Was thinking bout all the bikes I've bought/sold, bought/built/sold, bought/built/kept. Decided I'm going to make a little diary of the journey. When I was a kid I was ACTIVE and biking was life for me. Enter high school, ****** environment which forces you to drive essentially, college. life and it was a distant memory. Something that never happened. Fast forward to about 2015 and I went on trip to Barcelona where I met up with my friend and his roommate and I went out to go look for some girls at clubs. We took a city bike and it was the FIRST time I rode a bike since a kid!!

It all came back INSTANTLY as soon as started riding. And that's all she wrote pretty much. Biking is ******g LIFE and I love ALL forms of bikes and want to explore more and more. I for sure mostly love old vintage steel. I mean what's not to love?

Anyway let's get this ish started!




My FIRST bike after coming back from that Spain trip. Basic ass 6KU in which I changed the handlebars and that was it. Broke my wrist while riding drunk with my boy on this bike and had a couple close calls dude to utter trash brakes. It sits in my house now with a stuck seatpost and is trying to sell it for cheap to anyone who has the time. Good times!!!

This is Carmen


Second bike and first bike I really started messing around with learning to work/upgrade them. Univega frames are underrated IMO! Cro mo double/triple butted and rides great!


Still have this one and probably wont' let it go ever. Been through a bunch of different iterations. The first picture is how I got it and the last picture is as it sits.

After learning/seeing carbon and aluminum bonded frames I HAD to have one! The sexy factor of the frame is crazy! So I went to work. I still have this bike and it's addicting to ride! Have only seen ONE of these actually have a problem with tubing while everyone just SAYS there's a huge problem.

I LOVE single speeds/fixed gear bikes for their simplistic beauty. I HAD to show off this frame so I went single speed but had to get creative with the freehub. It's an Ultegra wh660 and that year they made the hub bigger than before, then they went back to the regular size. So I couldn't buy a kit for single speed. So I found some drain pipe the correct size, cut it to size and added a cog from the free hub back.

Isn't the journey of exploring different bicycles FUN!?! Keep at it. N+1, forever.

Don't forget to record the critical measurements for each. One may get pickier as the path progresses, so know your best fit (main triangle) and preferred handling characteristics (F-C, chainstays and BB drop).

Here I bikes I bought for cheap, cleaned up and sold in between builds. Definitely a few missing that I didn't photo but not many.

Started looking at fixed gear conversion and fell in LOVE with the techniums! The Purple/lavenderish weird color had me hooked and decided to trek 3 hours round trip to get what is now known as Vanity. Sanded and polished shiny parts by hand as I do all my bikes that are shined up.

I got this bike to deliver on uber for a little bit. It was right when covid started. Was TOO light in the front but fun as hell! This bike is also where I first discovered that aluminum removes rust from chrome. I tried it on the fork and was shocked but also still didn't really know how it worked. I was using coca cola like an idiot at the time because that's what I saw. lol.


UNBELIEVABLY I traded it straight up for the NEXT bike coming up!!!! You wont believe it and I still don't!!!

Now THIS bike is my highest achievnment in buying, fixing, selling, keeping, loving bikes!!!! As I said before in the last post I traded that Peugeot pretty much straight up! I turned it into a single speed via shimano conversion kit, single speed chainring, AND kept the rack!


WTF?!?!?!?! I STILL can't believe it!!!!

I'm tired. I'll finish this last post off for tonight with picture of my room at one point, when I had it neat for half a day or so.

The bike industry is interesting... they keep looking for new tech ideas to create trends and in some respects, "fashion". The aero trend back in the 80's(?) was one of these. While a lot of the details really didn't make a difference to the average rider, it was definitely distinctive and could be considered fashion. That is definitely a cool looking bike!

Steve in Peoria

Do you enjoy riding the Lotus Super Pro with gearing? Or do you plan to single-speed it?

Yours looks to be 100% original. I have one that I bought from the original owner. He was a professional rider and triathlete who was sponsored by Lotus and Shimano. He made changes to suit his needs, so I don't have the original bars, cranks, and rims. I enjoy riding mine. I've seen posts which talk about a harsh ride, but I don't find that to be the case. What are your impressions?

KeepPedaling I see a clue that you're in NYC.

Next I found this on facebook for like 60 bucks I think. It was DINGY AS HELL!!! Smelled like 100's of years of cigarette smoked and it was engraned in this nasty oil all over the bike. I thought it was just dirty in the pics when I first saw it but also wasn't sure because the pictures were terrible. One of my favorite bikes! I plan on doing some upgrading when I get back.






















Here's a video of the cleanup.

i'm definitely sensing a strong preference for track bars! I'm glad to see you starting to restore multi-speed bikes rather than convert them to single speed. As you'll find from members of this forum, tinkering with vintage multi-speed systems is fun and generally pretty easy. I started out building single-speed conversions before discovering the fun of derailleurs and shifters.

that Lotus Super Aero is a really awesome find.

I can't find the original picture for some reason but this is the first custom bike I built for a customer. First time ever adding a basket and I turned the rear wheel into a single speed by using the 16t lock ring. I've done this before and honestly they are some of the best and smoothest rolling wheels I've ever ridden, these old 27" wheels! The only problem is crappy axles keep bending. I also added the wood to the basket to prevent fall through. The thick wood was more of test and I told them I wanted to change it to thinner but they loved it wouldn't let me. **** it. Ok!

