General Cycling Discussion - BAUER road bike ??

do they exist ??

was checking out some online classifieds and came across a listing with exactly this info.

BAUER ROAD BIKE, 56cm, full Ultegra, Mavic open pro rims -$350 *location and number withheld by me * just in case ;)

I was grabbed with the full ultegra and mavic open pro rims, they sond kinda professional - am I wrong.

bear in mind this is in Aussie dollars so it is like 175USD and maybe 100GBP.

What's the score on this one guys. My parents are clueless about bikes (me too really), but they know what rust and bent wheels look like, is this a good enough deal to just say 'check it out and if it is missing the 2 aforementioned things buy it' or am I just being sucked in my some cunning marketing ploy.

bear in mind I am overseas at present and will not be sititng on the bike for another 4 months minimum, no riding before you buy type possibilities.

cheers fellas.

Colin

They only thing with Bauer that I know and have are the four or so pairs of hockey skates and bag full of hockey equipment.

They were well known in Canada for their hockey equipment (although I think someone bought their company out or they went under...?) and they made some pretty lousy rollerblades.

Road bikes? I've never heard of them. Just remember that what you pay for is what you usually get...and if the frame is no good..I wouldn't care how good the components are :D

Nike acquired Bauer-the-hockey-company. That Bauer never made bikes. Steve Bauer had a short-lived line of consumer bikes, though...

I'm resurrecting this VERY old thread because my current ride is a Steve Bauer 18 speed "Caurus". It's maybe a touring bike? Heck, I don't know! It's got a fairly light frame, regular mountian bike style handle bars and eyelets for racks/fenders. It's also a man's 26" wheel frame with pink and white paint. uh-HUH!

My husband bought it for me, sight unseen, out of the Buy and Sell. Actually, it's not a bad bike. He only paid $50 Cdn or it.

Does anyone have any ideas about it's history, probable age, etc? I can't find a thing about it on the net.

I have a Steve Bauer Boreas 12 speed road bike, it's all Shimano 105, I think it's a really nice bike (even though it's black and pink). Not sure who made them, but the frame is very similar to a Bianchi Paggio bike I have of similar vintage (mid to late 80's) that was made in Japan or Taiwan. I've seen a few Steve Bauer mountain bikes around here, too.
Lots of info on the web about Steve Bauer (the Fenwick Flash), Tour de France Competitor and Olympic medallist, he now runs a bike touring company that is very successful. website is at www.stevebauer.com . I sent an email requesting bike history info, didn't get a response, but maybe the email didn't get through.

Here's a link to a recent discussion at www.oldroads.com (http://oldroads.com/d_ltw_ra.asp?OQID=19221&QuestionNum=19236&RID=0)

I, too, shall resurrect This Old Thread.

I purchased a Bauer frame from The Hub Bike Co-op (http://thehubbikecoop.org) two days ago.

The Motobecane frame that I had been riding fixed for the previous year decided to come undone during the last Saturday Night Ride (fortunately, another rider had duct tape, so the night continued unabated). I went shopping the next day and determined that I had limited choices for finding a road frame with horizontal drop-outs -- get a used frame ($ + time searching), get a Surly Cross-Check or Steamroller ($$), or splurge and get something like a LeMond Fillmore ($$$) (haha -- not!).

Fortunately, someone at the Hub turned me on to one of the three Bauer frames that were suspended from the ceiling. He said it was a "new" (unused) frame, made a decade or two ago in the old Trek factory in St. Paul (though this fact is in dispute, if you read on...).

I snagged a 51 cm blue frame and fork for $60 (apparently twice what I should have paid, again if you read on... =) and went home, made some pizza, opened a beer, and started transferring parts from the broken bike. Unfortunately (well, whatever, this is how I operate), I completely spaced the fact that a new frames' head tube should be "raced and chased". Instead, I'm sitting there whacking at the headset wondering why it won't fit. I even grabbed some sand paper to see about filing it down. Which is when I realized it's probably wiser to file down the inside of the head tube. Which is when I realized it's probably wiser to go to the bike shop.

But not until I got some sleep and went to work.

Thirty miles and fourteen hours later, I visited my LBS (http://www.oneononebike.com), only to be scolded for having ridden a bike in such condition.

But it was the next statement that really hurt: I was told I didn't ever have to worry about being hired as a mechanic.

My hopes were forever crushed!

Not even a tenure at Erik's would have saved me then; I was forever shamed.

But I digress.

I was also told about how crappy Bauer frames are. Something about someone in St. Paul asking someone in Taiwan, "How cheaply can you make a frame?" and the response being something about maximizing the number of frames that can be shipped in the smallest space. (So you see, I don't think the frames were made here in the good ole Minn-e of soh-tuh.)

Point being, the frames were subjected to a lot of stress during shipment (aside from them being cheaply manufactured in the first place). As such, they needed a lot of adjustment upon arrival.

So I think my mechanic was just salty about Bauer frames needing more racing, chasing, and othering than other frames.

That, or he had spent the whole night wheel-building and hadn't slept. Poor guy...

Whatever. I like the ride. The frame may be a cm shorter than my old ride, and the head tube angle / rake may be greater, which makes turning feel touchier (but at least now my toe never comes in contact with the front wheel), but the ride is nice and quick, and much smoother. Also, the frame is cheap and even lighter (mere ounces) than the Motobecane. So I returned to the Hub and bought the other blue frame. I had felt bad, anyway, having split them apart in the first place. They seemed happy together.

Next, I swung back to One on One to return a bearing shaft removal tool I had borrowed (don't you just love shop "libraries"! ... and don't you just love the word "shaft"!), when I was told that other shops had been getting rid of Bauer frames for a mere twenty-five bucks a pop. To spare me further pain, I think, I was subsequently told that the Hub's gotta feed its employees (it's a co-op). So, ya know, spread the wealth. And I was happy with my finds. Figured I'd stock up on fixe frames while I can.

Also figured I'd post something at Bike Forums, since extended Googling for information on Bauer road frames turned up nothing useful except a thread in Bike Forums (though not this thread, mind you, but the "the right bike for my girlfiend" [sic] thread, here: http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-54423).

One last thing: the fork supplied with the frame was too short to accept the headset that I had, so I ended up using my old fork. Which is too bad, 'cause the old fork is silver and the new fork could've been blue, like the frame. Though perhaps the shop gave me a fork for a smaller frame.

Anyway, can't believe I wrote so much for having so little to actually say about Bauer frames, but them's the facts as I know 'em.