jfracer03

Never selling my dad's Pinarello Treviso he had built up in the mid 80s then sold a few years later. I was able to track it down to the woman it was sold to and she gave it back to me for free! It is almost all original and after meeting with the original bike shop owner/mechanic who built this up for my dad, I will be making it more period correct and as close to the original build as possible.

Mad Honk 

I'm not sure that I have one that I would not part with. I have regrets about some things like selling my 50th Anniversary groupo to my room-mate for $400 to spend a week in Florida, or selling my 1969 Schwinn track bike to a collector from Chicago, but both were necessary at the time. I still have the 1972 Paramount track to ride, and will hold on to it for a while. I thought I would keep all that I currently have, until an arsonist decided they looked better in flames. I am currently restoring my Treks: 770, 760, Team Fuji, Ochsner, Schwinn Peloton, and Patelli. With all the work put into them (Twice!) I don't think I part with them soon, but I am sure there will come a time when I get too short to cross the top bar and ride them. Then it will be time to pass them on. For now they are all keepers. Smiles, MH

Obeast

steel bikes never look dated. So many nice bikes in this thread.

Mad Honk 

I am thinking I may try a full carbon bike this year.... But and this a big Butt; Will it handle as did the steel that preceded it? I'm thinking if the geometry is right it will. Where the weight is distributed is another matter. Maybe I have turned into another crotchety old fart, but still like the ride of steel. Smiles, MH

Doctor Morbius

There are some beautiful classic road bikes being posted in this thread. If I had something like that I wouldn't sell them either. In fact, I wouldn't even ride them anymore. I'd proudly display them in my house and use a commodity bike to ride. A commodity bike as in what I have now ... nothing special.

kevincgove

Love this thread and those that have a personal and sentimental hold on their bikes. As well as those bikes that are still doing what they were made to do! My story is similar to others...purchased the frame new and took about 6-7 months to save enough money for the DuraAce gruppo that I built it up with. Since then it has been my daily ride, winter ride, bike that hung up on the rafters of my garage and now my daily ride again. It has been repainted a few years ago and recently updated to a 10 speed mixed gruppo with carbon wheels. Rides like a dream and will definitely be the last road bike I'll have.

delbiker1 

Still need to place the Ochsner decals


Looks more red in this light
My almost finished rebuilt Ochsner steel. Cannot beat the magic ride of classic steel!

ohlins8990

My Motobecane Super Mirage. My parents bought it for me in highschool. Modernized a few bits and pieces, but could never git rid of the frame.

I’m quite attached to my Ribble as well, but doesn’t quite have the same sentimental value as this one.

bruce19

I swore I'd never sell my Masi Gran Criterium S (2005) but since I bought a CAAD 12 to go with my Guru Sidero, I am considering it. The Masi is a 58 and rideable but too big really. A shame because it's all Dura Ace and, I think, beautiful. But, it's going to be hanging on a wall unridden if I keep it.

tsmorr

I'm pretty attached to all my bikes, but I think top 2 on my list for do not sell status are my old work bike, an early 90s Team Miyata track bike, and (thankfully no one would want to buy this one) my work bike before that, a Cromor-tubed Rossin that has a hole in the driveside chainstay. I made that hole with a spider that somehow was hitting the frame and I didn't notice?

Some day I'm thinking I'll have some kind of room where I can display 'em on the wall.

jideta

I have a mid 90's Bianchi Campione. Originally it came with 8 speed Mirage but now dressed in 10sp Centaur. Second complete build. Even has Campy seat clamp bolt and aero post. Took a while to accumulate all the parts and get it how I wanted it.
Except for BF, you don't see many quill stem bikes out there no more.
Was on CL for a couple of weeks; actually went to the park for a look see.
As soon as I took it out of my car I knew I was doing the wrong thing. Just the way the guy looked at it, I could tell he didn't know what I had and that he wasn't going to buy it cause I wasn't going to let him.
Almost let it go.

I've bought and sold and rescued more than a few.
One guy I met on the road: "I could see you on that celeste Bianchi half a mile away."
I guess I'm keeping that one until the frame rusts out.

