Man, that reminds me of a my first "bmx" bike, hehe!! converted from a fendered 50's/60's kids bike with a ten speed saddle and box bars from who knows where. Paint it a medium Duplicolor blue metallic, and install spoked wheels, and that was IT! I'd have killed for those mags back then too. Cool find!,,,,BD

Weren't they something like 115hp@1900lbs? Thats not a bad ratio. I always really liked these, especially when fitted with a hard top.

116 HP, and 2200-2250, depending on options. Still not bad considering. Very close to the magical 50/50 weight distribution too. It doesn't get loose unless you purposely push it, either. Under medium throttle it sticks like glue, and goes right where you point it. I am sure the weight dist. and Independent rear suspension have a lot to do with it. It has a fixed differential and CV axles, with outboard brake discs. I just bought a new set of KYB struts, so who knows how much better it will handle? The struts on it now are close to blown out.,,,,BD

Alright, time to get the rack on it, and go for a ride in the frigid temps. Riding the Campeur Wannabe on the Sunday morning vintage group ride today.

This is true. In addition though, and I got to drive a RX8. the engine had a turbo lag where the darn turbo didn't come on till about 3200 rpm (I can't recall the exact RPM anymore since I drove this car about 12 or so years ago), then add on top of that poor torque and the car was a dog until the rpms got up high enough for the turbo to come on. They should have increased the size of the engine and then added twin subsequential turbos. But that car had fantastic handling and could really carve a mountain road IF you kept the rpms high. The other bad thing about the car, which was true with all rotary engines was poor gas mileage, which was why the turbo waited so long to come on and the power was low on the bottom end so they could attempt to get better MPG at hwy cruising speed, which I thought was nuts because a person that buys a car like that isn't really interested in mpg anyway! And the car required constant attention by the driver because it burned about a quart of oil every 3,000 miles, which was also typical of rotary engines, a lot of people today don't have clue about checking such things! A lot of people didn't like the looks of it, but I liked it because it was quirky. There were other issues with the car too that I can't recall now, but the engine itself if watched and maintained could easily run 500,000 miles. But in the end the Nissian 350Z killed the sales of the RX8 because it was more reliable with better performance and easier servicing which is something that all Mazda's suffer from. As a side note, too bad Mazda didn't make a convertible RX8.

Speaking of quirky I also liked the Chrysler Crossfire convertible, but again underpowered for it's ability and looks except for the SRT6 which I think will be a future classic car to own even more so than the BMW Z4 because the Chrysler had a limited run of those cars.

Nice find of a 1st Gen Miata, bikedued! Great handlers, and the mislabled chick's car rep is another one of those stupid 'merican mentality macho phobic ideas. Like riding a pink bike.
I'm surprised for such a big guy, you're able to fit it. I've never tried a Gen-1, but test drove a Gen-2, and found my line of sight was the top of the windshield frame, GRRR!
Loved the way it drove, though. I could see out the new Gen-3, but the buffed body lost some of the lean lines and light handling.

One of the shortcomings of the RX-8 was very poor freezing temp operation. It simply won't start. An owner I knew in Montreal basically couldn't drive it in Winter.

This is the Traveler that I bought on CL a couple of weeks ago for $40. It came with a free 1980 Continental. Both bikes were rideable when I got them (just add air). I am going to ride it this winter as is, and decide if I will keep it or sell it in the spring.



Since I've had the Traveler, I've put on new cables, stem, bars, and levers. The paint has more chips than I can count. I don't know what I'll do about that.

2000 Lemond Zurich, 3 extra wheels, 2 extra chains, New bar tape, spd clips, owners manual and brochure
from Craigslist.
Right shifter didn't work, soaked in WD40, that's why bartape off, works now. Needs new cables and shorter stem.

Some of those Tuf-neck stem usually go for a lot of money. Unfortunately yours is the first edition which was a real knee killer. They later rounded off the square back and those ones are preferred by collectors as they are easier on the knees. Especially on a six foot tall fellah trying to relive his youth.

Off of $50 I have made $530 out of my local thrift in the last six weeks. Not bike related.

Saw this 1991 Trek 830 frameset on eBay a few hours before the auction was to end, it was priced way too high but it was my size and local so I contacted the guy outside eBay, made a low ball offer and told him I'd pick it up. It didn't sell, no surprise, and he contacted me a couple hours after the auction ended and accepted my offer. I needed it like I need a hole in the head but the price was right and it's my size.



Got there today and he pulls out a box of parts and 2 wheels, most of the original parts, and tells me I might as well take them too. All Shimano Exage components including the hubs, rims are Araya. The springs are gone out of the brake arms and no bolts but the wheels, derailleurs, shifters and brake levers are in very good condition. When it was stripped they just cut the cables otherwise I would have put it all back together with some other brake arms and tried to take it for a ride today.



Not sure what I'll do with it just yet, most likely build it to replace my current "beater". It is definitely getting a repaint though, you can't tell from the pics but it is scratched all over and I cannot stand the color and I actually like yellow! Just not THIS yellow. Time will tell, I have 3 builds ahead of it, I have plenty of time to plan it out.

I had one of those, I called it acid-trip-yellow. Mine was scratched too. Yeah, I repainted it too.
The frame was well made though, Db Tru Temper steel, built it up and gave it to my (now) ex-wife.

^The 830 might work well as a conversion, either mustache or drop bars.

"Acid-trip-yellow".... Yeah, that seems appropriate. It has this on the seat tube....




Those have both crossed my mind.

That color dates your bike....according to Trek, the color is called "yellow and black splash" and was only available in 1991. I have the same bike and it almost glows in the dark lol.

Robert

It hurts my eyes to look at it in bright light I know that! If the paint was good I'd leave it alone as it is highly visible but thankfully it's pretty bad.

I've got the white and black splatter painted version in the 820 series. I purchased mine brand new in 91. Very solid bike. Not a great picture to see the splatter, but it is there.

I am super happy with this catch, they are all NOS and were $35 each. Can anyone tell me when the yellow label ones were produced? I am guessing late '80s but I am not sure. The real challenge now lies in finding another yellow one...

Might as well show mine.....put on your sunglasses lol!

The paint is really nice, so I'll leave it as is.


I upgraded the RD and hubs to Deore LX...still looking for a bottom pull FD. A forum member had a NOS set of black Deore LX canti's for sale, but I forgot who it was.

Robert

You are a really lucky man, back mid 80's mavic started producing the ssc line that was like what the pros used, would not surprise me that is the regular gp4 with another label or with lighter eyelets At that price I would not complain, good score

If my paint was that good I'd leave it alone too, nice bike. Mine is currently stored in my back garage and even in the dark that paint job jumps out at you. The more I look at it the more I think I want to keep it period correct.

They are the real thing, I measured them and they are 23mm wide. I think I am going to lace the matching pair to some C-Record hubs I have and pop them onto my De Rosa since it is a 1986 model.

Good choice

I think it's a 1981 from perusing the catalogs. It's in great shape. Just needs a good cleaning and some brake hoods. I need to find a clamp on water bottle holder so it has 2.

Two more for the winter "woodpile." A Miyata 610 and a Fuji Royale Mixte. I wonder if those super wide Schwinn saddles that way about 10 lbs. each can be used for curling in Sochi this winter?

Wow, that looks to be in really nice condition for early 80's 710. Is it mostly original components? You found this where?