Classic & Vintage - How did you come across BF C&V?

What was your route to the Cuckoo's Nest?

I Googled Cuckoos nest, I got this link.......

I was foolomng around on the 'net looking for info on Bianchi MAX framed bikes adn possibly if there was one for sale. I stumbled across an archive post about a year old at the time. I joined, posted a reply and as fate would have it the OP offered me the bike a few months later.

I Googled OLD, Rust, broken, bent, seized seatpost, seized headtube, obsolete bike parts...and here I am! ;-)

Long ago I checked into BF one day and they had a new C&V forum. Yep, I was on BF before there was a C&V.

Long ago I checked into BF one day and they had a new C&V forum. Yep, I was on BF before there was a C&V.

I have been here so long I can't remember if C&V was here or not :P

I have always had old bikes laying around, so it was a good fit, I also appreciate a lot of other old things. Cars, lawnmowers, tractors, trucks, sewing machines, women, scotch, ...

Aaron :)

I was surfing porn and somehow ended up here.

I think it was when I searched for "old ladies, spandex, and saddles...."

I was looking for.... ummm nevermind. I was actually looking for info on my trash picked Schwinn Traveler. Here I am now, w/ 12 bikes and over a dozen that have passed through my hands. Thanks guys

I threw poop at the monolith

I think I first found Bike Forums when I was on a business trip, far away from my bike. Here is my first post (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/166429-Nishiki-Fans...-UNITE!?p=7397884&highlight=#post7397884) (in the 41), and here is my first C&V post (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/463269-Bikes-older-than-John-McCain?p=7438555&highlight=#post7438555). Shortly after that I started a thread about the DL-1 I purchased (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/469230-A-good-old-Raleigh?p=7530454&highlight=#post7530454) when I got back into town.

Ran away from Oldroads.com.

-Kurt

I can't remember...

Bought a raleigh sport.. searched out info for working on it.. ended up here as often as SB so I made an account.

I was a riding junkie until age 15. I didn't ride from then until age 21. When I decided to ride again, I started researching bikes. I found the road forum and realized I couldn't stand the aesthetics of modern bikes so I gravitated here. It's been a serious money drain since.

Researching a Bridgestone XO-1.

Hung around the road forum mostly before this, and it dawned on me there may be more to life.

Then I found C&V, and my dreams have come true.

I googled "curmudgeon". After a few links to pictures of oldfatguy I found bike forums.

Like many others I was researching. I was trying to find some info on a Wheaties/Schwinn Paramount I wanted soooo baaaddd off of Ebay. She now sits proudly in my stable :)

Mutt

I'm newer and just started looking for a bike in the fall of last year. I looked at a couple of new bikes and decided I was not going to spend $1k+ before I educated myself on what it was I was buying. Decided to look for a project bike for the learning experience and came here to research bikes I saw on Craigslist. I ended up finding my Miyata in near mint condition, fell in love, and lost all ambitions of buying new. As my wife would say, "Your addicted, but bikes are better than your old addictions".

I was looking for info, and bf was always the first or second result. I came over to C&V from SS&FG.

IIRC, I needed advice on a freewheel/hub that exhibited more wobble than I expected when rotating the wheel on a Raleigh Record.
I had bought it a few years prior when I wanted to start riding again - (after several decades of sitting on my arse. :rolleyes: )

It turned out it was within the normal range of variation for an old hub. This is the bike, but with a new wheel set.... As you can tell from the seat post, it is too small for me, but what did I know then? - Practically everything I've learned since, was learned right here in C&V. What a tremendous resource! The collective IQ here is just amazing.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh117/auchencrow/Raleigh%20Record%20-%2073%20grey/RaleighRecord021a.jpg

I gave up on a forum run by Bicycling magazine. Was C&V on BikeForums in 2004? I think not.

