Classic & Vintage - Bike Boomers !

As y,all know the 70,s created the "Bike Boom" , and many ppl like myself (and ppl in this forum) have grown fond of certain makes and models from those years,with me its the "UO8" which is STILL a work in progress,have YOU got a boomer that you cherish ? or even lovingly restored ? (:) naturally for "Easthill"pics would greatly help) !. :)

As y,all know the 70,s created the "Bike Boom" , and many ppl like myself (and ppl in this forum) have grown fond of certain makes and models from those years,with me its the "UO8" which is STILL a work in progress,have YOU got a boomer that you cherish ? or even lovingly restored ? (:) naturally for "Easthill"pics would greatly help) !. :)

Most of them, but I have a soft spot in my head...I mean heart for Bob Jackson, Motobecane and Raleighs. Currently I probably own more Raleighs than any other single marque. I think I prefer the British frame builders over others. Flying Scot, Hetchins, Dawes, Jackson, Mercian, Carlton, Bates, Taylor and the list goes on and on. I have nothing against the French, Italian, Dutch or any other nationality of frames, these are just the ones I spent the most time with and would like to own more of.

Aaron:)

I grew up during the bike boom. I have no interest in going back. I can remember Schwinn having a waiting list for all their bikes: Varsity, Continental, whatever. I much prefer the 1980s myself.

I grew up during the bike boom. I have no interest in going back. I can remember Schwinn having a waiting list for all their bikes: Varsity, Continental, whatever. I much prefer the 1980s myself.

+1, I was there too. The 1980s bikes are much more interesting.

Just finishing up a Centurion Le Mans that my Dad picked up for me, along with a Viscount Sebring. Both were sitting on someone's front lawn with a sign saying "Free." The Centurion is rougher than the Viscount. Looks like it spent the last 30 years geting shoved around the garage, picking up nicks & dings in the beautiful blue paint.

These bikes are important to American bicycling culture. The Viscount is the right size for me. I could own & ride it another 30 years. They're overweight,and a bit crude, but these are the bikes that got the USA back on 2 wheels.

I was there...but just a kid. I graduated from a Schwinn fixed gear to a blue Raliegh Record ten speed complete with brooks saddle and obligatory little leather tool bag when I was around 9 years old. I never once even glanced back at a fixed gear bike. If I was into BMX that would be one thing...but I'm not. I just can't imagine being stuck in one crappy, boring gear. Anyway, after a few short years I got a white Atala...(don't remember the model) and then a car. :rolleyes: In 1977 I got my drivers licence and so ended my bike saga. I'm glad to be back in it, though. Good times ahead.:beer:

Speaking of UO-8s, here's my much-loved and much-upgraded '71 UO-8:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lVFA-JOlfx8/SI4B1pTK5zI/AAAAAAAAAOI/PkjrJF5XTBM/s720/DSC_5244.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_lVFA-JOlfx8/SI4B5E0zwwI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/dLDVVNWg7DM/s400/DSC_5245.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lVFA-JOlfx8/SI4B9nymlCI/AAAAAAAAAOk/3XNr6VTZdQ8/s400/DSC_5248.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_lVFA-JOlfx8/SI4B_d11tmI/AAAAAAAAAOs/Jsn7WDPfDSw/s400/DSC_5249.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lVFA-JOlfx8/SI4CAxKSAjI/AAAAAAAAAO0/wUO1c3S3hd0/s400/DSC_5250.JPG

Cheers,
Karl

I had a Raleigh International that I bought in 1974 in Corpus Christi, and rode all around Texas, what a sweet ride. I can still remember the way the frame would vibrate and hum on a long downhill.

It was stolen in the late 1980's and I haven't had anything but beaters since. Wish I could afford to buy another one, but I would be too heavy for it anyway.

I wanted to buy a Raleigh Super Course for college circa 1971, but you couldn't get one. I ended up with a bottom of the barrel hunka de junque Gitane but it got me riding. I sold it for almost what I paid for it a year later. By then I had met some guys in college who taught me the joys of better bikes and I've never looked back. I still ride what I loved then.

I think I've had 3 new bikes in my life, and one was a paperboy bike.

Bike Boom, I’m definitely stuck there. I bought three new bikes in that time frame: ’69 Varsity, ’71 Super Sport, ’72 PX10 (all sold by the mid seventies). At the time I wanted a Raleigh Pro, a Paramount and a Cinelli. Between 1986 and 1999, I was able to pick up the high-end stuff I had lusted after. Last year I couldn’t stand it any more and replaced the missing Super Sport and PX 10 with three of each (I hate/love eBay). Now the work begins.

