brianinc-ville

At my college, from time to time they'd clean out the storage areas in the dorm basements and sell the abandoned stuff. Junior year I bought a '70s Schwinn Suburban, which in 1994 was definitely the uncoolest bike you could have. I liked the ride, though. Anyway, believing that nobody else would want it, I bought the cheapest, flimsiest chain lock at the hardware store. Bad move. Stolen in less than a month.

After that experience, I felt justified in cutting the similarly flimsy chain lock on a rotting Peugeot that hadn't moved from its spot on one of the dorm porches in the 2 1/2 years I'd been at school. I'm pretty sure it was indeed abandoned, so I wasn't stealing from anybody per se, but it still seems like one of the wrongest things I've ever done. Mea culpa.

In any case, make sure your daughter has a good u-lock.

coolkat

My current campus beater is my Sekai--fenders, sometimes a rack and panniers, and enough dirt, rust, and stickers to look pretty ugly. It's perfect.

Belg-Ital Steel 

70s yellow Motobecane Nomad purchased for $50 from a co-worker. One day, I left it locked up in front of the Foresty Bldg with a cheap 3 digit lock on it and went to class. When I returned after class, the bike was missing. Several months later, I found my bike back at the same bike rack with my bike lock on it. I unlocked it using my 3 digit code and rode it home. Don't recall what ever happened to it.

CliffordK

My Freshman year of HS, my Viscount road bike was stolen (I think I dropped the key next to it).

A little planning ahead, Dad was planning a sabbatical in Italy in the spring of my sophomore year, taking Mom and me with him. So, I decided to find a used Italian road bike in Italy. So I bought a used Colnago Super in Parma Italy (probably a little over a decade old at the time). I rode it around to all the nearby castles, then brought it back home with me.

That bike lasted through the rest of High School, and went to college with me. A few different living arrangements in College. I think it got locked up outside a bit at the quad. In the co-op, it slept under my roommate's bed. During the time under my roommate's bed, mysteriously the spokes pulled though the front rim. I never figured out how that happened. There wasn't much need to ride from on-campus housing to campus. I also lived at home with my parents a bit, and would frequently do the 10 mile or so ride into campus.

I had a place to study late on campus, but the bike would come inside with me.

When locked outside, it was locked with a first generation (round key) kryptonite lock. I would pop the front wheel off, and the front and rear wheels and frame were locked.

By the late 80's, the road bikes were definitely falling out of favor with the dominance of very expensive mountain biles (of the time). Perhaps that saved it a bit.

I remember at my first job working swingshift, I had a choice of riding my "Beater" with the generator lights, or the Colnago with sewups. The beater got old quickly. I got a set of night-sun lights, and the old Colnago remained my primary bike for years and years.

Seabass_First

do you still have it?

72Paramount

theft is too bad on most campuses to ride anything good. The end.

Vintage Raleigh

Started riding to school on a 24" single speed, then a black Chopper. Numerous bikes cobbled together (extended forks, hi rise bars etc etc) followed then a Grand Prix. Then a 531 with Campagnolo, Dura Ace, and Cinelli bits. In between were numerous paper round bikes and a bmx somewhere there too

burnfingers

Pictures are worth a thousand words so I'm already way over budget lol, but the short version is this:
I got tired of my job and decided to move and get a 2nd degree, this one in electrical Engineering. I got lucky and ended up with an apt within a mile or so of campus. Because I love to ride I decided I would bike to campus year round, but at the time all I had was my mountain bike which was way to bulky to daily. Solution? New bike! My solution? ...old bike, lol. Late 60s Chiorda sold through Sears of all places, I got it when I was like 12. It was being thrown away and I asked if I could have it because I liked bikes, was way to big for me and sat basically from then until I restored it some 13 years later. I was going to restore a Fuji or Raleigh or Schwinn but decided this one was the one because I liked the seat-stays (true story). The fenders are off a 50s Western Flyer, spindle is from a Specialized MTB that fit the stock cubs, fork is off a 70s Hero, hubs are Schwinn Normandy HFs, modern dual-pivot calipers pulled by Modolo speedy levers... it's a mixed bag of parts, a classy frankenstein if ever there was one.