Typical: I was doing research on what kind of complete bike or project frame I ought to be after for reasonable dollar to replace a nice old 80s bike I had to leave behind on the other side of the country, got a frame, joined up on BF and mentioned the bike I was hoping to get to work on...someone told me I should post about it in C&V. I did.

I was trying to get some info on my old board, roadbike review forum, but was stifled by them not allowing me to post any pictures. I searched for an alternative that was less hysterical about newer people, came upon BF/C&V. They tolerated new-bees, so I stuck with them, here.

I gave up on a forum run by Bicycling magazine. Was C&V on BikeForums in 2004? I think not.

C&V forum started early 03, Iirc. You'll find some posts started earlier, but they were moved over by mods when the forum was built. Before C&V, some of us would discuss classics in the general cycling forum.

Ran away from Oldroads.com.

-Kurt

Ran away (fast!) from the 41.

I joined BF when I bought my new 06 Cannondale back in 07.

I posted a bit on the 41 but quickly realized that, while I don't dislike newer stuff and like riding my modern C-Dale, I love the aesthetics and history of the older bikes. I quickly found C&V and have been here ever since. I like a lot of older stuff, motorcycles, furniture, cameras, etc. I have found that the people who also like nicer but older stuff, tend to be more pleasant to be around, too.

Since i have joined BF, 99.9% of my posts have been in C&V.

I was doing online searches for cycling resources and found BF. I stumbled around for a week or two looking for bikes that looked like bikes instead of spaceships. That's when I found C&V. That's when I made a bunch of great friends. That's when I found out just how nice and helpful people can be.

Here's to all of you! :beer:

I always look for forums about things I am interested in, somehow I stumbled in and have stayed. I am much smarter for being here, and have had a lot of fun as well.

Ahem... I, uh... Well... I was in the single speed & fixie forum first. :o

I bought a nice chrome bike with nervex lugs at the thrift store without a headbadge, and was looking for info on what kind of bike it is. Was referred here by some nice ebayers & just like the c&v stuff so it seems like a good addiction. Figure as long as i dont wind up in a twelve step program for c&v its a good addiction lol.

I found out through the grapevine that another Forum was discussing my drillium works. I checked it out and found more dissing than discussing :rolleyes: Bunch of frustrated engineers on that one...

However, there was one member on that Forum who appreciated it, and he suggested I come over here where stuff like drillium would be more accepted. I did, and the rest is history.

Thanks Mike Mills!

DD

I joined when I started riding again in 2008 after being a sedentary slob since ~1998. My main bikes were current tech when i bought them. Apparently I became C&V along with them.

I wasn't even a rider when I found this forum. I am just the right age to have been in the 'boom' but I completely missed out on it. Instead, it was my teen daughter wanting a bike for her HS graduation and to take to college that got me into C&V and from there into cycling myself. As it happened she had very bike-y friends who had Bianchis, fixies, and the like, and she used to ride along with them on a horrible Target Huffy that her mom had bought her.

It didn't take much research on my part to find that the coolest bike for a college gal would be a vintage one, and a little more research told me that there was something called a 'mixte' that would fill the bill admirably. Around that time I stumbled in here; it was like the motherlode of just the information I was looking for. And the enthusiasm was catching: pretty soon I was lusting for bikes myself. Also I was checking eBay, CL, 'Searchtempest' and so on, and eventually I found a nice Miyata mixte for $75 over in Michigan. No sooner had I corresponded with the owner and started working on a plan to buy the bike when cb400Bill contacted me about the same bike, which was not only in his town, it was in his neighborhood. He ended up not only helping, he went and bought the bike and held it for me. I made a friend, my daughter took a near-mint 1986 Miyata to college with her, , and the whole process was so much fun that within the next year I had equipped my whole family with vintage steel, including two (I think) of my own, I'd gone on a C&V ride with a bunch of cool Chicago rider/members, and I'd acquired a bunch of tools and a stand.

