non-fixie 

As I was looking for some old pics today I realized it's been more than ten years since I got into this C&V bike thing and joined this forum.

It got me rummaging through my old pics and look back at my - sometimes feeble and misguided - efforts from 2011 to build me a nice bike. For me it was a year of hits and misses, but overall I learned a lot and had fun doing it.

What were you doing in 2011?

Me, I put together the first bike that year which made me think I was onto something. Up to then I'd been experimenting with al sorts of flat bar st-ups, which looked snazzy enough, but didn't work well on longer rides. From the shop of Jan de Reus in Zwanenburg:



One of the big time misses that year was this Benotto I built up for mrs non-fixie. She liked the color, but rode it for about three yards before deciding "no way I am going to ride this".

iab

After 4 years of looking, I found this.





Now looks like this.

Frejus001 by iabisdb, on Flickr

genejockey 

Ten years ago, my now-classic (or maybe vintage?) bikes were just old.

northbend 

My 1st Cino...
P1030199 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

merziac

Not sure but was getting back in after a 35? year hiatus, may not have gotten any serious finds yet but was going headlong down the rabbit hole to make up for lost time.

Many of the bikes we have here, I drooled over when I was young, Paramount's in particular as there was a Schwinn shop close to me that had them all the time, usually in chrome.

Last bike before the hiatus was a 76? Raleigh SC with some upgrades with parts I had from HS.

tiger1964 

I'd have to look but I think that was the year someone broke into the garage and stole the late-60's French bike I had built up for my wife (who ever took it, she has a butcher knife with your name on it). She does still like the Windsor Pro we bought to replace it.

noobinsf 

Based on my past activity, I have to wait until 2024 to contribute to this thread.

SoccerBallXan

10 years ago, my legs weren’t long enough to pedal the bikes I have now. My plastic schwinn carried me around the breeze with ease — or so I thought. Oh, time does fly.

philbob57

10 years ago I was not riding my only bike, then thought (and now known) to be a 1973-ish MKM, because I felt very unsteady on it. It took me 2 years and about 6 weeks for me to remember that I had changed my saddle just before I started feeling unsteady. On 7/5/13, I compared my old saddle to my new one, lowered my seatpost by 15 mm or so, and took my first ride in years.

cycleheimer

I was trying to find something C&V and decent with the correct frame size to ride. That wasn't that easy in my area. In the last few years I've been lucky to find nicer bikes with the correct sizing. I never thought I would say this, but some of the bikes made after 1990 had some nice improvements made to the quality of the ride. I still prefer, however, riding my 1981 Fuji instead of my 1991 Fuji. The bike in the photo is the only complete bike I had 10 years ago that I still own. I've owned it since it was new in the late '70s.

thinktubes 

iab

Also, old forum members on an LSD ride.

LSP_2011 009 by iabisdb, on Flickr

LSP_2011 020 by iabisdb, on Flickr

cudak888 

I bought a Spidel group and regretted it (it looked nice, but just about everything was thrashed in one way or another).



I fixed a cream 1970 Twenty (the ONLY year I seem to run into) for a friend - this one carried a Hans Ohrt sticker. More @ Flamingo orange Raleigh Twenty



I acquired my first Raleigh Professional, a 1978 Mk.V. I still have it, though it's built slightly differently.



I found some NOS OMAS weight weenie parts at the LBS. I wound up flipping them to support some other projects, as I knew nothing good could come out of the combination of these lightweight parts and my fat ass.



2011 was also the era when nobody knew jack squat about how many Benotto 5000s existed thanks to a few smartalecs spreading a rumor that their production run was limited to 10 bikes (it wasn't) - which meant any sighting of one usually involved at least one shyster looking to retire on it.

Case in point, someone meeting this description came by one time with his Benotto 5000. This person honestly believed they could get five figures for this thing. I believe I entertained the individual's presence only so I could get a half-decent picture of a 5000 for the forum. Feel free to read the BS in this thread: Benotto 5000 (picture)



I confused a CLB Racer for a Mafac Racer (A Mafac Racer; not as expected)



I made what had to be the most obvious Grant Peterson troll thread ever: Grant Peterson.

I found some Zeus bits:



I bought a 1972 Raleigh LTD-3 to flip because I knew I'd enjoy polishing it: Raleigh LTD-3: It looks good in basic black (Another Scratch-X miracle post)



I found a weird lugged BCA mixte frame made for 26" wheels. Also a flip, but it gave me a chance to build a mixte for the apocalypse: Mixte'd Up - 1980's BCA Mixte MTB



-Kurt

habes78023

Good question,

I had gotten a bike for riding around my schools campus the year before. I thought it was pretty cool, I think it was a Schwinn Continental or Varsity. I didn't have much concept besides it was a road bike and was cheap.

So that means that 10 years ago I was getting the Trek 420 that my sister and her husband had in their storage with a busted rear wheel and rusty chain that I would swap out for the Schwinn and start to really get into fixing and flipping bikes during the school year.

Gary Fountain

Gee, I had 50+ bikes and life was good.

droppedandlost 

C&V wasn't even on my radar. I was riding carbon, chasing mph and seconds. I'm glad that's over.

Drillium Dude 

2011 was the year I converted this:



to this:



Technically I went from C&V to modern, but what the hey. The swap was chronicled here if you're interested: Blasphemy?

DD

beicster 

I had a 1984 Trek 500 which I bought as a frameset and built up with a combo of parts on hand and ebay finds. I rode my first (and only) century on it. I donated it to the coop a few years back and happened to see it on instagram being used as a single speed gravel bike. That was nice.

bark_eater 

I was occasionally riding a rust bucket Carlton mountain bike with steel 6 speed beach cruiser wheels, that were some Sheldon reported European off spec, that I was hustled into buying it down in Galveston. It was a fine exercise machine, and even said Chromoly some where on the frame.

Roger M 

I was riding a Schwinn High Sierra towing my son through Vancouver and Portland in the rain, stopping for hot cocoa at some point.

A great memory.

fabiofarelli

ollo_ollo

Not much, as was in the last year of a 4 year home build that began in January of 2008. After the "Great Olympia Selloff" prior to relocating to Oregon, I was down to 6 C&V bikes plus my Torelli. By then, only 1 was operational, but I had unpacked and hung my tools with hope to get them all working again by years end.. We had moved into our new home February of 2009, soon as it was legal to occupy, but far from finished. There were no interior doors, no trim around doors or windows. The maple floor wasn't down, and only a few kitchen and bathroom cabinets were done and in place. My 92 y.o. mom in law was living with us, so her 2 rooms were the 1st finished. The main heating system wasn't installed yet, we relied on 2 gas fired, fake ":wood" stoves. It was a lot of work, but I was younger then. Good times! Pics don't want to load, will reduce image size & load them later Don

Hung some tools


Hung some bikes

Entry trim

Mickey Poole

Lynna and Mickey

nlerner

Just about 10 years ago, @rhm organized a century ride on Long Island.

Name the BF-ers!
1000000340.JPG

I was on my '76 Wes Mason (on the left), which I realized a few years later was too small for me:
1000000343.JPG

Our host on a bent:
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Ice cream stop!
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sced

In 2011 I semi-restored my 1973 custom-made Holdsworth Super Mistral with a rattle can paint job that looked pretty good from about 5ft. It was a Xmas gift from my parents when I was 16. The paint didn't hold up well so last year I had the frame professionally restored including some repairs and original paint scheme.

CMAW 

I took in a crusty PX10 and joined this forum to learn about Simplex and Delrin. Somebody said: "worst case scenario, it's edible".