Bike Forums - I Hate This Place ! !

6 bikes here. 4 American, 1 Japanese, 1 English. In chronological order or birth:

1973 531 Carleton built Raleigh Competiton (with the sloping crown fork, trademark lugs and skinny chainstays. Sadly, Raleigh forgot to braze it so most is American applied by TiCycles.

1979 Peter Mooney. Probably large percent 531 but at the time Peter didn't like being tied to one tubeset. If you wanted all 531 and the sticker, it was $50 extra. I spent that money on the canti bosses. No regrets whatsoever.

1983 Trek 420? 520? I'm pretty sure butted three main tubes, lesser but decent forks and stays. Bought the frame minus all decals but head badge. Japanese sport geometry, not touring. Seems made for 700c and fenders. My workhorse year 'round fix gear. Has served me very well.

1983 Pro Miyata with only Miyata knows tubing. Pure race. Stiff, not super light. Tubing has a wonderful ring when tapped. Very, very close to the best you could do in 1983. Blades and seatstay tubes are slightly squeezed for aero but I cannot tell one whit of penalty in ride for the benefit.

2008 TiCycles. Yes, titanium. Patterned loosely after a Univega Competion with an eye on the "classic" early '80s Japanese sport bikes. Near race length chainstays and steep seat angle for a tight rear wheel and good rough road cornering given my tendency to pull forward on hairy descents. Rest of wheel clearances for 28c and fenders like so many Japanese bikes. Almost all painted so it can pass visually for an acceptable C&V almost.

2011 TiCycles fix gear. Again, ti. And bare. But - this bike was designed to be the bike we might have raced 1989 had gears never been invented. Designed to do quick wheel flips to change gears, much like racers did in the earlier '00s. So really a much older concept than any of the bikes we call C&V here.

I'm married to the Mooney. (A little odd. His name is Pete and I've known that 40 years. Now, finally, on the top tube. Wears a wedding band. Seriously. A gold looking band around the downtube between the WB bosses. (To hold the cables off the paint between the top-mounted shifters and the under-the-BB cable guides. In fix gear mode, just a beautiful wedding band.

Jessica J, the TiCycles fix gear is a keeper. If something happened to it, TiCycles would be making me the exact same bike.

The Pro Miyata, while only a year with me and less than a 1000 miles under me is another keeper. A better ride than the '76 Fuji Pro I loved so much and did so much on when I was in the conditioning of the elite. (G** gave me a small engine and I was never going to get past barely Cat 2 but I knew what the finely tuned body felt like and I had the ride to put it on. Now, if there had been Cat 2 three week stage races, I would have been racking up KOM jerseys.)

The TiCycles might leave the household. In my aging I am having more issues with high speed wobbles. But just the other day I rode a fairly steep and fast descent and took my weight off the seat and the bike felt just fine. Didn't go gonzo fast but that was very encouraging. (MacCormick Hill Rd down from the the Chehelem ridge above Newberg, OR. Go gonzo and have issues and you aren't making the last corner. Too steep and rough to slow down.) So it's possible TiCycles might make a near copy, only tweaked to be wobble free. Jury is out. (When new, I went as fast as I have ever gone on a bike down Bald Peak Road with a huge October tailwind. No electronics but Smuggler's Notch stuff. Saw no wobbles. Just high excitement fun.)

The Trek doesn't get ridden much in my retirement and far less riding into Portland since COVID but it is the current winter/rain city fix gear and therefore a keeper until it dies; whereupon the search starts for frame number 6.

The Raleigh Competition is the bike I am least attached to. It's an odd ride. Sometimes so smooth. Other times a piece of spaghetti. It currently has a place in my fleet but a very un-romantic Long Haul Trucker would to the same job better.