"Abandon religion and discard cleverness and the people will benifit one hundred fold"
Lao Tzu
I don't have a denomination, but I seem to have multiple interests. One interest is my hobby of seeking bikes to refurbish. The second interest is the activity of riding a different bike depending on the day. Happily, these are complementary interests.
I prefer a well made performance bike with some versatility. Italian, French, American... it doesn't matter as long as it fits and is made from Reynolds or Columbus tubing. I also like carbon bikes, but I'll stay on-topic for now.
For versatility, I like a bike that can take a 28 to 32mm wide clicher. I have one road bike with 700x23 tires and short reach caliper brakes. However, most of my bikes have either centerpull or cantilever brakes and room for a lightweight tire with some girth. I also like triple cranksets and corncob cogsets.
What subgroup am I? I have no idea and don't care.
'77 Motobecane Grand Record. Completely original and ready for a complete teardown. However, there is nothing puritanical about this bike. Back in1977, the French combined Italian derailleur & shifters, French cranksets and hubs and English tubing assembled with French lugs. Orthodoxy is more imaginary than real.
'71 Peugeot PX10 recently repainted and ready for reassembly. It will feature Italian, French and Japanese components, but it's character and appearance is carefully maintained.
1986ish Serotta Nova Special X. My century bike if the route is all pavement. Campagnolo, Suntour and Shimano drivetrain components all playing well together.
1993ish Simoncini Cyclocross Special. A versatile ride for road or gravel. An Italian bike with Deore derailleurs, Suntour shifters, Campagnolo hubs.
My daughters Mixte that is ready for the KATY Trail. Starting with a 1978ish Nishiki Olympic in good condition, the bike had clearly been idle for many years. I decided to convert almost every component to improve its overall performance.
The heavy 27 inch steel rimmed wheels were replaced with 700c touring wheels from a Miyata 615. The replacement wheels include 36 spokes on the front and 40 spokes at the rear. The Belgium made Elesa alloy rims are 23mm wide and the Japanese Sansin hubs are ideal for touring. I installed 700x32 Continental Contact Plus. The bike could accept a larger tire, including most 700x35 and some 700x38.
The Dia-Compe center pull brakes were replaced with new Tektro long reach caliper brakes. The drop bars were replaced with Trekking bars and the bar-end shifters were replaced by New Shimano 3x7 speed ST-EF65 Shifter brake levers. I sourced the 4 finger version of the ST-EF65 which can be used on both V-brakes and road bike brakes. New Shimano Altus front and rear derailleurs were installed.
The standard double crank was replaced with a Shimano Deore LX triple crankset with 46, 36 and 24 chainrings. The 5 speed cogset was replaced with a 13-28 seven speed cogset.
My modern Trek "Dual Sport" rigid 29er MTB that is waiting in Italy. The scenic parts of Italy have steep hills to climb and the best roads are not perfectly maintained.
In Italy you need a good climber and having a frame-set that will take Pannier racks and bags offers the opportunity for a multi-day tour. You don't need a vintage Italian racing bike with tiny tires and hopeless chain-rings.
