I'm new to this site and just wonder if I'm wasting my time here.Is C&V a road bike forum?I'd say 80% of the threads pertain to them.When in fact they represent a small cross section of types of C&V bikes.
I don't have any road bikes.I find the seating position uncomfortable and the lightweight wheels and frames flimsy.
I ride only Raleigh and CCM middleweights(one is 60 years old).I commute over 7000 miles a year on them,so you can't say that it can't be done.That was what they were built for.
I also notice that there is no forum for balloon tire,boneshakers,high wheelers,......The TRUE C&V bikes.Maybe something needs to be done about that

I have a couple of old Schwinn middleweights on my project list, one I bought from another forum member here, so this is a good forum for all kinds of vintage bikes.

While most of the people here like riding VLWs (Vintage Light Weights) there are some who also have some bikes with a little more "substance".

There was also at least one thread about high wheelers in the past few years as well.

Whatever you have to post about, please do. That way the breadth of the forum will increase.

Welcome!

PS - Any pictures of your bikes would be appreciated!!!!

It is just that we are a minority. You can find lots of stuff on road bikes, mountain bikes, toy bikes, there is even a thriving Utility Bike forum, but the old style bikes that were the mainstay of transportation bicycles since about 1890 or so have to find a place between the cracks. The problem is that bicycles have become adult toys (that ought to get a lot of angry replies), there is very little interest in such bicycles to the bicycling population at large they compare them to their racing machine and do not see what they expect so they consider them junk.

That said, a search for "3-speed" will bring you up several interesting threads (use the search engine in the headers, it seems to work much better than the one that comes up in particular forum. There is a long thread here in C&V and another in Utility Cycling, and some shorter ones floating about here and there.

Have fun, and browse the other forums too, there are often interesting things posted that you would never think to look for.

The only other place I have found much 3-speed stuff is OldRoads.com they have an English 3-speed forum at https://oldroads.com/d_eng_def.asp?rec_count=1

BTW, I am a relative newbie here myself.

Nope, all bikes are welcome. I like Italian lightweights (and lately I've been into the prewar stuff) but I enjoy learning about other bikes too. We also answer posts about bikes that aren't C&V. Post away, and before East Hill jumps in, make sure you have plenty of pictures to share.

How about a pic of your ccm commuter.There was a thread on post your CCM. I picked a ccm dualmatic GT101 coppertone color with a ccm crank. Know anything about it? Most Canadian members are always interested in any ccms.

There is no restrictions on what you post in C&V. Lightweight, Middleweight, Muscle bikes,
english racers (what I used to call 3 speeds as a kid), its all good.
yes, the majority of the posts are about lightweight, but that doesn't mean
we don't like other types of bikes.
Are you wasting your time here? depends on what you want to get out of the forum,
and what you're willing to contribute. I think all in all that you'll find this a pretty friendly
place and that the members here are more than willing to share information and learn
something new .

Marty

I have four road bikes and one old school mountain bike (see signature). I believe all five are properly considered "classic and vintage."

We love ALL vintage bikes here! We also love pictures of vintage bikes. (hint hint)

We've had quite a nice discussion about the 1888-1892 vintage safety bike I found in my town dump last spring. Part of the challenge is that there are so few of these bikes compared to all the bikes built in the '60s & '70s. Welcome to C&V and please keep on posting with your answers to others and questions to us.

How about this thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/355737-1930-32-swift-help-info-needed.html

Many of us have different interests! Anytime you can add a snippet of information, it adds to the knowledge base, and who knows, it might eventually inspire another person to go out and enjoy those older machines as well .

Photos?

East Hill

It might represent a small cross section of types, but not in numbers. Not many people have a 1896 Schwinn, so there are going to be less threads about that than say a 1977 Schwinn.
But as you mentioned, 20% of the time we do talk about the other types. Just post and see what happens.

I used to collect and ride old CCMs like you, I still have a few of em that sit outside, but I don't ride em anymore. I too didnt care for road bikes at first and found them akward to ride, but now its the other way around. After you spend a good day on a road bike you'll never go back.

Old balloon tire bikes and all the other 40 pound beasts like that are nice to look at, but painful to ride if you ask me.

The reason why the forum is dominated by lightweights is because they are the vintage bicycle style that has the highest survival rate. That, plus many of us are babyboomers that were in our late teens and early twenties when the lighweight boom hit in the early 1970s.

However, to reiterate for the umpteenth time, every style of bicycle is welcome. The old middleweights and balloon tire models do crop up every so often. We'd sure like to see your bicycles and be glad to discuss them.






