Welcome to the club, Scoupe. I enjoy the differences among my four road bikes. The Bianchi is the fastest, most responsive road bike I have ever owned, the Capo is the most ornately beautiful, and the Peugeots are practical, enjoyable all-rounders.
I sitll fondly remember some of my project bikes, such as an Armstrong 3-speed to which I fitted a 14-16-18-20 Cyclo hybrid gear cluster and a Cyclo clockspring (ala Simplex TdF) derailleur, which I later replaced with a first-generation Campag. Record. The resulting 12-speed transmission had a nice set of gear ratios spanning 40 to 100 gear-inches, perfect for the hills of west Los Angeles.
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"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