Yeah, but I don't have that Goldilocks feeling on 700c, so I question the notion of "just right." I did see one attractive bike on the 650b advocacy page (I don't remember which) which had a short-wheelbase racing bike with 650b wheels. Sure, you compromise the tautness with the smaller, fatter wheels. I can see that. But I wouldn't see the point on a touring or sports-touring bike.

I suppose we could talk all day about this. I've been riding 27" and 700c for a LONG time, usually with narrow tires, and I think I'm too old and set in my ways to learn to appreciate smaller or wider wheels now.

Me too, I'm just fascinated with the idea and having a decent freeframe to start with is really tempting.

Marc

What kind of frame?

I just thought of another good use. If you have a mountain bike frame and want to spiff it up, and if 650b's fit, then that could be seen as an upgrade.

Hi DPHI --
I don't see the Reynolds sticker but that looks like an "INOXYDABLE" sticker and my hunch is you snagged a PX10 for not a lot of money. It looks like I'll just have to spend more of my time in Maui if they have deals like this.

Welcome to the "dark side." Good luck with your conversion.

This bike has a bit of a story. 6 months ago I was working at a convenience store. I was looking across the road one day and I noticed what looked like three bikes leaning up against a shed. After my shift, I went over and looked at them, and was surprised to see that they were actually pretty good looking bikes. One I couldn't find a brand on, another was an old Dawes, and the third was a Specialized. There were weeds growing up around them in such a way that revealed they hadn't been ridden in years. Unfortunately, I was getting ready to move, and actually selling bikes in order to make the process easier. It didn't make much sense for me to inquire about these ones. Instead, I tipped off a bike collector friend of mine, and he went over and asked the owner, who gave them to him. I have been silently bitter about this ever since. A few weeks ago this same friend had a bike sale, so I talked him into selling me the Specialized for 20 bucks. I feel like a little bit of a sucker for paying for something that I essentially got for him, but whatever, it was worth it.

Does anyone know anything about these? It's a Sirrus. All shimano 105 stuff.

"Friend" seriously needed to give you the bike. I'm smelling a small bit of bad karma around the corner, so don't stand too close to him when the lightning starts to crackle!

Nice Peugeot! The RD is worth that much to some,,,,BD

Nice score, just think of it as paying for storage for a few months and maybe a cleanup. Very much worth it.

"Does anyone know anything about these? It's a Sirrus. All shimano 105 stuff."

I think it was sold as a Triathalon bike. I saw in good condition fetch $300.

Hey, $20 is not so bad at all, regardless of the backstory. And he did have to do the hard part of pulling them out of a weed patch afterall.

Bad cell phone pics but I was excited. The bike is in great shape just need to lube and adjust the hub. All I really wanted was the saddle. Probably just going to toss on a different saddle and sell it for the $60 I paid for it. The saddle is an old Fujita not a Brooks.

20 bucks is a drop in the hat, really. As others have suggested, he did rescue it and store it for a few months. Business is business, and he was really under no obligation to cut me any sort of deal whatsoever. It's not as though I've never flipped a bike before, so I understand where he's coming from. He's also planning a bicycle tour in New Zealand next month, so he probably needs whatever money he can get.

As for the bike, it seems pretty nice. It's got biopace chainrings, which I'm excited about. I haven't ridden them enough to get an opinion yet, but since they do seem to inspire such controversy, I'm excited to see what all the fuss is (or isn't) about. The original pedals were also Shimano 105, but I managed to break both of the plastic toe clips in the course of the first 3 mile test ride. I think the plastic had gone brittle. Does that even make sense? Until I figure out a more appropriate solution, I just threw on a cheap pair that I had lying around. Seeing as this is probably the nicest bike that I foresee myself owning any time soon, I'd like to clean it up and restore it as faithfully as possible. I need to figure out some good rust-removal tactics for some of the tiny steel parts on this thing.

So today I picked up a 1980 Trek 710 I think, although the guy provided me with a reseat saying it is a 717? anyhow it is all campy and super nice looking, although a bit dusty. Best part 45 bucks. The tires are sew ups, man that is before my time, but they still hold air so I guess they are ok. lol I think I am going to have the hubs built onto some 700c's and ride this puppy if it is not to big. According to the searial number it was made in cotober 1979. It was sold to the guy I got it from on 4/26/1980.

Sweet find.

Posted this in a Trek 600 thread, but what the heck, it's still my catch of the day...Trek 600 from the Philadelphia Craigslist...in "as bought" condition. Needs a good cleaning, but is in really good shape with Reynolds 531 and Shimano 600 goodness...was going to flip it...butit's my size, soooo...it may have found a new home...

Someone who had a head-on collision with their fork mounted the wrong way 'round.

-Kurt

Or maybe someone said to him "bet you $20 you cant jump that bike off the loading dock" and he accepted, won $20 but came out with a bent fork, at least thats the way it went down for me back around 1999-2000

Yep, probably looked a bit like this...

Free parts from a generous bike club member who's moving out of state: A 27" wheelset of Shimano 600 hubs laced to bronze anodized Matrix aero rims (never knew anyone made 27" aero rims) with a 7 speed cassette (freehub, not screw-on; 12 or 13 - 28). A nice Nitto stem and 3TTT bars with Shimano 600 aero levers attached. And a copy of the Jobst The Bicycle Wheel, 2nd Ed. He had built the wheels himself and on cursory inspection will just need a little truing & re-tensioning. He'd sent an email out via the club's Listserv offering the wheels. After we talked a bit he said "let's see what else I have" and that's how I got the other goodies. The bars, wheels & levers will likely go on my Super Le Tour; I'd been thinking of buying aero levers for it. The stem will be added to the parts bin as I already have a new Nitto Technomic Deluxe on the bike.

Did I mention they were all free?

Also said he'd call me if he found anything else.

You could before... If you made a donation supporting this fine forum.

Vintage late 60's or early 70's Giuseppe Bianchi made in Firenze. Campagnolo shifters, frame bits & dropouts, front derailluer and Campy Valentino Extra rear derailleur. Unknown aluminum rims & hubs, crappy non original pedals.

Weight is 32 lbs with all the current components on it (suspected to be heavy, especially the seat and seat post).
I paid $50 for it yesterday.

Probably will be making this into a single speed city bike with the addition of a couple cheap new wheels, after I give it the Oxalic acid bath.

Cool lug work made me go get it. My first Italian made bike!

This morning while driving past our local dumpster at 1am I saw the unmistakable twinkle of a bike's reflector. Saved from certain crushing were a bridgestone kabuki and a Maruishi road ace. They're both in pretty rough shape but fixing them up will give me something to do as I'm recently unemployed.

I bought this Sekai 4000 at a thrift store in Palm Springs, Ca. for $35.00. I am a newbie to road bikes and my original intentions were to convert it to a single speed but I think I will leave this bike stock since it seems to have almost all of the original parts. I am not sure of the year, the serial number is M1C00832. Could someone tell me a little more about this series? Thanks, GPecker- La Quinta, Ca.

These his and hers Schwinn Collegiate 5 speeds were recently found in the trash together. Both are 1973 models and show very low mileage. Paint and decals are near mint, and the fenders don't even have any dents. Here they are after cleaning, greasing, and polishing. The only parts used were new tires and brake pads.