Hey all - my wife, brother-in-law, and I are all in the market this spring for some nice entry-level roadbikes, and I'm thinking that being patient and watching Craigslist for some 80's bikes in need of a bit of TLC might be a great and rewarding way to go.

The thing is, I'm kind of a neophyte at this - I'd be a lot more comfortable buying a new bike, or an old motorcycle.

As I understand it, there are differences/incompatibilities from bike to bike on stuff like bottom bracket threading & size, hub width, derailleur mounting, shifters, steering stems, brakes, pedals, etc. etc. And what seems like a minor problem might turn into a major pain if I happen to have scored a "deal" on an oddball bike that needs hard-to-source parts.

What's the prescribed standard approach? Buy a bike, disassemble, clean everything, lube everything, put it back together with new tires, brake pads & bar tape, give it a tune and hit the road?

Is it stupid to buy an older bike with the intention of upgrading components (carbon fork, 700 wheels, STI brake/shifter, 9-10 speed cassette, tri bars, etc.)? I'm guessing that trying to retrofit modern components like this to a vintage bike would quickly end up as an exercise in frustration and a waste of money compared to just buying something new that has the desired features/components. I'm not looking to make all of those upgrades to a $150 CL bike - just trying to get a sense of what is or isn't eligible for upgrades over time.

Any info, advice, or guidance would be much appreciated.

If all you want are functional bicycles at modest prices then the best thing is to buy a new modern bicycle. The only reason to buy an older bicycle is because you want to experience something from days past or like the appearance of older bicycles. Just make sure you buy from a reputable LBS and not a department store like Walmart. You can get a very good new roadbike for about $500 and not need to replace any components.

Or better yet, a used modern bike to avoid instant depreciation.

I'll add that the 'upgrade' avenue is one to take if you're interested in tinkering. Lots of regulars on C&V enjoy collecting lots of bikes and adding to our parts bins, so we have more flexibility when it comes to upgrading something we think is worthy. This takes time and labor, however. One reason to upgrade a classic or vintage frame to modern components is because you know the frame is right for you. It's not economical or sensible to do this to a random frame that you do not have experience with or which does not come highly recommended.

On the other hand, you can find a reasonably priced vintage bike in the $150-$250 range (some completely overhauled for you) that will get you into riding inexpensively. You just have to spend some time researching so you know what to look for, or make friends with someone here who does!

I agree with both above - if you're all just starting out you want to be cycling not tinkering (not yet anyway).

If you could buy three bikes (new or used) from one bike shop, you should get a really good deal and good after-sales service. It's worth building up a good relationship with your local bikes store (LBS).

+1 to that.

everything is eligible for upgrade. You could take a vintage frame and outfit it with Brand New SRAM or Campy stuff if you wanted to; it would be mucho expensive, but if its what you want it can be done.

In general if you want an easy-to-work-on 80's bike get something of decent Quality from Japan...most of the parts are easier to find and you'll have a lot of options.

Bicycles are far simpler machines to wrench on and maintain. However, you may need to make a small investment in the necessary tools (but these pay for themselves if you use them in the future to maintain the bikes, rather than pay an LBS). Also, if you do search for mid- to late 80's bikes, you'll be more likely to find greater standardization in sizing and threading.

I've been a cyclist for years but usually only had one bike at a time. A couple of years ago I was looking for a cheaper road bike to use on an indoor trainer. I found my Gitane Sprint at a LBS for $150 including an overhaul. After riding the bike I started entertaining thoughts of upgrading to modern drivetrain, carbon fork, etc. However, the more I rode the bike (half of the miles I did last year were on this one) the more I liked it and I decided I didn't want to spend the money on upgrades and preferred to use it for getting more C&V bikes.

I also was not much of a tinkerer/mechanic when I started this C&V trip. I have experimented and worked with a friend who is more experienced with bikes, purchased many tools and now feel comfortable working on my bikes (although I still don't do wheels). The satisfaction from my cycling life now is so much more than it was for many years as just a rider. The hunt for bikes/parts is almost as fun as riding them.

I agree with a couple of the others - if you don't want to tinker with a bike find a used, modern example (2-4 yrs old) and just ride. If you go the C&V route and want things to be as standard as possible stick to the bikes from Japan as mentioned above. The quality and ride were pretty good.

Thanks very much to all of the above for the advice & insight.