It’s hard to say which one is the favorite but I always thought that my original PX10 had some magic in it. The Peugeots I bought recently all have something special in their “feel”.

Kerry P

Rode a dept store Huffy in high school. Bought a real bike at a yard sale when I got out of the military, a silver and black Raleigh Grand Prix. Kept that for years, and gave it away to a mens group home. Now I am looking for another silver and black Grand Prix. :o

Look at my list of bikes and you will see that except for one I totally "live" in the bike boom era. Those were my late grade school and teenage years, where my bike lust was at full tilt!

I skipped the 80's and have a Waterford Paramount from the early 90's. Nothing against the 80's, just that I was not riding at all in those days.

My first derailleur equipped bike was a '61 Varsity and most of my riding until recently was done on this my '63 Superior so maybe I'm more of a pre-boomer.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/koskid/DSC03729.jpg

In high school my buddy had a '62 Peugeot AO-8. We rode from SF to LA on these bikes in '64. I recently restored this '62 UO-8 that I bought cuz it was very similar to by friends bike. Brings back lots of memories.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/koskid/DSC04877.jpg

If wooljersey would ever come back I'd post my c72 Gitane TdF - the bike I really wanted, along with [531 tubed] Eddy Merckx's that were out of my price range - but instead had to settle for the Interclub model. Check back later. :)

I had several "roadbikes" from Sears, one that I actually really liked! Unfortunately, the frame turned out to be weak and broke at the steering head!! However, Sears replaced the whole bike at no charge. A Year or so later I got A Schwinn in a trade, but I don't remember the model. When I was 17 I bought my first one from a Bike shop and paid the ungodly some of $150.00!! (1978) I remember it had cottered cranks which quickly began to give me trouble. That one eventually got stolen. I can't remember who made it.

I'm working on my 70s Schwinn. Some days I love it, some days I curse it.

I think the plan is to work on it through the summer and get it set up. If it's still not working for me, I'll just swap the old parts back on and figure something out.

I started that era off with a Schwinn Varsity my dad bought me for Christmas when I was 11. The bike he bought me before that was a cheapo department store Skyway 3-speed ($39?) with a stick shift on the top tube. It disintegrated fast, and my dad figured a Schwinn, even if it cost $100 with extras, would last an eternity, and was therefore a good investment (I sold it 5 years...and about 4,000 miles...later for $50). After the Varsity, I got hooked on Fuji S-10-S Special Road Racers. It was a "mind altering" experience to ride one of those after riding a Varsity. I then went "Kabuki", and have owned almost every model they made (Super Speed, Skyway, Hilltopper, and a Diamond Touring). I still have my Diamond Touring and a Fuji similar to the ones I rode in the '70s. The Fuji is a middle-of-the-road bike, but rides very nicely and holds up well.

While my taste in music and women's fashions leans toward the 80's, when it comes to bicycles and cars I love 60's and early 70's and the bike boom was the best of all. Until the boom, the bicycle industry, though a century old, was still immature in its stage of development. Each country had its own standards and designed bikes for its own market. French bikes really were different from English bikes which were different from Italian bikes. They all had their own style and feel. But few Americans knew about them. Then the bike boom changed all that. No longer was the lightweight bicycle an obscure oddity ridden by some eccentric character. Now everyone could experience the joys of cycling. It was a wonderful time.

But it didn't come without a price. The old European cycling industry was not equipped to handle the explosion into the global market. Supply problems, quality control issues, lack of standardization, and the general immaturity of their production processes all combined to bring down the industry, at least in the form that we knew it. The boom allowed the Japanese to get their foot in the door and with them came stabdardization, mass production, the virtual elimination of entry level European bikes form the market, and the fall of the century old French cycling industry.

Of course I suspect it's those very improvements to the production processes brought by the Japanese that attract many of those who are saying they prefer the 80's bikes. But while there are some exceptions, I find most 80's bikes bland and uninspiring. When you look at my boom period bikes they are visually appealing and interesting. Folks in my age group see them and remember back in the day. Younger people look at them and say, "I didn't know Peugeot made bicycles" or "I never heard of a Bottecchia" or "Look, the shifters are on the downtube and they don't click!". By comparison my 1988 Panasonic PT-3500 touring bike is essentially modern. Swap the downtube shifters for a set of bar-ends and it differs hardly at all from any modern touring bicycle. I doubt there is a part on it that I couldn't get a replacement for at the LBS. I think it practically defines the difference between C&V and just an old bike.

