Your first "REAL" road bike?

[dwightskin]

Two sizes too small Miyata 714. This bike had aluminum tubes bonded to internal steel lugs. Shimano 500EX 7 speed indexed group.

Nice light bike that got donated to local kid's racing development group.

Replace with a Bianchi Limited that actually fit.

Dwight

First road bike was a 1981 Vista Elite, black with gold pinstriping and Shimano 600 components that I got at the Ski Rack in Burlington VT. Sold it a year later to get money to move to Chicago. My first 'real' bike was a 1987 Schwinn Paramount Columbus SLX, emerald green made at what is now Waterford Precision. The P-mount was the first bike that showed me the difference between a great bike and the pretenders. Got my first Serotta in 1991, a black LT, and have ridden Serottas ever since.

[ti_boi]

1979'ish....Schwinn Le tour--suntour gears...black with red tape.
Man was I ever in heaven....Springfield, Illinois....*sigh*

That's me there with my first girlfriend...riding...yeah, uh, right...

[River]

Used 70’s Raleigh Pro with Campy super record groupo, cut out levels and drilled chainrings. I loves the fastback seat stays the chrome tip fork and chainstays complementing that light blue frame. All top off with a beautiful Brooks saddle. I can remember the first couple of rides with my water soaked Sidi shoes going through the process of stretching those suckers out!!

[Vancouverdave]

An Allegro,bought in autumn of 1968, was @ five years old then-the bike, not me--red/gold fade paint, Stronglight 57 cranks, Gransport derailleurs with Ca py bar end shifters, Weinmann tubular rims with Clement Elvezia tubulars.
Rode it for two years until the previous owner's homebrew frame repair gave way and the seat tube separated from the bb shell. Rode my first century and double century on it, it was my perch for the whole weekend after my father's death to help me not deal with it. Rode it around my part of Los Angeles the day of the San Fernando earthquake looking at all the broken glass in the streets.

[shinomaster]

This was my 1992 silver brazed Paramount Japanese made production bike. It had a really thin tube set as I found out when I dented it in a lovely crash. Notice how baggy my size XS jersey was.

A Univega Gran Rally (bought new circa 1982-83), Light Blue with maroon accents (cables, lettering, tape), and Shimano components (even though I was a big Sun Tour man at the time!). I bought it to get into racing, as before that I was primarily into touring. Wonderful bike--I rode it for about two years, and entered one race (and got humbled real quick!). Shortly thereafter, unfortunately, I tore up a knee playing basketball, and pretty much retired from riding.

However, I had several others before that, in order from newest to oldest: a Soma Sport tourer (smoke gray with Sun Tour components); a Bridgestone Kabuki Skyway (silver with Sun Tour components--another great bike, which someone stole--I'm still ticked off!); and a Ross Eurosport (a beautiful shade of royal blue, and heavy as heck, but it was cool at the time, as it was my first "ten speed").

Some great memories...and on the good side, I'm finally back in the saddle again after all these years, on a Trek 7200 hybrid. The knee feels great, and another road bike is definitely in my future!

[William]

your first "real" road bike.




William

[regularguy412]

My first 'real' road bike was my original 1988 model Cannondale Criterium ( the one that got hit by the pickup truck ). It came with Wolber T430 Alpine 32-hole, 3X wheels and Michelin Select tires (wire bead). Full Shimano 105 6-speed group __ WITH__ index shifting ( what a revelation ! ). It had a Modolo Ergo bar and a Nitto stem. The 170 mm cranks came with clip-style platform pedals __AND__ those 'new fangled' Bio-Pace chainrings in 39/52. It had a Tange headset. All this technology for a mere $600.

I am riding its twin right now, albeit with a few modifications, while awaiting the return of my CSi.

Now if this bike only really 'fit' me ........

Mike in AR

[rwsaunders]

I got back into cycling in 1987 and I purchased a 1983 lugged steel Bianchi from the LBS that had been gathering dust in the corner. I was oblivious to the build; I just liked the burgundy paint job and the gum hoods.

I sold the bike four years later and the fellow who came to buy the bike complained that it had "sew up" tires. I told him that I didn't know what kind of tires they were, but I never had a flat so I didn't care. The components were made by some Italian company....Ignorance was bliss in this case.

[GregL]

1989 Trek 1100. Bonded Al frame with Cro-Mo fork. Suntour Edge triple group (Biopace, or Suntour equivalent thereof...), 7-speed Sachs freewheel. An all-around excellent bike that I rode for fun, fitness, road racing, time trials, and even lightly-loaded touring. As my knowledge of bike fitting changed and parts wore out over the years, I updated the bike with different components. The bar/stem/saddle/pedals were changed and the running gear eventually morphed to Shimano 105SC 8-speed.

I sold the bike in 2000, but part of it still lives on. The original 1989 Trek Matrix Titan rims refuse to die. They are still rolling on my cyclocross / dirt road bike after 18 years of use!

Regards,
Greg

[Karin Kirk]

My first road bike was a steel, lugged Cilo, with Shimano 105 and in my favorite colors of blue and white. I raced the heck outta that thing, and I remember being impressed that the 105 drivetrain never missed a shift, while some teammates on fancier stuff tended to disappear at critical moments in races, accompanied by the sound of crunching cogs. Or maybe the cause was their flexy Vitus frames, which sometimes seemed to shift on their own?

After beating that bike to death over a few seasons of traveling and racing, I opted for a Serotta as my next bike. When I visited the factory to get my frame pump painted a matching color (neon green - hey, it was in vogue then), I met Dave for the second time and, well, the rest is history. All my bikes since then were built by him.

[rdparadise]

Reynolds 531, Suntour & Simplex group, genuine Brooks saddle, chrome steel fork and chain/seat stays. It came originally in British racing green, however, yours truly screwed it up when I powerwashed it at the local car wash. The paint came off, primarily on the seat stays like it was never primed properly. Anyway, I later stripped it and painted it bright red from several raddle cans.

I still have this bike hanging in my basement in the back corner.

Many good rides on this thing, however, it was primarily used for transportation and delivering newspapers, until I got a car and started to drive.

When I rediscovered cycling in the early 90's, I brought the old Raliegh out, had it tuned up at the bike shop and started training for the local MS ride. I did the 75/75 on this bike (aching like crazy the second day peddling back home) and went out and bought a Trek 2200 (3 tube carbon fiber, vintage 1993). Kept that for a few years and then bought my first used CSI in 98.

The rest is history.

Regards,

Bob

Ps. Karen, great story!

[RIHans]

My first "Real" road bike was a brand-new 1974 Witcomb, right out of the box. I was thrilled to build it up with a mix of Italian and Asian parts. Compared to the bikes I've had since then, well, newer is better in this case. There is a Witcomb web-page, and I found myself there not long ago (I think, a link regarding ATMO and JP Weigle). Lo and behold, there is Barry Wicomb, in front of the shop, holding a resto 1974 that looks like the one I had...in the fog of time. A nice trip down memory lane! Barry and I both have a bit of gray hair now.
BTW>>>Karin, I used to love those Cilos! Nice bike.

[TMB]

( sorry - posted in wrong thread) - oops.