My Catches Of The Day:

One Sun RhynoLite 26" MTB rear wheel with a 9-speed HG cassette,
Pair of Mavic 700C Speciale Sport sewup rims w/Bianchi labled hubs,
One Araya aero 700C front wheel with unknown (probably Sunshine) low flange hub,
An unknown aero 700C rear wheel with early threaded Shimano cassette hub and 6 speed corncob. Rim pattern appears identical to the Araya.
One Benotto HR22 700C front wheel w/Miche Competition front hub
One Schwinn 100th Anniversary Phantom chainring, NOS

$35 for the lot.

-Kurt

My other catch of the day was an 80s vintage Specialized Hardrock from a garage sale for $40. Shimano XT group (7spd indexed RD). All rigid. All it needed was a little washing, lubing, and tuning. It's the perfect bike for hauling the twins' Chariot. My wife saw it in the garage and said, "Where did that bike come from?"

Uh. Garage sale around the block.

"How many bikes do you need?"

Well, I needed this to pull the kids. Oh, and by the way, there's going to be a package arriving from Rome next week.....

She sighed. And then laughed. God, I love that woman.

got me a "club" fuji for free today. RX100 group with look pedals, sham 600 headset and look pedals.

amazing what gets thrown away these days.

I'll try to post pictures if there's any interest in this purple people eater.

I spotted this dead bike in the trash and thought maybe the local bike & pedestrian org would want to fix it up and give it away to some needy bikeless person. However, while rolling it home I realized that, in spite of its condition, it was of better quality than my current bike (which was a cheap monster I never liked).

I got the found bike resurrected and gave my hated old bike to the cycle-recycle! Turns out it's a 1990 Trek 800. It's more fun to ride this one than the previous one, and it's got me interested in biking again! I'm looking for excuses to ride more and seeking out forums like this one. I know the Trek 800 is nothing special compared to other bikes, but this one has made me so happy... :D

By the way, how old does a bike have to be before it is "classic" or "vintage"?

When you find them in the trash:)

That would be a rigid frame mountain bike - an Antelope 800, by chance? If so, not too surprizing that you like it. They are sturdy, well built, and well mannered little bikes. I've had several pass though my hands, and have ridden/liked them all. great commuters/paved trail bikes, and handle fire roads with aplomb.

They are hard bikes to kill........ :D

"By the way, how old does a bike have to be before it is "classic" or "vintage"?"

We have had a few discussions on this and have never once reached any sort of consensus. Although I do like kevinsubaru's definition.

The Trek 800s are indeed nice bikes. Not high end, but sturdy and reliable. And if you're having fun, you've discovered the entire secret.

Pulled over for speeding on a vintage Raleigh!
 

I got my first decent ride on that 88 Raleigh today, 22 miles and it was heaven! Rides like I'm gliding! I dropped a hill today and got pulled over for SPEEDING! 42 in a 35 and just got the lecture. I gotta admit, the officer had trouble holding a straight face through the lecture, he's a cyclist himself. Told me he wasn't going to give me the satisfaction of even a written warning!:D What a disappointment! After his lecture, he told me I also had great aero form and suggested I might enjoy racing!:D Sorry, just had to brag!:p

I've been trying to get a speeding ticket for a long time - came close once, but it was a hot day and the sheriff didn't seem too anxious to pull out from under the shade tree.

If I ever get one, though, it'll be matted, framed, and displayed with pride in my office..... :D

I never got a ticket, but I passed a Porche going down a mountain holding onto on a primordial provebial Schwinn Varsity!

Why, yes bigbossman, it is an Antelope. A white and green one. I assumed all Trek 800s were Antelopes, but I'm new at this...

Thanks Poguemahone and bigbossman for your positive remarks! It makes my find feel more valuable. :)

And thanks kevinsubaru, for letting me know my bike is welcome in this thread. :)

Speaking of Antelopes, another has come my way, in addition to a nice little Centurion Accordo RS.

