Cat4Lifer

Got my first pair of clipless Shimano pedals in '88 too.
I just remember the older riders talking **** about Treks, Cannondales, and Kleins
If it wasn't an Italian bike it wasn't **** -- a Schwinn Paramount was acceptable tho
Guess that's why my first "real" racing bike was a blue Scapin with a chrome rear-triangle <3

DiabloScott

Scapins were almost as common as Cioccs... although this was past my racing days.

Nick Bain

the first cyclist that inspired me was Greg Lemond, I read about him when I was like 9 or 10.

eddiepliers 

I was a mountain biker before Lance came on the scene, so for me it was John Tomac and the guys I liked watching most for road was Big Mig and Claudio Chiappucci.

markus_mudd

My bike/accessory buying habits have never followed what this pro or that pro might be doing at the time but I definitely know a guy who bought a Trek because of Lance. I and my wife did have yellow bracelets though.

Walter

Oh, the perspective that comes with age...

Lance had nothing with me getting into "10 speeds" when I was a kid or getting back into them near the end of my college days.

Lance's fame did bring alot of cycling to TV. For a guy that remembers ABC "spoiling"* their own broadcast of a couple of minutes of highlights from LeMond's last TT in the 89 Tour. That (the TV) has been the best part of the whole "Lance Thing" for me.

*Just before Wide World of Sports came on the announcer told us to stay tuned as Greg LeMond had just won the Tour by 8 seconds in a thrilling race. Major facepalm but it was all we had.

Cat4Lifer

Here in so-cal, I've only seen one other Scapin similar to the one I had --that one was red though.
After putting it up in storage for a few year, it started to rust a bit where the seat-stays met the top/seat tub.
I should have wiped it down more; especially living so close to the beach. =\

cplager

He didn't do much to get me into cycling, although if I were younger, then maybe he would have. And even though it's now obvious he's a d**che, I wouldn't have a problem with that.

Pretty much everybody who's here rides a bike. And regardless of what got you started, the important thing is that you did start and kept it up.

Cheers,
Charles

atallen223

Too many people saying they have been riding since Lance was in diapers blah blah blah. I started riding when I was in college and Alberto Contador was king. So I also started riding with a doper as king! I couldn't buy his specialized because I was broke, so I bought a mid 80's nishiki and still fell in love with riding!

Doohickie

I got back into cycling in 2008 in spite of Lance. Even before his fall, there was something I didn't like about him. Then again, I'm more about riding bikes and less about being a fanboy of others who ride bikes.

calamarichris

+1. I was already feeding chunks of my hips and knees to crit pileups, and podiuming in triathlons when my coach invited the Junior team over to watch the '86 Tour on a snowy, worn out VHS tape. That was the first time I'd ever heard Lemond's name.
Then it happened again. It is the profound shame of my life that I was actually living in the NL, just a 5-hour drive away (and I had a car!) from Paris in 89 when Lemond did that. I was just too busy at work and training to follow the Tour. My Dutch teammates were the ones who finally told me about the '89 finish, and they laughed and laughed that I wasn't even aware.
Greg & Bernard didn't get me into cycling, but I confess I bought a 753 Look Hinault frame last year. Wasn't expecting it to be much, but it's the bee's-knees, the cat's meow and the dog's bollocks to ride.

Doohickie

That bike is teh hawt.

Angio Graham

I rode my first bike in 1980 when I was 5 and I was hooked.

Lance never factored into anything for me.

I never knew anything about professional cycling until about 2008 (?) when the Tour of California came to Redondo Beach.

B. Carfree

Although between my wife and I we have five Treks, the newest one is nearly thirty years old, is steel and was hand-built in Wisconsin, so I'd say LA has had no impact on my bike purchases. I kind of tuned out to the pro scene when Big Mig brought Epo into the game.

Now, I don't really care about purity anymore. I watch a few stages/races if the mood strikes me. It's great entertainment for me.

