The Road bike Introduce Yourself Here Thread

[StevemOs]

Hi. I'm Steve in Northants.... just back into cycling after a few years 'resting'. Back in the day I rode a Chas Roberts 531c, and then a couple of Brian Rourkes 531c with 105, and a 708 w/ mixed campy.. all long gone.

Currently riding an off the peg claud butler.. gof rid of the tournay and std stuff and am switching it up to new 105. And some newer wheels to match my regained fitness .

I've also taken on a restoration of a 1984 peugeot PH10 which has been in a barn for 20+ years. It will be a shiny homage to Robert/Pippa when it's done...one of my hero's when I started out as a schoolboy..

 

[petewo]

If you're new here welcome to the forum

You can use this thread to introduce yourself. It's also good if you can let us know how you ended up here, see poll above.

If you're interested in MTBs or BMXs be sure to introduce yourself in these forums too

 

[Optombenno]

Hi All, David from Nottingham. Just posted a thread on the Eroica for some help.
Stumbeld accoss this forum whist surfing for older bikes to ride. One more rabbit hole to burrow into! Many thanks for everyones help!

 

[Corsa of Course]

Hi I'm James from Suffolk. I passed the driving test and put my Carlton in the shed and next rode it I think 26 years later. When it came out it was rustier the tyres had stuck to the concrete the saddle was not as comfortable as I remembered it and my cadence had dropped by about 25% so I just plain ran out of gears. However after a clean some oil and some puncture care it would work and I had a mission, a charity bike ride.
A month to train in and I should be good for 45 miles or so shouldn't I? I survived the ride the rims were rusty enough to wear out a set of blocks in 45 miles and I was knackered. The next year I had had my Carlton rebuilt by the cycle shop next to where I worked. Good bits they got rid of all the rust and the metallic green was quite a good match. It became a 12 speed, the group set was a Shimano 14-28 it gained alloy wheels and they were true! The kept the head badge.
Not so good bits they lost the chrome fork ends, the shifters are now stem shifters, they put a gel saddle on it. Well the next year it was better to ride I did more training I still pedalled a lot slower than when I was 17. The saddle did year 3 and needed replacing so as my surname is Lepper I bought a Lepper saddle this one is leather and gel, good in winter less in summer. I should add that this Carlton is a 19 1/2" frame and came with 26" rims for 1 1/4 tyres. In the rebuild the alloys had become 26" x1 3/8" I think it is a Corsa so it wears those decals now and I found 7 speed group set so it now runs that. After 7 more years of riding it more and more often. I replaced the Lepper saddle with a Lepper only leather saddle.
Last year I thought I would buy another Carlton for the winter. I found a bright pink Super Course from 1980 for £80 it is the same colour as my wife's nail varnish. Somebody clearly wanted to be seen and had it sprayed. The old Lepper saddle was put on it otherwise I cleaned it up and it needed a new front axle and the bearings needed a little adjustment. Very smooth with a Suntour mech and Simplex retro friction shifters. It also had modern brake levers with the cables under the bar tape which look both right and wrong at the same time. The Corsa will still do the charity ride as it is still very much my bike, but the Super Course is a lovely ride. Whoever had it before put a 46/30 on it which as a 46 13 runs a bit lower geared by about 1/2 mph at my usual cadence of nudging 60, than the Corsa's 52 14. They are this close because the Super Course runs 27" rims with 28mm tyres. I hope this will encourage me to increase my cadence. Anyway there you have it I'm oldish and cycle about 30 miles a week from March to November with the charity ride on the second Saturday of September. This year I plan to ride 80 miles on that Saturday and I am rather fond of my old not quite original bikes.

 

[Jamiedyer]

Welcome aboard to all the new members!
We have had quite a few lately and so that’s a lot experience and knowledge to add to the pool.
So don’t be shy, jump in, join in and make yourselves at home.

Jamie

 

[The History Man]

Welcome aboard to all the new members!
We have had quite a few lately and so that’s a lot experience and knowledge to add to the pool.
So don’t be shy, jump in, join in and make yourselves at home.

Jamie

Is a pool a step up from a pond?

 

[robtims]

Hi everyone.

I got back into cycling during the first lockdown after almost 30 years and it's been great. I rebuilt my 1990 GT Avalanche mountain bike with new Shimano GRX and some 38mm 26" touring bike tyres and it's been brilliant for riding around the potholed lanes of Sussex.

Next I dug out my old road bike from the loft and gave it a complete rebuild. My only change was to remove the Campag C Record brake levers and put back the original Super Record levers, rebuild the wheels with a some NOS Mavic G40 rims and buy a couple of water bottles. The only concession to modernity is a pair of new Dura Ace pedals.

It was in remarkably good condition once I had removed all the dust and is, in my opinion, a thing of absolute beauty. Here is is for all to see.

 

[non-fixie]

Welcome, @robtims ! And what a gorgeous bike you have brought along.

 

[Bolehill]

Hello one and all.
I did a lot of cycling as a teenager; lots of enthusiasm and very little money resulted in less than mediocre performance. The enjoyment factor was off the scale though. Sold the bike, went to uni and lost the cycling plot...
Fast forward through a few lost decades, featuring running (and a dropped foot which took a long time to recover), karate (yes I did get to dan grade), eventually reverting to a bike where I have discovered that lots of enthusiasm and significantly more money still results in less than mediocre performance. The enjoyment factor however, is just where I left it all those years ago.
I've a few bikes as you might expect - a Trek X-Calber 9 Hard Tail; an upgraded Cube Attain (winter bike); a stock Cube Attain GTC (summer bike); a 1982 Koga-Miyata Superwinner and a 2003 Bianchi Mega-Pro homage to Pantani that I spent waaay too much money on!

Currently looking for a new project, not sure what that will be, but I have found lots of ideas and encouragement in the pages of Retrobike.

Chris

 

[non-fixie]

I have discovered that lots of enthusiasm and significantly more money still results in less than mediocre performance.

Welcome to the club, Chris!

I like that Koga. It is from an era when they took up colour coding, and pulled it off, too. The "Golden Arrow" bits are lovely as well. They must have been just released when your bike was built.