It'll be my third year anniversary in C&V shortly. By that time I'll have turned over my own little collection, I think, and will have just two: a 1972ish PX-10 and a 1986 Pro Miyata. Pretty big change from where I started...and all due to this forum.

I had this bent fork, and .....no really. :)

Now that I can remember....
I got back into riding after decades away, during my divorce with my 1st wife. Riding has a soul rejuvenating effect! After riding my old '79 bike, I had plans to add a Kestrel EMS fork to my Vitus 979 and get it back on the road. I bought one, but I received a threadless version. I searched for info on threading the steerer, and that lead me to BF. I emailed a fellow who was answering questions on the Mechanics forum, Sheldon Brown. And I discovered his site, and Harris Cyclery. He gave it to me straight, a bad idea, just buy a new headset. Returning to cycling, all this new tech was virgin to me.

I had the opportunity to pick up a project bike off CL. An 89 Specialized Sirrus, or what was left of it. It was familiar territory, steel, lugs, quill stem, DT shifters (albeit SIS). Came back to BF for advice. I regular-ed the Road, Mechanics and C&V forums. I abandoned the Road...visited the Mechanics less as there are egos and self-proclaimed experts there, and chose to stay here. People spoke 'my language'. Civil, open-minded, knowledgeable (if not more so than the Mechanics forum), friendly and helpful. C&V bikes are where my interests are...kind of where I left off when I stopped cycling.

The only bad thing about this place is that I contracted the N+1 virus. No cure in sight.

My parents bought me a bike in late 2005 as a gift. Rode it for awhile with no repair kit. Then I got a flat.....

Edit: The above is how I found BF.

I got here in CV forum because of my first CV purchase. A Motobecane Jubile Sport.

My first post (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/289239-When-did-the-real-Motobecane-stopped-making-Bicycles?highlight=) here in CV.

Everyone who responded to my post were very helpful. I was hooked here since.

I got back into riding a few years ago. I found the commuting forum first. I wandered over here looking for info on the Old P8 Peugeot I had since the 80's.

The knowledge base and creativity of the CV regulars is second to none as is the mechanical aptitude.

I tinker and I'm and above average shadetree...I rebuild my own transmissions both manual and auto. Anything mechanical attracts me particularly older stuff. Started flipping to fiance better and better bikes for my personal bike. I quickly started to realize that some of the bikes I was coming across had some uniqueness and sometimes value from the information I could find here. This grew more and more into an appreciation of Vintage bikes. I have been lucky enough to pick up a couple unique bikes for my personal collection that I wouldn't have known what I had without this forum and the knowledge I have picked up reading these threads.

I think Marty (lotek) mentioned it on the CR list. If not, then I have no clue how I ended up here.

I started in the 41...

I started in the 41...

I, too, wandered there once....

I've been a bike nut since 1975. From 1985 through 1990-something, I was a big participant on the rec.bicycles newsgroup. I stopped cycling so much, and Usenet became unbearable.

I wanted to get back into cycling, and I thought some online discussions would fuel that. Actually, it has done that. I found bikeforums. At first, I was mostly in the commuting and mechanics section. I peeked into C&V and thought what a bunch of die hard loons. I didn't want to be all about the having. I wanted to be about the doing. I still value that more, but I ended up here, didn't I? I do like old bikes, primarily because I'm not in the mood to buy something expensive. And I know about the old stuff more than I do about the new stuff. I never cared for the terms classic and vintage when referring to bikes, but as Justin says, what the heck.

Funny story: At my age, I felt like I was getting my athletic groove back by mountain biking and kayaking when I had an epiphany harkening back to my tweener years when I rode a Schwinn Continental, and thus started searching for an old vintage road bike that I could tinker on. I bought an old grey steel frame bike for $25 at a garage sale and wanted to know more about it and found the C&V Bike Forum.

I had a wonderful time restoring that bike with the help of this forum. At that point I was hooked.

The grey $25 bike turned out to be a Specialized Expedition that I eventually sold it for $700.

