40 Years Ago: April 1984 in Bicycling magazine
 

Articles/Columns included in this post are:
Technical Q&A

The following articles in this issue were posted previously:

"Mid-Range Rear Derailleurs" (https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...urs-berto.html)
"More for Your Money - 5 Sport Tourers" (https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...best-buys.html)
"The ROTO Component Group" (https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ent-group.html)

As usual, let me know if you'd like to see something else listed in the ToC.
Just reply to this post or send me a PM and I'll send you a pdf of your requested article or insert it in a separate post to this thread.

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Great issue.

So much gear freaking. So, so much. The days when logical gearing had to come from a sprocket board because it sure didn't come stock. But the advice given was good for those pre-Hyperglide times.

On the cover photo, it looks like the model is wearing Avocet touring shoes. My brief test of those almost destroyed my knees (the slots in the shoes assume a straight-foot alignment, and I pronate out the wazoo).

The Vittoria ad with Lon Haldeman: I know exactly where that photo was taken. I-15 in Arizona, northbound in the Virgin River Gorge, about milepost 13. There are often nasty headwinds for northbound riders, and the narrow bridges aren't fun with triple trailer trucks. But still easier than climbing Utah Hill on old US 91.

Campmor ad: I still use some of the items I ordered from them in the early 1980s.

And the next time I see Schubert (probably in June), I will be tempted to throw a gear puller at him, because every time I've tried to use one of those to pull a stripped crank, it hasn't worked. Just can't trust the guy...

The leg length difference Q/A was interesting.

God, I wish. I'd really like to try again.

Could you please post the two articles about the 1984 Olympics, "Women to Watch," and "Waiting in the Wings," on pages 75 and 80? Thank you!

Fixed thread title

Women to Watch
 

Sure. Here is "Women to Watch".

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Waiting in the Wings
 

And here's "Waiting in the Wings".

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I like that tip for the binding headset.

Olympian Rebecca Twigg profiled here is currently 58 in Seattle struggling with homelessness.

Rebecca Twigg

I was just getting into cycling in early 1984. Part of that included subscribing to Bicycling Magazine. This was the first issue delivered.

I really appreciate SpeedofLite posting these articles. In 1985, I purchased the Bridgestone 400 that was one of the five bikes featured in the "More for Your Money" feature. Mine is the largest frame size they made in that model - 27 inches from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. I still have that bike and ride it regularly, along with my much more modern Trek Domane. When I compare these two bikes side-by-side, I am struck by how modern the Bridgestone 400 still appears to me.

Again, many thanks for taking the time to reproduce and post the article.

I remember following the Lon Haldeman vs Pete Penseyres vs Michel Shermer RAAMS. Those guys were in all kinds of ads too; almost as famous as Lemond.

Cindy Olivarri used to own a cool bike shop in Berkeley.

That's rough!

I recall first reading of her when still a teen phenom, and how she would take a training ride from Seattle around Rainier Park and back. A Seattle kid myself, was boggled at the very idea.

Pro cycling has never been all that lucrative compared to Big Sports and back then I can only guess the women earned a pittance, with no obvious path once the career ended. Hope she's found a good resolution for her situation by now.

I daydream of meeting Twigg on a random Seattle street. Me, stopped briefly on my '80s lightweight. She, walking nearby, disheveled and crazy looking.

"Nice bike. Is that Campy Victory?"

Now I'm the one that looks befuddled. "Um, yeah. How did you...? Wait, are you..?"

The 3rensho advertisement brings back memories. That was the bike and setup I dreamed about!

My 1982 Miyata needs that exact treatment!

Thank you for posting this issue. I finally found an ad for my 1984 Peugeot PSV. It is interesting to see that even though Peugeot issued an ad for the bike, the company did not seem to put much Into it. Aside from the.nice DS pic, in a setting that looks like places I rode my PSV in, when I lived in Wisconsin, they did not have much to say about the PSV.... The ho-hum quality of the ad maybe hinted that Cycles Peugeot was already on it's way out of the US market.....
Another interesting item was the CLB "aero" brakeset featured in an ad. I have a set of these installed on my Vitus Plus Carbone 7.
I haven't seen that many of them out there, and I had people tell me they never knew that CLB made aero levers for their "Compact Professionel" racing brakeset.

The first time I met Cindy Olavarri, the first thing that popped into my mind was, "East German Swim Team." It was that obvious.

Years later she confessed to using PEDs, and reflected on the damage they did to her.

I still remember watching from the sidewalks these top women cyclists competing in the Milwaukee Sentinel Classic bike races in 1984. Rebecca Twigg, Connie Carpenter and Cindy Olivarri got a lot of attention from the public, watching the races because they were at the top of their careers at that time. IIRC, Inga Thonpson was racing with them and winning there too, with her signature braided, long platinum blond hair whipping around in the breeze behing her hairnet . She really attracted a lot of guys becsuse of that hair.Those were truly golden years to be involved deeply in cycling with all these great athletes inspiring us to push ourselves when we went on our rides....