Introducing East Hill

[East Hill]

Hello All,

I have neglected to introduce myself properly before and so I will do so now.

I have been riding since 1998, with my first bike being a retro Schwinn Cruiser. I don't ride it much now, but I dare say that bike probably got over 10000 miles on it. My husband and I both work for the US Postal Service in Seattle, WA. We had always had the same shift and same days off, but he transferred to the Air Mail Center in 1998, and I had to come up with some way of getting home from work. He would drop me off and continue on his way, but I would ride home in the morning.

Even after I managed to transfer out to the Air Mail Center later that year, I kept up with either riding the bike or going for walks.

A few years later I decided that I needed to get a road bike, so I went to the LBS and got a 2004 Specialized Dolce Elite. By lucky chance, I got a bike which fit me perfectly from the very first day I went for a ride.

About a year ago, I was intrigued by the idea of riding a steel bike, and so I expanded my stable to include the following:

1980 World 'Sports' ladies bike
This is a lovely blue colour. It originally came with a bright neon blue seat (I couldn't call it a saddle!), and was the first bike I ever owned with anything other than brifters. I got it off Craigslist. When I went to look it over, I couldn't get it to shift properly. I thought I just was having problems with the stem shifters until I looked at the rear derailleur and realized that there was a bungee cord wrapped around the rear cogs. It shifted much better after the bungee cord was removed. It's my practice bike for improving my wrenching skills. It only cost $20 and it's a real boat anchor. But it is nevertheless a good rider, and I can use it as a beater without feeling too guilty if I don't lock it up and have it stolen. However, it does have steel rims, so it's not the best choice for winter riding.

1980 Centurion LeMans mixte
A soft honey/beige colour, with purple outlining around the lugs, and purple and blue pinstriping elsewhere on the bike, this is a very comfortable ride. I went all the way down to Portland for this bike! It also has stem shifters, and it's got mudguards, so it's my winter/rain bike.

1987 Centurion Ironman Dave Scott Expert
My Miami Vice bike. It's a 'Terry' style bike, with the front wheel smaller than the rear. It's salmon coloured with white headtube. For those of you who don't live in the Pacific Northwest, it's pink and white. It's got downtube shifters, and it's CroMoly. That makes it a lightweight frame. It's not quite a race bike, but it's not a comfort bike by any stretch of the imagination. It is fast, though.

1987 Nishiki Prestige
A subtly coloured dark platinum fading to silver, this is also a 'Terry' style bike with the smaller front wheel, and also has downtube shifters. Like the Ironman, it's CroMoly, and therefore lightweight. It has slightly different geometry from the Ironman, and is more comfortable to ride. I found this one in the local thrift shop! I went looking for sweaters, and spotted a tiny bicycle out front with drop handlebars. It had decent components, was my size, but the thrift shop wanted $59 for it! Oh wait, it's half-off day. That made it $30. So, I decided to go ahead. Well, for some reason, there was an additional 30 percent off when I got to the check out counter, and so it cost me all of around $20.

1977 Nishiki Pro
My most prized bike, this was from an e-bay auction. It's a gorgeous gold colour, with an eclectic mixture of components. The Nishiki Pro was the top of the line for Nishiki, and the Pro was sold as a frameset only. The former owner was a woman who apparently raced this bicycle. She also owned a custom Eisentraut (fully Campagnolo equipped). The seller of the bike was the woman's sister, and the seller was handling the estate.

The odd thing about the bike is that it has stem shifters. As the owner had owned an Eisentraut, not only did she have money, but she had the knowledge to make her own decisions, so I have assumed that she must have preferred stem shifters! Most (male) bike fanatics would decry the stem shifters, and I have been urged to change to downtube shifters, but I have looked at the bike very carefully and there is no indication that downtube shifters were ever used on this bike. There are no braze-ons on this bike for downtube shifters, only two hearts brazed on the underneath of the downtube, a pair of bottle cage holders on the seattube, and a single cable guide for the rear derailleur on the left rear chain stay. All the various cables are held down by lovely chrome bits which are clamped on. I have not yet ridden this bike! It's a bit large for me (19 inch frame), but it has tubular tyres, and I have to work up to replacing those. I had never even seen tubulars before purchasing this bike. I am in the middle of restoring this bike to rideable condition as my winter project.

My husband also rides. He has a 1980 Schwinn LeTour in a beautiful blue (it's the monster 24 inch frame as he is 6'2''), and a 2006 Trek 7300.

We love our bikes, and yes, I ride all of mine. I do tend to ride the mixte more often than the others at this time of the year, but they all get ridden depending on how I'm feeling that day.

So when you're out and about, and see an older, short red-headed woman riding around Puget Sound, wave at me!

I would have added pics, but I don't seem able to add either links, or to embed images...

East Hill