HPL

Hello,
Sorry, but I'm a bit confused. Most folks go to CL to either look for something to buy or to get an idea of what a similar item to theirs might be priced at in order to price their own item. "Went to the park for a look see", implies to me that you were looking to purchase after "on CL for a couple of weeks". And then you "took it out of my car"; now implying that you were the seller. I'm glad I wasn't the "buyer" having my time and money wasted to apparently look at an item not for sale because of a judgement "of the way" I "looked at it". Not sure what the heck was happening. If you did that to me whether I knew what you had or not, and I went with the intent of a potential purchase, but was not able to because I "wasn't going to buy it cause I wasn't going to let him" is ethically wrong from what I gather in your comment. I have only once not purchased an item that I was interested in, and it had much more to do with the SELLER not knowing what he had (basing his value on a brand name, rather than actual model and features; happened to be the cheap 70's Merckx branded frame, as opposed to the real Merckx racer that I'd have readily purchased at the asking price). I traveled 3 hrs at my own expense not to purchase; imagine how I'd have felt if I wanted to purchase the bike and the seller decided he wasn't going to sell me the bike because of the "way" I looked at it. You'd have had some real explaining to do if it was me, and I would have asked to be compensated for my time and fuel! If my interpretation of the incident is wrong then please clarify; and I apologize if I have misinterpreted.

By the way, my bike I won't sell is my first "real road bike"; 75/76 Colnago Super, ridden over 30 years, and never put up for sale, nor brought "to the park for a look see". If you want to see it, it will only be with you passing me, and/or myself passing you; otherwise you'd see it at the bike shop when I do my maintenance on it.

DHPflaumer

I feel pretty confident saying I'll never sell this guy. It's perfect for me in every way, fits me perfectly, can carry everything I need and want to go camping, and is more than capable of all the mixed terrain riding I want to do. I can take off the fenders and slap on some ~2" tires if I really want to get wild.

Philphine

being more a freakbiker than a regular biker i've been cobbling up my own. they fall into "never sell" for two reasons. i'm not a professional welder and was warned off selling bikes by other hobby builders with horror stories of being sued if a bike comes apart and someone is injured. so if i'm confident of a frame, but have lost interest in it, i just give the frame (or basic bike with the fancy bits kept) away. the other reason is as i get better i make things i really like, so i don't mean to let them go because i feel like i can't make a better version of it. i have about 5-7 that fall into that category (some builds still developing)

a third reason is i'm a member of a local bike co-op and i'm more likely to just donate a bike there. mostly unmolested bikes, but i have given them a couple project bikes.

panthersnw

My Dad's old Concord 10 speed. I just replaced all the hardware and it's still heavy, but rides very nice.

Charliekeet

I have a Cannondale SR900 from 1985 that I plan to keep. It just works for me, which surprised me cause I’ve had other (vintage and modern) aluminum bikes and haven’t liked them as much as the steel bikes I’ve had, and some complain that these are too harsh-riding.

For me, it rides really well, and it looks sexy (even though I’ve flat-barred it, lol), and it’s also in rough cosmetic shape (that great bright red paint is flaked off all over the place) so I don’t worry about it too much, which is actually nice. I just like everything about it.

50PlusCycling

A Gios Compact Pro, issued to me by my team, which was sponsored by a Spanish super market chain. I've had it for more than 20 years, and though it didn't cost me anything, I will never sell it.

Synack42

This is going to look horrible compared to everything else in this thread... But this bike basically turned my health around completely. $30 on Craigslist a year ago -- Down from 330+ lbs to 207 and still dropping, blood sugar and pressure was ridiculously high and now normal and in control. Granted, calorie intake is a huge part of this, but this bike motivated me to get out and actually exercise. I could hardly pedal around the subdivision at first, now 30+ miles at 14-15 mph is easy.

(Yes, I put together a better daily driver, but I'm keeping this one together and hung up as a backup and reminder...)

Repack Rider

I own one of the most collectible bicycles in the world, "Breezer #2 ." Only ten were made, and they changed the direction of bicycling.

"Breezer #1 " is in the Smithsonian collection. Breezer #10 recently sold for $30,000. I could pay off my house by selling that bike, but I prefer to leave it on display at the Marin Museum of Bicycling.

Here I am with the guy who built it for me in 1977.

Ogsarg

I try to never say never. I've had some things I thought I'd never sell and eventually did. My Minolta SRT-101 that I worked and saved for when I was 15, a Pioneer SX-1250 monster receiver that rocked my house for years, a 65 Austin Healy Sprite, were all things I thought I'd never get rid of but at some point, they were just collecting dust and needed to go.