Had bikes not been so plentiful and cheap in Thunder Bay, I might have been satisfied with my Giant XTC full suspension mountain bike. I can honestly remember going to lots of yard sales where old Ten Speeds (the generic name we gave to road bikes back in the day) had "Free" signs attached to them. On one days, for $15.00 CND, I managed to drag home five vintage road bikes, including a lovely old Viking (not the Eaton's department store offering but a high end English steed). Fifteen dollars!

These days, I look at the prices locally and on Ebay and cannot help but wonder if it is worth continuing to restore vintage bikes. Lucky for me (or not), five projects still hang from the rafters, under my lake cottage...






And, even luckier, I have all of the components needed to restore them. With exception of consumables such as brake pads, tires, cables and the like. None the less, I will get at the bikes, one at a time, starting with that lovely old Carlton.