This one started it all...
 

...and it wasn't a VLW either.

http://www.jaysmarine.com/47schwinn_henderson.jpg

I've just gained access to an old hard drive of mine with a number of photos dating back to 2004. Lots of early photos of the Rudge and such. Any requests?

-Kurt

My first vintage bicycle and I made every mistake possible building it. But I fell in love with the activity and here I am five or six hundred vintage light weights later...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...eenRtSide2.jpg

[QUOTE=randyjawa;12722197I made every mistake possible building it. But I fell in love with the activity and here I am five or six hundred vintage light weights later...[/QUOTE]

I need to remind my wife that 50-60 VLW later is not so bad!

The one which started it for me was Sears second best road bike in about 1972 or '73. It was made in Austria by Puch. I bought it with money made mowing grass in the church cemetery.

It was white. IIRC, had Huret derailleurs and Weinmann brakes. I tossed the vinyl/plastic saddle and added a full leather saddle "like the ones they race with in Europe," I told my dad to justify the $25 cost (probably a Wrights or Ideale). Dad told me I definitely "rode faster" with that saddle.

It was stolen from my dorm the first semester of college in 1976. The only picture I have is a group shot of my Boy Scout Troop about to embark on a ride on the C&O Canal Path somewhere in MD about 1974 or '75. I'm wearing the red ball cap and dark blue shirt in the center back.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...nalabout75.jpg

I seem to have found another opportunity to post this pic again. This bike re-started it all. A garage sale find for 25. I changed the dry rotted tires, re-taped the bar, knocked the cob webs out of the Rigidas, washed and waxed. I've got an old pic of my first bike during the bike boom somewhere and I'll try to find and scan it. It's very much like Pastor Bobs pic. It's a '74 Raleigh Record. Anyway, here's the re-starter...I still have it, and of all the bikes I've flipped this one never came close to leaving. I'll be curious to see how many others still have their first loves.

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/2176/dsc01316s.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us

1989 Schwinn Traveler a colleague had left languishing on a rack at work. Originally had 105 7 speed down tubes, this was just after I fitted some RSX brifters.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Iy1t9Kxyj9I/Su...0/imgp0278.jpg

The frame was in rough shape, and I thought it was too small (vertically yes, horizontally not so much, and I was out of shape), so I ended up giving it to a co-op. The 165mm crank arms went to a forum member, the GB stem to a flat bar SS 25" 1986 Traveler build, and the rest of the bits are waiting other projects to finish.

Only a year and a half ago, now my bed room is more of a hangar, haha.

First me it was when I picked up this Grand Prix to learn how to wrench on bikes. This was 2007-ish i think.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-i...0/DSCF0905.JPG

ugly as sin.

My first go...

Before:

http://home.comcast.net/~khatfull/im...volibefore.jpg

After:

http://home.comcast.net/~khatfull/im...eandpedals.jpg

...and I still have a very soft spot for that color of blue. Fuji called it "dawn blue" and in the sun it was amazing.

It takes a lot of humility to post a pic with that cable routing and saddle. In that spirit here's my first ride after getting back into cycling (since childhood). Not an attractive setup.

http://gallery.me.com/justinhughes/1...12620535460001

The two that got me going, bought from the same older lady in our church, are still regular riders for me- the 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS that is my primary commuter,

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...Picture265.jpg

...and the 1966 Raleigh DL-1 that really got me thinking along C&V lines.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...Picture039.jpg

They both look a little different these days.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...h_DSCI2204.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...h_DSCI2326.jpg

its true. Back in 2007 all I was concerned with was being comfortable when I ride and putting on the miles. Aesthetics be damned.

These days I know better!

Thanks C&V!