So after all that hot air, here are my two boom period bikes that are up and running, in all their glory:

1972 Bottecchia Giro d'Italia:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z77/Kommisar89/tn_008.jpg

1974 Peugeot UO8 (converted into what would have been a UO10 had they had that model at the time or sort of a homemade PA10 less the forged dropouts):

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z77/Kommisar89/tn_015.jpg

my AO8 :P

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_CbHO_57vhkQ/Sjpsv8Cj2lI/AAAAAAAACV4/XClXv9edj5s/s720/IMG_6344.JPG

My trusty rusty red UO-8 definitely qualifies for this thread. :)

I bought it new as a bare frame and built it up for my wife for daily transportation. I originally chose a TA Professional 3-bolt crank with 52-42 rings, Normandy Luxe Competition hubs, Araya rims, a Shimano Titlist front derailleur, a SunTour VG-T rear derailleur, a custom 16-18-21-24-32 SunTour freewheel, 4X lacing, Schwinn TwinStik stem shifters, upright bars similar to those on some of the UO-18s, and a Pletscher mousetrap rack.

After her interests turned to mountain bikes, I took over the UO-8 as my commuter. It now features 165mm Sugino cranks with 45-42 chainrings, a 13-26 ultra-6 freewheel, a short cage SunTour Cyclone II rear derailleur, drops with barcons, etc.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii125/vincev_2008/1969varsitymine.jpg?t=1245622449

This is my first bike from 1969.I kept in all original condition down to the dork disk and pansy plate.Still take it out on occasion

Vincev....
My Varsity was... blue...otherwise it was just like the one you have.

I find that my 1984 Lotus Classique is plenty visually appealing (at least to me). But its great we all have different tastes and interest!

I had a 1975 U08, bought new in the middle of the boom when my Continental was stolen. The bike never really fit, and I sold it last year.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/3113301693_a19435b262_o.jpg

I also find my 1987 Miyata pretty visually appealing.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3526115469_3e57638c31.jpg

The Japanese bikes from the 1980s attract me for several reasons. First, the build and finish work was much improved over similar bikes from the 1970s. Secondly, I like the components from that era much better. As an engineer who always worked in manufacturing, I appreciate quality and the pressure the Japanese brought to raising the bar. Third, they are pretty competitive weight wise with modern bikes, in stock condition, something I couldn't say about my U08 or the Continental.

If I could have afforded a Paramount way back then, my attitude about the 1970s would have been much different.

1973 Varsity

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09Varsity/0522091659-02.jpg

My first derailleur equipped bike was a '61 Varsity and most of my riding until recently was done on this my '63 Superior so maybe I'm more of a pre-boomer.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/koskid/DSC03729.jpg

I really LIKE that Superior!

1972 Bottecchia Giro d'Italia:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z77/Kommisar89/tn_008.jpg


Gorgeous! One of my favorite bikes.

Karl

It seems to me that dck's Schwinn is pre-boom.

During the boom, I started with a purple Royce Union. I graduated to a white Rolls. I copied my friend and bought a Raleigh Grand Prix (it was entirely different than his). I rode the Grand Prix extensively and upgraded everything on it. Then, in the summer of 1975 (or was it 1974), I bought a Bob Jackson frame (by mail order from a retailer in Ohio) and put all the upgraded components from the Grand Prix onto the Jackson.

Seems like every bike I own is from 71 or 72, though today I picked up this thing, seems to be from the bike boom of the '90s;
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/barn1.jpg

Seems like every bike I own is from 71 or 72, though today I picked up this thing, seems to be from the bike boom of the '90s;
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/barn1.jpg

I don't think that's the boom to which OP was referring. :lol:

I find that my 1984 Lotus Classique is plenty visually appealing (at least to me). But its great we all have different tastes and interest!

I had a 1975 U08, bought new in the middle of the boom when my Continental was stolen. The bike never really fit, and I sold it last year.

I also find my 1987 Miyata pretty visually appealing.

The Japanese bikes from the 1980s attract me for several reasons. First, the build and finish work was much improved over similar bikes from the 1970s. Secondly, I like the components from that era much better. As an engineer who always worked in manufacturing, I appreciate quality and the pressure the Japanese brought to raising the bar. Third, they are pretty competitive weight wise with modern bikes, in stock condition, something I couldn't say about my U08 or the Continental.

If I could have afforded a Paramount way back then, my attitude about the 1970s would have been much different.

To each his own I guess. To me it's sort of like comparing a '72 Camaro to a '87 Camry. Apples and oranges.

WOW Ben! Can you show us better pictures or start a new thread?