Sure do. Late 1960s model and into very, very early 1970s. It came in three versions. There was a Standard version with 28" wheels and a Juvenile version with 26" wheels. Then there was a musclebike version with 24" rear and 20" front wheel. If you've got the serial number, I can date it more accurately.

This forum seems like it's 99.9% peugeot and miyata stuff . Me, I only have 1 lightweight, and that one has been converted to ride like my Raleigh's. I'm a 3 speed fiend. I enjoy checking out all the old bikes that get posted on here.

The peugeot's are pretty easy to come by in and around big cities because they make good city bikes and are used by the SS/FG crowd. My first foray into 'vintage' bikes was a 85 Peugeot PH501 which got me pretty excited. I sold that and now have an '84 Trek 760. The fun thing for me is that these bikes are older than me and they're a nice way to learn about bikes.

My neighbour told me that she had an old bike with balloon tires in her attic. I might just ask her to give it to me for a project bike next time I'm home from school. Maybe I can make her ride it again!

I've got 4 3-speeds, all are riders. A Schwinn Corvette, and three folders (Schwinn Run A Bout, Legnano Autocamping and a Raleigh Twenty). I like collecting folders, there's always room for just one more bike! I've always found that I can peg my fun meter when riding vintage.

I have ALL kinds of bikes, from a 1939 Elgin ballooner I may never build, up to a 2005 Schwinn Alloy SS cruiser. Lately (the last year and a half) I have been getting heavily into 70's through early 90's road bikes. I love them all. The beautiful paint, polished bits of aluminum, gorgeous lugs. Nothing really flimsy about them. That is an interesting view though. I used to feel the same way until I got a couple of decent lightweights. The whole feel of riding them inspires confidence. There's just nothing like the feel of going 30+ mph on bike that looks as nice as it performs.,,,,BD

All C&V bikes are welcome. Post away! Realistically though, if you can ride one of those "middle-weights" around my town with 3 speeds, well, you're a far stronger rider than me. I suppose I could load one on the bike rack, drive it downtown, and then tool around the central business district but that's about it. If you're not Lance you'd better have gearing under 35-inches if you intend to get up the hills around here on a heavier bike, more like 20-inches if you're on a 45-lb bike.

I like seeing all kinds of C&V subject matter.

I think the biggest reason this forum trends to the VLW's is that there are several Balooner specific forums out there allready. And sometimes I think we are the farm team for the CR e-mail list

Yup, there are not enough Capo owners to constitute a significant presence.

It seems to me that a lot of the older single-speed bikes were basically the same mechanically, which means there's not as many questions relating to them. Personally, I have little interest in older multi-speed bikes, but whatevery floats other people's boats. Also, it seems to me that stuff 25 years old should not be in the "Vintage Category", more in the "Seems Like It Hasn't Been That Long Since It Was New" category ("SLIHBTLSIWN").

If you don't do it, periodically peruse through all the forums, not just C&V, interesting stuff gets scattered around. Cottered cranks in "Bike Mechanics" for example.

No vintage lightweights in my stable of 13 bikes I am a big utility bike fan. So far all of the vintage stuff in our household is either English steel or America steel. (Raleigh, Hercules, and Schwinn) I also have a couple of the SLIHBTLSIWN that StephenH referred too I usually skim over the Campy/Suntour/Shimano posts, I do enjoy reading about some of the lightweights like Clubmans, Whitcombs or Bob Jacksons. I can appreciate the artistry of a fully drilled Zeus or a vintage Bianchi but they aren't something that I collect.

Aaron

Just sort of seems that way sometimes, it's like how there are more vintage Ferraris around than Nash Rambler station wagons, and surely at some point soon if we are not already there there will be more Ferraris than Checker Marathons.

Still it's nice to see the utilitarian everday transport type bikes that show up now and again. Strangely not very many at all old Schwinn cruisers.

Just for that I'm putting up a picture of a Raleigh Chopper:

Production companies are not making any more of the nicer steel bikes, which automatically puts them into the "classic no matter how old" category. Older american bikes made of gaspipe with cantilever frames hold very little interest for me anymore. They weigh a ton, were produced in very large numbers, and wear you out to ride them more than a few miles.

I was following the cottered crank thread, up until the point when the guy gave up and decided to put the bikes out on the curb. A bike shop could have done the job for around $25, instead he opted to get rid of it. Go figure. It's not the first cottered crank post, I've read at least a dozen over the last few years on different websites.,,,,BD

T mar my GT 101 has 28 inch wheels with a sloped double bar im at work its at home. This bike has potential to be a hot looking cruiser. Ill try to get my daughter to take some pics.