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Old 03-10-21, 10:37 AM
  #311  
Mikefule
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Ooh, crikey! I don't think I've had as many as you lot, despite virtually living on my bike as a kid, and spending most of my adult life riding regularly.

I can remember:

1) A single-speed kid's bike. I remember my mum painted it ready to sell the day before I would have taken my Cycling Proficiency Test at school. I was the only kid who didn't get to take the test.

2) I know I had a generic kid's bike some years after that because I can remember a particular 20 mile round trip I did on it. I can't recall any details of the bike, not even the colour.

3) The first bike I remember in detail was a Raleigh Hercules Balmoral: an ugly, heavy, "council green" SA 3 speed "granny bike" with steel rims, cottered cranks, and sit up and beg handlebars. It was a Christmas present at a time when every other kid had either a Raleigh Chopper or a "5 speed racer". (Any bike with dropped handlebars was a "racer".) I hated that bike, but did many miles on it.

4) The first bike I remember buying with my own money was a second hand Peugeot "10 speed racer" second hand from an older youth. He was taller than me, the bike was far too big for me, and I paid over the odds, but I had always wanted a Peugeot. I liked the paint job/graphics. I put wide "cow horn" handlebars on it. I can't remember what happened to it, but chances are it was stolen.

5) The first one I bought brand new (on finance!) at the age of 18 was the cheapest bike in the shop: I needed transport. It was a Viking (or possibly a Viscount) 5 speed racer in a blueish purply colour, again with chromed steel wheels, cottered cranks, and a frame made of mild steel. I did many miles on that bike, commuted, camped, everything. This was the bike I did my first tour on, riding along main roads from Nottingham to Norfolk, then exploring childhood haunts, and sleeping in one of those orange plastic survival bags at the roadside. I also did a ride from Bury St Edmunds to Nottingham along the main roads including the A1: one of Britain's busiest roads. I also did my longest "day" on it: a 24 hour sponsored ride, mainly unaccompanied, in which I covered around 200 miles.

6) My first decent bike was a King of Mercian, Reynold's 531 double butted frame which I bought second hand through a Cyclists Touring Club contact. I built it up to my own spec with alloy wheels (luxury!) and 12 speeds (2 x 6 in modern parlance) and used it for commuting, tours, camping, and club rides. It was my first bike with "cotterless" (square taper) cranks and — get this — detachable chain rings. Years later, newly divorced, with nowhere to store it, and suffering from depression, I just threw it away, which I still regret.

7) 8) Around the same time as I bought the Mercian, my first wife and I bought a brand new Dawes tandem. It was a lovely bike on paper, but a new model with teething problems and we eventually had to send it back for a refund, then bought a Claud Butler tandem which was much better. We sometimes commuted on that, as well as touring, doing club rides (CTC and Tandem Club) and attending Tandem Club rallies.

9) A little later, I bought a second hand home built recumbent bike made of the back half of a standard bicycle and the front half of a small-wheeler. It was inefficient, uncomfortable, but strangely fun. I commuted on it a few times. I once got stopped by the police (blue lights, blip of the siren, everything) late at night: I was doing nothing wrong but the copper was a cyclist and wanted a closer look at it.

10) A few years after getting rid of the Mercian, I bought a modern sit-up and beg bike with 4 speed hub gears and alloy wheels. It was not a bad bike, but I never really took to it. I was unicycling more than I was bicycling.

11) The next was the Pearson Touchι, which is still my first choice for leisure rides and commuting. I bought it a year or so before fixed gear became trendy so it is a bit "staid" in design and colour: a charcoal-ish frame, close tyre clearances and dropped bars. If I had my choice again, I'd choose differently, but I have learned to love it.

12) I also have a 2 x 10 Giant Anyroad which is the most expensive brand new single seat bike I've ever bought. It's a good bike, robust, but heavy and over engineered for most of what I'm likely to ride it on.

Apart from that I've owned:
3 x 20 inch unicycles — no longer own this size
2 x 24 inch unicycles — now own 1
1 x 26 inch unicycle — no longer own this size
2 x 700c unicycles — I own one, with a custom-built wheel.
1 x 29 inch unicycle — still owned
3 x 36 inch unicycles — still own one. It is the size I ride most often.
2 x 24 inch ultimate wheels — one broke. The second one gets ridden a few times a year.
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