To provide a bit of background, I'm mechanically proficient with cars & motorcycles, and I'm pretty competent wrenching on bikes in terms of doing necessary work without breaking stuff - but I don't have the encyclopedic knowledge of different sizes, shapes, etc. of the various components and what will work with what else. I'm a pretty avid cyclist and last year bought my first "nice" bike - a Jamis Sputnik after years of riding beaters. I'm planning to do a 100k Gran Fondo with my bro-in-law this summer, and I think it would be more fun if we did it on some passable road bikes instead of me on my fixed gear bike and him on his heavy-ass wrong-size 90's MTB with cheap slicks. Last year we did back-to-back century rides on successive days on those two bikes and it was fine, but with the Gran Fondo comes the chance to set an official 100k time and it would be fun to do it with halfway-appropriate bikes.

There's a Nishiki Continental for $80 on CL that looks like it would respond well to a few weekends of cleaning, lubing & polishing. Does that count as an in-bounds Japanese bike?

There's also a nicer-looking Cannondale ST400 that looks like it's ready to roll right now for $230. But nobody mentioned Cannondale above as a good choice.

No one mentioned Cannondale...because some of these guys forget that not everyone knows that Cannondale (And Trek), are pretty much obvious choices.

The Cannondale is likely to be a good choice, but I personally have no exerience with them myself, since I'm fairly green as well.

I currently seem to be collecting Miyatas though, and they are a great ride. I have a 310 and a 912 so far, and I love them to bits.

Nishiki made some quality bikes as well, primarily with Tange tubing. But they also made some low-end bikes. T-Mar can guide you in the ways of the Nishiki.

Final thing: Good goal to try to achieve...since it is the same as mine. But the Gran Fondo near me is 120km...and climbs to a ski-resort...And I'm not a fan of climbs....what's wrong with me?!

I also fool with older motorcycles-Yamaha1980 SR500 now- and bicycles.
The above advice-buy a used modern bike-save maybe 70% on the new price-is excellent, and best bang for the buck.You can buy a $1500 bike for $500-$600-it will be maybe 5 years old.

If you decide to go 1970's 1980's old- make sure the frame is double butted Chrome Moly(or Reynolds 531 853 etc )-no point in putting nice components on a so so frame(silk purse sows ear).
If you decide to go 90's- get a good aluminum frame-save 2 lbs over steel, or maybe a 853 Reynolds DB steel.etty sure the aluminum frames are also butted on either end just like steel.

Just don't buy a cheapo frame-since better frames, on old bikes, are just a little bit more $$ .Make sure the Nishiki has a Double butted frame- not straight gauge steel, even if it is chrome moly.

Good rule of thumb- a bike with a good frame has good components.
Charlie

You actually love climbing, it's what cycling is about. You just haven't realized it yet. When have you ever finished a long flat stretch and felt elated? Compare that to the feeling of cresting a really tough bastard of a hill.

Just keep doing it until you're addicted and everything will be fine.

Or you can do what I did - do a century on a fixed-gear bike that makes it really difficult to ride up out of the saddle on the flats and downhills so that your poor sore ass is delighted to see an uphill stretch where you get to stand up and crank for a few minutes.

I think the Cannondale ST400 would be a good choice. It's a 'sport touring' frame so it will be a bit more stable (and might also feel less energetic) than a road or criterium frame, but it's got good clearance for fatter tires/fenders and mounting points for a rack.

A quick search of the internet reveals the Nishiki Continental is a full touring bike. So, like the ST400 above, it will be stable and have lots of mounts for racks/fenders/gear. At $80 it actually sounds like a bargain, and if you fix it up and decide to sell at some point I bet you could get $300 or better for it if it's in decent shape.

Now, if I were riding a hilly metric century, I might want something a bit lighter and with slightly tighter geometry than either of these, but I agree they would be better than a fixed gear and MTB.

One other note: the weak point on many vintage bikes (and even new entry- to mid-level bikes today) is the wheelset. If I were you, I'd factor a new (or decent used) set of wheels into your budget and some decent tires. Wheels and tires greatly influence the quality of the ride.

Best off with a bike that is ready to ride, recently serviced, good tires and cables, etc. Even for someone mechanically inclined to say the least, there is a serious investment required in tools, and time, to rehab older bikes. Better off getting bikes to ride for now, and keep your eye out for a smokin hot deal on an older bike to rehab.

If it fits and is in ready to go condition, that Cannondale is a real good deal.