I put over 1000 miles on it before restoring a early 60s Mercier that is a little taller and a lot lighter, I still have the Chiorda and get a warm fuzzy feeling inside every time I look at it lol

CliffordK

Oh, sorry I forgot to mention. YES. I bought the old Colnago in 1982. It is probably a 68 or 69 model Colnago Super. And I was using it as my primary bike until last year. It now gets a winter vacation.

That paint has gotten really bad over the years, and it is due for a respray... soon... It has had a lot of wear, and had quite a few changes over the years.

The Golden Boy 

I bought my High Sierra a couple of days before I got out of the Army. At the time, my intent was to go to a big kids' 4 year school and use that bike as transportation.

I ended up doing the local 2 year school, and then transferring down to UW Milwaukee- by that point I had an apartment downtown and worked across town- that bike just sat at my parents' house for 20 years.

When Junior went to college, I had just scored a 1990-ish Schwinn Sprint- he took that up to school. He used that for his 3 years there. He was just leaving it unlocked at the dorm to be tossed. As we were driving out of town, he had us stop by the dorm, and he rode the bike to some friends' house- and donated it to them. He said goodbye to the bike. It was touching. *sniff*

bikemig 

I worked in a shop and raced a bit locally when I was in college. I picked up a used racing bike built by a very small builder from the UK for relatively cheap. It was columbus frame SP tubing (the original owner was a sprinter and he wanted a "stiffer" bike) with superbe pro stuff. The paint was all beat up on the bike and I just rode it as a commuter and to race on. Theft was not a huge problem at my school. I still have the bike but it has been repainted:

rustystrings61 

How about two parts? These were go to school bikes as a student ...

1. Too-small Raleigh Sports a prior owner had cobbled together with the SA shifter working a Shimano 3.3.3 3-speed gearhub. I gave it to my cousin when I got -
2. c.1977 Raleigh Tourist DL-1, rod-brakes, 3-speed, 28-in Westwood rims. LOVED it, despite the brakes being just for looks, especially when wet. Stolen, recovered badly damaged, sold remnants and bought -
3. Schwinn Traveler neutered to 1-speed coaster brake and cowhorn bars. I fitted flat mixte bars and a front brake, and if I'd known then what I know now, I would have found a bigger rear cog and kept it. Eventually sold when I acquired -
4. 1963 Rudge Sports with front dynohub and full lights. Too-small, came to me disassembled in a couple of boxes for $50. Rebuilt, fitted with longer seatpost, rode it all over town, loved it until I moved further from town, and replaced with -
5. c.1974 Raleigh Gran Sport - my size, Stronglight cranks with the bash guard, flexy Simplex derailleurs, box stock. I added SKS fenders and a Sanyo BB generator light set. As I was getting ready to go to grad school I let myself be talked into selling it to a friend of a friend. I still miss this one and would love to find it or its twin.

rustystrings61 

... and these were go to school bikes as a college employee!

1. c.1962 Dawes Realmrider 4-speed, 27-in wheels, nice zippy frameset, etc.
2. 50s Raleigh Lenton Gran Prix with replaced head tube (?), rattle-canned blue and built as a fixed-gear. Vital parts transferred to
3. early 80s Trek 620 frameset, full 531, sewups, cracked white Bluemels fenders, fixed-gear with Stronglight 93 cranks and Normandy track hub. Too small, later replaced with
4. c.1970 (?) Raleigh - possibly an early Gran Sport, maybe an early Competition - Nervex Pro lugs, Wagner box crown of some sort, Huret ends, coated in house paint, plucked from a trash heap at the side of the road complete with a Stronglight 93 with a drilled 42t ring. Flat black bbq grill paint made it look better. Eventually settled down as a fixed-gear with planet bike fenders, a scarred B17 and my Carradice Nelson, spent the work day locked to the rack outside the library with a basic lock. No matter - it was left alone. I foolishly sold it when I was granted access to indoor, secure parking, and I miss that bike almost every day.

daf1009

1972 Schwinn Varsity

bikemig 

Pics or it didn't happen,

Plus I can't believe that there's a bike you don't have in your collection.

bmthom.gis

I didn't really have a go-to-school bike. I had a Wal Mart Special full suspension bike that I would ride to cross country practice before school started (the season started earlier than school did). But actually going to school usually meant lugging one or two saxophones with me, as well as my running stuff, lunch, etc.

