rjhammett

Post what you consider the top 3 bikes you have ever owned. The criteria for selecting them is totally up to you. It may be because you like the color of the frame or the components or the bike's bling or the ride or the bike maker or ???. You can share why you chose them but you don't have to.

Here are my top 3 in no particular order: Merckx MX Leader Motorola Team bike (because it's a team bike), De Rosa Professional (always wanted a De Rosa), Colnago Master PIU (love the Decor paint)

Bianchigirll 

'90 Proto, first bike I built from a frame up and a fabulous rider.


A beautiful Hetchins. This was a grail bike, sadly passed along.


Cornelo. I kind of stumbled on this looking for something 'different'

xiaoman1 

B.G.,
I really like this one..glad you posted a pic again ....it looks fast while standing still.
Ben

bikemig 

My 1993 Bridgestone MB 1 because there's just something about a vintage MTB with fat tires for a plush ride. My Melton touring bike as the bike handles superbly and is a fine example of American custom craftmanship. My 1978 Trek TX 900 as everyone needs a racing bike and everyone needs a high end vintage Trek.

cb400bill

70’s - Centurion Semi Pro


80’s - Trek 770


90’s - Pinarello Stelvio

gomango

Hard to say.

Probably my McLean, a Kvale and my Weigle.

Forum member Toavii now owns my favorite all time Kvale, so he can post pics.
My Weigle doesn't have public pics but it's very nice. I'm having a new front wheel built with a SON dyno. Maybe I'll post a pic or two down the line.
I am listed on the CR registry as the owner of my McLean, but I used Gunnar Berg's photos.
McLean M05030

FWIW I used to broker bikes on occasion and I found a nice Alex Singer and a beautiful 1974 De Rosa for a fellow in the Twin Cities. Both of those were spotless and exquisite.

big chainring 

#3 Raleigh Grand Sports. Only ridden it twice but it seems like a winner. Found in a dumpster and brought back to life.

#2 Peugeot UO-8. The bike that got me back into group rides on Sunday mornings. Great bike.

#1 Gitane Grand Sport Deluxe. The bike I most regret selling. I could ride this bike all day. It was comfortable, great handling, felt just right.

CroManganMan

Hmm, Max bikes in the first two posts. I wonder if that's why Columbus brought the tubes back. Steve Hampsten seems to like Max too for larger sized frames.

nesteel 

1985 Centurion Cinelli, 1979 Trek 93X, and 1980 Merckx.

Bianchigirll 

MAX rocks! The tubeset is lighter than SL and when built without lugs makes makes a very light frame. I find it a great ride, very comfortable over the road but stiff when you stand on it. I've never been much of a spinner so the stiffer bottom end really works well for me.



So does MAX OR

due ruote 

I’ll go with my ‘78 Motobecane Team Champion, 1992 Davidson Impulse (I let that one go) and 1992 Ibis tandem.

wawine

1959 Bianchi team bike (Giuseppe Barale), 1963/4 Paratella IBAC team bike (Bruno Giorza), 1982 Puch Eurotex team bike (Klaus Peter Thaler).

can you tell I am into team bikes?😊

ridelikeaturtle

1996 Amp Research B4. A friend of mine was crazy into buying the "latest and greatest", but always quickly tired of it. I bought this off him (for 750 bucks) just a couple years after he bought it new (for nearly 3K), upgraded the noodly rear shock for a Risse and was an early adopter of tubeless tyres. 23lbs for a 1990's dual-suspension mtb!

1996 Bianchi Ti Megatube, Campy Record 8 speed. I love riding this bike. I used a semester of university student loan disbursement to buy it from a friend who contractually couldn't race it (he bought it new in '96, then signed up for a sponsorship deal with another manufacturer!), and have never regretted it - best use of a student loan in history.