That’s a good hook.

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/rothenfield/Last%20Dance%20Exped/LastDance005.jpg

236043

I was browsing the net in search of information about a strange swedish looking bike called Skandia. The Skandia turned up in an add on USA C.L. One thing lead to another... The Skandia is still a little mystery, although I´m pretty certain how it became a "Skandia".

They told me if I didn't sit up straight, eat my veggies and wear my seat belt I
would end up in a place like this.

The options were Hell, Texas, or here, I may have made the wrong choice!

I lurked here for many years, after I looked up my Ted Williams 10 speed

I was looking for vintage training wheels and tassels for my Paramount track bike and somehow found this site.....

I was looking for info on a Concord Pacer SS I wanted to build up, I don't remember if I was searching for the actual bike or info about components I wanted to use but it all led me here. Before this site I was stuck on a Ford truck site that I was a paid member of but was growing tired of some of the people (which are now gone) starting all kinds of crap, the site was a lot like this one when I joined but soon changed, now I don't even visit it anymore I found a new home here.

Glenn

Ahem... I, uh... Well... I was in the single speed & fixie forum first. :o

You hipster architect, you. I kid, I kid. :)

What was your route to the Cuckoo's Nest?

I can't even remember what size or how many bearings go into a rear hub. But through the miracle of the interwebs, the link to my first--and rather lengthy six year old post--is below.

That it's as earnest as it is overwritten only partially saves me from abject embarrassment.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/170219-Schwinn-Super-Sport-S-P-1982-Questions-%28Long%29?p=2109225&highlight=#post2109225

I was really getting back into semi-serious road biking after a 30 year absence. I had taken the Paramount "Artistic wall hangings" off said wall and reignited them.. They fueled my fire and I joined the local bike club and started doing group rides like a mad-man. But found myself the only C&V rider.
(Most club members love my bikes, they appreciate that they are "art" but they are all into the latest and newest technology - I did about 1,100 miles last summer-fall so not bad for an old guy just getting going again.)
I seemed to be the only person who had this appreciation of vintage road bikes, I was starting to feel out of place as I was enjoying so much riding with these enthusiasts but seemed not to grasp their newer road bike culture. (As well as knowing almost nothing about modern road bikes)

Then my club Yahoo forum had a post about the BF and I checked it out.
Found the C&V and found that maybe I'm not as much of an oddball as I thought I was.

My local club web site - http://wrcc-in.org/
(We have a fun ride every summer along the Wabash river - with 33, 47, 67, and 108 mile scenic routes)
http://wrcc-in.org/WRR/

I had a tricycle, a hand-me-down. I shared a 20" "convertible" bike with two sisters. I got a paper route and rode a 2nd hand Columbia tank. A couple of friends rode nice Schwinn 10-speeds, or 5-sp Sting Rays. A local furniture store gave away free 10-speeds with a $250 purchase, and I saw a couple of those. I saved for a Sears Free Spirit 10-speed, and I'm sure I could've beaten Lance on any given day on that bike.

Then, I enlisted. End of biking. After years, I got out. I ran competitively, and on the periphery of the sport were these cocky SOB's who swam, rode, and ran a bit. They also drank like fish. My buds got new bikes, one of them an Ironman, and I got a Trek 510 used.... I broke a couple of buddies' Trek aluminum frames on staged hillclimbs (for beer). The hook was still not set. It just seemed like a lot of hassle.

In order to heal from a running injury, I bought a used Technium, with which I struck and killed a dog, broke some things, and saw a spoke go through my calf. I wanted nothing to do with this road stuff.

A Nishiki Sport shows up locally for $25, needs a little work. OK, I can do this. It somehow worked. Then, an Ironman shows up, with STI shifters, and I buy it. I actually took it to a bike shop to figure out how to shift it. She laughed at me. I turned to the internet.

So I guess I'm here out of embarassment.