is there a brand you particularly loathe?
01-12-14, 06:44 AM
#176
Fat Guy on a Little Bike
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 15,944
Bikes: Two wheeled ones
Mentioned: 42 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1254 Post(s)
Liked 345 Times
in
174 Posts
trek. While I admire design and craftsman ship of the early bikes.... say pre '85 I think later stuff was more hype and flash than quality. They kept up all this hype about American made when their bread and butter bikes were mostly imports or at the very least assembled in the US from all imported parts. If you wanted to sell treks you had to buy high percentage of the crap trek accessories to go with them therefore turning your independent bike shop into a defacto trek store.
And don';t even get me started on those DeRosa bike......
And don';t even get me started on those DeRosa bike......
01-12-14, 07:05 AM
#177
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: STP
Posts: 14,491
Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 821 Post(s)
Liked 255 Times
in
142 Posts
I think you need to expand on that. I think the loathsome character in the Confente drama is probably William (Bill) Recht, the original financier of Custom bicycles by Confente and Medici. I do admit to owning a few. As bikes go they do get attention, might be overpriced but there are other brands that can capture just as much monetary attention.
Either way, superb choices!
.....and aren't you a fan of Masis as well?
01-12-14, 07:22 AM
#178
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Ashland, VA
Posts: 4,420
Bikes: The keepers: 1958 Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix, 1968 Ranger, 1969 Magneet Sprint, 1971 Gitane Tour de France, 1973 Raleigh Tourist, 3 - 1986 Rossins, and a '77 PX-10 frame in process.
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 221 Post(s)
Liked 237 Times
in
129 Posts
Oh hell, while we're piling on. This is a 1973 copy of my first road bike, a red '71 Super Sport. And yes, I rode sew-up wheels on the bike back in '72 before I sold it. It's a good riding bike, the only negative is that I'm stuck with a 52t large chainring in the current setup (I ride a 48, normally):
As to the inevitable, "why would I go to this extent?" questions; the bike was a gift from my father for my 21st birthday (I'd been using my '58 Mark IV Jaguar for the previous two years as a commuter, in Johnstown, PA your choices were Schwinn or department store). I figured out pretty quickly that the Super Sport actually had a really nice frame, and started upgrading and changing to see how much I can improve it. In it's current setup, I'll happily put it up against anything early 70's European under 531 double butted, even with the Huret Allvit derailleur on it. Those frames were that good, let down only by the weight of the Ashtabula crank.
Now that I've ridden it for the past two seasons in 1972 mode and brought back some nice memories, I'm going to finally do the remaining changes I'd dreamed about back then: Install a Nervar crank off a Sport Tourer (as soon as I find a 48th chainring for it, that 54t is way too big for me), and replace the Allvit with something else Huret. Probably a Svelto, as I've got a few of them in the parts rack.
As to the inevitable, "why would I go to this extent?" questions; the bike was a gift from my father for my 21st birthday (I'd been using my '58 Mark IV Jaguar for the previous two years as a commuter, in Johnstown, PA your choices were Schwinn or department store). I figured out pretty quickly that the Super Sport actually had a really nice frame, and started upgrading and changing to see how much I can improve it. In it's current setup, I'll happily put it up against anything early 70's European under 531 double butted, even with the Huret Allvit derailleur on it. Those frames were that good, let down only by the weight of the Ashtabula crank.
Now that I've ridden it for the past two seasons in 1972 mode and brought back some nice memories, I'm going to finally do the remaining changes I'd dreamed about back then: Install a Nervar crank off a Sport Tourer (as soon as I find a 48th chainring for it, that 54t is way too big for me), and replace the Allvit with something else Huret. Probably a Svelto, as I've got a few of them in the parts rack.
__________________
Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
01-12-14, 07:28 AM
#179
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Ashland, VA
Posts: 4,420
Bikes: The keepers: 1958 Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix, 1968 Ranger, 1969 Magneet Sprint, 1971 Gitane Tour de France, 1973 Raleigh Tourist, 3 - 1986 Rossins, and a '77 PX-10 frame in process.
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 221 Post(s)
Liked 237 Times
in
129 Posts
I'll admit a certain bias: I owe my a good portion of both my Bachelor's and Master's degrees to Schwinn and Raleigh bicycles. Starting in '69 part time to earn some side money, by '73 I was working in the bicycle shop full time. Keeping those customers happy was what kept me employed there, and not some fast food outlet. Thank ghod. And cycling was an insanely major part of my life back then, more important than drugs and women.
__________________
Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
01-12-14, 08:34 AM
#180
feros ferio
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: www.ci.encinitas.ca.us
Posts: 21,793
Bikes: 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo; 1960 Capo Sieger (2); 1962 Carlton Franco Suisse; 1970 Peugeot UO-8; 1982 Bianchi Campione d'Italia; 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10;
Mentioned: 44 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1390 Post(s)
Liked 1,322 Times
in
835 Posts
I'll admit a certain bias: I owe my a good portion of both my Bachelor's and Master's degrees to Schwinn and Raleigh bicycles. Starting in '69 part time to earn some side money, by '73 I was working in the bicycle shop full time. Keeping those customers happy was what kept me employed there, and not some fast food outlet. Thank ghod. And cycling was an insanely major part of my life back then, more important than drugs and women.
As for drugs and women, none of the first and only one of the second -- we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary last year.
As for hated bikes, my opinion of both Peugeot and Schwinn had been negative, but I began to appreciate the Peugeot ride quality and frame geometry (I would still be riding my 1980 PKN-10 daily if it had been one size smaller; fortunately, son #1 enjoys it now) and the Schwinn simplicity, durability, and build quality. I had always been a fan of Italian, English, and, later, Japanese bikes, and working at a Peugeot-Nishiki dealership gave me a whole new perspective. The only bikes I really hated were the later American made Sears Free Spirits, which epitomized gas pipe frames with absurdly slack angles, 26" steel rims, and Ashtabula cranks with non-interchangeable chainrings.
__________________
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
Last edited by John E; 01-12-14 at 08:44 AM.
01-12-14, 09:31 AM
#182
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: STP
Posts: 14,491
Mentioned: 74 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 821 Post(s)
Liked 255 Times
in
142 Posts
I'll admit a certain bias: I owe my a good portion of both my Bachelor's and Master's degrees to Schwinn and Raleigh bicycles. Starting in '69 part time to earn some side money, by '73 I was working in the bicycle shop full time. Keeping those customers happy was what kept me employed there, and not some fast food outlet. Thank ghod. And cycling was an insanely major part of my life back then, more important than drugs and women.
I built a little under 400 bicycles in my teens and one gets it down to a science.
It also builds in a bias for and against certain brands.
FWIW I was reminded by a friend yesterday how much I loved my Raleigh Professional track bike and I shouldn't be so hasty in my opinion of the brand. There, I said it.
Can't say my bikes were more important than women though.
