do those Colnago BMXers come with a device that drops the chain when parked?

Sure. E.Colnago Patented Anti-Thug Theft Protection®

;)

-Kurt

I have finally found the Colnago BMX bike of my dreams !

Thanks for all the replies. For a little bit more specifics.... I'm 6'0 close to 240lbs. I'm looking for a bike that would be a good platform to build from as my needs/ wants grow (or I break something. I used to bend bmx cranks quite a bit when I was younger). In addition to my rockhopper (mtb) I also have an older (98ish) trek 4300 that I thought about converting to a more road oriented bike but it has front suspension that is dying and for what I would put into that I thought I might be able to find a decent old road bike that needs a little TLC. Thanks again--ROB

You could always get a rigid fork for that 4300 and get some slicks. That would do the trick nicely.

Bingo, there are a lot of very nice candidates out there that have carbon steel frames - Peugeot UO-8 and siblings, Raleigh Grand Prix 1967 - 1973 or so, Dawes, Falcon, Mercier, Motobecane, and Gitane frames of same vintage, Italians of same vintage, such as Atala, Fiorelli, Bottechia, and many others. With these bikes make sure the bottom bracket spins well - the cottered cranks are an extra servicing challenge. Some (ask us here) can accept modern cranksets as replacements, and some can't without heroic techniques.

I'd add:
6. Stem Shifters
7. Suicide lever/death grip/turkey wing/whatever-you-call-it brake levers
8. Kick stand
9. Built-in chain guard on the chain ring
10. Ashtabula / one piece crank/BB

Anything from Chicago Schwinn is exempt from those rules.

However, I have seen some older butt-brazed (non-lugged) frames which just weren't that strong. I broke a frame like that, with pretty normal use.

Can someone tell me how to tell if it's a cottered crank or not?

x2 on the cottered cranks and if someone could post a pic of a "lugged frame" vs a "non-lugged frame".

I'm going tomorrow to look @ a garage "full of bikes". The price can't be beat.... free:D I'll post more info tom evening. Somehow I have a feeling all the bikes are garbage but.... I'm going to be optimistic:)

non-lugged

Tubes are directly connected

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ills/007-9.jpg

lugged

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ills/010-8.jpg

A "lug" is a bracket used to connect tubes

Ashtabula "one piece" crank set

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ills/011-6.jpg

modern three piece non-cottered crank

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ills/010-6.jpg

old style three piece cottered crank

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ills/005-4.jpg

I can see all those except for the first one. Why avoid 27" wheels? They are generally on older bikes, but other than that there's nothing wrong with them. Even steel wheels aren't an automatic pass for me; two of my four regular riders have steel wheels. One advantage is that they trip inductive loop signal sensors. :lol:

I can see the Ashtabula crank, but if you cut out the rest of those, you're missing out on a lot of mid-80s bike boom intermediate-level bikes. My 1984 Nsihiki Olympic 12 was a damned fine bike and it had turkey wing levers and a kick stand. I personally prefer stem shifts to, say, downtube shifters. My Oly 12 had downtubes and that was about the only aspect of the bike I never really was comfortable with.

Stay away from anything that is not going to make you want to ride it. Plain and simple. Test ride anything and you can avoid most problems.

It should be noted that what makes a cottered crank "cottered" are those two little bolts you see sticking out of the crank arm near the center.
I mention it because there are a lot of older bikes with cotterless cranks that look more like the picture of cottered cranks. The telltale sign is that the two bolts will be missing.
The one piece crank is pretty obvious.

+1. As much as I like Paramounts, I never had the opportunity to ride my '70 chrome P-13 (27" wheels, slightly larger clearances in comparison to later P-13's) before buying it. After riding it for a while, I found the ride a bit disappointing in comparison to my '61, which is a bit tighter in geometry.

-Kurt

The top of the line Raleigh Superbe was made with a mild lugged steel. Not high end but not "gaspipe" high tensile. And the ride quality becomes apparent when the bike rolls on alloy rather the stock steel wheels.

Are those Nervex lugs?

You just have to remember you don't brake with steel rims, you just slow down a bit - loudly:p

Thanks for the pics. I had a pretty good idea what cottered cranks were but not a clue w/ the lugged frame. Its pouring rain here as I wait for the phone to ring so I can go get my "new" bike (or ***). The first ride will be interesting in the rain.... reminds me of the day I brought home my first Honda cb450..:love:

Topton, PA? You are probably pretty close to the Trexlertown Velodrome and the bike park (right off Hamilton between 100 and 222). A perfect place to go for a first ride (the park, not the velodrome :) ) short enough loop so if you have problems you won't have to walk it too far.

Only if it's raining. Loosen up the purse strings and get some new pads!!!!!!

The first frame pic shows a welded frame. Those are probabaly ok.

Some bikes are butt-brazed, meaning the ends of the tubing are stuck together with braze metal. They look like the welded frame without the welds. For brazing to be strong enough, you either need a lug or a fillet, which is where they build up plenty of braze metal for a tapered connection between the tubes.

Trexlertown Velodrome, lots of history there.

Folks often mention the Salmon colored KoolStop brake pads for steel rims.

Try to avoid pinched-on rear stays where it looks like the tubing was simply flattened or pinched onto the rear dropout bracket. Some front forks have been built this way as well.

Try to avoid the Positronic shifter setup. If the front cranks freely spin backwards without the chain moving abd if the rear cluster does not freewheel then I'd suggest avoiding it. Many folks have put many miles on Positronic bikes, but as a rule I avoid them.

And most important of all, when you do get one you have to report back and post pics of it.

Positronic was an early Shimano index shifting system with a detent on the rear derailleur. It is not the same as Forward Freewheel which is what you describe.

I think FF came in levels of quality. The one I had looked very high quality. However, you would have to replace the freewheel if something went wrong with the cranks and vice versa.

Stay away from a Huffy Durasport...obviously. I got it to ride at school only. But they are so bad I even dread riding it around campus between classes :crash: I guess that's what you get for 10 bucks.

Well the "garage full of bikes" was a bust. Lots and LOTS of huffys etc. Feeling dejected I stopped @ a goodwill and found a Panasonic sport 1000. Its about a 6/10 appearance wise, needs rubber (both tires flat), a REALLY good lube, rims (steel) trued, bar wrap etc. It's blue w/ all the decals (including the one that states HIGH TENSILE STEEL). It is a lugged frame (except where the rear triangle connects to the seat tube, very small contact there and made me a little nervous), quick release front hub. There was too much grime to tell what brand the components were. Now to the important part. They wanted $50 for it. I walked away....

Being a child of the '70s who rode my 'ten speed' while wearing bell bottoms, still remembering catching and ripping my pants in the chainwheel more than once, Id never ever consider a front-freewheel system.

Being a child of the '70s who rode my 'ten speed' while wearing bell bottoms, still remembering catching and ripping my pants in the chainwheel more than once, Id never ever consider a front-freewheel system.

The rear cluster is actually a freewheel as well on the FF system. It will freewheel if anything jamsthe chain. Shimano was not blind to the possibility of pant legs ending up in the mix!