1987 Cannondale Competition ST, solely because of the factory custom paint. I built it up for my wife, with modern Ultegra 10 speed, she rode it once and hated it (not a cyclist). It's just so cute and one-of-a-kind.

mgopack42 

Top 3 is tough, and I have not had near as many as a lot of you guys seem to have/have had. So here goes:
1) Custom Paterek I had in late 70's. I worked for Tim at the Village Pedaler in River Falls WI as a college student. He did the torch work, I did all of the filing and fitting and clean up. Reynolds 531 SL (?) with regular 531 down tube and chain stays. Lots of braze-ons, first vertical drop outs i had ever seen, investment cast BB and fork crown, Prugnat long point lugs (investment cast, I seem to remember, if that is a thing?) Also first bike i have ever seen with recessed brake fittings. mix of Campy record, and SR, with Zeus 2000 (2001) brakes and hubs. Painted in a very 80's dark blue Imron, with matching Silca pump. Stolen from my parents garage when i was home for the summer.
2) Current CF road bike. 2012 or '13 Pinarello FP Quatro, in Black on Black (BoB) color scheme. Full Campy Chorus, and Campy Bullet 50 wheels. rides like a dream
3) Masi 3V Volumetrica that I recently acquired. If it had brifters, you would swear it was a modern CF bike. Handling is sharp, and ride feel is not as harsh a the contemporaneous reviews would have you believe.

wrk101

I judge it in part by which bikes I have kept the longest. I've sold all the high end Italian bikes I have owned.

#1 . Katakura Silk. Picked up as a rusty frameset in Charlotte.

1986 Katakura Silk by bill, on Flickr


2. 1987 Schwinn Prologue

fullsizeoutput_91b by wrk101, on Flickr


3. 1988 Schwinn Cimarron LE

88 Cimarron 2019 Version by wrk101, on Flickr

bwilli88 

Probably these
Zunow serial number 295.
And two to build up and ride.
A Witcomb I purchased from nlearner which is at gugie's atlier getting the full gugieificazion.
And a Roberts built Geoffrey Butler I purchased from randyjawa. As soon as we are cleared to travel back to the States they will be built and setup ridden ,then torn down and brought here to Cambodia.
Ones I have ridden
81 Centurion Pro-tour
73 Raleigh Super Course.

squirtdad

ok top three no pic of first 2

1. A coast to coast schwinn 26" clone, 1 speed, candy apple red, $36 or so, bought with communion money and savings. rode it everywhere (firecracker stand, tastee-freeze, creeks for fishing, berry hunting. My first boys bike, learned a lot of maintenance how to's from my dad on this one.........my youngest brother ended up welding a hitch to it and used it to haul a trailer with his lawn mower in it

2. An azuki 10 speed. my first 10 speed (i had a columbia 3 speed but this was different) rode it everywhere, even 20 miles to the next town to get tacos. I remember when buying this one ($160 or so....a good portion of my summer surgar beet hoeing money) that there was a $400 fuji with sewups.....I wanted so badly. This bike went with me to the coast guard and got ridden in newfoundlanc, bermuda, bahamas, florida, and NYC

not the bike but pretty good pic of similar



and my current top bike

3. 85 team miyata with 5800 105 components, great mix of classic and modern, rides fast and light. only thing to do is maybe get some new wheels and put tubies on it and it is pretty even with modern gear (IMHO)

USAZorro

Despite being the former owner of a Hetchins, and it being a Magnum Opus with all the eye-candy lugs, it doesn't make my list. Here are what does, though it's a very close call on some of these, and on another day, I might have different answers.

Number One:




just kidding, folks.

The gugified Competition is one of them. It would not have made the list prior to its transformation. It handles wonderfully, is comfortable, and I can ride it practically anywhere.




This is one of the least versatile bicycles I own, but it is the lightest, fastest, and at a mere 20 years of age, the youngest bicycle I own. I really need to re-do the tires, bar tape and find a replacement bolt for that seat post.




