My life has changed a LOT in the last year! Moving from Houston to Lake Charles. Leaving a job of four years at Car Quest, to being the only "full time" employee
at the best bike shop in the area. It got me thinking back on the finds of days past. Back when I hung out on the Schwinn Boards, and slowly came to realize the true passion that surfaced. Yes, vintage road bikes! My first vintage find worth anything was the old Peugeot PH-10. I still have it, and it has become one of a couple of bikes I will most likely never part with. As it sits now, it is well under 24 pounds and great riding bike. All dolled up with a new white Specialized takeoff saddle, Cyclone M-II FD/RD, white wrap, and red cables. Post up your first vintage finds here, if you still have the pics.

I will take a new pic soon, to show the difference 6 +/- years can make. Jeeze, has it really been that long? This pic is before I realized I needed about 5 inches of seatpost to get my leg muscles to stop aching I've learned a bunch since those days!,,,,BD


It was about $9.23 with tax the day I picked it up from the thrift store! SUCH a deal!

Here's my first:

As purchased:


During cleaning and restoration efforts :


And, finally, after:

VERY nice!

I just wanted to add that I FINALLY lost the bent fork~! It's wearing a nice chrome forged drop aero crown model now. It makes it look like a PH501 or better at first glance, hehe.,,,,BD

My first ever C&V find was my Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, aka, The Old Gentleman. These are pics from the night I picked it up:















And this is a more recent pic:

It was over 3 years ago when I was hooked. A garage sale down the street from me for $25. My first lugged bike since I was 15, I had no idea what I had. This pic is after my first attempt at cleaning what turned out to be an 85 Expedition. I have not been able to shake the addiction since.

This pic is of it just before disassembly for shipment to the buyer for $700.

It was awhile before I found the true path of vintage Roadbikes.

brings back memories! Bought it for $10 at goodwill, drove it home in a miata (!)

Mine was less than a year ago. I found this Del Rey(along with a pink Huffy) for free on CL. Here is the before shot



$40 in parts and it sold to the first person who saw it for $220.



My first C&V keeper that I found is this bike. I paid $8 for what you see. The wheels are from a 70s PX10(I've seen these skewers sell for over $100 on Ebay)



It was the first bike that I had to build from parts. I still own it and will probably not sell it. The PX10 wheels are waiting for a frame......

Here is a recent pic of my first C&V pickup, a 1979 Fuji Gran Tourer. I purchased this bike from a now closed LBS about 3 years ago. It was a brand new bike that still had wrapping paper on the frame.

It is now owned by my brother.

Big Green, a mid seventies Canadian made Sekine SHC??? was my first find. I managed to make just about every major mistake that I could while building it up - wrong size, bent and I painted over a lovely old patina finish to get a bike that did not ride worth a crop...