Hello all, Andrew here, WOW what a site.
Thought I'd say a quick hello as a recent convert to all things retro. In fact a recent returnee to all things two wheeled without an engine. 15 years ago I turned 16 and in a flash all things with pedals were forgotten. Bikes came and went, ever faster, ever more expensive, i began to miss those carefree days of yoof, pulling skids, making jumps, pulling wheelies, falling off.
So feeling glum i bought a mountain bike, then a roadie, then somebody scooted past me on a raleigh chopper which lead me to the tinterweb which lead me here...nirvana.
So this is me, getting fitter by the day, bombing around scotlandshire and swearing at traffic.
Oho but this is retrobike...
As i work in Perth and live in Dundee i store my bike in the garage and while guttering about shoving old tables and sundries to the side to clear me a space i saw glinting from the gloom at the back of the shed (where all great things are found) a flash of reflective plastic. Battling spiders and dust goblins i quickly cleared the tables and spinny blackboard mebobber out the way and there i saw it...
I was a man possessed, i fled into the office and yelled who owns that bike? A kindly lady wandered over and told me it was hers. Being observant I noticed she was hobbling (in fact she had been car twatted by some dumbs*it while on holiday and is lucky to have both feet) and therefore, i kindly informed her, as she would be unlikely to need her bicycle any time soon she may as well sell it to me. Rather than chin me for my lack of empathy (especially as I'm a nurse) she agreed to sell it to me for the princely sum of ONE Scottish pound (that's about 80p in English money). She said I could have it if I didn't scrap it or I didn't sell it as it has a lot of history (apparently a previous owner did LEJOG on it). Clearly she doesn't know me, what goes into my shed never gets sold, or scrapped, sometimes it sits for years but I'm very loyal that way.
I raced home and told the Wife "GUESS WHAT?"
Strange she wasn't as excited as me, must be all those pregnancy hormones.
Anyhoo here's my £1.00 shed purchase. Plans are already afoot, strip down, powdercoat/spray frame and fork whiteywhitewhite. Throw mudguards and rack to the corner of my shed as a sacrifice, replace seat with something thin and pointy, polish wheels to an inch of their life, get some original decals made up or find some somewhere (yes i'm new at this and very optimistic) and convert to singlespeed. Apologies for the camera phone piccy, i was shaking with excitement by this point.
Wish me luck fellow tinkerers.
Thought I'd say a quick hello as a recent convert to all things retro. In fact a recent returnee to all things two wheeled without an engine. 15 years ago I turned 16 and in a flash all things with pedals were forgotten. Bikes came and went, ever faster, ever more expensive, i began to miss those carefree days of yoof, pulling skids, making jumps, pulling wheelies, falling off.
So feeling glum i bought a mountain bike, then a roadie, then somebody scooted past me on a raleigh chopper which lead me to the tinterweb which lead me here...nirvana.
So this is me, getting fitter by the day, bombing around scotlandshire and swearing at traffic.
Oho but this is retrobike...
As i work in Perth and live in Dundee i store my bike in the garage and while guttering about shoving old tables and sundries to the side to clear me a space i saw glinting from the gloom at the back of the shed (where all great things are found) a flash of reflective plastic. Battling spiders and dust goblins i quickly cleared the tables and spinny blackboard mebobber out the way and there i saw it...
I was a man possessed, i fled into the office and yelled who owns that bike? A kindly lady wandered over and told me it was hers. Being observant I noticed she was hobbling (in fact she had been car twatted by some dumbs*it while on holiday and is lucky to have both feet) and therefore, i kindly informed her, as she would be unlikely to need her bicycle any time soon she may as well sell it to me. Rather than chin me for my lack of empathy (especially as I'm a nurse) she agreed to sell it to me for the princely sum of ONE Scottish pound (that's about 80p in English money). She said I could have it if I didn't scrap it or I didn't sell it as it has a lot of history (apparently a previous owner did LEJOG on it). Clearly she doesn't know me, what goes into my shed never gets sold, or scrapped, sometimes it sits for years but I'm very loyal that way.
I raced home and told the Wife "GUESS WHAT?"
Strange she wasn't as excited as me, must be all those pregnancy hormones.
Anyhoo here's my £1.00 shed purchase. Plans are already afoot, strip down, powdercoat/spray frame and fork whiteywhitewhite. Throw mudguards and rack to the corner of my shed as a sacrifice, replace seat with something thin and pointy, polish wheels to an inch of their life, get some original decals made up or find some somewhere (yes i'm new at this and very optimistic) and convert to singlespeed. Apologies for the camera phone piccy, i was shaking with excitement by this point.
Wish me luck fellow tinkerers.
