What bikes have you had?

[snh628]

Hi there! I'm new to cycling and I've been trying out bikes at local shops. I've been using an old Raleigh from when I was a teenager (I'm 30 now!). I thought it would be fun to see what bikes you all have had from start to now and what you liked and didn't like about them. Anyone want to share?

[Fredwina]

I wrote this for a club newsletter
what was my first bike? I suspect like many of us, that the answer would depend on the context.

My first memories of what could be called cycling were riding on the back of my brother’s tricycle. I can also recall a Sears bike with a leopard skin print banana seat. It was the 70’s after all. I grew up in a small town in Missouri, and we lived next to the town cemetery. My brother and I would ride there after school, as long as there was not a funeral.

Then, like most of us, I “outgrew” bikes in high school. In 1993, I wound up in singles outdoors group in Saint Louis. During the summer months, they would go bicycling on the Katy trail (A rail-trail). Not knowing much, I bought a Magna “mountain bike” from Target. I remember that It had double chain rings, and friction shifting. I remember that the shifters would not stay in position. You had to hold the shifters in place to make it up hills.

This, in turn, led me to the local bike shop. The owner of that shop convinced me to put a 1991 Schwinn Voyageur Touring bike that he still had sitting around in 1994. It was 48cm that Tony(the owner) refitted with a mountain bike seat post and the world’s longest stem. It had 27-inch rims and suntour 7-speed bar end shifters and was several sizes too small. This in turn, led me to the local chapter of American Youth Hostels. I was promptly adopted by group know as the “old farts”. So if you think I ride like your grandmother, that’s because I learned to ride from one!
I've had a Couple of GT in the meantime, and have three bikes now: a Cannondale Road bike, A Cannondale Mountain Bike, and a Bike Friday

[melissam]

Well, let's see....

When I was six, I got a purple Huffy for Christmas -- complete with banana seat and gooseneck handlebars. I loved it and kept it until Jr. High, when it I started riding my mom's 3 speed to school.

In college, I decided it would be great to have a bike to get around campus. I scoured the want ads and bought a Peugeot with a mixte frame for $100. It was my first 10 speed, and I enjoyed learning all about gearing and such.

One day I brought it into the LBS for service, and the employee asked if I'd like to see a bike that fit me. You mean there's such a thing?!? (I'm 5'1" and a half, so having something that fit was really cool.) The bike was a Bianchi Limited, 18" frame. 12 speed! Suntour friction shifters mounted on the down tube, where they were supposed to be! (Hey, it was the '80's.) No chicken brakes up by the handlebars! I test rode it and was sold!

I'm kind of a hot & cold cyclist. I'll get really into it, then take a couple of years off to pursue other interests or responsibilities. (I know, heresy!) The Bianchi stood by me through all that. Whenever I'd get the riding yen, all I had to do was dust her off, get her adjusted, buy cycling clothes that fit, and off we'd go. I broke my femur riding the Bianchi, or, rather falling off the Bianchi. I also completed a century on the Bianchi, and all the training leading up to it.

A few years ago I decided I wanted a mountain bike, so I bought a Trek 6700 WSD. Hardtail. Love the bike. It's sitting outside my cube right now, and we're both broken hearted that I can't go trail riding tonight due to work responsibilities.

A couple of years ago, I got back into road riding and wanted a triple chainring to help with the hills in the area. Converting the Bianchi was a slippery slope -- to get a triple, you've got to replace this part, then that part, then pretty soon you've spent a lot of money. So I spent more money and bought a Trek 5200 WSD. Carbon fiber! Shifters up on the brakes. Did a couple of metric centuries on it, and now I'm training for the Waves to Wine ride to benefit MS.

And the Bianchi? Well, I'm thinking of dusting her off, and making her into the ultimate commute bike.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to me walk down memory lane!

-- Melissa

[DebW]

First bike I rode real distance on was a red single speed Schwinn. Did 15 mile rides with hills on that.

In 1972 I made my first real purchase with my own money and got a green Manufrance 10-speed with steel cottered crank, steel rims, weighed 27 lb. Cost $115.

