mlau

Hi fellow retrogrouches,

I'm thinking of splurging on a new (used) ride.
For the past 9-10 years, I've been riding on a Xootr Swift (largely because I can stick it in my closet, so it wouldn't get stolen).

It rides pretty well--like a really good hybrid bike.
However, my heart was with the lugged/hand brazed frame that I first started with in College.

After 3 months of solid commuting by bike, I'm thinking of buying a *non-folding* bike for the first time in a while.
Do you guys have a short list for a fast, fun commuter that I can stick a rack/fenders on?


A few that I've considered are: Miyata 610/1000, Schwinn Paragon, Univega Specialissimo. Trek 520.

Clang

I'd recommend drooling over this thread for ideas. https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ing-bikes.html

If you plan to buy on Craigslist, I wouldn't fixate on any individual model- it's just too unlikely your dream bike pops up in your size. Just concentrate on a broader category like "quality mid-80's touring bike" (there are a lot of them), and let fate decide for you.

If you plan to buy on an auction site, prepare thy wallet! Touring bikes (especially flagship models) command a hefty premium.

gugie 

Good starting list. You post as from Alameda, NorCal Alameda? Local recommendations we might make are , well, local, we like to spend other people's money from Craigslist ads.

treebound 

From the Sacramento CL, which is a bit friendlier priced than S.F.,

Bianchi Lupo, 51cm:
Bianchi Lupo Touring Road Bike

generic Bianchi:
Bianchi Bicycle

a tall, confused Peugeot:
Mens 26" Peugeot 10 Speed

LeMond Tourmalet:
Lemond tourmalet road bike (1999, red)

Lots of options depending upon your budget, your size, and how far you're willing to go to get it.

bulldog1935

rather than a brand/model, sticking to a type of bike, like touring or sport-touring is likely going start you on wiser purchase.
Try local thrift shops, Salvation Army, find bike shops that turn used bikes, stash parts, and specialize in rebuilding them.
If you have a local Frankenbike meet, get there.

Craigslist is a good place to find old bikes that were never ridden.
Keep in mind any old bike is going to need taking down to the bearings.

Try to stick to double-butted tubing, and avoid rust if you can.
There are also some sleeper brands out there that people often walk by, like Univega and Shogun.

Salamandrine 

All those are good choices.

If you look past the rosy lens of the Miyata cult, Miyata 610 to 1000 is a pretty big jump up, though both are good bikes. If considering a 610 also look at Univega Gran Turismo, which would have been at least 10x more common than a Specialissima.

With Trek you have to be aware of the year, as the model numbers were essentially reused on completely different models.

Old Frenchie road bikes are worth a look, if you are willing to deal with their peculiarities. I used a 72 PX10 for commuting for years. Mostly in SF and SF to the east bay. At the time I could lock it up without worry, since 99.9% of people couldn't tell if from the then ubiquitous bike boom era cheap Peugeots.

badger_biker 

Good choices but don't rule out early non-suspension mountain bikes. There were several that had lugged frames if you need to stick to that criteria and with a drop bar conversion they make wonderful commuters with multiple tire, rack, and fender choices. And a bonus is that you will likely find one much cheaper than many of the vintage sport touring road bike models.

tricky 

What are all your criteria? The following questions are not meant to dissuade you and hopefully won't overload you, but they can be helpful things to consider. Ultimately, if the bike if your size you'll be able to make it work and will continue to have an awesome way to get to work.

Need fenders? Depends on if you are a fair weather commuter or not. Sounds like you live in Cali, so you have that good weather going for you.

Do you care about fat tires? I would assume so since you mentioned appreciating the hybrid like ride quality of your folding bike. Fenders and fat tires needs more clearance in the frame.

Price?

Are you mechanically inclined? An older bike could need maintenance unless you are fine with paying to have it refurbished into a reliable commuter.