Well the bike boom bike I always wanted was a Varsity but that $100 price was out of my and my families reach. My first adult bike was a department store 10 speed (from a store called Grants that was going out of business so the noramlly $70 bike was $35) that I have for 5-6 years -- I think 5.75 of those years it was a rusty mess.

I have a Varsity in the basement waiting to get redone. I bought some Nashbar 27" alloy rims and plan on using the original hubs and building up my first set of wheels. That will be a next winter project.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t316/sonatageek/DCP_0200.jpg

One of my problems with the bike boom, in stock condition, the bikes were either really porky, or really expensive. The advent of the Japanese brought bikes priced in the low end of the 1970s, but competitive weight and component wise with the higher end bikes of the 1970s.

Many of us could not afford a decent bike in the 1970s. But for the same money in the 1980s, you could get a pretty nice bike. The low end bikes of the 1970s were just that, low end. To me, the comparison is more like a Chevy Vega to a Toyota Corolla. For the same money, the quality improvement and value was striking. Certainly a 1972 Camaro was a sweet car, but I didn't have that kind of money either.

One of my problems with the bike boom, in stock condition, the bikes were either really porky, or really expensive. The advent of the Japanese brought bikes priced in the low end of the 1970s, but competitive weight and component wise with the higher end bikes of the 1970s.

Many of us could not afford a decent bike in the 1970s. But for the same money in the 1980s, you could get a pretty nice bike. The low end bikes of the 1970s were just that, low end. To me, the comparison is more like a Chevy Vega to a Toyota Corolla. For the same money, the quality improvement and value was striking. Certainly a 1972 Camaro was a sweet car, but I didn't have that kind of money either.

I see your point. At the time obviously that was very important as you wanted to get the best bike you could afford. But today as a collector, there isn't that much of a price difference and I'm not limited to stock components. Today, much as with bikes, I would take a nice clean old Vega over a Corolla...and drop a small block V-8 in it :) But the main thing is, during the boom I was a youngster at the peak of my cycling lust and in the 80's I was in my late teens - 20's and more worried about cars, motorcycles and girls. So by the 80's to get my cycling attention you would need a super high-end Italian steed with lots of chrome and Campagnolo parts (not that I could have afforded such a thing mind you, but that would have been what I would have lusted after). The cycling equivalent of a Corolla or Camry would not even have been on my radar. Which I suppose is part of what drives my choices - in the 70's you could buy an entry level European bike that had the same coolness factor (for teenagers like me and my buddies) as the high-end bikes by the same companies. They wore the same colors and decals and were usually made in the same factories and had the same brands of components. The Japanese bikes just didn't have that panache no matter how technically superior they might have been. (...and don't nobody go posting no picture of a 3Rensho or anything...you know that ain't the kind of Japanese bike we're talking about :D).

"store called Grants"

W.T. Grants? They went out in about 1976! Didn't they carry bikes like Kia, Iverson and the like?

"One of my problems with the bike boom, in stock condition, the bikes were either really porky, or really expensive. The advent of the Japanese brought bikes priced in the low end of the 1970s, but competitive weight and component wise with the higher end bikes of the 1970s.

"Many of us could not afford a decent bike in the 1970s. But for the same money in the 1980s, you could get a pretty nice bike. The low end bikes of the 1970s were just that, low end. To me, the comparison is more like a Chevy Vega to a Toyota Corolla. For the same money, the quality improvement and value was striking. Certainly a 1972 Camaro was a sweet car, but I didn't have that kind of money either."

I used to regularly ride 200+ miles per week in the '70s, and owned quite a few bikes. I found the Japanese bikes I rode to be smooth riding, dependable, easy to maintain and affordable. They were nicely made...Fujis and Kabukis were my favorites...and I never had a problem selling them when I was ready for a change. I liked the Sun Tour gears, Dia-Compe brakes, Belt leather saddles, Araya and Ukai rims, Sun Shine quick release hubs, and some of the nice paint jobs these bikes came with. I also worked in a shop back then and used to find some of the European bikes to be a nightmare to work on, especially on the lower-end. The workmanship wasn't that great and I didn't like the way they rode as much. The best value then was with the Japanese bikes IMHO. I do remember how we frowned on the Taiwanese-made bikes when they started coming in, probably the same way fans of European bikes frowned on Japanese bikes earlier, so to each his own I guess. We did sell quite a few used Peugeot UO8s "back in the day"...people really did fall for the decals on those bikes...especially the UO8s painted white. I did have a custom Campy equipped bike that I built around a French "mystery" frame. It was a fantastic & dependable ride, but I could have bought quite a few Japanese bikes for what that cost.