The Nishiki Continental is apparently a real touring bike. Sometimes models change by year, however. It should have a triple chain wheel, cantilever brakes (what you see on mountain bikes with the arms pivoting on braze-ons to the frame and forks), and relatively longer chain stays. If that bike fits one of you, grab it fast if it is good shape. If you ride, you will find a use for a touring bike. $80? Wow! If it is your size and proves to be in good shape...you should be there as I type this handing the guy the full $80 and thanking him....followed by an "end zone" dance. "Good shape" is fairly easy to determine with a bike, as compared to a car or motorcycle. Buy used, but not abused. Best to find a bike that was bought and then not ridden by a responsible adult who had enough room to properly store it. It sat around collecting dust, and now they want to just get rid of it. Check the wheels for "hops" (rim goes up and down when you spin it) and "taco'ing" (just think of the shape of a taco). Major fame damage can be spotted by checking the top and down tubes where they connect with the head tube (the one the forks go into). If there is a bulge in the tubes with paint cracking along the bulge...that's a problem. The forks might also be pushed back closer to the frame. Also, does the rear wheel set nicely in place. If it is out of combined alignment between the chain stays and seat stays, it is signs of a problem. Nasty rust, pitting, mangled rear deraileur cages, dents in the frame tubes, badly scratched up paint and the like are also not too appealing. Getting away from "entry level" on C&V bikes usually means butted chrome molybdenum frame, alloy rims, quick release brakes front and rear, alloy crank set, cast alloy micro adjust seat post, absense of "safety levers" as stock equipment on the brakes, down tube shifters. Lubing, light wheel trueing, and changing tires and brake pads are not that complicated for a cautious, mechanically inclined person with patience. You can save alot of money by ordering part and accessories online, especially when they go on sale. I hope one of you guys bought that Nishiki. If not share it on the forum in the "are you looking for..." thread. That's a high demand type of bike. 2-to-1 it "disappered from radar" as you were telling us about it. For information about bikes made after about 1993, you can look them up by make and model on Bikepedia. You can also just google in the make and model. There are many catalogs that have been scanned and put online, which are accessable and useful information resources.

Update: For the heck of it I looked the Nishiki up on Sitemash. That Continental does not have a triple chainwheel, or cantilever brakes. The Shimano 600 crank and 105 deraileurs sound nice. It's a 58CM (23") frame, so you need to be roughly in the 5'10" to 6'1" range and stand over it and have 1" clearance off the ground when you lift it up to where the top tube gets blocked by your body. Wheels are true but worn means check for "hops". I know the 1983 model was a full-blown touring model, so my best guess is that this bike is older, or has had many parts changed on it. My instincts say it has some wear on it, but the guy is reasonable asking $80 (Canadian?) OBO. You therefore might want to be cautious and look it over with a mind to politely "walking" if you don't like it. There is another Nishiki Continental in Canada that showed up for $395 that looks to have been bought and "stuck up on the wall" like a picture. Something that was bought and hung in a safe place on the wall as artwork is your very best bet in a used bike, but "used but not abused" is a good "rule of thumb".

There just isn't room here for me to discuss this. However, tinkering is half the fun, and making a semi-cool bike into a cool bike is fun.

My guess is that if you buy one to fix up, and it's not a basket case, you'll find yourself buying another one. It just sort of happens.

When you run out of room in your storage area, then you'll know.

+1 to a decent used modern bike, unless you're like most of us here, and we like to work on the older stuff.

It's not hard. If I can do it, you can do it.

Let me put it this way:

Either of these bikes will be better for a metric century that a fixie or an MTB.

cycling a metric on a fixie is masochism

That's what I figured, thanks for the reassurance.

Well, I've done back-to-back real centuries on my fixie, and it went much better than I expected. It was actually in the same region as the Gran Fondo we're planning to do. I was concerned about my legs pumping up and burning out, but it was just a lot of fun and I was surprised at how fresh I finished.

And this summer I'm planning to do a 6-day ride from Toronto to MTL (so a metric every day for 6 days) on that same FG bike. It should be fun. I'm riding that one with my wife - now, I'm not fast by any means, but I'm faster than she is, so riding that one fixed will make it a bit more enjoyable to match her pace.

Here's a stupid question...

How can I tell if a frame is CrMo, 531, etc. vs. some lesser steel? How can I tell if the tubes are butted, double-butted, or straight thickness? Does one go by stickers on the frame, research given the make & model, or are there other indicators?