First off, I have no nearby riding friends - which is ok for me, so this "zero bike" concept is doomed from the start.

However... my house rules are a bit different. While I can easily run afoul of my (quite generous) license by letting bicycle stuff overflow into the rec room proper, I'm generally not under pressure to let things go (although there a few that I would love to see moved along). Recently, I advised her that I was spending Saturday on a road trip to pick up a free bike (a true story). While I generally stick to things my size (54-55cm, but I've been known to stray as high as 56), I've come up with the concept of a "guest bike". Granted, I can get away with this because my wife's daughter's husband has tagged along on a couple outings with us, and at 6'4", he looks like he's interviewing for a circus position on one of my bikes. Yes, the MK I Professional fits him a bit better, but that's reserved for when Greg LeMond or Alberto Contador, or one of you comes to visit. Soooo - "the guest bike" is officially "a thing" here now.

My zero bike is 600 miles away in [MENTION=543270]BoltBreaker[/MENTION]'s garage. At least that's where I put it when I returned to the Bay Area after our Touroica ride.

Two Four five-tenths.

>> nearby riding friends
Pshaw.
Define 'nearby.'

Here's mine, near my home town on the korrekt side of the Rhine... looking at Bingen on the wrong side.
cheers -m

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ea449431be.jpg

And, to prove that some threads just won't die, after the Oregon Rectangle tour, [MENTION=396646]Spaghetti Legs[/MENTION] decided that his Heron is best designed for western riding, so he left it at the Atelier as his firsrt Zero Bike:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...07f3f81ccd.jpg

Pretty much guarantees he flies out none too soon for another tour.

That's good news. Yet while in the Atelier, there must be an agenda for improvements! It can't just be left to be picked up at some undetermined future date, in the same state as it was left! Shouldn't that be a part of the Zero Bike obligation?

The Zero bike is defined in relationship to one's significant other. Let's keep it simple here folks.

You mean, kind of like John Hurt's character in "Alien"?

As you drive by one of those Self Storage places and think “I bet I could keep some bikes there….”

I might have mentioned this somewhere earlier in this thread, but I'm too lazy to look: The last year I lived in the SF Bay Area, around 1989-90, I had part-time gigs at several spots along the Caltrains line from Menlo Park to San Jose and would park cheap beater bikes at those stations to use to get from the train to work and back. I did learn that even with a cheap beater bike, you need to use a decent lock as the bike thieves must have been insulted or something by my super cheap cable locks and stole several bikes on principle.

Yep.

Another strategy is to know someone who rides bikes that are set up nearly exactly the same as yours. [MENTION=111144]Andy_K[/MENTION] has you covered in Portlandia, I hear.

Fully cleaned and lubed after that rainy day ride I’m sure. Gotta work out getting that dyno hub back some time in the next few weeks. Winter is coming!

Spoke snappers are on standby.

Oh, the things I've forgotten since 2017!

So that means that I'm holding about 20 zero bikes for [MENTION=111144]Andy_K[/MENTION]?

Pretty sure he's counting on it.

I've not seen some of my Zeros in so long I nearly forget 'em. :rolleyes:
Do they become like ex's? Ex-Zeros! :foo:

Let me look for ex's. The 2 Wheeler version, with RSX.
Not in Texas either.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bca9250bda.jpg
This Taiwanese Wheeler is the Desenzano model.

other ex-zeros may not be pictured.
a Peugeot may still be in Santa Cruz county? Some folks just disappear.
A chrome headlugged Carabela (low end Windsor from AcerMex) sits in Nashville Davidson county TN
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...099db4e8fe.jpg
Looking especially attractive on Cinco de Mayo, alas the tall one no one selected for a long ride. Blame the tires.

Not one to let a worthy thread die,….
 

Acquired another Zero bike. Cheaper to buy something local than ship a bike one way. It does, after all, only count as N+0.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4a14f8c17.jpeg
Cleaning up nicely. Glad for black splatter paint on rear triangle. Location = Grand Junction, CO USA. Another world from suburban Seattle.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b2cd171cf.jpeg
Splined and triple butted
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...20eab7cbc.jpeg
Nice rack- ‘sez he.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c884c908c.jpeg
Will not be riding a bicycle up on top of the Mesa this trip. But maybe skiing by Xmas.

edit: Discovered the Miyata Elevation is 1991. Funny, coincidence. Same year as my GFisher. Cromoly vs Aluminum. Shimano vs Suntour. 1" vs 1 1/8" headsets. Both framesets from Taiwan. Maybe after the Miyata I could gain a new appreciation for rigid mtn bikes. Possibly,... at least one, ...might be worthy of drop bar conversion?
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...25828dfa4a.jpg

I'm getting on this train. Plane? I am getting on a plane for Thanksgiving, so I bought this to ship to my destination ahead of me! It's plain to me that this should be a fun project.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2ec93a8062.png
It was cheap, practically worth the price of admission just for the seatpost.

It arrived in this weird box!! Looks like it cost more to ship than I paid for the whole auction! I hope the seller had a discount somehow, or else he definitely lost money. His condo on the return address was pretty ritzy, to be fair.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fb9186f5a.jpeg

My mom, AYH Twin Cities bicycling club womens mileage champion of the '80s, holding the incredibly lightweight box.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...42aa68c5d.jpeg

Great packing job!!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5a220c4b9.jpeg

Seatpost bits rattling around in the box.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8147766e1.jpeg

Basically packed using recycle bin contents.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ff0cd0766.jpeg
All seems intact and accounted for, surprpsingly!
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f3738c6f1.jpeg

Some weird panto on the campy post, but I'll take it!
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b8c29ccce.jpeg

Stay tuned for the build! I'm using all my dad's early '80s Campy drillium.

Nice score!
And maybe worst packaging job ever.

That is a contender. I bought a mid 80’s Merckx Pista once that arrived having apparently just been dropped into a picture frame box; fork rattling around in the head tube. No apparent harm done though. Agree with the lousiness of the packing job and niceness of the score.

Good packing not always a guarantee either, some of the best packed ones have sustained the most damage, many are amazing to escape it.

Usually disappointing that many can't realize the contact points require a very robust way to protect them.

I use tennis balls, slit and taped or wrapped in place on the seatlug, both ends of the HT, BB with plenty of other cushion/cardboard, etc.

RDO's with a good spacer held well in place, adjuster screws all the way in or removed and wrapped in place with cardboard/pipe insulation/stretch wrap.

The EM 10th tribute came from Australia and was packed in a severe "cut to fit" box that was exactly tailored to the frame for the cheapest shipping, $90.

It was all good except the lower HS race cut through the box and was dinged a bit, anymore would have jacked up the HT, disaster averted. :twitchy:

Funny. Seller should make a "How to ..." video.

Hmm, maybe I need to send [MENTION=381793]gugie[/MENTION] a zero bike (assuming there’s space in the Atilier). Might be an excuse to buy a new bike!

I thought [MENTION=111144]Andy_K[/MENTION] has a garage full of them.

This is how I pack 'em.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...358f0291b5.jpg
I guarantee it.

https://www.bikeforums.net/images/smilies/twitchy.gif