RobbieTunes

It could have been inside out. It happens.

canklecat

Yeah, the previous owner could easily have reassembled and installed the chain backward and inside out if he used the ShelBroCo chain cleaning system without the necessary adjunct Foghorn Leghorn demarcation system to ensure each link, pin and roller is numbahed fuh, ah say, fuh puhposes of ahh-dentification.

royleroy

I have a fondness for Realistic Minimus 7s and recently acquired a run down pair for the garage. Ordered new drivers
from Parts Express and decided to paint them while waiting on delivery. The only appropriate color scheme for a garage workshop would be this:

ThermionicScott 

Okay, it took a couple weeks, but I have finally read through this thread from start to finishpresent. And wow. What a neat atmosphere around these bikes. I'm digging the stories from @texaspandj and @seypat and @RobbieTunes and others, whether about riding these colorful steeds, or other facets of their lives. Keep it coming!

So, ah, anyone got a spare Miami Vice frame in 56cm?

texaspandj

Welcome, I have a 89 54cm Smoke on the water expert frame for sale, but no 56 MV. The 56 MV I had I sold to RT and he sold it.

Speaking of my 89 54, I noticed something. @fleslider the chainstay doesn't have a indention/flute?(not sure what it's called). Where the chainring passes. Nor does my 88 however the 86 and 87 have them. You probably already noticed and mentioned that though.

canklecat

Ditto, @ThermionicScott, I'm really enjoying my Ironman and appreciate all the info, advice and encouragement here. It's a great value in a road bike that still exceeds my capabilities.

And it's encouraged me to push harder to improve my fitness. I'd been cruising along for a couple of years at a reasonably fit level but still found myself struggling on hills and sprints in casual group rides on my hybrids. After getting the Ironman in June I began high intensity interval training on some good nearby routes, usually around 20 miles, and it's been a fun and challenging experience getting reacquainted with a road bike after not having ridden one since around 1981 or so.

texaspandj

That's pretty tight.

@canklecat you're getting closer and closer to getting elevated to hero status. Ride on.

canklecat

Well, on the Ironman, I rode my annual metric century anniversary ride last week. I resumed cycling at the end of August 2015.

My first anniversary metric century/ride my age averaged 9 mph and took 12 hours -- I needed lots of rest breaks. I was riding a 35 lb comfort hybrid over a fairly hilly route.

My second metric century, last weekend on the Ironman, I averaged 15 mph over 64 miles with fewer and shorter rest breaks. I still need to stop and stretch often due to an old neck injury. The final 10 or so miles are always the hardest.

Sunday, yesterday, I rode 41 miles along the same route, averaging 16 mph. Fewer and shorter rest breaks, mostly a minute or two every 10 miles to stretch and massage my neck and shoulders.

I could probably enjoy my Univega hybrid just as much, and be more comfortable with the upright position. But the Ironman is a blast on downhills and much lighter on climbs. I'm not a strong climber and there's a big felt difference between a 24 lb and 30 lb bike on those 5% and steeper hills. But I'm seriously considering a 28T maximum freewheel for the Ironman. These skinny old legs need more help than the stock 13-24 Suntour can offer.

And the Ironman is great bang for the buck at $200-$300. I don't need another, but I keep pondering them on craigslist, thinking what a sweet city cruiser a conversion would make with something like North Roads or albatross bars for a more relaxed ride.

RobbieTunes

No, but I have a Black Dog ('89 Expert) that I need to unload, 56cm. I'm running it right now w/9-sp DA and Race Light wheelset, but could be amenable to frame-only, or OEM Suntour GPX in boxes, including wheels.... Extras are, uh, extra, but PM me and see what comes of it, perhaps....

I need to streamline for a move. Decisions.

RobbieTunes

Now, if I could just get the nerve to paint my AR-1's that color.

aeshultz

Funny- I have a few pairs of those - never thought of a repaint.
Nice colors!

seypat

Is that a local move or across the state/country? I have storage space if you need some.

seypat

My MV might actually get back to seeing tri service instead if just bike rides. I'm training for a Marathon in November. I swim some, but not that much. The gym I go to has challenges each month. Sign up, complete the challenge and get a t-shirt. This months challenge is the James River Swim Challenge. Do 15 miles in September to complete the challenge. 3 miles max a day. I signed up. I am trying to average 4 miles a week for that shirt. It is something to do. I look at the tris in the area and think "meh." For some reason I haven't figured out yet, I don't like combining all 3 into 1 event. It becomes, "this sucks" instead of "this is awesome." We shall see.

