A couple of people have asked me to post photos, so here we go.
This is not a garage queen, it is a daily rider, and is showing the signs of twenty years of use, and is a Frankenbike, so the purists might want to look away now.
I have owned this bike since 1992 (ish), I paid the princely sum of £35 and two pints of cider for it, and it came in bits in a box. The seat post was stuck solid, and even then it was a hotchpotch of bits.
This bike has seen service as a weekend rider and everyday commuter (30 miles a day for a while). It has sported racks and panniers and been used as a tourer, and was ridden from Tel Aviv to Cairo years ago. It has seen service as a courier bike in London, the only change I made was putting a road crank on it, so its paid for itself and the bits that have gone on it over the years.
Its been used as a pub bike, left out in the rain and even jumped into the sea from the harbour wall at Lynmouth. Its been crashed, bashed and generally mistreated, but has never let me down.
It is currently painted in a very unflattering shade of 'too fugly to steal' rattle can black, which seems to be effective, as the last colour it sported was 'to fugly to steal' rattle can red, and that was on the bike for over ten years, and it never got stolen, despite being left in some dodgy areas including being left unlocked outside a bar in Eilat for over 24 hours before I remembered where I had been drinking the night before.
It is still used almost daily, only last week it was towing a trailer full of live chickens back to our house.
I have other bikes, but they all seem to stay in the garage, I love this bike and just don't want to ride the others. Its far from perfect, the top tube is dented and its too small for me, but its been that way since I bought it, and I still love it.
One day it will be returned to its pistachio coloured glory and be hung in my lounge as remembrance of its greatness, but only after I get too decrepit to ride it any more, and only if my son won't ride it.
Tyler
Frame: Tange Prestige
Fork: Project Two
Headset: Unknown
Stem: Too short cheap crap
Handlebar: Ritchey
Grips: Ritchey
Barends: CNC'd Alloy
Brakes: Front XT M739 Rear Diacompe U brake
Brake Pads: XT and Koolstop
Brake Cables: Shimano M series
Cantilever cable hangers: Unknown alloy rear
Brake Levers: XT M739
Shifters: XT M739 8 speed
Front Derailleur: Cheap as chips Simplex
Rear Derailleur: XT
Derailleur Cables: Shimano
Cassette: XT
Chain: HG70
Cranks: XT M737
Bottom Bracket: UN52
Pedals: VP
Hub Skewers: XP
Rims: Mavic x221
Hubs: XP
Spokes: DT Competion
Tyres: Scwalbe Black Shark
Tubes: Scwalbe
Saddle: Fizik
Seatpost: Unknown alloy cheap crap
Seatpost Binder: Unknown alloy cheap crap
This is not a garage queen, it is a daily rider, and is showing the signs of twenty years of use, and is a Frankenbike, so the purists might want to look away now.
I have owned this bike since 1992 (ish), I paid the princely sum of £35 and two pints of cider for it, and it came in bits in a box. The seat post was stuck solid, and even then it was a hotchpotch of bits.
This bike has seen service as a weekend rider and everyday commuter (30 miles a day for a while). It has sported racks and panniers and been used as a tourer, and was ridden from Tel Aviv to Cairo years ago. It has seen service as a courier bike in London, the only change I made was putting a road crank on it, so its paid for itself and the bits that have gone on it over the years.
Its been used as a pub bike, left out in the rain and even jumped into the sea from the harbour wall at Lynmouth. Its been crashed, bashed and generally mistreated, but has never let me down.
It is currently painted in a very unflattering shade of 'too fugly to steal' rattle can black, which seems to be effective, as the last colour it sported was 'to fugly to steal' rattle can red, and that was on the bike for over ten years, and it never got stolen, despite being left in some dodgy areas including being left unlocked outside a bar in Eilat for over 24 hours before I remembered where I had been drinking the night before.
It is still used almost daily, only last week it was towing a trailer full of live chickens back to our house.
I have other bikes, but they all seem to stay in the garage, I love this bike and just don't want to ride the others. Its far from perfect, the top tube is dented and its too small for me, but its been that way since I bought it, and I still love it.
One day it will be returned to its pistachio coloured glory and be hung in my lounge as remembrance of its greatness, but only after I get too decrepit to ride it any more, and only if my son won't ride it.
Tyler
Frame: Tange Prestige
Fork: Project Two
Headset: Unknown
Stem: Too short cheap crap
Handlebar: Ritchey
Grips: Ritchey
Barends: CNC'd Alloy
Brakes: Front XT M739 Rear Diacompe U brake
Brake Pads: XT and Koolstop
Brake Cables: Shimano M series
Cantilever cable hangers: Unknown alloy rear
Brake Levers: XT M739
Shifters: XT M739 8 speed
Front Derailleur: Cheap as chips Simplex
Rear Derailleur: XT
Derailleur Cables: Shimano
Cassette: XT
Chain: HG70
Cranks: XT M737
Bottom Bracket: UN52
Pedals: VP
Hub Skewers: XP
Rims: Mavic x221
Hubs: XP
Spokes: DT Competion
Tyres: Scwalbe Black Shark
Tubes: Scwalbe
Saddle: Fizik
Seatpost: Unknown alloy cheap crap
Seatpost Binder: Unknown alloy cheap crap