1974 I was working in the bike shop and the boss got a good deal on some Italian Mainos, so I bought one for $150. Had never heard of this brand and have never seen another to this day except the dozen or so that our shop got that year. Frame is Columbus straight gage tubing, so it's quite stiff and weighs 23-24 lb. Original componentry was a very odd mix of racing and touring gear: sew-up wheels (Campy Tipo high flange hubs, Nisi rims), wide-range (14-28) freewheel, Stronglight 49 crankset (see my avatar), Campy Grand Tourismo derailleurs (the rear one broke within a year). I swapped out a number of parts when I got it - needed a short stem and smaller bars, put on Universal 61 brakes, different saddle and seatpost. For derailleurs (after the Campy broke) I used Suntour-V with narrow-range freewheels and Suntour-VGT with wider range freewheels. Then I got a used Campy Record set from my boss that I still ride with today.

1983 I bought a new frame, the Performance Blue Ridge, of Columbus double butted tubing and moved the good components of the Maino to it. The bike weighs 22 lb. It's got the sewup wheels on Campy Tipo hubs (changed the rear axle from 5 to 6 speed) and the Campy Record derailleurs, along with Modolo Speedy brakes and a Suntour Superbe Pro crankset. The Campy Record headset needs replacing (it got notched this spring). Tried Look pedals when clipless first came out. Went to Speedplay pedals 5 years ago. Over the years I've changed the rims at least twice and I couldn't begin to count the freewheel and chain replacements. Wore out that old Stronglight 49 crankset (couldn't get new chainrings anymore). The Campy Record derailleurs with downtube friction shifters are still going strong.

[betagirl]

Hmmm, my first bike was this blue thing. I don't remember the brand, but it had an orange flag on a stick on the back. It got stolen when I was about 9 from the local pool by my grandma's house along with my friend's BMX bike.

Then my parents got me and my brother these 10 speeds for christmas. My brother's is still hanging in their garage. Not sure what happened to mine. It says "Charger" on the cross tube and is a lovely shade of maroon. I rode mine for a long time, and it gave me my only long lasting cycling scar on the back of my leg when the pedal gashed my ankle. After that I had a Schwinn for a while.

In college I had a Huffy mountain bike that weighed about 97 lbs. I sold it to someone for like $50 and upgraded to a Trek 850 mountain bike that was a hand me down from my then boyfriend. I still have that one. I decided to go "roadie" a few years after that and got my Trek 1200. I now use that one for my commuter bike to school/work. In 2005 I got my baby, a Lemond Zurich. I think I'm done bike shopping for a while. :D

[emily_in_nc]

Oh my, let's see if I can remember them all:

1. Blue Schwinn with upright handle bars and training wheels - my first "two-wheeler"! :)
2. Sparkley pink "stingray" style with banana seat - way cool! :cool:
3. Red/white/blue Sears 10 speed with drop bars in high school

....big gap....no riding in colloge...how stupid of me to miss that opportunity!
:(

4. Steel Nishiki (not sure of model) hubby bought for my birthday in the mid-80s (sold, too big)
5. Centurian Dave Scott "Ironman" 12 speed (or 14 speed??) with 24" front wheel (copying Terry). Fit great but only a double chainring, too hard for me to climb with (sold).
6. Santana Vision tandem (stoker) - great fun, rode with DH for several years incl. my first century, then sold.
7. Ryan Double-Vision recumbent - fun but 10' long and pretty slow (sold when we moved onto a gravel road that we could not ride it on easily)
8. Easy Racers Toureasy recumbent - again fun, but heavy (38 lbs!) and too slow a climber for me (sold)
9. Terry Isis - first single road bike in many years, loved it, but only use it on the trainer now as I got bit by the upgrade-itis bug and had to have carbon. Rode my first solo century on this bike.
10. Santana Team AL tandem - DH and I discovered we no longer enjoyed tandeming as much now that I was used to riding solo (control issues). Our quickest sale - we didn't even have it for a year. We got in on a trade-in of both our Toureasy recumbents. It sure was fast, though!
11. Aegis Swift - fantastic carbon road bike - bought the frame on eBay and had it built up with my choice of components (still have).
12. Bike Friday Pocket Crusoe with drop bars - bought for touring and utility rides - great bike (still have). Did a long self-supported tour riding it in fall 2004 with nary a problem.
13. Novara Bonita hardtail mountain bike - cute ride but heavy (32 lbs) - introduced me to mountain biking, which I am now enjoying (still have)
14. Titus Racer X full-suspension mountain bike - just bought used on ebay and should get next week. Excited!!!

