Panza

I'm interested in the reason people got their bikes!

Was it cheap from a friend? Did you love the ride? You wanted to go mountain biking and found it at a garage sale? Always loved the brand since you were young and wanted another?

Panza

I picked up my Bianchi roadbike because I didn't want to get a Trek, Specialized, or Canny that I had seen everyone else in group ride. I searched around online to see what smaller brands were offered in my area and found a cheap last year model that fit me perfectly. I was out the door after a test ride. : )

MRT2

I was looking for a steel drop bar bike for longer rides but at my weight at the time, true road bikes with really skinny tires and low spoke count wheels made me nervous. Test rode true touring bikes like Trek 520, Salsa Fargo, and Jamis Aurora, but those seemed too heavy and overkill for what I was trying to do.

Then I found the Salsa Caseroll. Cro Moly steel frame and fork, 32 spoke count wheels, 700 x 32 tires, drop bars, Tiagra components, road triple. It ticked all the boxes and it was just a little different than the competition.

chaadster

I got mine because it was exactly what I wanted, namely a fully modern steel bike-- not just a new rehash of old techniques-- with aggressive geometry for aggressive riding; stiff under power, precise steering, quick responsiveness, all for the amount I had to spend. Turned out I couldn't quite afford a full custom from a builder which employed the materials, practices, and features I was looking for, but that Breezer did, and the frame price allowed me to have it built up pretty sweetly, with no significant compromises. I'm very happy!

Can I show it off?

fietsbob

which one? JFK was still alive when I got My big wheel bike.

Doohickie

Cuz that's what was at the garage sale.

andr0id

Parents would never buy me a Schwinn when I was little because they were too expensive.

So I just had to buy my own.

linnefaulk

It was red.
I had $400 from my tex return and the Trek 820 fit into my budget.

knobster

Love that Waterford. Simple and understated. The Breezer is pretty as well, but don't care for the billboard wheels. I've always removed the decals on American Classic wheels because of that.

Simple and understated is why I bought my bike. I removed most of the decals so it's a very unassuming ride. Not sure anyone knows what a Moots is anyways.

findude

Estate sale. 43-year-old one-owner bike hanging from the garage ceiling. $35.

spdracr39

I rode several bikes and it was the model that "spoke" to me. It was just a bonus that I found a great deal on a new left over stock that had the colors I wanted and Ultegra drivetrain instead of the oh so boring Matte Black.

Panza

The bike looks extraordinarily sexy. Seat and handlebars are curvatious. Just how I like my women. Props on getting exactly what you wanted though.

Dfrost 

1973 Masi Gran Criterium – I’d started racing, and didn’t want any equipment excuses. This was a fantastic bike - better than me on the flats, great uphill, amazing downhill, but a bit small for me at 60cm. I unfortunately sold it to pay for an engagement ring that turned into a bad marriage, but two great kids. (No digital pics from back then.)

1979 Miyata 912 – back into cycling, and this one had some of the feel and responsiveness of that Masi for an affordable price. I still have it, now in its 3rd or 4th upgrade in this picture and still fun to ride, but I’ve learned more about how I like to sit on my bikes, and it creates some compromises. My son had it for several years in The Netherlands during high school, and he has the option to have it again.



1992 Klein Performance – I’d lusted after Kleins for a long time, and this one was part of the healing process from that bad marriage. Although it's also a slightly small 60cm, we’ve been on many long rides together, including a 3-week honeymoon tour in France to celebrate my most excellent second marriage to the bike buddy I first met on the STP in 1993. It’s a really good all-around bike and a great touring bike, but a bit harsh riding on rough pavement. My son now rides it with his new bride on her Centurion LeMans RS that I helped select and upgrade a few years ago.



1976 Masi Gran Criterium – A fantastic gift from my bike buddy wife that was plenty big enough for me (65cm ctt) to replace that 60cm 1973 version, helped me learn how to fit my bike better, always felt “fast”, but it was surprisingly scary on downhills. So after riding the STP in 2002 with my son, I sold the frame including the second custom fork in this pic to pay for the replacement Rambouillet.



2003 Rivendell Rambouillet – beautifully built, very versatile as an all-rounder and light touring bike, super comfortable, great tire and fender clearances, absolutely solid downhill, but also a bit too solid everywhere else. It seems to lack the liveliness of my other steel bikes. The Bike Buddy Wife gave me permission to look for another frame, so this one has recently become my dedicated “fender bike”.



1987 Marinoni SLX Sports Tourer – This one seems to have all the best qualities of each bike above. It’s very lively like those Masis –it begs me to push a little harder, shift up a gear, spin a little smoother – but it's also just as versatile and comfortable as the Rambouillet, stable enough downhill, beautiful frame details IMHO, and it’s my favorite color. It has fender eyelets, but can fit bigger 28-32mm tires without them since the Rambouillet has that role. I use it for long rides (self-supported century+ with Bike Buddy Wife in a few weeks), a simple Tubus rack (not shown here) supports errands and commuting (it stays in my office during the day), and credit card touring is again in our future. Every time I ride this bike I want to go farther.

Machka 

Ummmm ...

