Your first "REAL" road bike?

[alexihnen]

I may have posted before. But my Trek Elance got me through a first season of collegiate racing in 1997. Swapped to aero brake hoods ASAP, and the white/purple Shimano spds but otherwise stock.

[Temjin006]

My first real road bike was a Moots Vamoot that I put together myself. Got the frame used and put on a new set of Sram Force 10 speed groupset. Before the Moots, I have never ridden a bike with drop bars.

[mtbmoose]

Lotus Classique for me. Well, a Schwinn Le Tour preceded that, but it wasn’t in the same league as the Lotus. After moving to eastern Washington state, though, that bike’s days were numbered due to its flat land gearing. But it sure was a beautiful frame. Dark blue with chrome accents on the fork and stays. I rode that bike on the Tour de Lacs when I was still in my 30s. 126 miles and maybe 5000’ of climbing. The hill out of St. Marys almost did me in.

[many_styles]

A Serotta CSI I picked up 2nd hand from Craigslist:




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[harvestlaser]

I worked in a shop Wisconsin and following the first Armstrong… I had to get a Trek 5200 in postal colors.

[buddybikes]

This was my first "real" road bike 1973 Flandria Pro, interesting found a picture in museum

[greggk]

Specialized Allez A1. It was blue, I think a factory blem. The blem was that the bottle cage mounts were loose. A zip tie did the trick.

It was between the Allez and a Cannondale R500. Looking back, I wish I would have bit the bullet and gone with the more costly R500 (it also fit me better).

[tellyho]

Cannondale R300. Early 90s RSX 3x7, stiff as f*ck. Didn't really fit me; Nitro technomic + setback seatpost made it better. Got stolen out of my garage, probably owe thanks to the thief

[desertoracle]

1990 (I think) Trek 1500 aluminum candy apple red
Bought in 2006 from a kooky old guy who refurbished bikes in his comic book shop in Annandale, VA. I rode the **** out of this bike all over northern VA and used to commute to my job in DC as a teenager on it. it was too small for me and I sold it when I moved to richmond in 2011. Don't really remember the components but they were Shimano, maybe 600?

not my pic-

[kiwisimon]

Healing Shogun 12 speed Shimano 600 bits. many a kiwi in the 80s started on one of these.

[jtferraro]

2001 TREK 5500 (DA 7700) USPS edition, OCLV120 carbon. I got a great deal, purchasing it in late 2002, when the 2003 model was already out, and my LBS was kind enough to build it with the 2003 Bontrager Race X-Lite wheelset. Unfortunately, ST fit but TT was long, resulting in having to use a 100mm stem.

[mlc]

Sadly I don't have many pictures, but mine was an aluminum GT (the bike in the foreground, the seven is my dad's!) that I quickly grew out of. I moved up to a larger RB2, and have since moved on to a Road Logic for home and an RB1 for school. Although I don't miss the harshness of aluminum, I definitely have fond memories of feeling like the fastest rider on the planet taking my first road bike down all the steepest descents in town!

[osbk67]

Originally Posted by kiwisimon

Healing Shogun 12 speed Shimano 600 bits. many a kiwi in the 80s started on one of these.

I remember them well. Couldn't quite stretch to one as my first racing bicycle bicycle in 1984, settled for a Healing 10-GTX in Hi-Ten steel with mainly 105 parts. 25" because the next size down was 23" and the right size but I was still growing. I sold it before i was close to fitting it. Got a metallic red Bosomworth, one of the first in that colour, from Eddie in Rotorua via Uncle Sams in Greenlane and think of it as my first proper racing bicycle. SL/SP with Superbe Pro/600/Turbo/Cinelli 65-42s/Mavic Mothlerey Pros and Panaracer Touriste tubulars. Good times.

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by osbk67

I remember them well. Couldn't quite stretch to one as my first racing bicycle bicycle in 1984, settled for a Healing 10-GTX in Hi-Ten steel with mainly 105 parts. 25" because the next size down was 23" and the right size but I was still growing. I sold it before i was close to fitting it. Got a metallic red Bosomworth, one of the first in that colour, from Eddie in Rotorua via Uncle Sams in Greenlane and think of it as my first proper racing bicycle. SL/SP with Superbe Pro/600/Turbo/Cinelli 65-42s/Mavic Mothlerey Pros and Panaracer Touriste tubulars. Good times.

I too ran Superbe and was the first one locally to run handbuilts with Specializd clinchers. Also the first one to run clipless white pedals like Hinault and Lemond had in 1985.

[Jared Purdy]

Originally Posted by 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

My first "real" road bike was a Nishiki Team Issue with Tange double butted tubing. It was kind of a gold colour. I bought that new in 1980. It was loaded up with Campy Nouvo Record and running on Fiamme Red Label tubular rims. I have no idea what tires were on it. I believe the stem and bars were Cinelli. However, that was not the one I wish I had kept. I sold it after a couple of years

In 1984 I bought a Marinoni constructed with with Cinelli lugs and fork crown, and Columbus XL tubing. It was a gorgeous deep, metallic blue. It was loaded up with Campy Super Record and Cobalto breaks, Cinelli stem and bars, San Marco Regal saddle and Mavic GP4 tubulars with Conti Sprinters. I raced on that bike for four years and at the end of my undergrad I decided to go to Africa so I sold it. I wish I still had that bike. I'll have to dig out the photos of it that I have and upload them.