I wandered into a thrift shop, and saw the Centurion immediately - a bright red flag waving to me frm amid the xmart bikes. I took a look, and it was a no-brainer. I'm not sure where it stands in the Centurion hierarchy, but it is a well built little bike. Featuring Araya 700c rims, Shimano Light Action indexed shifting, braze-on DT shifters, and aero brake levers, it was in grimey but very nice condition. Cleaning it revealed a sparking little jewel that has nmaybe 20 miles on it - no kidding, the freewheel has no chain marks on it at all, and the rest of the bike is in fabulous condition. Even the original saddle was as-new. The tires were crap (tubes were fine, though), but that was easily addressed. 20 minutes spit-shining it, and it looks stunning. Date codes on the hubs are 1986. Worth a ten spot? take a look....

Second up is a little Trek 800 Antelope, I saw it in the pile - it was dirty and the wheels were off, but there is always a market for small framed bikes so I thought it was worth the $5 asking price. I was in a hurry, and so didn't realize how small it was until I got it home - 24" wheels......>ARGHHH< It cleaned up real well, though, and I was able to get it ship-shape for the price of 2 tires ($16). Again, tubes were good and everything else was dirty, but in fine order.

And now for the pics!

The Centurion:

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/6...ordors16pu.jpg

Close up of drive train:

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/4...ordors23lq.jpg

The Trek:

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/8...24inch11xn.jpg

I was prowling around town this morning after a fairly slow night at work, and without too much effort stumbled upon a pair of two-house yardsales. The first offered a couple of radical-looking MTBs, one a Marin, but that wasn't my objective. Instead I dragged away a cool chrome unicycle needed no more attention than a bit of polishing.

The second set of yardsales had no bikes displayed, but I asked the charming lady of the house whether she had any to sell. I was led into the garage, where resided a couple of nondescript modern MTBs (not for sale and couldn't care less), a ten speed of fairly good pedigree (but poorly maintained and ugly as a mud fence) and a dove gray Soma mixte 5-speed. The lesson here is if you don't see bicycles ALWAYS ASK.

I was offered the very pretty Soma, which had the look of a rarely-used fashion accessory, for $30, or the Soma and the 10-speed both for $75, because the second bike had new wheels.
Soma it is!

The Wife ought to love the mixte...comfy saddle, narrow little bullhorn bars, 27" gumwalls, fenders. Much more enjoyable to ride than the knobby-tired POS she bought for our daughter, then reverse-inherited. If Mrs. can't get the hang of index shifting, I'll probably try to swap in one of my late Shimano 3-speed internal gear hubs.

Bigbossman, your Centurion looks amazing! What a find! You suck. :D

Well Lamplight, if you think I suck because of that, I can't imagine what you're gonna think of me now. :)

Take a look at what fell into my lap at a local garage sale - a mid-80's Univega Viva Sport. 6 speed Suntour Cyclone drive train, Signature cranks, triple butted cro-mo tubes, mangalite fork, Sakae "Signature" bars, "Custom" stem, Shimano 600 brake levers and black Diacompe side pull calipers with recessed bolts. Oh yeah - tubulars, Speciaized saddle, A Zefal frame pump, and axle adjustment screws on the rear dropouts. The wheels/hubs are unmarked, but seem to be pretty high quality sealed bearing hubs and spin very smoothly and quietly. The skewers are marked "Spidel" on one side, and "Malliard" on the other.

It is very clean, and it is my size!!! It needs a rear tire/tube and a re-taping, but other than that it's good to go. I'll probably put clinchers on it and eBay the tubular wheelset.

This one smells like a Miyata to me........ :D I didn't think Viva Sports were very high up on the food chain, but this one seems well built and pretty well appointed. The brakes seem to be date-coded 1985, and the serial number is NS45148. Can anyone verify, and perhaps tell me what the bike originally spec'ed with?

This snappy little number cost me all of $5. :D :D :D :D :D

Take a look at the chainstay - does anyone know the significance of "LAWEE DESIGN"?

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/3...asport19dz.jpg

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/5...asport22ff.jpg

I bought this gem 3 years ago for 150 bucks. I had to ask the seller if the price was a typo in the club news letter. He would only sell to a club member that would put the bike to good use. He used it to race criteriums with. It now setup for endurance riding. I've dumped almost 10,000 miles on it now. Its just a pleasure to ride.