Do you need easy gearing, i.e. do you often carry a load or go over a lot of hills during your commute?

johnnyace 

Add some Centurion, Fuji, and Bridgestone into the mix, lots of good lugged sport/touring models for these in the 70-80s. Old-school 80s mountain bikes make good commuters, too. Bridgestone XO series are great bikes: XO-1s are spendy and rare to find, but I picked up a nice XO-2 for $325, which is now my winter commuter.

johnnyace 

Lots of good Bay Area bikes at good prices:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bik/5845902937.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik/5875145417.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik/5881293948.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/5879847597.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bik/5845070017.html

WolfRyder

I already have two or three pretty decent CV road bike commuters and definitely wasn't thinking commuter when I bought them. Thing is they all ended up having condition issues after the fact when I purchased them. Bought from afar on CL, can be risky. (In person inspections of bikes may be better) The Team Raleigh I got had an undisclosed dent,(worked a partial refund on that one at least) another a Bob Jackson lots of chips and this was compounded by sloppy touch-up job. Now the latest is a Bianchi with faded paint and some rust on components. It's hard to hit a home run with a C&V buy, so along the way your going to find that plans change with bikes that you pick-up. One option is to turn something into a commuter. It's kind of liberating not to worry so much about a bike anyway, If it already has a dent who cares if it gets another few scratches. I also like that you can play around and FrankenBike out your commuter. Who cares about all original, just custom it and make it work for you.

So if you are actually looking for a commuter. Try to look for something nice with Good Tubing good components that has condition issues, that don't affect the ride. ( Reynolds 531, Ishiwata 022, Miyata spline butted or Columbus SL. Components look for Campy, Dura ace 105, 600 Ultregra Superbe etc) . I would would Go SIS indexing also. Friction shifting is inferior for the most part, but if it is clean and original best to keep it that way.

Old school rigid fork steel Mid 80's to early 90's MTB's with thumbies make great commuters/City bikes and are good value. Look at original sticker on some of theses bikes. They were pretty pricy when they came out.

A dent or rust on a bike will always downgrade condition rating and lower value. So keep that in mind and let Seller know that bike is devalued.

noobinsf 

What size are you looking for? Like Gugie said, a lot of us enjoy being summoned to surface suitable CL listings. You know, crowd sourcing...

old's'cool

IMO the richest hunting ground for a good commuting bike is the field of low to mid-range 80s Japanese road bikes, especially those with a touring or sport touring bent; but don't overlook US models of the same ilk, e.g. Schwinn, Ross.
Only the higher-end, racing/training oriented models will be unsuited for fenders and decent size tires.
Getting down to the finer points, the longer the chainstays, the better (for weight distribution and pannier heel-strike clearance).
The ultimate configuration will include double braze-on eyelets on the front and rear dropouts, as well as cantilever braze-ons.

I'm basically talking about frame and fork here. Everything else can be changed as needed, to suit.

johnnyace 

I can attest that these 80s Team Fuji are great bikes; I'm loving my newly acquired 1983 model. This one looks to be about 54cm:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik/5887090856.html

mlau

Nice tips!

I'm in Alameda, Northern California.
I'd like to get a sports touring bike if possible (zippy enough to hang with my buddy's road bike, but can carry a rack and fenders). With my bike experience (50 lb, Schwinn Collegiate as my first "good" bike; later a Marin Larkspur (last steel frame model) and a Xootr Swift).

I'm a 52 cm bike guy (tried at my LBS).
Budget--realistically $200-400 depending on the bike. Obviously, I'd pay more for a Miata 1000 or Schwinn Paragon than a lesser known bike (of course, I may just be an ignorant bike snob).
I figure that I'd probably need to put another $100-150 into tuning it to my tastes (different saddle, tune-up, bar end shifters, tape, rack, etc).

There's a guy selling a Miata 610 that I"m interested in, but he seems sorta strange.
I'd emailed him about possibly lowering his price, and he said something along the lines of "it's totally worth it, man. It'll completely change your life."

On my end, it's just a slice of pleasure in between work and home (both places I spend too much time at).
Ideally, I'd like to keep things under $600 total.

mlau

I forgot to mention:

1. I consider my Xootr to be at least the equal of any good hardtail. With the Schwalbe big apples, I have almost as good rolling resistance as most 700 cc tires. The geometry is also pretty similar. I'd tried a dropbar conversion, but found the ergonomics put too much strain on my wrist. However, it's a joy with upright bars.