smoothness 

went to college in this millennium. first bike was my kid 24" FS mtb; rode wheelies on it till i broke everything. got noticed by some bike kids. the following year i bought a new aluminum commuter, used it to blast to class, ride wheelies, and be a general idiot on it. kept doing wheelies on it till i cracked the fenders. left it outside b/c aluminum. had a nicer aluminum mtb with FS and discs; road around on it, winter biked. kept inside, b/c fancy. then i found a used rusted mixte and just rode that everywhere instead, b/c cruiser bars. every single one of these bicycles was ridden/raced while participating in local bike culture with the bike co-op (read: beer coat, let's go jousting, strap fireworks and ride through friday night crowds, etc.) used the bicycle as a social tool, ended up being bicycle hipster before it was hipster.

bmthom.gis

Isn't that the ultimate hipster?

daf1009

I know, I know! But, unfortunately no pics from that time!

Interesting...when I first starting getting back into bikes...went home to visit my dad and he had just sold that bike! I did not even realize he still had it! But, it was gone.

Maybe I should add one? :-)

squirtdad

Future story. Son is going to college next fall. He has nice fixie (soma smoothie frame). Most likely campus has hills. I am telling him his granddads Univega is the better option (after complete overhaul sister bike (grandmothers) was his first fixie and the grease was hard). Gears, less likely to get stolen, retro chic.

we will see.....story to be continued

Darth Lefty 

1983 or so, I rode my bike-hoarding-grandad-built, parts-bin BMX bike to first grade. But then we moved far away into the boonies and I was never really close enough to regularly ride to school on a bike after that.

During high school, I did have a blue Novara Arriba or maybe Arroyo MTB from 89 or 90, a rigid 26er 21 speed just like every other MTB of that vintage. It served me well through three years of college but then the fork bent from too many badly landed wheelies. I foisted it on a GF. If I'd known then about REI's old return policy back then, I probably could have wheeled it into a store and rolled out with a new bike.

Ex Pres 

My first 10 speed, a '72 Gitane Interclub, traveled with me from HS thru college, work and until I went back to grad school in '83. I was always able to walk to college classes, so used it for recreational purposes, never commuting. So it rarely sat outside to get stolen. My younger brother still has it, though he replaced it years ago as his regular ride. Saddle probably hasn't seen a rear for 20 years.

Kobe 

I see some pretty nice bikes made it to college, this is not one of them. 1975 Kobe Capri that I bought at 13. It would have been more useful if it looked like this while I was in college because I lived about 3 miles off of Penn State's campus and the bike was much faster than the campus bus. Riding the drops with a backpack weighting 25 pounds made for interesting handling.

USAZorro

High School was walking distance, so my school bike was from college, and I only took it my final 2 years. Residence was Rochester, NY. College was Potsdam, NY - about 220 miles away. Potsdam is a small community that is quite walkable with a very low crime rate, and the weather is quite inhospitable for much of the college school year, so the bike didn't see all that much use there. Probably fewer miles than the hare-brained ride I undertook from home to school before my Junior year started. As much as I loved that Super Course, it was rarely unlocked until I stayed for a summer semester.

IcecreamltDan

Parents bought me a brand new 1976 Bicentennial edition Schwin Stingray that I rode all through middle school. Not long after I started high school my parents got divorced and the bike got sold, miss that bike. The woods behind our high school was notorious as a salvage yard for bicycles that were stolen, not only from school, but the whole area. Eventually a friend and I scavenged enough parts to build ourselves BMX bikes.

Mine was based on a Schwinn Scrambler frame with a set of those thick heavy spoked wheels and a mis-matched crank and rear hub. Had trouble for the longest time keeping a chain on that bike. Must of put hundreds of miles on that bike both on and off road. After high school I joined the USAF and I have no idea what happened to the bike. Bought a Trek 750 and rode that bike during my military career. That bike went with me to Spain and Saudi Arabia many times, especially during Desert Sheild/Storm. Sold that bike when I got married and wish I had another one like it. After tearing my ACL not long after getting out of the USAF I was without a bike for a long time. My current wife got me back on the bike and now I have several again.