I'll start of by saying I love bikes.. mostly Old bikes.. but new ones are ok too..
anyway I wanted to start this blog to keep a record of all the cool bikes I come across and fix up.
My love affair with bikes started in the summer of 2010, i purchased a bike off Craigslist, way too small for not knowing what to look for. I rode it for a the rest of the summer, but the next year i decided i would get something a little better suited for me (i'm 6'3", 240+) im a big guy so i needed something comfortable.
not wanting to spend over 500 dollars on a new bike ( i have 2 kids need i say more?) i googled "used bikes" in my area, the following result, ignited the fuse.
R Community Bikes. a local bike charity that fixes up old bikes and donates them to people who need them. they average about 2500 bikes a year given away. Great people with a great message. My first trip down to see the folks at RCB was quite an experience. They have a ton of nice bikes they receive as donations. and in turn they sell them to pay for their expenses. I was blown away by some of the bikes they had, Trek, GT, Schwinn, Raleigh, Specialized. The list went on and on, alot of the bikes were from the 90's or older but they were still in great shape and very rideable.
That day i went home with my 1990 Trek 930, a dusty old Mountain bike that still had the original equipment on it. The first thing i did was change the tires from big old 2" nobbies to thin road slicks. The difference was amazing. after that I was off, riding everywhere and anywhere.
as my mileage started to grow so did the number of bikes i owned. I started freqenting RCB quite a bit after my initial purchase. after the next few visits i got a 1975 Raleigh 3 speed. I spent the winter cleaning up the chrome bits and finding a brooks saddle
These first two bikes i cut my teeth on as far as bike mechanic and refurbishing goes. The Trek I tore down to the frame and replaced everything with brand new Shimano parts, i wanted to hybridize the bike to make it more friendly with family rides and basic around town commutes. I even had the frame powdercoated and new decals applied, it was truly a project of love.
The raleigh i wanted so i could learn about older bikes. I've never encountered 3 speeds before, and never had any experience with them. after i cleaned up the frame and chrome, i slowly put everything back together. learning the quirks of 3 speeds and raleighs alike.
After these 2 I was off and running, snatching up deals and flipping on CL and becoming immersed in Classic and Vintage forums. My addiction grew and grew. I started Volunteering most saturdays at RCB, this helped with my bike fix, and I was surrounded by like minded people. Plus it also gave me a great oppurtunity to spy on great deals.
I slowly migrated into the world of vintage road bikes, ive always loved the trek brand, ive owned many of them through childhood and on up. I met a like minded individual that lived close by, i was interested in purchasing a mid 80s trek road bike. he had a few to choose from, many were too small or too expensive, but he did have a 1982 trek 412 that was close enough to my size, i spent last winter building it up with shimano 600 arabesque.
after this build i was fully entrenched into the world of classic and vintage bikes. i kept my now honed eye to craigslist and garage sales for "old ten speeds" i usually found a good amount of deals on my craigslist, usually for well under market value, usually i would purchase the bike, fix what needed to be fixed, then flip for a modest profit and start again. sometimes the money would go towards a project, like the trek 412 above, or sometimes it would contribute to the next flip. it was like a drug... i couldn't get enough.
towards the middle of summer 2013, the RCB got an extremely generous donation. an older gentlemen dropped off 2 beautiful older road bikes, the first was a late 90's lemond aluminum frame, the second was a 1993 Trek 2200 Composite, it was my size and it was in great shape, it needed the usual, tires, cables, cleaning. it sat on the back burner for awhile, the stem was a little long and the shifters were gummy, i ended up cleaning her up this past winter, i found a nice set of tires and i was able to free up the shifters. on top of that i found a perfect stem to replace the long one. she now is my super fast vintage carbon... a touch of modern with a vintage heart.
and finally,
the latest build ive done.. the Raleigh Grand Prix...
this was languishing in the scrap pile at RCB , ready to be stripped and parted.. it was my size and it cried out to me.. i wanted to do something different than a typical rebuild. it needed something unique. I had witnessed portuer bikes and upright 5 speeds, i thought what a great idea to convert it to a portuer bike.
so once again off to the powder coater. this time i went with a beige cream color. i went with Velo Orange portuer bars and SKS chromoplastic fenders, ordered decals through ebay and inverse levers from the parts bin. tried my foray into twine and shellac and converted down to 700c X 28 with some panaracer paselas to boot.. this is what resulted.
i had some trouble with the raleigh threading, but i was able to really nail down the look i was aiming for. i found the light in the scrap bin at RCB, i recovered it and painted it. this bike is a real gem. i get alot of compliments on it whenever i ride.
So that brings us to now, i plan on talking about bikes, rides, and whatever else comes my way.. hopefully you will enjoy your time
