I decided this spring that I wanted to get into a road bike. Being in college, I can't even come close to affording anything new, so I've been watching Clist for a vintage. I sold my BMX bike that had been collecting dust for $180 and made that my budget. St. Louis seems to be a very competitive area, and it has been difficult trying to buy road bikes. I was seriously checking Clist every 15 mins or so to find a deal. I found a lot, but still couldn't call fast enough, the flippers steal them all too fast. Well, I finally beat the flippers to a couple of deals. The first is what appears to be an all original 1985 Panasonic DX-4000 for $100. It has all of its Shimano 600 components and Turbo Bernard Hinault seat. The only thing that was missing were the pedals. I've spend quite a bit of time cleaning and polishing, but it was in very nice condition, just dirty. The second deal was a pair of Spinergy Xaero X Ironman wheels for $50. Someone even tried to outbid me on the wheels(I can't catch a break!), but the seller was a good guy and sold them to me for the agreed upon $50. The wheels are in great shape and perfectly true, but the rear cassette is a 9 speed vs. the bike's original 6. So, I guess I need a 9 speed chain to make this work properly? When installed the chain shifts itself because it is too wide. Don't worry, this was not tested under load and did no damage. Also, the rear dérailleur does not reach all of the gears, but that isn't an issue to me, I'll just use the gears it can reach.
So, here is the bike. I plan to change the bar tape to the original white soon and replace the cracked hoods.
