew what a custom built frame was, but didn't know of Tom. I built the bike in C Record with Super Record brakes and rode that bike for the next six years. I called Tom just after I'd bought it, to compliment him and tell him how much I loved it and he asked me to come out to his barn a have a fitting, gratis. It was pretty neat meeting Tom and seeing the beautiful place where he lives and works and the experience left me feeling very lucky to have found this strange circumstance.

When I moved to NYC, I had a hard time making rent the first year and ended up selling the Spectrum, with tears in my eyes, to make ends meet. I basically gave it away.

I spent over a decade looking for a suitable replacement and bought an amazing number of bikes trying to satisfy that desire. Fairly recently, thanks to Ebay and the internet, I was able to find a red Ross signature that Tom built and this bike, in almost pristine shape, finally has me satisfied that I own an even better example of his artistry than I had before.

I now have a ton of bikes and ave grown to love the history of the entire genre , much to my landlords consternation, but I'm never going to sell my Kellogg, no matter what!

Danny

[William]

Hey William-

Since you bumped this thread, I read about your first "real" bike and saw the photo. Knowing how difficult it is to fit tall guys like you, I was wondering what your bike history was/is after the Fuji? Did you go custom immediately? Did you give up on finding stock frames tall enough? How have yo solved your problem?


Hey Peter,

After the Fuji was destroyed in a crit crash I went custom for most everything after that. There were a few fill in bikes and fixes that were 63's tweaked to get into my fit range, but I look at that as the Duct tape approach. Got me buy but a good custom to my specs is no comparison to tweaking it.



William

[chuckroast]

OK, it's a little embarrassing but in 1988 I bought a Schwinn World Sport to reenter cycling as an adult (well chronologically an adult anyway).

Stem mounted Shimano SIS shifters as I recall, lugged 4130 chromoly frame in black, 27" rims and worst of all, the so called safety levers for the brakes. It was no more than $200. I wish I still had it, good memories.

[Peter P.]

My first road bike probably wouldn't qualify as "real" because I wasn't hooked onto cycling yet. It was an 8th grade birthday present, a 1974 Belgian-made Libertas with Weinmann centerpull brakes, Simplex plastic derailleurs, and a cottered crank. $138, as I recall.

In two years or so, I upgraded to a Viscount Aerospace Sport. Not the "death fork" version, but I managed to strip the derailleur hanger and bought a replacement frame, a Fuji S-10-S, and threw the parts on it. Built my first pair of wheels for that bike at the age of 17, without a clue what I was doing.

Then I made a BIG leap. I joined the Air Force at 18, just out of high school. I brought the Fuji with me to my air base, but now I had a steady income and no expenses; what to do with that money burning a hole in my pocket?

It was 1979; I came home on leave, brought the Fuji, and sold it via the Classifieds. Ordered a Richard Sachs; I think in cost $415. With a Campy Nuovo Record group and parts the bike cost $1200-1500. In the day, he wasn't "my way or the high-way" so I spec'd all the dimensions, with what little knowledge I had. The frame rode fine but was too long in the top tube by a good half inch. Had it fit, I would still have it, I'm sure. I sold it after three years for a hundred bucks. I sorta consider that my first "real" road bike.

[alumcannon]

First real bike was a 92 Kestrel Csx carbon fiber mtb. Countless miles later I made the plunge and got a Cannondale CAAD 8. Love the ride. Recently purchased a late 80's? serrotta colorado frame which I'm building up with a vintage dura ace group.

[William]

Any of our new forum friends want to add and tell us about their first "real" road bikes? :)






William

[bhungerford]

first road bike that got me into it was an '86 or so Trek 2000 with 6 speed Dura Ace. used to be my dad's bike.

but i don't know if i consider that a serious bike...I would say a Fondriest Don Racer, in orange. it was hot, and fast. and now hangs on my wall dead from a stupid car that pulled out in front of me.

[ThasFACE]

My first real road bike was a Serotta Fierte. Through age 12 I rode _everywhere_ on a bmx bike (GT, it was slick), but got into road riding through my Step-Dad. He had a Colnago (I think) that I rode until it got destroyed in a flood, and up until my Serotta purchase I rode his other bikes occassionally (Litespeed most recently). What prompted my purchase? ACL got jobbed in '02 and I decided to get serious about a non-high-impact sport. Word to Big Bird.

[Lifelover]

The first was a Ross Eurosport (1978ish). It had the freewheeling chain ring so I could shift gears without pedaling :banana:

I have no memeory of what happened to it.

Next was a Peugeot Grantour (?)(1981). Rode it to high school one time and it got stolen. Followed that with a Schwinn Traveller.

[OperaLover]

Italvega, unknown tubing with the usual mix of Simplex, Universal cernter pulls and cottered crrank. My Dad bought it used from a freind, he claimed the tubes were manganese alloy (yeah, right). Turned out his friend's father had hit some kid riding it and had bent the fork but managed to cold set it. It rode okay but had terrible toe overlap. I learned to wrench on that bike replacing just about everything. Next was an old Fui S-10-S, not really a racer.