1999 Trek 2100
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4...rek2100_01.jpg

lol Ok, you don't suck. I'm just jealous. :D

Oh yeah, he sucks alright. As a matter of fact, he sucks sour owl sh*t. :p

Ben Lawee was a bike importer who founded ItalVega, which later became Univega. The decal on your bike was probably meant to take the place of the 'Corresini' decal on ItalVega chainstays, because otherwise I can't see much cachet in putting the CEO's name on a bike. Kinda like having a 1960 Ford Falcon with Robert McNamara's name on it, or a '55 Nash with George Romney's.

Interesting - well, except for the part about the owl excrement......:eek:

So, this thing isn't a Miyata underneath? It sure looks and feels like one.

Oh, and did I mention it is a beautiful pearlescent white? Very visually stunning in full daylight. :p

Actualy, Bossman, you are a TERRIBLE individual!:eek: Making me jealous like you do over the finds you come up with! By the way, if you ever happen to run across a really nice 58 cm all Campy ride, think about me! Get a hold of me, we'll chat!

Man, I hardly ever get to post in this thread, so bear with me here ...

I went to the local bike swap this weekend and came home with three bikes. This is not a good thing because I'm not supposed to be spending any money and there is not room in the garage for any more bikes. For some reason the spousal unit was not too pissed about either of these issues. I suspect she has been doing some spending of her own and I just haven't seen the results of it yet. Anyway ...

Bike #1 is a mid-1970s (I think -- T-Mar?) Nishiki Professional, serial # KH20106, with the typical mix of that era (Sugino, SunTour, DiaCompe), but with the nice addition of Bullseye hubs. It had lived it's life on the west coast of California and had seen a bit too much salt air, which had not done the chrome or chrome components any good. A quick swipe with some wet aluminum foil shows that it will shine again, but the pits are here to stay. This one was $30.

http://home.mchsi.com/~shufford/nishiki.html

Bike #2 was a 1974 Schwinn Speedster 3 speed. Nothing exciting, but I was looking for a set of three-speed wheels for a pre-War Schwinn New World project bike that I'm turning into a city cruiser. I was on my way out of the swap and saw this. I asked the owner what he wanted for it. He asked "What would I give?" I said I had $7.00 in my pocket and he said "That would do." Heck, it has $15 worth of new tires if nothing else.

http://home.mchsi.com/~shufford/speedster1.jpg

Bike #3 was a mystery bike that had some interesting components. The rear hub was a 1954 Sturmey-Archer A/W (chrome steel shell) three-speed; the crank was a Stronglight alloy double that had one ring missing and the other had a pattern I had not seen before; the front hub was an FB steel (rusty) with Reynolds alloy wingnuts; the rims were very narrow, alloy, unknown brand with a raised center section; the pedals were alloy and were fully servicable with an oiler hole -- they had "P" and "L" cast into the cages; the stem an Ambrosio; the bars unknown alloy shorties with BMX grips; the saddle a fat, padded, sprung Messinger. It also included a steel rear rack and a speedometer. The bike minus saddle weighed 23.5 lbs. The frame was repainted (powdercoated?) silver and was lugged (crude, semi-ornate, wrap-around stays), had guides at the BB and a stop on the chainstay for a rear derailleur, but no hanger. The fork looks to be a generic chrome replacement. Upon further investigation the frame appears to be a very early Lambert. The cool thing is that some of the parts are a bit rare and valuable. The front wingnuts may be worth $50, the pedals appear to be pre-War (or just after) Lyotard cyclocross (worth maybe $100 -- then again, they may be a bit damaged, so who knows), the cranks are Stronglight "Touriste" and the last auction on eBay went something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7217959606

The bike pics are here:

http://home.mchsi.com/~shufford/bike.html

Oh, this one was $30 also. :p

When I saw what the cranks might be worth I was envisioning what "new-old" bike I could buy, but then my wife brought up things like tuition ... books ... insurance ... :(

Oh well -- it was still a cheap thrill there for awhile! Maybe I'll get to keep the Nishiki.

Bob Hufford
Springfield, MO

Love the Nishiki. You stole it for $30. Shame it was allowed to reach such a poor condition.

bigbossman, I have to agree with Lamplight, mswantak, and Tom Stormcrowe.

You very,very bad man, very bad! (green with envy)

I'm just not getting any love from you guys today, am I?:D

Bossman, those are great finds. Good for you - I hope you'll enjoy them.

-Kurt

(Someone needed to be giving the thumbs-up around here for a change...)