Wow....that's a lot of bikes. :D

Emily

[makbike]

I do recall the three speed blue Schwinn I got when I was in the fourth or fifth grade. I think after that there was a Huffy which was followed by the Peugot (sp) my brother purchased in France after his bike disappeared on his trip. He sold me this bike for a big $12. I quickly discovered that I paid $12 too much for this orange bike for it was a piece of junk but I rode it until it fall apart on a ride. I then purchased my little blue bike (Univega) in 1986 for $230 and used it to commute from home to campus until I completed my degree work in 1989. Sadly, once I started teaching there seemed to be little time to ride so my bike was put into a state of hiberation of sorts. I pulled it out two years ago and rediscovered my love of cycling. As of this week I've added a new bike to my "stable" a Bacchetta Giro 20 and I'm in love with it to the max. Oh the joys of riding so many roads to ride so little time.

[mimitabby]

Unlike some of you, I cannot remember the make or model of my childhood bikes, i can only remember that after failing miserably at age 7 with the little pink candystriped bike with the training wheels removed, my father gave me a bike for my 9th birthday. It was blue and had big wheels like an adult sized bike (24"???)
He demonstrated and took the bike on a short spin around the vacant field that we were in. He handed me the bike, i got on, and I flew! It was magical and simple.
Every day i get on a bike, and I push the pedals and the wheels spin around really takes me back to that day in Newark, New Jersey in 1960!!!

as an adult I have had
a Pugh 3 speed way too big for me with 2 working speeds (white!)

a beautiful trek Cross 650 about a 96' ? it was teal and purple. I mailed it to a cousin in New Jersey so she would have a better bike to ride.
Then I got my Raleigh 700 as a mother's day gift
and then last
month i went crazy and bought a Bianchi Veloce on ebay. (and I just bought YELLOW FENDERS for it!!!)

[tulip]

Red trike (first I can remember)
6-7 years old: dark green Schwinn banana seat bike with pink streamers
8-10: White Jacques Anquetil children's bike from France (beautiful; still have it)
12-14: Red Line BMX bike
15-12: Univega Gran Tourismo (for my teenage bike trip across France)
18: Fuji racing bike (stolen several months later)
18: Specialized Stumpjumper Mountain Bike (still have that one, too)
20-23: Centurion racing bike
21: Bridgestone MB2 mountain bike that I still have
21: Vitus 979 racing bike (21 was a good year, I guess!)

no new bikes for a while, just rode the ones I had

then I got the most recent ones, starting about 4 years ago:
Jamis Coda Comp for commuting
JC Higgins 1950s 3-speed for going to the local grocery store
Dahon Matrix folding winter bike with studded tires for ice
Luna Eclipse for wonderful long rides

who knows what lies in the world of recumbents, cyclocross, and singlespeeds!

[DrBee]

**As a kid - standard pink bike with streamers and a big flowered basket :)
**Teenager - 12 speed Huffy with drop bars - brakes squealed something awful by the time I stopped riding (knees went bad in a major way)
**Adult (last year) - lots of years, 2 kids, and 3 degrees later) - Trek 7200FX hybrid
** This year - Trek Pilot 2.1 WSD - ooooh I love this bike! That ought to hold me for a while ;)

[Trek420]

First bike was blue Schwinn Girls frame then....
Raleigh 3 speed then....
Gitane 10 speed till I crashed into a car then...
Mercier, light blue till it was taken then a long break till I got....
Trek420 also now the property of a thief or sold for a hit of crack, she had Mavic Open sup Pro rims and full Ultegra if you see her :mad: and ....
GT Outpost Trail which I still have and ...
Mondonico Futura Legero and my ....
Motobecan Mixte Frame (turning into a fixie)

[MomOnBike]

Gee, I'd forgotten the trike I had as a child. It was red originally, I think. I ruined its back wheels one day running from something 'cause it was faster to run than to pedal.