Cat4Lifer

2006, the year floyd won

DXchulo

It's hard to say for sure. I started riding "seriously" in 2004 because I had the goal to ride across the state of Indiana, where I lived at the time. I was 21 years old and my two main interests were lifting weights and playing basketball. I was looking for a physical challenge and a marathon was out of the question because I hated running.

2004 would have been near the height of Lance mania, but I wasn't directly inspired by Lance and I didn't really know much about him at the time aside from yellow bracelets. However, it's hard to say what was going on unconsciously. Would riding a bike have ever crossed my mind if Lance hadn't made it more popular in the US? I was too old for hero worship, but not immune to society.

So I had my goal of riding across Indiana and by the time I rode myself into decent enough shape to complete the goal, I was hooked. I love riding for my own personal reasons that have nothing to do with Lance, but can I say that he had nothing to do with starting cycling in the first place? I have a hard time 100% denying that, even though that may be the popular thing to do right now.

Big Pete 1982

I did mostly mountain bike riding as a teen in the 90's. My dad has always been a big roadie so we have always watched le tour together so I was always interested/aware of it before Lance. But I have to say that when I started road cycling, he was an inspiration. Not the reason I bought a bike, but a good story that I liked. I bought his book, a yellow bracelet and even a livestrong jersey. The fact that he's a lying ****** doesn't mean I will give up cycling. Just prolly won't be wearing the bracelet or jersey. I ride a CAAD anyway.

Nick Bain

More importantly, who specifically bought a "TREK" becuase of Lance?

mprelaw

I'm probably going to make my next bike one despite Lance.

Why? Because that's what the shop that I want to grace with my money sells. They've earned it, and not just because they've treated me right on service and repairs. Mainly because they treated my noob wife with respect when she was looking for a bike. They sold her the bike she wanted, and not the one that they "thought" she should have. They didn't judge her on age/weight and try to talk her out of buying a road bike. And every time that I go in there, they make a point of asking me how she's doing, how many miles she's getting in, how the bike is working, etc. I have no brand loyalty. I deal with shops, and buy what the good ones sell. And after dealing with another company on a warranty claim, I take Trek's reputation on warranty issues into account.

Keith99

No way Lance influenced any bike purchace. Time travel is not real and I had my bike well before Lance's fame.

Only thing I have where rider fame played any part is the 2 Team-Z Jerseys I still have. Yea, it being Lemond's team was a plus. But that it was a closeout and a longer zipper played a much bigger part.

If U.S. Postal or other Lance Team Jerseys become difficult to sell and the price drops enough I'll buy one or two. Always happy to get gear on the cheap.

calamarichris

Fred.

lotek 

One of my daily riders is a Trek 770, which was made 30 years ago so no, lance didn't influence me to buy a
trek.
I did pick up 'Its not about the Bike' when I was in South Africa and it did inspire me to start riding again.
I have a Ride for the Roses Jersey I bought in 2002 after doing that ride to honor
a friend lost to cancer.

Swiftie92

My parents got me Trek bicycle when I was a kid. Lance was a hometown hero. I live in Plano, Texas. I learned about Lance in school. We would read stories about him in reading class, wrote about him, and also watched those Discovery educational videos. I attended the same high school as Lance.

As a teen it was "cool" to wear the yellow bracelets and have Nike apparel even if you were not a cyclist. I never really go into the Livestrong stuff and some of my peers were "way more dedicated" then I was. Lance made bicycle riding cool and that inspired me to ride.

I got my first road bike (a Trek) in 2008, and I would admit that I got a Trek because of Lance, and that Lance was the primary influence for why I go into cycling.

canyoneagle

Another middle-aged guy here. I started riding my Peugeot U-08 like it was a De Rosa some time in the late 70's, perhaps inspired by Eddy.
Does Dennis Christopher count?

hockeyref

I still have a set of old 105's and Bio-Pace rings around here somewhere...