Your first "REAL" road bike? - Page 2

Jeff N. · #16 10-01-2004, 08:29 AM

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 · #17 10-01-2004, 08:33 AM

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 · #18 10-01-2004, 08:42 AM

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

mikemets · #19 10-01-2004, 08:50 AM

2003 Calfee Luna Pro

#20 10-01-2004, 08:53 AM

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.

#21 10-01-2004, 08:56 AM

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 · #22 10-01-2004, 08:57 AM

1984...Club Fuji

weisan · #23 10-01-2004, 09:02 AM

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....

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!

weisan

don compton · #24 10-01-2004, 09:14 AM

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

#25 10-01-2004, 09:56 AM

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

Redturbo · #26 10-01-2004, 09:59 AM

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 · #27 10-01-2004, 10:02 AM

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 · #28 10-01-2004, 10:22 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.

Don, I finally found your bike after all these years!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7104782391

#29 10-01-2004, 10:25 AM

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 · #30 10-01-2004, 10:37 AM

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.

Jason