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?

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.

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

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

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.

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.

First real road bike
 

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.

Bump time again...
 

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






William

must have missed this awhile ago...
 

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.

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.

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.

My first bike
 

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 . . .

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:

It's that time again.....
 

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






William

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.