My first real "racer" was my junior year in college. Saved up my money for a 1982 Team Fuji upgraded to Superbe Pro brakes and ders. I put on a red Concor aero saddle and pink Benotto tape and I was stylin' on that bike. Rode the hell out of it!

Boy, those were the days . . .

[Chad Engle]

My older brother turned 16 so I inherited/stole/borrowed his Schwinn Super LeTour 12.2. To me it was almost as nice as driving, much faster than the 20" I had been riding. I remember it had bullseye hubs. Cool bike, I think it was stolen. I really dislike bike thieves. :no: :butt:

[William]

Any new members want to contribute and tell us about your first "real" road bike?






William

[Giff]

First real road bike for me was a 1987 Cannondale SR500. White with Hot Pink cables, tape and decals, back when Hot Pink was all the rage! Weren't the 80s great?

Had 105 with DT shifters and I added Mavic pedals (Look licensed) and a Rhode Gear computer. Pretty basic bike, but it rode decently.

[paczki]

AH, grey Fuji Royale. Dia Compe centerpull brakes. Glorious for a teenager. :banana:

[bagochips3]

'86 Bianchi Vittoria. Columbus SL tubing. DA crank. Suntour Superb Pro derailleurs. Royal Grand Comp brakes. Mavic MP40 rims. Sella Italia Turbo saddle. 6 speed cluster, down tube shifting.

I upgraded it to Ultegra 9 speed, then Ultegra 10 speed.

After recently test riding a bunch of bikes and buying a Fierte Ti, I have to to say the old Bianchi holds up rather well to modern bikes.

I just moved the Ultegra 10 speed group onto the Fierte. Thinking about restoring the finish on the Bianchi and making it into a fix/single speed flip-flop.

Eric

[Cdub]

My first real road bike was a Nishiki bought form my biology teacher in 7th grade. Broke it slamming into a parked car while adjusting a front brake rub. (8 stitches in my chin. Fing Pinto)
Quickly replaced with a Raleigh Technium. Loved that bike.

[crossjunkee]

Bianchi Sport SX, orhid color, beautiful bike. My friend still owns the bike. He ruined it with flatbars, he pulls a Burley with it. At least it's still being utilized.

[maddog17]

1991 Concorde in SL, kinda like a robins egg blue, chrome fork and rear stays and all Ultegra.

[Fixed]

px 10 :beer: cheers

[Fixed]

was this thread from about 2 years ago or what ?
cheers

[discussdis]

That would be a Freddy Grub road bike, rode lick a brick(no life in it, push it hard and you got nothing back) Second was a Rory O'Brian Track Frame and built it up, even used it with gears some times NOW THAT WAS A BIKE! you gave it a kick and it gave it back double. Did I love that frame! I now have a Claud Butler, Olympic Sprint, which is even older than my first two real bikes.

It's a shame that we all slow down with age, BUT NOT THE BIKES.

[John H.]

I had a Schwinn Supersport with Suntour Cyclone Derailleurs (and cheaper other parts) that I inherited from my brother when he joined the Army- I think it was a 58 c-to-top, a bit big. Soon after I got my 1st real one- a Ciocc made of columbus SL- campy chorus parts circa 1989. I also had a set of tubulars that I raced Tri's on- Gel 280 rims with Hoshi bladed spokes- pretty much broke a spoke every time I rode them. My frame was all hacked up from broken spokes.
It was all downhill from there- I just counted 35 other road bikes owned in the last 19 years.

[thinpin]

1983 Dave LLoyd 21" black with white panels reynolds 531 DB comp.
Whte Turbo on Miche post covered in **** from Irish roads.
Cinelli record stem and bars.
Campag NR derailleurs with DT shifters
Shimano 600 brakes Weimann levers.
Campag gran sport cranks and aero pedals.
Gran sport hubs on Rigida 700c rims regina 5 block.
Won 1 race on it...... the only race I ever won
I worked my butt of to put that together now I dont even have a photo!

[dsimon]

Dont know what year the bike was but it was a Centurian lemand RS Tange tubbing yellow and black man that thing was heavy!!! but i could go 24mph on it any day.

[Kervin]

I just saw my first "ten speed" on Ebay. Not quite as nice as I remembered it.

Ebay link (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&viewitem=&item=190237495314)

[frogpirate]

It was yellow, Christmas 1975. I imagine it came from JC Penny's or Sears or maybe even Western Auto, where all bicycles of my youth came from. But this one was a 10 speed Racer, a real bike! I do know it had cottered cranks (because I once lost the nut and the pin kept falling out. The LBS poked around in back and came up with one that 'worked' although it stuck out more. That was c. 1978). I rode it through the rest of Jr High and all of High School. Had to replace the forks once when I crashed into a (parked) Jeep. The second time I bent the forks - about a week after dad paid to replace the first ones - I crashed into a chain-link fence and hit a post. That time I took the wheel off and put a big 'cheater ' pipe over the fork blade and straightend it. Worked for the rest of the time I rode the bike. I joined the Navy and I think my sister rode it for awhile until it fell apart.

