amycs

Hello All,

I've decided to get myself a new (old) bike for my birthday! I already have a daily upright city bike that I quite like but I need a bike for longer rides (10-30 miles), fitness rides, light touring, and possible bike camping. I have several friends who have had great success finding reasonably priced bikes in good condition from 'the bike man' who has several barns full of them nearby. Others have told me that he has mostly road bikes, mostly from the 70s, 80s and 90s. So, there is my challenge- I have no idea what to expect to find when I get there, but I want to walk away with at least a nice frame that I can build into a bike that I love.

I don't really have a good idea of what to look for besides maybe a lighter lugged steel frame, so I need suggestions of several brands to keep an eye out for. For reference, I used to have a beautiful blue lugged steel 49cm Sekai that I loved loved. My dad had built it up for my mom sometime around the late 70s.. it broke my heart when that bike was stolen!

Any ideas would be so appreciated!!

jeirvine 

Where is this barn? We need coordinates, stat.

And there's a lively thread over here that attempts to lay out what to look for to identify a quality bike:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-related-stuff

squirtdad

first thing it to look for fit first......a great bike that fits bad, is just a bad bike.

Look for stickers that describe the frame tubing....look for words like double butted and tubing brands like Tange, Columbus, Reynolds,

Japanese brands like Miyata, Nishiki, Bridgestone, Panasonic, Univega, centurion are good bets to look for

beyond that it is a really broad question.....If you find a 90's bike with STI would that work or are you really planning on building from frame up

Find a friend who knows bike well and bring them....

Dave Mayer

So if this bike is for riding, and not a sentimental value rebuild, here are your obvious high-level objectives:

• Light
• Cheap
• Strong.

Plus you want good braking, an appropriate gear range, and goodshifting.

I've been riding on the road for 50 years, and I am riding on a 70's era steel bike. But trust me on this - you really really want:

• Integrated brake/shift levers. Not downtube shifters.
• Drop bars - if you're riding any kind of distances, not flat bars
• Good brakes - no single pivot brakes. Dual pivot road brakes - only.
• No obsolete 27" wheels. No steel rims - unless you have a rainy ride death wish
• Freehub-based rear wheel that uses Shimano cassette-type cogs

Since you can get all of this for roughly $600 from a place like Bikesdirect.com, you'll want to think really hard about spending any kind of money on a barn bike. Unless you've uncorked a dumb seller with a barn full of old Colnago's. Then you would flip these for profit and something you can actually ride.

Finally, assume second-hand bike will need a chain replacement, and likely the rings and rear cogs replaced as well. This is based on hundreds of bikes that I've inspected or serviced over the years. Factor this into the cost. Also consider whether you even can track down 30+ year old replacement parts.

amycs

Oh, yeah, I've been scoping that thread out too - so interesting! Don't worry, I'll ask the barn guy if he is interested in others learning of this wondrous barn

amycs

Thanks very much, super helpful! I actually just had to google STI - but i got it now. I would prefer to find a bike about ready to go, but I wouldn't be opposed to changing important things out.

bibliobob

Where are you located? If there's a member nearby, they might be willing to meet you there and help you find something....

amycs

Dave Mayer - Yes, Light Cheap Strong!! This really helps - you are so specific. So glad you mentioned integrated brake/shift levers as that is something I'd really like, but I've been told not to bother with them on an older bike - because when they break they will cost half as much as the bike did to replace. But, as I do live in a large metropolitan area on the east cost, I'm not too worried about finding replacement parts, and I'll be sure to plan on making some necessary replacements right off the bat.

retyred

Golly, sounds like such a wonderful barn. Take care not to step in the unicorn poop!

arex

Sounds fun and interesting, regardless of what you find.

amycs

Bibliobob - Wow, people are so nice here! How has it taken me so long to find this place? I actually do have a bike mechanic / team racing friend who will be sure I don't buy a piece of junk. He's a little more performance oriented than I am. But I can't wait to start googling and drooling about all the bike possibilities!

mparker326

What a downer. I have to get rid of all my bikes.

browngw 

Me as well. The onlyiest thing I have that almost meets that criteria is my Giant "Half Way"!

non-fixie 

Are you sure you're in the right place? This is THE barn find bike/single pivot brake/downtube shifters/27" wheels-lovers forum. I agree on the drop-bars-for-longer-rides and steel-rims-don't-brake-well-in-the-wet bits, though.

acoffin 

There is a fair amount of helpful information here, but you can throw the bit about brakes out the window. Centerpull and single pivot brakes are just fine (and can even be spectacular) when properly adjusted with new cables and quality pads. Also, you might want to consider bar end shifters as a compromise between down tube and integrated shifting. As far as frames, I suggest staying away from any touring or hybrid frames (any road frame with cantilever brakes) for the type of riding you wish to do.