I usually tell them to ride it for a week and come back for adjustments. After having a chat about gears and finding out she has no idea how they work, I told her about single speeding it and benefits and we did that. And that was that for this one.



First picture in not my original picture but same exact bike.

Saw this ad for $100 bucks for three raggedy ass looking bikes. Figured parts would be worth it alone but the one thing that stood at was the purple frame. I was looking for a bike to build for my girls first bike at the time. I thought the color was fire and the frame looked ok in the pictures. I ended up building it into her bike she loves and adores. She needs to stop being stingy and buy some. parts I told her to buy in order to finish it to the vision I see. Since it's her first bike I just got her started and want her to feel what it's like and how it's worth upgrading her own bike.

The green one is a dope frame and I have no idea who it's made by. It's very light steel and came with shimano 600 groupset. The stem was stuck but I banged and knocked on it enough to get it out. Seatpost I planning on trying acid for the first time and seeing what happens as I always want to try it. I still have it and want to paint it myself and completely build from ground up myself including wheels. We'll see though lol

The blue one I just took what I could and donated the frame to the streets. **** was HEAVY!!!



Here's a video of the build.

Bought some frames and random bikes here in there, but took a big break because I moved overseas. I recently came back to America, for as short as possible, and been buying like crazy. I just want to build!!


This was my second purchase and is a frame I've ALWAYS wanted! A Raleigh Competition/professional. However I couldn't stand the red ones I always saw and the black ones were always these pristine super expensive ones that I could find. Well one day while surfing facebook this gorgeous thing popped up!

I had no idea they came in this cream color and it was instant love! I haven't done anything to it as of yet because I think whoever built it did a beautiful job! I LOVE the bars! I'm still trying to identify them. I THINK the are heat tread albatrosses but not sure. I bought the nitto north roads thinking they were the same ones but they are not. They are more narrow but shape looks just like them but wider. Which makes me think albatrosses. However they don't have the red stripe that I saw on other albatrosses so I dunno. ANYWAY the bike is incredibly smooth riding and amazingly comfortable ride position wise. It's like pedaling a comfy house seat around and I LOVE it!

I have plans for the this frame so I'm going to take this groupset off and put it on another bike very soon and put the frame away until I'm ready. But as of now I haven't even cleaned it. Just put the brake on and been enjoying the ride!


First picture is the ad picture from facebook.

You did a nice job with your girlfriend's bike. It's a pretty frame, and you dressed it appropriately.

Saw this add for 4 bikes for $80. Had a look and was like YES!!!! Luckily fast enough to get them and bring them home.















-The little blue bike is a raliegh RSW 16 and one of THE funnest bikes ever and Keeper!I want another one and then a 20 inch version!

-The Raleigh Capri I automatically had 0 use for so I. put it up for sale and sold it for $100. Already up $20. ''

-The Atala I was thinking about keeping. But it's too light in the front. But SUPER fun!!!! You can just pedal into a wheelie in first gear and skididing around was just hilarious fun! However I'm in love with the RSW! I sold this for $130 today.

-The Mongoose I had ZERO plans for! I just noticed it was reasonably light. I just listed it for sale and was going to get rid of it. The only thing I noticed is that it felt a little light to me when I first picked it up and it had tange main tubes. Well I started looking at the thing and admiring the color a LOT! Started getting ideas and you know, one thing led to another and there goes all that money I made into one build. Learning is mad fun though! First time I replaced a spoke and now I REALLY want to build my first wheelset. Should be done with the build in a couple of days. Just waiting for the BB to arrive to test it.

Here's some pics I took once i got them/started work. Featuring 2 separate train rides to deep in queens to uptown, walking with flat tires, and straight up carrying the mountain bike on my shoulder the entire time because it came with no wheels and then got DESTROYED by rain while lightening and thundering and carrying metal poles in the under trees.

The little RSW is just instant love! First thing that struck me was the weight! Damn this little this is heavy. However not with our reason because it's SOLID!! That was the second thing I noticed and really shocked me after taking a ride. It's so solid! Barely any flexing even with load.


Also this is my very first bike in life with a basket. I have been ******g up my entire life! Why oh WHY have I not done this sooner?!?! It's just a whole entire new world! A much MUCH more beautiful bright world!!!


With it's 2 inch little knobby tires, which are killing my knees on legs on the street, and three speed it sounds like a lifted truck flying down the street! 🤣🤣🤣


I have a bunch of plans for it but immediately got new handlebars and spring seat I had laying around both made it instantly better. But the basket is the key to life!

I have a basket on the rear of my commuter bike. I could just toss my backpack in, but I'm cautious, so I string a bungee over it to make sure it doesn't bounce out.

My first MTB build! Got this with the 4 bike deal mentioned earlier in post #20. BRUH!!!!!! I MUST build a mountain bike commuter. I've been missing OUT!!! It's sooooooo comfortable and is sooooooo fun romping over everything!!! I built this just to build it. Frame kept calling me.

Dude, you are going HARD and it's awesome! Inspiring me to see what I could single speed as I have an almost nearly flat commute (if I so choose) now and I do still love the simplicity and elegance of a single speed. And deep-section wheels. Keep it up!