My first was a Cannondale, which I converted to a 'comfort bike' in like style to some posted above. I'll spare myself the embarrassment of posting a photo of the conversion, and instead post its re-conversion back to spec before I sold it:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21..._driveside.jpg

There's no way you're that tall :lol:

Here's my first attempt....hard-case tires and all :rolleyes: All I knew is I didn't want any flats :lol:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...0/img_0571.jpg

This is the beginning for me, at least as an adult. 1985(ish) Schwinn Traveler. I found it in a ditch roadside, put air in the tires, rode it for about 10 miles, took it to a Schwinn collector and traded it for an early 70's U-O8. Then I bought a Ross....wtf

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...orepics570.jpg

Here's likely the one that started it for me, whether "it" refers to interest in C&V bikes or Raleighs or just doing a lot of riding: a 1977 Raleigh Super Course. I bought it in 1987 from the owner of the bike shop where I wrenched, and he had bought it new. I rode the heck out of it for about 20 years, selling it a few years back once my fleet expanded greatly:

http://web.mit.edu/nlerner/Public/Bikes/SC1.JPG

Neal

That's an awesome looking machine, Neal.

This is a great thread. This 78 Schwinn Suburban was the first bike I purchased as an adult and responsible for kick starting my interest. It came with Shimano Positron II and the Front freewheel setup, which I really did like.

I remember riding this bike about 10 miles to a gas station and eating a meatball sub, only to loose that sub on the way back. I'll never do that again.
The saddle clamp and height are questionable I suppose. It's funny to look back at old photos of my yard and garage too.... the yard has definitely improved.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2688/...9871face_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/...415c04eb_b.jpg

Kurt, I've just recently thrown into a box some of my old hard drives... no telling what I'm going to find!

I can't say there is anything that started a C&V interest for me except that at this point in my life, bikes that I've bought new are now old. :) This is my second (traditional) ten speed that I bought new in 1980. (My first ten speed and the Schwinn American before went to my brother after he trashed his bikes, and met the same fate.)

It's been through some changes as parts wore out, I look back and maybe I should have kept it original, but more importantly is that it is still ridden and all I need for it now is a 'classic' style clamp-on bottle cage holder.

The Queen Mother of my little fleet:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=204309

Brad

Let me suggest one of these:

http://images.highspeedbackbone.net/...ain-01-mpl.jpg

Startech UNIDOCK2U

You won't regret it. You'll be able to access SATA + IDE 3.5 and 2.5 drives on just about any computer you decide to hook this up to (with exception to some machines running Windows 98 and XP SP1, which might not be able to read 120GB+ drives due to lack of LBA-48 support).

-Kurt

My first C&V bike.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/a...5/IMG_0135.jpg

My first post here.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...in!?highlight=

Wow! Its been that long?!

+1

Here's mine. It's pretty recent, but it started me on the path to C&V. Now I'm a hopeless case. Funny thing is when I bought that bike I was sure I absolutely never wanted to learn how to do anything to bikes. Now I'm looking for a good way to make my fingernails presentable in polite company.
http://i380.photobucket.com/albums/o...eher/001-7.jpg

Thanks for the info, Kurt.

Brad

Mine was a blue Fuji America that I bought new from Midwest Cyclery in - what? Maybe 1980? Shamefully, no photographs seem to exist of that bike, but I recall the ride quality as great, and it must have been because I spent a whole lot of hours in the saddle on that bike. Sold her when I moved.

I wonder where she's at tonight?

That's a pretty sweet looking bike. It's not a style I typically gravitate towards, but this particular one grabs my attention.

When I was 7 or 8 my dad bought a 1970 Hercules for a few bucks at a garage sale. Other then riding it he didn't change a thing. I remember riding along side him a few times and being awed by how much cooler his bike was compared to my pink and white Toys R Us kiddy bike.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5190/...834be3d07b.jpg
I was always a bit drawn to it every time I saw it in the depths of the garage, but never touched it. Then last summer I snapped and started cleaning the fenders. I've always enjoyed detailing things. After I finished the rack and moved on to the break calipers he realized I wasn't going to let up. I found a '73 Schwinn Collegiate on Craig's List and got it as an early birthday present.
It rides about as nicely as it looks, by which I mean I'm pretty sure the hub is broken but he won't let me work on it.

And my Schwinn, my first real foray into mechanics.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/...c1ba52156e.jpg