Your first "REAL" road bike? - Page 4

#46 10-01-2004, 03:31 PM

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 · #47 10-01-2004, 04:05 PM

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 · #48 10-01-2004, 04:48 PM

I'm still waiting for one!

MallyG · #49 10-01-2004, 05:00 PM

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 · #50 10-01-2004, 05:51 PM

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 · #51 10-02-2004, 06:33 AM

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

Kevin

#52 10-02-2004, 09:57 AM

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 · #53 10-02-2004, 10:41 AM

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 · #54 10-02-2004, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by don compton

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 · #55 10-02-2004, 12:34 PM

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 · #56 10-02-2004, 04:23 PM

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 · #57 10-02-2004, 06:05 PM

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 · #58 10-02-2004, 07:54 PM

'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 · #59 10-02-2004, 09:06 PM

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

.

In the meantime, that lowly Zurich is still loads faster and more capable than its rider

. I wish I still had that Peugeot, though. Thanks for giving me an excuse to reminisce!

Frank · #60 10-03-2004, 12:56 AM

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 ;-)