Skip forward to the (used) blue Schwinn my Dad bought me. Single speed, chain guard, big clunky head/tail/turn light combo we put on (I still long for something similar - smaller, but similar). You could hear me coming for blocks on that thing, it rattled so much. Still, it got me places like summer school Driver's Ed. (I only recently got the irony)

After a tiff with my parents, I didn't end up driving after all. OK, it wasn't a tiff - it was a full-blown screaming fight. For some reason, I was off the bike, though. I'm not sure why.

DH bought me a Raleigh Le Tour for our 1st anniversary. I used it to commute to college, etc., as I was still car free. I still have that bike, and occasionally ride it. I've never been quite happy with the fit, though.

Most recently, I bought a Sun EZ Sport recumbent. The bike doesn't get a whole lot of respect in the 'bent world, but I could afford it, it makes me smile, and it gets me where I want to go, including one (the first of many) tour.

As for the future, I don't know. Looking back, each of my bikes has been faster than the one before - maybe there's a high-racer in my future. :D

[snh628]

Thanks for sharing! It's fun to read about what you all have had over the years. :)

[Gray Gato]

1st: 26" blue bike that was so big I had to stand up to pedal.
2nd: White "stingray" type with banana seat
3rd: 10 speed (AMF maybe?) for riding around college town
4th: Nishiki Touring Bike... I never toured
5th: Trek 1200 - triathlons, metric centuries, 1500 mile years
6th and current: Trek 5000 - Am finally taking the tour I dreamed of when I had the Nishiki!

[Deanna]

1. Red kids bike with banana seat - not sure of the brand.
2. Blue "Murray". My parents were struggling college students at the time, so I'm fairly certain it was the model being sold at the local Alpha Beta Grocery store!!
3. A white road frame I bought used, can't remember the name but it was french and was stolen from a bus stop.
4. A very cool vintage Western Flyer 1 Speed. Picked it up in almost new condition at the local Goodwill.
5. A vintage Schwinn 2-speed kickback with a little fin on the front fender - very cool but HEAVY
6. Specialized Rockhopper - back when turquoise & purple were standard colors. Road it around the Big Island of Hawaii. Sold to a family friend who is still using it.
7. Some Hybrid I only had for a year then I sold to a friends daughter who was going to college.
8. Specialized Globe--these were pretty cool looking city bikes: built in rack, fenders, lights, lock. The internal 5 speed gearing was a nightmare though.
9. Specialized StumpJumper -- still have this "old" mountain bike. This is from the mid-90's when a bike with front shocks was new and top end (no back shocks yet!)
10. Rebuilt Trek XXX (only three numbers in the name). This was a great commute bike for many years, even did some longish road rides on it.
11. Trek 2200
12. Breezer Villager - similar to the Globe, but with a better gear system
13 Raleigh Competition

Still have numbers 9, 12 & 13

[eclectic]

First bikes - what memories that invokes

after the tricycle era and learning to ride on a neighbours bike, my dad came home with 2 beautiful turquoise blue CCM fixed gears for my sister and I. I rode that until I physically out grew it. By then it wasn't cool to ride a bike so we wasted time and walked.

After high school graduation I took my summer earnings and bought a CCM 10 speed I think it was a targa model or some such

I never did learn how to ride and shift correctly but rode merrily along anyway

I won a ten speed in a raffle but I don't even remember what kind it was - I ended up trading it in for my son's first bike

after a 25 year non bike riding era I bought a Schwinn Sierra (leisure bike) Great comfort bike but SLOW.

I also bought a used Schwinn High Plains mountain style bike for my daughter

As my riding level increased I was ready for a new bike.

I sold the Sierra and my mount of choice now for speed and distance is a Specialized Seqouia.
I kept the old schwinn High Plains for a grocerie store and tool around town back up, I put my rack and basket on the back Wicked witch of the West style and off I go happily to the farmers market

Thanks for asking

[dingster1]

Traditional trike
then Purple banana seat bike (my favorite)
3 speed Huffy
10 Speed (one as a kid and then one in the military):)
Couple of Wally World specials

anticipating a Trek.... something.....really soon....:confused:

[Rai Sue]

When i was about 5? a small beautiful sparkly royal blue thing with a royal blue banana seat. passed onto my brother.

age 8-11: a slightly bigger girls raleigh.
around 11, my first ten speed: a Fuji, w/24 inch wheels. Still in my parents' garage, keep meaning to donate it to the bike kitchen

then, at 13, i took up with a mid-'70's Motobecane Mixte Grand Jubile 12 speed. Still riding that--i love it. It's got a pretty good gear range, and suntour bar end shifters and suntour cyclone deraileurs. Still going! I have taken it touring, and used it as a city commuter (with hills!) for about 7 years.