And beating out an Argos, a Raleigh Team Professional, a slightly larger than ideal Raleigh Professional, and a Fuji Finest that I have had many adventures on, there's this - purchased two years ago from sloar. It has since gotten a wheel change and has been fitted out with 35mm Panaracer Pro Tites in eventual anticipation of Cino:

bnewberry

My top three don’t compare to some here!

1. Miyata 912. The orange beast! This bike wanted to go fast. I sold it in the 90’s and still regret it.
2. 1970’s Schwinn Voyager. Sold it to buy the Miyata, and still regret it.
e. 1978 Trek 730, this is the current go fast bike. I ride it in races or shorter fast rides. Sadly I don’t go as fast as it wants to go, or as I used to go!

obrentharris 

What, no pictures?!
Please. I want to see these bikes.
Brent

wawine

here is the Puch. It was found in a steel recycling facility in Germany, sent to a bike guy in Poland, because of the Campagnolo headset and bottom bracket, who then sold it on eBay, not understanding what it was. I contacted Peter, who assisted me in rebuilding it up the way it was in 1982, even providing photos of him riding it in the TdF.

The Bianchi is undergoing a complete repaint, as it had been repainted at least twice before I got it, once with braze ons added, which I had to obviously remove. Taking a long time to get done, but when it is, there will be lots of photos.

the Paratella is new to me as of last November. Some tubes were repainted in the original color years ago, covering the decals and seat tube fade. I had decals designed and made, and now it is in the shop to get the seat tube fade just right. This is a photo of Nino Defillipis on an identical bike, possibly this one ( but I think not, but this is the only color photo I could find of one of the road bikes)

cudak888 

1951 Raleigh Sports. A perfect city commuter. Sure, it weighs half a ton, but it makes up for that with a Sturmey 4-speed hub.



1961 Schwinn Paramount. The one bike that never feels like man and machine, but rather one unit working as a whole. It has always felt right through every minor incarnation. Old pic.




1978 Raleigh Professional Mk.V. The liveliest roadbike I've ever known (and yes, that includes a direct comparison with a 2019 Specialized Venge Pro too). Probably because of the tubulars. I often say it's the bad girlfriend of the collection...always goading you on even when you shouldn't



-Kurt

repechage

I am having a tough time with holding it to three.

DMC707

I don't actually have anything C&V in this list as the top 3 I own are late models


I really do think they are putting something in the water in Morgan Hill, California --- because my Tarmac is the most effective road machine I have ever thrown a leg over -- and while it was pricy, im still glad I made the investment every time I ride it




The big Yeti can do just about everything a mountain bike needs to do with the lone exception being high level XC racing. This is a 5 year old SB-95 ,
--- the suspension is plush on my local trails, but flip the switch on the shock to climb mode and lock out the fork and it will roll gravel just fine -- and with a lower rolling resistance tire, like a Small Block 8 Kenda or something similar - actually rolls it quite well -- and with tires like that, the weight of the machine is within a whisker of what I have seen for some entry level steel frame gravel bikes
Switch the tires out for some burlier 2.4's (the limit on this bikes swingarm) - and it has no problem on true DH trails within the limits of my capabilities .

I replaced the 1x11 XTR system with a 1x12 Eagle setup not long ago , but that has been the only upgrade I have done in 5 years other than upping the size of the front brake rotors. I have a decent assortment of tires for different conditions , but mostly it wears mmid range Maxxis Ardents for my local trails.

In short - it has truly been an impressive bicycle in the time span I have had it



My made to measure track bike rounds out the top 3 --- (At least its steel ! )

DMC707

And now that ive posted my actual top 3

I will post my C&V Top 3 in the same categories -- Road, MTB and track (forgive me I need new pics, I have recycled some of these a couple times over in other threads)


Colnago Super with Record/Delta groupset purchased from another forum member a few years back



Yeti PRO FRO -- 23 pound steel hardtail -- super trick Rock Shox for that era with Ti bits and an Arlo Englund internal cartridge conversion kit


And my sentimental favorite - Waterford track bike