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6 members (SKB, coosa, Hugh Lomas, 3 invisible),
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Forums10
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Most Online1,258 Mar 29th, 2024
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,377 Likes: 105
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,377 Likes: 105 |
Back many years ago, my wife decided to ride RAGBRAI--the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. We weren't looking for anything fancy in the way of a bike. Found the right bike shop. They recommended a used Raleigh. Worked out quite well, and she still has it.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 15,456 Likes: 86
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 15,456 Likes: 86 |
Danre shoot guns and 50 dollar junk bikes....those were the days.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,748 Likes: 743
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,748 Likes: 743 |
Back many years ago, my wife decided to ride RAGBRAI--the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. We weren't looking for anything fancy in the way of a bike. Found the right bike shop. They recommended a used Raleigh. Worked out quite well, and she still has it. Sheldon Brown would have agreed. Your wife is a tough girl. Best, Ted
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,415 Likes: 193
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,415 Likes: 193 |
Ted, My wife and I do a lot of bike touring in the off season of bird hunting, sometimes 500-1000 miles a summer. I noticed that you have what looks to be a Brooks English saddle. Those seats make almost any bike feel like the best, very comfortable after they conform to you bottom! Vintage steel bikes hold a special place of respect in my heart, and I see a good number of them on the tours. Mine is an 80's vintage chrome Schwinn that I have ridden 26,000 miles on so far, and wouldn't give it up for anything more modern. Biking is a great way to keep the legs in shape for bird season. Karl
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 15,456 Likes: 86
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 15,456 Likes: 86 |
26,000 miles...boy you're a biking fool Karl. Teddy probably ain't rode 5 miles in his life time. This past spring my friend fed an older fellow supper in middle Tennessee he was in his mid 80's and on his way from New Orleans to Michigan on a bicycle with a little trailer behind it. Told me about his bike ride across America and riding completely around New Zealand years back with all it's one lane bridges.... I asked if he ever saw the movie Forrest Gump....he said he had. I then told him as far as people I've met he was definitely the Forrest Gump of bicycles.
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Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 969 Likes: 38
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 969 Likes: 38 |
In bikes, as in shotguns, I could not find precisely what I wanted so made my own cocktail- titanium Merlin MTB frame, 1X8 gearing with narrow-wide 30T chain ring before the setup became fashionable. Total weight 22lbs.
Wish I could do the same by joining Darne barrels (the ones minus the bottom rib) to a Dickson non ejector side pedal frame.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,748 Likes: 743
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,748 Likes: 743 |
Nothing as esoteric as a titanium frame (I won't be riding in Europe in any bikes races) but, I have done similar: This is a bike I lusted after as a kid. 1972 Peugeot UO8, the base model. They were light for how much steel they contained, and mine has been on a diet. Wheels, seatpost, and a few other parts are now aluminum. The pedals and the brakes were among the few things Peugeot got right, and they, along with the shifters, are OEM. Advertised as having long seat stays for better use with paniers, it has relaxed frame geometry, and is a hoot to ride. I prefer steel farmes. More steel: 1973 Schwinn Le Tour. The kid who got this for Christmas in my neighborhood didn't ride much, and it ended up in a dumpster with two flat tires when his family moved. I used it the way it was sold for perhaps two decades, and then put it on a diet. These bikes were produced by Panasonic in Japan for Schwinn. This one is down to an honest 22 pounds with Greenfield kickstand. I still ride my three and five speeds more than my 10s. I have some carpel tunnel issues sneaking in due to my job, the uprights are more comfortable these days, and I'm seldom in a hurry. Just like my guns, I don't have a collection, I have an accumulation. The right English gunmaker will refurbish a gun for you, perhaps you could specify no lower rib on a sidelever? Its just money, right? Best, Ted
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,714 Likes: 414
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,714 Likes: 414 |
That Le Tour color is so iconic of the era. I remember it well, and even lusted after the bike just for the color, but never got one. I recall they were pretty darn heavy compared to others in their class.
thanks for the tour of your bike "accumulation". Pretty nostalgic for sure.
_________ BrentD, (Professor - just for Stan)
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,982 Likes: 297
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,982 Likes: 297 |
Do you guys remember the "Teledyne Titan", titanium frame. Used to get purple finger prints on it from your sweat. I have a Schwinn Tandem, an old Varsity model, a Continental, and a bunch of Euro 10 speeds. Bottechia, Ghanna, Gudereit, some others.
I used to get $3.00 a wheel in 1975 to spoke wheels. Built, trued, tensioned, and out the door, a pair an hr. Spoke until your fingers bled.
Out there doing it best I can.
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,415 Likes: 193
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,415 Likes: 193 |
Remember, only steel is real! I've avoided carbon fiber and aluminum ones because steel just feels correct. It's interesting how bikes are coming full circle, with longer wheel bases and more relaxed geometry with room for larger tires. A great way to condition one's legs for bird season. Karl
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