New (to me) bike!

[Jolt]

I was getting frustrated with some things about my hybrid (the slowness and the inability to use a decent rack) so decided to keep an eye out on Craigslist for a touring bike. I thought finding one in my size at a decent price would be a long shot, but the guy from whom I bought the hybrid (he has a hobby/business of fixing up bikes and selling them) had something that looked good so today I went to check it out. Lo and behold, it actually fit! Sorry I don't have pictures yet, but it's a mid-80s Raleigh "Wyoming" tourer. WOW what a difference in how it felt to ride--quite a bit faster! I think it will be much more efficient for riding around town carrying stuff, although we'll see how hills go (it only has a double up front so an upgrade may end up being needed; the area where the test ride took place only had one slight incline). Surprisingly, the downtube friction shifters were a lot easier to work than I thought they would be, and I was fairly comfortable with the drop bars pretty quickly on the test ride (that was another concern). The riding position felt much more efficient right away than on the hybrid--I should have looked for a bike like this at the beginning! The bike is also significantly lighter even though it's still a steel frame--I compared the two when I got it home and it makes the hybrid seem like a real brick! Now I just need to get it set up with a rack etc. (I found some panniers on ebay, so no more milk crate). I may also look into upgrading the brakes in the near future since they're sidepulls and don't have nearly the stopping power I'm used to, and I ride in a hilly city. Once I've gotten a ride in, I'll have to report back.

[Veronica]

Very cool. Serendipity. I like that word.

Veronica

[Tri Girl]

Awesome!!! I'm so glad you found a bike you LOVE! When you get pictures, please share them with us. Woo hoo!!!!

[twin]

It will be fun to see picture. Congratulations!

[sundial]

That's neat! I can't wait to see the pics. I have a feeling that old steel bikes will be worth a mint in the not too distant future. I noticed that Specialized is offering steel Globes for '10 and looks to be inspired by the hand built bikes. And with the single speed market expanding, those oldies but goodies will be a hot item.

[Jolt]

So, I finally got to go for a ride today--just a short one to the dairy shop where I buy milk. Probably about 3 miles each way. This bike definitely seems faster and wind resistance is much less of an issue because of the riding position (which is good news since headwinds happen a lot here). I did have to walk it up the steep hill I have to go over both there and back, but that hill was no fun on the hybrid either and I could barely stay in the saddle on that even though it had a triple. I think once I get around to adding that third chainring to this bike it will be great on hills--time to go to Earn-a-bike, help out in the shop, and see if they have the necessary parts and can help me do that. On the way to the store, somebody decided to pull out in front of me as I was bombing down the other side of that hill and I was barely able to stop in time! The other "interesting" part of the ride was the grooved pavement (with some gravel scattered on it to boot) I encountered on one of the main roads--not the nicest thing to ride on, and it made me a little nervous riding on it with skinnier tires than I was used to (my hybrid has 38s and this bike came with 25s). However, it did end up giving me a lot more confidence in being able to handle crummy roads on those tires, because I got through that section without problems. Coming home with a bit of a load in the panniers, I could barely tell I was carrying anything because it didn't really affect the handling. Nice! Overall, a good first ride on the "new" bike. I'll probably take a picture later today and post it, if I can figure out how to post pictures...