Top 5 Most Iconic Bikes

[EB]

This is an old record shop nerd game, applied to bikes of course. Sometimes these are hard to separate from the riders that rode them. These are mine:

5. The return of the Ritchey Road Logic

This was the first version that came with the integrated headset and forged/machined head tube, circa 2014 or so, with a gray paint job and stripes surrounding the logos. I really wanted that bike - there was a full build with campy 11 hanging in the window of some (long lost) Manhattan bike job. Every day I would walk past it on my way to work and think - I’m gonna get that bike. But it was too small for me and I never did see another one of those frames in my size. But now I’ve got the Outback and it has the same headtube, so it’s fine.

4. The original blue Citibikes

Laugh if you will, but these 3 speed tanks transformed mobility in New York City when they first appeared, and they also transformed cycling even for those who weren’t riding them. There is safety in numbers, and I distinctly remember the moment when it felt like suddenly every day you’d have a little peloton of blue bikes surrounding you and warding off the taxis.

3. Yeti C-26

Juli Furtado. John Tomac. What else is there to say? I have a real soft spot for the early 90s “everything anodized era” though I would never want to actually ride one of these sketchy beauties. The fact that Tomac and Furtado won races on them…. Legends.

2. Santa Cruz v10 v3

Arguably as the first VPP Santa Cruz, the first v10 is even more iconic, but version 3 is the one that Greg Minaar won the World Cup DH overall on in 2008, and Minaar is the GOAT, so the v3 it is. The geometry on this bike is also suspiciously close to what gets called a “trail bike” today, albeit a lot shorter than modern bikes. A classic.

1. Lotus 108/110

The absolute 100% legend. The carbon frame that still looks stunning today. The bike that was so good, the UCI banned it. Only a few hundred ever made. And hard to separate from the performances of the man who rode it, Chris Boardman.

[Mike V]

TVT 92 Carbone
Carbonframes - Calfee
Merlin Extralight
Merckx MXL
Colnago C40

[fourflys]

Merckx 7-11 bikes
-just iconic paint for an iconic team on an iconic bike

Original Ibis Carbon Mojo FS
- the one that proved carbon wasn't fragile and could handle a lot in a production bike.. plus that DW rear end is still hard to beat..

Specialized Roubaix
-The OG of the endurance bike and the first major company to acknowledge maybe everyone doesn't need to ride the same bike the pros ride..

Salsa Chili Con Crosso
-Just super cool "If it ain't Moto, it's worthless" Salsa cross cool.. I will have a Clif Bar team edition one day..

Gary Fisher Grateful Dead Hoo Koo E Koo
- are you kidding me?? timeless 80s/90s MTB with graphics by Prairie Prince that are just iconic.. that was THE bike I wanted when I was in my early 20s and couldn't afford anything close to it..

[Hilltopperny]

My iconic 5

Cannondale SM700 with neon green splatter paint, Pepperoni fork and seatpost pump. This was the bike hanging in the window of the Cannondale dealer on Rte 9 when I was 7 or 8 years old. Fat aluminum tubes and it rode like a brick once I finally picked one up, but super cool nonetheless!

Eddie Merckx 10th anniversary Corsa Extra. I was lucky enough to find one of these hanging in the rafters when picking up another iconic bicycle practically untouched! It was a great looking and riding bicycle with century geometry and a flat crown fork.

Pinarello Stelvio. I was fixing a heating system in a Canajoharie basement well over a decade ago and saw a red Pinarello with Campagnolo Racing triple group. As luck would have it my boss at the time knew I wanted the bike, so he took it as partial payment and gave it to me as part of my pay that week. The bike had Deda Dolmen tubing and was chromed underneath the red paint. It is still the bike I recorded my fastest speed on and was as stable as anything I have ridden to date!

Pegoretti Mxxxxxo. The steel rocketship that blew my mind when I first rode one! Smooth and direct with a lively ride! The performance driven Pegoretti is one of the most fun bikes I have thrown a leg over! I now have a Round which performs like the Mxxxxxo, but is stainless and a touch smoother ride!

Serotta CSI. These were and are such great riding bikes. From the amazing ride to the drop dead gorgeous frames this bike is one of the best all around road bikes IMHO. The Colorado Concept tubing was such an excellent riding tube set!

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[alancw3]

Schwinn Paramount from early 60's with Nervex lugs 531 tubing
Raleigh Professional with seatback stays circa 1970
Colnago C40 once the benchmark on which all carbon fiber bikes compared
Cannondale Six13 From what I was told their most successful bike ever
Klein Attitude circa 1992 still a collectors item today

[kppolich]

[Spaghetti Legs]

Cinelli Supercorsa/Speciale Corsa with the 3 dot lugs - classic Italian racer

Colnago C40 - not the first carbon fiber racer but IMO the most successful and was the found all through the peloton for about 10 years

Early Cannondale aluminum (Black Lightning maybe?) - I’m not super familiar with Cannondale but I remember those fat downtube aluminum road frames in the late 80’s that stood out so among the skinnier steel tube sets.

Teal (Celeste dare I say?) Specialized Rockhopper in the mid 80’s. A college buddy had one (still has it). It was my first sighting of what people were using for this thing they called “mountain biking”.

Bridgestone XO-1 - the father bike of the Grant Peterson/Rivendell genre

[prototoast]

Merckx Molteni, USPS Trek Madone, that Wright Brothers bike in the Smithsonian, Klein Mantra, Cinelli Laser.

[charliedid]

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[AngryScientist]

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[merckxman]

Miguel Indurain's 1994 Pinarello Espada.

[EB]

Angry is that the Trek 5500 that Lancey Pants is on? That was my number 6

[spoonrobot]

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by EB

Angry is that the Trek 5500 that Lancey Pants is on? That was my number 6

That's the one. Cool bike, certainly iconic.

[El Chaba]

Don’t forget the black and white checkers….