All my bicycles until my late 20s were given to me by my father. I still have one of those.

I had started to get into road racing at that point, and needed a racing bicycle. One of my fellow racers had a Cannondale for sale, and I bought it ... even though I thought it might be just a bit small for me. It was. I sold it and bought a Giant OCR3 (entry level Giant).

After 3 years I had enough of racing and got into randonneuring. I rode the first year on that Giant OCR3, but decided I needed more gears so I traded it in on a new Giant OCR3 with a triple, and I rode my second year of randonneuring on that bicycle. I still have that bicycle.

Somewhere in there I decided I wanted a mountain bike to use for commuting and some trails, so I picked up an inexpensive Mongoose and rode it for years through all sorts of conditions ... everything from short commutes to centuries, and mainly in the winter.

I decided I needed a bicycle that was not aluminum, and I still needed more gears. I also needed a bicycle that fit me a bit better than the Giant OCR3. It is close, but not really good for long distances. So I was measured up and ordered a custom steel Marinoni Ciclo which I rode for the next 7 years until he was stolen.

After Machak, my Marinoni Ciclo was stolen, I filled the void with several bicycles. After all, I needed a randonneuring bicycle and a touring bicycle ... and we wanted a tandem ... and there were these nice-looking tip shop frames ...

And then ... three years later ... Machak came back.

wipekitty

My current go-to good weather bike is a Bikes Direct special. I'd gotten into commuting and longer distance road riding on an old Nishiki that eventually became a fixed gear, and wanted to find (a) a steel frame (b) in a small size (c) that wasn't awful and (d) could be "fixed". Poking around my local Craigslist for several months, I failed to find anything that met my specifications. Bikes Direct was the most economical option, and with a few upgrades, it's been a great bike.

The other bike I recently purchased is an old Nishiki mountain bike. I wanted to get a bike for hauling cargo, but as I intend to use it throughout the winter, I didn't want anything too nice. This was a super deal on Craigslist, and the guy I purchased it from obviously loves bikes and had cleaned it up beautifully.

On a whim, I bought a 1976 Schwinn Breeze for $30. At the time, all of my household's bikes were fixed and had strange setups, and I thought it might be nice to have a normal bike in case we get company and they want to ride around town. Plus, it's really hard for me to turn down a cool old bike that's only $30.

Over the years, I've had probably a dozen or so other bikes come and go. All of them fulfilled some need I had at the time, and there's only one that I kind of miss.

krobinson103

Friend was selling it. Its exactly what I want. right size, steel frame, 29 inch wheels, touring gearing, hydrolic discs, and it has all the mounts for panniers etc. It is put simply, perfect for what I want a bike to do.

KenshiBiker

Grew up and got into bicycling in the glorious 70s. The glory days of lugged frames of Reynolds 531 and Columbus SL tubing, chrome dropouts and chainstays. Campy Nuovo Record was the go-to gruppo (unless you could afford the drillium Super Record gruppo). Sadly I couldn't afford my dream bike then. The years went by. Went to school, got a job, got married, did a lot of biking, gave up biking. Finally, after not riding for more than a decade, my weight and BP was getting out of control. My physician gave me a choice: either get the BP under control (mainly through weight loss and more exercise), or start on meds. I dusted off the fixed gear I had bought on a whim a few years prior and rode it for about a year, even started commuting on it during the summer. Then when winter came along, I dusted off my old (1978?) Trek, mounted some fenders and a rack on it and turned it into my winter bike. Just about that time I decided I really liked biking, and I was finally going to get my "grail" bike. Being somewhat "vertically challenged", I knew finding something "off the rack" would be difficult. So, I went to Steve Rex, the local custom frame builder, to see what he could do.

It's not Reynolds or Columbus tubing, but I think he checked all the boxes I was looking for:


BTW, those aren't chrome lugs, they're hand cut and polished stainless steel - dropouts and chainstay too.

Picked it up in early May, and just turned over 2k miles earlier this week.

KnurledNut

We cycle for health reasons and now enjoy the great outdoors.

alexaschwanden

I enjoy biking in general and racking up the miles.

Robert C

IN my case I really wanted to try a belt drive and NuVinci transmission, and it was on a steep discount.

Panza

Sounds like you had quite the journey for bikes. You never seem to stock up on too many either!

Machka 

I've been cycling for a long, long time.

And that little narrative was a bit deceptive because I didn't elaborate on all my bicycles. Since about 2000, I've almost always had about 7 bicycles, give or take a few.

Panza

So the story was about your favorite bike to ride over those years then : )?

Rootman

Giant Roam 2.

Local dealer that had good service, fair price and I wanted a larger frame with 700C wheels and disc brakes.

hillyman

After I started to drive a semi truck it soon got old dragging my Trek 520 out of the sleeper area and in and out of passenger door. Hung it on back wall cause I couldn't stand thought of it being mounted on outside of truck out in the weather. But after hitting my head a few times in pedals while sleeping it was time for a folder. Wanted a full size bike too. The Dahon Matrix sits in Passenger seat and easy to get in and out. Plus no more pedal cleat marks on my forehead.