Dave Mayer

The objective, according to the OP, was good advice regarding a: "bike for longer rides". My advice was great.

bibliobob

+1

cyclotoine

Based on your description you want the following:

700c wheels
Cantilever brakes
a sticked the states chromoly double butted or something to that effect.

Take a tape measure. I bet you can find a touring bike in your size. it sounds like that is what you want.

cyclotoine

Why wouldn't he want a touring bike? If you're going to have one bike to do 10-30 mile fitness rides, light touring and maybe some bike camping I would suggest a touring bike. Sure a sport touring bike may be better, but this guys has a couple days to figure out what he is looking for. The chances are it's going to be very difficult for him to pick the right bike, really he should be enlisting someone to go with him to pick out appropriate bikes and then have him choose from those. No one can tell him exactly what bike it right for his needs/wants. He has to make a list of criteria...

in fact I suggest to the OP that you answer some questions for yourself on paper to determine what you want...

1. Do you care about age and working with obsolete parts?
2. How big of a tire would you like to use? (width)
3. Do you want to carry bags? How much weight?
4. Are these fitness rides with roadies or some people just out for a ride?
5. Do you honestly envision camping? Are you likely to go once a year or more?
6. What will 80 percent of your riding look like?

Really you probably want a sport touring bike, that means a caliper brake and not cantilever, yet it still has clearance for fenders and eyelets and can fit say a 28mm tire. This is a good commuter and can tour well on pavement, but you will start to notice less ideal riding when you really load it up.

non-fixie 

On its own: absolutely. But it's like stating that it's better to spend your money on a 2014 Ford than on a 1972 Maserati. And stating it on the Italian Vintage Sports Car forum.

acoffin 

^My bad. A touring bike could be fine.

Wulf

Rigi; For that cat walking on ball bearings kind of feeling.

SuperLJ

+2

amycs

Cyclotoine - Thanks for the list of important considerations! Don't worry, I'm bringing a bike mechanic friend to be my sage advisor - only problem is that he is a bike racer and I'm not! Also I don't know if it makes any difference at all, but she is looking for a bike, not he..

1. Do you care about age and working with obsolete parts? Don't really care- I live in a big town, I think I'll be able to find most anything.
2. How big of a tire would you like to use? (width) Not Skinny, Not Fat
3. Do you want to carry bags? How much weight? Usually 6 - 10 lbs. Sometimes 20 + lbs.
4. Are these fitness rides with roadies or some people just out for a ride? Just some people, though sometimes there is a midnight pretzel run that attracts a lot of roadies.
5. Do you honestly envision camping? Are you likely to go once a year or more? Yes, but like a few times twice a year for like two days tops - I'm an easy camper.
6. What will 80 percent of your riding look like? Keeping up with my boyfriend! - no just joking. 80% would be daytime rides on a recreational path - usually about 20 - 30 miles.

cyclotoine

Amy? I am sorry for the gender confusion.

It sounds like a sport touring bike with good tire clearance or a touring bike would suit your needs best, however size is the most important factor. It sounds like a 28-32mm tire would suit your needs best. Most sport touring bikes from the 1980s that I have encountered maxed out at about 28 with fender while touring bikes from the same era maxed out at at around 32 with fender. In the 1990s sport touring bikes really disappeared and you either got road racing or touring (these would all have cantilever brakes by this point).

The other option is to look for bikes from the early 1970s which has more tire clearance however, you will spend more in the long run upgrading the wheels and drive train. I would stick to the 1980s and 1990s.

Your safest bet is to look for good japanese brands like Miyata, Univega, Panasonic, SHogun, Nishiki, Kuwahara, Fugi, Centurion... the list goes on and on. You just want to look for forged drop-outs and good quality steel. Trek is a good one to look for too, they sort of specialized in sport touring bikes in their early years... All these brands made race bikes too so you need to know what you are looking for. Make sure to ask your mechanic friend.. how big of a tire do you think I can put on their with fenders? Is it made to accept a rack? He should be able to answer those.

If I had to give you only three things to look for it would still be:

cantilever brakes, 700c wheels and drop handlebars. If you find a bike with these features in your size you can't really go wrong. There were very few low end bikes with cantilevers and by the time 700c was ubiquitous, anything with cantilevers was good quality. The drop bars will Id it as a road/touring bike.

this could lead you to a cyclocross bike, but I think that could work equally well for your application though it might not have as many fittings for racks and fenders.

Good Luck.