2cam16

Mind sharing it with me too? I'm having a similar problem with my rears. When I turn the bar, brake modulation changes a lot.
Thanks!

RobbieTunes

Local.
I may get a unit.

seypat

About that swim challenge, here is an update. The gym has a 25m lap pool. 1 mile doing laps is not that bad. About the time it gets boring, your mile is done. 2 miles just flat out sucks. Droning along lap after lap. After the swim last night, I entered my data. I've already got 5.12 miles in less than a week and am ahead of schedule. Feeling good about myself. Then I check the leaderboard. The leader already has 18. He's getting his 3 a day. There are 3 more contenders nipping at his heels with 15+. Jeez, those are some dedicated swimmers!

After a 10 mile gap, I am next. There are a bunch 3s under me. Still gonna get that T-shirt, though.

texaspandj

It becomes " this sucks " because it does. Especially when you're going as hard as you can. To lessen the "suck" you could always walk on the run, coast and spin on the bike and do just enough on the swim to not drown.
Pesonally I find it like golf. You know when you hit that perfect shot and you think "boy if I could hit every shot like that I'd join the tour". You think if I could have my best swim, best bike, and best run I could actually smile at the finish line.

fleslider 

I did not notice that but thats a good observation. I will note it on the site.

kreuserj

Here's a 58cm Centurion Carbon "89?". I picked up at an auction a couple months ago. It has original Shimano tri-color 600 front and rear derailleur, crankset, gear and brake levers and back brake, front brake is Shimano 105. The fork is a BRC Profile Design that is really beat up. I replaced handlebars and stem to make it comfortable to ride (6'5" 200 lbs). Rides great frame is in good condition with no flex or cracks. Not sure if I'm going to keep and try to find the original fork and decals to restore or resell.

texaspandj

Cool bike, I think RT still has one. It is essentially a carbon fiber Ironman.
Possibly the replacement fork didn't play nice with the original tri color brake caliper and the reason they put a 105 on there.
With that much seatpost and stem I'd probably resale, however still a cool bike.

T-Mar

A handful of Ironman Carbon have surfaced and they have all been 1988 models based on the serial number. The serial number format is yy?xxxx, where yy is the year and ? is an alpha character and xxxx is the sequence number. The alpha character could be a month or fortnight code. Please submit your serial number for my database.TIA.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...-database.html

texaspandj

Washing my Miami Vice and putting my race wheels on it in preparation for a short sprint triathlon tomorrow. Since its a hilly race I've decided to forego the disc wheel and use my matching roval rear wheel. In all my races I've used the same wheels, I simply put a 6 or 7 speed freewheel on depending on which Ironman I'll use. My Miami Vice is stock so a dura ace 13-26 6 speed is going on it.
I've actually ridden in a race there before so I know it's relatively hilly. In fact it is the site of my worst bike ride ever. The year was 1988 early in the season and I was planning on competing in the Houston usts triathlon on Sunday. However the day before (Saturday) I was part of a relay triathlon team. I got a swimmer from our swim team (she came in second in the Texas open water 1 mile swim Championship), a friend and top masters (over 40) runner from my town, and me on my bike (pinarello).
Our swimmer came out in second right behind a male triathlete competitor she passed the rubber band to me and I set out in first place! I was leading all competitors. Oh man the pressure, I gave it all I had and pushed too much, the legs started to burn like my lungs were already doing. Then the worst sound you'll ever hear while leading a race, "Woosh, Woosh, Woosh" that's what a disc wheel sounds like when it's about to pass you. I was fried at 10 miles and had 11 more to go! I'm not sure how many competitors passed me after but it seemed like all of them. And there was nothing I could do about it. Fortunately it was more down hill heading back down to the basin and I gave it everything I had. When I finally got down to the transition to pass the rubber band I almost collapsed from exhaustion. I got off my bike and laid down, Big Time Bonk.
Fortunately I picked the right runner because he was able to catch everyone but the top finisher. Our relay team came in first and we were all given an individual trophy for our respective events. It is the only Biking trophy I have. Btw the next day I had the best "feeling" bike ride I ever had. Very weird how I could go from worse to best in a day, but it happened.

kreuserj

Can't find a serial#, the bottom of the crank is stamped 60 X 63.8 Pat Pending. Picture attached. Is there anywhere else a SN would be stamped?

texaspandj

I think on the chainstay or rear drop out.

kreuserj

Thanks it was on the rear drop out.