2. I actually bought a 90's Hardtail (Specialized Crossroads) for my friend.
It's a nice bike, but I like my Xootr (since it can do the same thing and also fold for travel). I've encouraged my friend to stick a rack on his bike and ride, since he doesn't have a car (and the AC transit is notoriously bad).

3. Since I live with my parents, I can't impose in terms of having too many bikes.
I can successfully argo to keep my folding bike (since I can fold it out of the way). However, more than one regular sized bike would be considered too much.

4. I'm pretty mechanically inclined (fix toilets, etc) but have never rebuilt a bottom bracket or built a wheel (yet). Since I don't have much time, I would likely go to the LBS for a tuneup.

5. I haven't had luck with Salvation army or thrift stores.
Most of the time, they'll slap a ridiculous price on a crappy K-mart bike that is half-rusted. I saw a chopped up Huffy going for $300! Meanwhile, the shop-guy's buddy got a nice touring bike with mustache bars for $100.

6. At this point, I'm gunning at an 80's Japanese steel road/touring bike.
With my desires (bar-end friction shifters, upright geometry, rack/fender/wider tires, steel frame, 700 cc conversion ability), this seems pretty ideal. Frankly, if I had the money for a custom frame, I'd probably ask them to make me something very similar to a 80's Japanese road/touring bike!

7. My commute is broken up into 3 distinct segments:
Bayfarm-- a greenbelt/lagoon with mostly asphalt. The roads turn poor once I hit the ocean, where it becomes a bit cracked and broken. There are waves in the road about 2-6 inches.
Underbridge/bridge--- a very bumpy wooden bridge going under the main bridge.
Mostly street-- there's a side street away from the main road that is pretty nicely paved.
Oceanside street-- asphalt with some sand that gets over it.

Pretty easy compared to some commutes that I see here
It's about 2.7 very scenic roads.

Salamandrine 

LOL. I would avoid that dude. It's just a nice mid level 80s bike, not a new religion. BITD nearly everybody that actually was going to use the bike for touring would have sprung for the 1000. For that matter a 1000 was for people too cheap to buy a custom touring frame.

I suggest patience. Watch craigslist, etc, and ask here if it's calling your name.

mlau

Thanks for the tip.

I forgot to mention that I tend to move very slowly and methodically. It took me 4 years to find my current dental practice, and about 8-9 months of deliberation to figure out which company to use to establish retirement accounts for the staff.

I'll probably be looking into a once-in-a-lifetime keeper bike, and keep my eyes peeled.

Alternatively, I may save up (for a year) to get a custom frame made, and slowly build it up myself. I'm not too hung up on getting C&V, but appreciate the workmanship that went into these old bikes (something that I feel is missing with most factory made frames today).

Bernie Mikkelson is in my area. Is he any good?

bwilli88 

Look for a Centurion Pro Tour, I have one and it is great.
I have a thread here of my recent build.

Pemetic2006

May I add Pansonic's touring series' to the list?
I got lucky and found a Touring Deluxe for $100 plus $100 nicely packed and shipped. Nice mid range bike with Tange tubing.

Check out the eBay/craigslist thread. There is a Trek 720 for $500.

kunsunoke 

Given what you've said so far and the condition of roads and pathways in Alameda, I'd suggest converting an early '90s hybrid bike to drop bars and proper road tires. Bianchi, Schwinn and Specialized made some good ones, at reasonable prices.

I'd toss Bridgestone in for good measure if they weren't unreasonably-priced, which is the rule rather than the exception.

Another approach is to drop-bar convert a late '80s / early '90s mountain bike in the same manner. That approach may be better if you weigh more than 200 lbs.

dedhed

Also look at the various "sport touring" of the era like the Trek 400 elance. These often have rack and fender braze ons as well as longer stays.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/bik/5881607964.html

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bik/5889771205.html

bikemig 

+ 1 but the mtb doesn't need to be lugged to be a fine bike and a good drop bar conversion candidate. I just picked up a non-lugged 1987 Specialized rockhopper that would make a really fine drop bar conversion bike for $40.

jetboy 

I would not bother with a custom frame for a commuter. What if you ever have to stop? Buy something you can replace in case it gets stolen.

So many good bikes on cl around here..though touring is harder. Did you go to the co-op out there on alemeda?

old's'cool

Here is a recent thread that may have some useful tips as well.