Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Showing off the New/Old bikes! Glad to be back in cycling!

In the early 90's I was an avid cyclist, but I've been out of the game for quite some time.

At my thinnest I weighed 218 but was healthiest at about 240, now I'm 325!

I was recently suspected of having Diabetes and it does run in my family.

Recent family changes have left me feeling better about myself, and the encouragement of my spouse has gotten me out on the road again.

My old road racer was in poor shape and would need way too much work to get back on the road, so I have been frequenting craigslist....

First bike I found was a Ross Grand Tour....($70) New tires, Bearings, bar tape, eggbeaters, my Beloved Brooks Professional, and a bit of elbow grease.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/angelpena/DSCF3819.jpg

I never had a mountain bike so I got one of the ones I admired way back when...

A mid 90's Specialized RockHopper($55), I got rid of the Biopace crank, added some cross tires, and A brand new Brooks B17, and a couple odds and ends....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/angelpena/DSCF4004.jpg

After a couple neighborhood rides I thought it would be nice to have a tandem to keep the family together, I didn't think I'd find one so nice and so cheap, so I dug deep and got a Borthwick.... ($395) all I had do do was find another seat and seatpost so the Mrs. fit, changed the bar tape, and I still need to find pedals but here she is so far...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/angelpena/DSCF4007.jpg

Very nice!!!! I love "bike porn" :innocent::eek::innocent:

Way to go. Now that you have a collection, it is time to ride.
And then the real fun begins.

txvintage approves of these rides!

Welcome to the forum!

Very nice, I would suggest hanging onto the old road racer, few bikes need all that much unless the components are worn out, especially if you can do your own wrenching, if you click my sig, you will find links to my bikes, the Raleigh is 36, and the mountain bike is 6 this year, heck together they are almost as old as I am..... Would like to add another road bike to the herd, something light, fast and Italian.... Kinda sounds like when some of my friends start talking cars, except the bikes are way cheaper :D

First thing I would do the the Ross, switch those stem shifters out for downtube clamp-ons, I hate column shifters.....

Nice collection!

I never find tandems that nice for that cheap... Nice finds...

You got a deal on that mid 90's Rockhopper. Especially if it looked that nice. I'm a big fan of those late 80's to mid 90's MTB's.

Very nice, I would suggest hanging onto the old road racer, few bikes need all that much unless the components are worn out, especially if you can do your own wrenching, if you click my sig, you will find links to my bikes, the Raleigh is 36, and the mountain bike is 6 this year, heck together they are almost as old as I am..... Would like to add another road bike to the herd, something light, fast and Italian.... Kinda sounds like when some of my friends start talking cars, except the bikes are way cheaper :D

First thing I would do the the Ross, switch those stem shifters out for downtube clamp-ons, I hate column shifters.....
Just curious, but why do you hate stem shifters? I had two road bikes many years ago, and I preferred the stem shifters over the one with downtube units. There must be a reason why stem shifters are practically extinct, but I don't remember anything particularly awful about them.

Nice bikes! Welcome back to the addiction... :)

Just curious, but why do you hate stem shifters? I had two road bikes many years ago, and I preferred the stem shifters over the one with downtube units. There must be a reason why stem shifters are practically extinct, but I don't remember anything particularly awful about them.

The idea was to allow the rider to move their hand very little to shift, it only worked only if you always ride with your hands on either side of the stem, the same as the reasoning behind turkey levers, the problem is that by riding in that position you lose a lot of the steering control. When turkey levers disappeared in the very early 80's, stem shifters went with them. The Raleigh came with them, and I found that even though it had been 30 years since I had ridden a road bike, the downtube shifter was where my hand wanted to go, so I put a set of clamp on downtubes on there. I want to put some aero levers on it, but there is too much other stuff with priority.

Yes downtube are further away, but they are usually in a position that is easy to find, without looking at them, so you drop your hand, shift and are back in position in a few seconds. Barcons are the same concept as stem shifters, and are easy to find because you follow to the end of the bar and back, without looking.

Mine has the turkey levers, and until I find a longer stem I'm not spending a lot of time in the drops. Plus I'm not spending any extra money on it!

Just curious, but why do you hate stem shifters? I had two road bikes many years ago, and I preferred the stem shifters over the one with downtube units. There must be a reason why stem shifters are practically extinct, but I don't remember anything particularly awful about them.

The party line on stem shifters, at least 30 years ago, was that they were sluggish and inefficient because of the longer cable length. No one was able to explain to me why then bar-end shifters (barcons) were considered a good thing for serious tourists, since they had longer cable runs, too. Now you can say the same thing about brifters. I never understood it, unless it was simply because stem shifters were found (usually) on less expensive bikes and it was the snob factor kicking in.

Nice trio of machines!

My vote is for the barcons, I put them on my 82 Raleigh and love them. Trouble free easy to work on and I have never had any trouble shifting.