Hand full of department store bikes through the '80's & '90's, In 2003 my roomate had a Gitane on the porch he was going to toss. I put new tires on it and rode it. Got into riding with a new girl friend (now wife) and bought a Litespeed with Ultegra & Mavic wheels in '04. My son rode the Gitane until all the bearings fell out (literally) and I bought him a Redline 'cross bike.

[RFC]

1989 Trek 660 . . . and I still have it.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b384/RCopple/Trek6601.jpg

[CaptStash]

I just saw my first "ten speed" on Ebay. Not quite as nice as I remembered it.

Ebay link (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&viewitem=&item=190237495314)


My dad had one of those! Still does I think. I had an Astra which was supposedly a re-branded Motobecaine. The best thing about the Astra was the serrated rims. Made a cool noise when you hit the brakes!

CaptStash....

PS: Does a Schwinn Varsity count as a "real" roadbike?

[William]

PS: Does a Schwinn Varsity count as a "real" roadbike?


Well, in the OP I said I wasn't going to count it. In retrospect, I think it should be counted...heck, a Lime Green Schwinn Varsity of that era was a cool bike. :cool:





William

[WickedWheels]

1989 cannondale criterium with custom paint, 105, the index shifting and oval biopace cranks. I bought it brand new for about $400.00 and I thought it was the cats a$$. It was stolen sometime in the early nineties. I did see one just like on EBay a while back but I couldnt spare the change to buy it, to bad it had the original pedals,reflectors and eveything.

Heres a pic of the one I saw on EBay. Not mine

That was my first "real" road bike, too. Mine was white, though, and I bought it used from a bike shop mechanic. I stripped the paint, polished it up then repainted it when I didn't like it polished.

I traded that bike (and a Haro elevated chainstay MTB) for a Merlin.

[jemoryl]

Since my Mountain Dew Green Montgomery Wards "10 spd." probably doesn't count (even though I put toe clips on it and rode it hard), my first was a mid '70s Zeus Criterium. Baby blue with full Zeus group, including a Cinelli 1A stem factory drilled as a cable stop for the Zeus 2000 centerpulls.

Right now it sits in my old riding companions basement (next to his Campy Record equipped Alan, which he still can ride) waiting for me to swap out the old Akront tubular rims for some NOS Mavics. Most of the bits appear to be in pretty good shape, including the Ideale 2001 saddle.

[Lenton58]

On my tenth birthday my parents said, "This is the first and last bicycle you'll get from us. Take care of it." It was a green Raleigh Lenton Sports in Reynolds 531. In Britain the Lenton had three gear train options. In Canada AFAIK they only came with Sturmey Archer SW 3-speed hubs. I could just manage to sit on it, but I grew into it pretty quickly. I didn't get to ride it the first day 'cuz my dad was on it. I kept it lubricated and clean and rode it a long way. The frame was stolen in 1982. If I had it today, it would have new components and be my fixed gear bike. In the 1970's, I had a Knight in 531 that reminded me of the Lenton. Something about that frame — loved riding it.

[palincss]

On my tenth birthday my parents said, "This is the first and last bicycle you'll get from us. Take care of it." It was a green Raleigh Lenton Sports in Reynolds 531. In Britain the Lenton had three gear train options. In Canada AFAIK they only came with Sturmey Archer SW 3-speed hubs. I could just manage to sit on it, but I grew into it pretty quickly. I didn't get to ride it the first day 'cuz my dad was on it. I kept it lubricated and clean and rode it a long way. The frame was stolen in 1982. If I had it today, it would have new components and be my fixed gear bike. In the 1970's, I had a Knight in 531 that reminded me of the Lenton. Something about that frame — loved riding it.

I hope anyone thinking of converting a Lenton Sports or Raleigh Record Ace to fixed gear will consider using the new Sturmey SX-3 fixed gear 3-speed hub.

[fourflys]

When I was in high school (around '90), my dad bought me a Trek 1500 that I rode until I got my license about a year later, didn't ride much after that so maybe that doesn't count...

So, I guess first real road bike was my Giant OCR1 I got back around 2000. Really great bike, kind of wish I still had it....
Chris

[pdmtong]

Calfee Luna, but a Fisher mtb some 13 years prior....

[PhilNYC]

My first real road bike was a Cinelli Supercorsa from 1989. It had a full Campy C-Record gruppo, including non-indexed downtube shifters....

...and it is still the bike I ride today...!

[William]

It's that time again. I know we have a number of new forum folk participating.....so, tell us about your first real road bike.


Thanks! :beer:




William

[johnnymossville]

Schwinn Super LeTour, then a Cannondale R600.