80sMutRider

During the wintertime I tend to rebuild old bikes (I give most away), but after my old Univega got stolen last August, I started to take on a new bike project for myself. I found an old (I mean OLD) bike at a yard-sale for $20. I didn't have the money (I only had $15) so I was able to haggle the lady down for her husband's old bike.

Well, after about 5 months of work on my bike after school and on the weekends. Saving up all the money I could, I have finally come to the home-stretch of my newly-rebuilt bicycle. The only thing left is to finish working with the shifters (downtube friction shifters), and to put on the new chain (both things that aren't my specialty).

The bike is all black, the seat is white with an olive colour. So I'm planning to put white bar-tape on it, and I still want to design a logo or something.

I hope this bike stands the test of time because I am planning on taking it on a "round-the-country" trip starting this fall.

80s

oneradtec

I love stories like this. I can remember during a period when I was left without a bike and didn't have the budget to buy a new one. I wanted to ride so bad....and was even getting the racing bug. I had practically given up because I wasn't going to be able to come up with the funding for a new bike. This was pre-Ebay I might add.

Anyway, one day I was riding home from work and as I passed a pawn shop on the side of the road I noticed there were a cluster of bikes sitting out front. Their was a bright red one in the bunch that caught my eye in passing....so I did a fast u-turn and pulled up to the pawn shop for closer inspection. The bike that caught my eye was an old steel (chromoloy)Nishiki....cherry red with a distinct white seat tube and white decals on the red downtube. It had a double chainring and Shimano components. I think it was something like RX100 but I do not remember exactly. One thing that stood out was the biopace front chainrings. Also..the shifters were on the downtube and it was 7 speed in the rear cluster. Both tires were flat and dry rotted. This seemed like something I could work with perhaps. I went in and asked the owner his lowest price. We eventually agreed on 50 bucks. Next I took the bike to a local bike shop and presented it for some maintenance and repair. The shop owner felt sorry for me and tried to get me to buy a new bike from his shop. I could not afford it at the time and he was getting nowhere with that idea. I convinced him to get busy with the Nishiki. He proceeded to true the wheels, replace the tires and tubes, and tuned up the drivetrain and added a set of bottle cages. I took that bike home and immediately started my training. I also bought some red touch up paint and touched up the frame by painting over all the nicks and scrapes in the paint job. A few months later I was racing as a cat 5 in USCF events here in the southeast. We did crits, RR's everything on that bike. That Nishiki is long gone now...but I will never forget all the enjoyment I had on that bike...both racing and training. I ended up trashing that bike after I later purchased a new Cannondale. You just don't appreciate it at the time but I wish that I had kept that frame...today it would be hanging on my wall as a piece of art with lots of sentimental value to me. I think I still have a pic somewhere of me riding it in a crit.

jjmolyet

Please supply us with a photo when you finish, so we can enjoy your art! Or now see we can see your progress.

jlin453

Restoring an old bike is definitely fun. Here's mine, but I've recently ordered a new bike because I got tired of how heavy the bike was and wanted to try out a bike with STI's.

raverson

That reminds me of a 70's Falcon frameset I found placed at the curb for collection. I had just cracked the downtube on my Azuki and needed a replacement frame but didn't have the money to buy one. I switched the components over to the Falcon and rode that bike for years. I did my first century on it in 1982, but can't for the life of me remember what I did with it?

I wish I had kept both of those frames for sentimental reasons.

leesub

Did you mean christen?

Patriot

Centurion. WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!

Here's my old Centurion Expert Ironman. Boy, I love this old bike.

80sMutRider

I just posted pics on the thread "Finally There Be Pictures" if you want a look