'85 Tempo; The Bike that gave me the Bug
 

So here's my dad's 85 Tempo, purchased new back then.

I had ridden hybrids and comfort bikes since I was 5, this was the one that made me realize that I frickin' adore road-bicycles. I've ridden hundreds of bikes since and this still is in my top 5, possibly for sentimental reasons.

He always says I'll inherit it when he goes to the great LBS in the sky; I want to make him ride it as much as possible so that day is as far in the future as possible. :)

I busted off a sprint-laden 30-miler on it today like it was nothing. I never rode it new, since I was 4 when he got it, but I bet it rides similar to then.

EDIT: I may have finally cracked the picture posting code.
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._4512823_n.jpg

Very nice! My Tempo (No idea what year as I haven't been able to find a serial number registry, but the old guy at my LBS says '85 or '86) was my Uncles, given to me before he passed. Sadly it's seen some better days and could use a good cleanup:

http://omploader.org/vMmFhNw

Skones - I believe that may be an 88.
Edit: maybe 87? http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...0/1987_07.html http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6703125_n.jpg

A couple of interesting things I noticed:

Looks like the fork is chromed underneath the black paint. Wonder what the story is behind this?

It is a japanese bike and a serial number is stamped above the headset. Its built in Japan, so is there any way to determine if it was a Panasonic build or a Bridgestone?

I found this and tune it up for my brother in law. I get to ride it quite a bit and I love it. Nice ride you got there!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...s/IMG_1799.jpg

Jake

Sweet, looks like the same year Jake. I like the tires too.

Here's a few more pix:
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6804266_n.jpghttp://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._4884474_n.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._3849309_n.jpg
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._1429526_n.jpg
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6002455_n.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._8328791_n.jpg
And the requisite "while riding" shothttp://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._5064812_n.jpg

The head badge stamping makes it appear to have been a mid 1985 frame, but who knows what model year it was painted and sold as. Can't make out the entire stamping on the head tube, so can't help with the Panasonic / Bridgestone question - probably couldn't even if I could see it all though...

I had the same bike, same vintage (bigger frame). Same color. I loved that bike. Nice frame, it fit me well. Decent components. Shimano 105 with Biopace cranks. I didn't even mind the cranks -- I don't know if they did what they claimed they would do, but they certainly didn't bother me. That bike saw a lot of action. I even lent it to my brother for a year while he worked as a bicycle messenger in New York. There was a period of time when I wasn't riding because of really bad knee trouble, but when that was corrected, I took the bike back from my brother. I was just getting started riding again when the bike was stolen from me in 2001.


Still miss it.

That's a big frame. Everything I have read before leads me to believe that those were made by national/panasonic.

Appreciate the post.

Mike, I'm curious about how the ride compares to your Mississippi framed Schwinn?

J

J I have an 87 Mississippi Super Sport made of the same Columbus Tenax so they feel identical. While I did have the Circuit it was difficult to compare rides. I only put around a 100 miles on it. I knew it was a little big so I never took the time to try and get it to fit me well.

Truly, I miss the Circuit. I've got a little deal percolating on a Prelude frame which I believe is from the same Tenax tubing..

I'm getting tooooo many bikes. Somebody smack me. LOL.


J