In college i rode a pink huffy ten speed, and i had a cruiser for a while that i think got stolen one summer. or maybe that's how i acquired the huffy. Bikes were a bit less loved in college. people traded them, and i just used them to get around campus, rather than taking them on rides.

also currently in the stable are 2 bikes i built up from frame and fork:
an older Bianchi Eros reparte corso frame, probably from the early 1990s, with mainly ultegra and 105 components.

and an old orange Le Jeune Tour de France 10 speed, built up for more relaxed road riding (upright bars, bar end shifters, and the rest all crappy old french components--but they still work!) which is just so cute.

Of the three i have now (motobecane, bianchi, LeJeune) i'm not sure i could part with any of them. And, i'm too cheep to get something fancier. Though i wish the surly long haul trucker came in my size with 700cc wheels, rather than the smaller ones...

[Selkie]

First bike: burnt orange, heavy Sears kids bike. I was in first grade and we had just moved back to Pittsburgh from New York. I put a lot of miles on that baby. The neighborhood where we lives was very hilly, so I learned to master climbs quickly. Had an awful downhill wipe out on that bike---cost me my thumbnail and I still have a scar on my left thumb from it.
Second bike: my sister's purple banana bike. It had a sissy bar, white basket with daisies, etc. Spent a lot of summer days cruising on it.
When I was 13 or so, my dad bought me and my little brother "English Racing Bikes." They were 70s rust/orange in color, steel frames, relatively expensive 10 speeds. We rode them for hours, exploring.
Lost interest in cycling when I started working at age 16 and didn't start riding again until a few years ago when me and my hubby bought Trek 7300s. Since then:
Terry Classic (am going to sell this one)
Terry Limited edition Fast Woman which is permanently on my trainer (reach is a bit too far for me--I need to replace the stem)
Specialized Dolce Elite (beater bike #1)
Specialized Dolce Comp (beater bike #2)
Pink Luna Eclipse
Bianchi Eros Donna
Pink/Purple Luna Orbit (currently being built--should have in 6-8 weeks)

[Bad JuJu]

First "two-wheeler": a kid-sized racing bike (24" wheels) that my dad brought back from Greece, where he went with the navy
Later: a more average, American-made tool-around-the-neighborhood bike, brand unknown, but it was a gorgeous metallic forest green
When I started college: a Schwinn Varsity, robin's egg blue--too big in all but the standover height, but I learned at least basically how to use gears and toeclips by riding that bike; gave it away to a cousin eventually
First bike I got as an adult: a Trek something-or-other, also too big for me (shame on you, LBS guy, for selling me a bike that fit me so badly), but I rode it for a long time, and actually credit that bike with my renewed adult interest in cycling
Next: my Terry Symmetry, which fit me just right--delicious teal green color, triple chainrings, so much fun to ride I couldn't believe it. With this bike, I really learned to use gears and toeclips. Took my first solo long rides and my first multi-day tour on her. Lost to Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
For a brief time, I also tried out a used Bianchi Volpe that was great for riding around campus when I was in grad school. But alas, that bike didn't really fit me well either, so I finally sold it to a friend, who, sadly, doesn't ride it much. *sigh*
And now... after losing the Terry, I got a Waterford 1900 (called the "Adventure Cycle"--a touring bike). Waterford builds custom frames, but I got this one at a slight discount because it had already been essentially built for someone else and somehow the deal went wrong with that person. It fits me beautifully, and surprise--it's that same lovely metallic forest green of my second kid bike! I was able to get them to paint my nickname on the top tube in gold--Bad JuJu--so she's my strong and confident alter ego. LOL

I love my Waterford, but I must confess I've been hungrily eyeing the 2005 Bianchi Veloce at the LBS, and it doesn't help that people on this forum keep buying them and posting photos! :eek: