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When do you say enough and put them down?

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When do you say enough and put them down?

Old 07-22-19, 08:36 AM
  #26  
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Upgrade. If you just replace what you had or get something similar, you will forever regret having wrecked your old bike. You will never feel quite the same about it. If you upgrade, your new bike will restore the feelings that you had so many years ago when your bike was new.
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Old 07-22-19, 10:59 AM
  #27  
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I'd just get a new bike. To me, bikes are tools and I've put 30 to 40 thousand miles on several of them but never get emotional about them. I have at least 35,000 on my main bike and if something happened to it which rendered it unridable I would look to find something better. In fact, I'm starting to get the N+1 bug already and the thing keeping me from buying is the fact that I no longer have a job.

Still nice to think about a new bike, though.
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Old 07-22-19, 02:49 PM
  #28  
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Time to brand your old friend with the Pie and Coffee designation. 8 speed, wow, I think I have one in the garage.
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Old 07-24-19, 09:32 AM
  #29  
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Yes, it can be VERY hard to let an old bike die. We often have fantastic memories attached to our faithful steed. If it were me I'd either convert it to a single speed or if I had the room hang it on the wall.

Cheers
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Old 07-29-19, 04:59 PM
  #30  
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Turn it into a single speed !!
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Old 08-01-19, 04:08 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by DaleEArnold
Turn it into a single speed !!
I was just thinking the exact same thing. You can either go single speed, or go all out and put in an internal geared hub, and keep riding your old friend.

Also, don't they make attachable RD hangars for bikes that don't have them originally? I seem to remember something like that...

Last edited by David Bierbaum; 08-01-19 at 04:13 PM. Reason: more info
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Old 08-01-19, 05:03 PM
  #32  
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Well, for all of you that are looking for a conclusion to my poor bike laments, I bought a Raleigh Competition full carbon replacement and am back out on the pavements. I also bought a used derailleur off of ebay for parts. When I get some time, I will be fabricating a bolt-on drop for my broken hanger. After all, some of use are being held together with hardware that was not original equipment. And if you don't at least try, the answer will always be NO. Thanks to everyone that took the time to share their thoughts.
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Old 08-04-19, 02:25 PM
  #33  
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Don't...look...back!

Someone might be gaining on you!
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Old 08-05-19, 12:52 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
Yes, it can be VERY hard to let an old bike die. We often have fantastic memories attached to our faithful steed. If it were me I'd either convert it to a single speed or if I had the room hang it on the wall.
It's more than that, for me. If I've ridden a bike many 1000s of miles I'll have gotten physically comfortable on it for all day riding.
Some new bikes take a long time and maybe costly parts swaps to get dialed in, and some I never get adequately comfortable on and regret.
That's another kind of investment in an old bike that should go into the equation and why I just had an 8-speed AL road bike reconditioned.
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Old 08-05-19, 03:22 PM
  #35  
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This is a bit out there, but you could convert it a 1X and add an internal gear hub rear wheel. You'll need to work out the shifters, but its been done before.
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Old 08-10-19, 06:28 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by zowie
It's more than that, for me. If I've ridden a bike many 1000s of miles I'll have gotten physically comfortable on it for all day riding.
Some new bikes take a long time and maybe costly parts swaps to get dialed in, and some I never get adequately comfortable on and regret.
That's another kind of investment in an old bike that should go into the equation and why I just had an 8-speed AL road bike reconditioned.
I know what you mean. For me it's the memories a bicycle brings me. I've ridden many thousands of miles on some of my bikes and I hate to see them go. Sometimes though repairs are more than what the bike is worth such as when seat stays break off the seat tube or in the case of one bike I had that died when I hit a wrong way riding bicyclist who was riding on a one way street the wrong way and exited a blind corner right in front of me. I bent the top tube and the down tube so badly that the front wheel could not turn past the down tube. I flipped the bike over, braced my feet against the bottom bracket shell and pulled on t he front fork legs for all I was worth. I managed to straighten it enough to ride the 25 miles home. I took the bike to a shop here in town and they told me it's cost more to replace those two tubes than what the frame was worth. I got the same answer from other shops including online ones. That wasn't even considering the cost of repainting the frame. I sure wish I could have grabbed that other bicyclist and held him until the police came. Unfortunately he was able to get up and take off. Needless to say that frame of mine was dead.

Cheers
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Old 08-10-19, 06:58 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
I know what you mean. For me it's the memories a bicycle brings me. I've ridden many thousands of miles on some of my bikes and I hate to see them go. Sometimes though repairs are more than what the bike is worth such as when seat stays break off the seat tube or in the case of one bike I had that died when I hit a wrong way riding bicyclist who was riding on a one way street the wrong way and exited a blind corner right in front of me. I bent the top tube and the down tube so badly that the front wheel could not turn past the down tube. I flipped the bike over, braced my feet against the bottom bracket shell and pulled on t he front fork legs for all I was worth. I managed to straighten it enough to ride the 25 miles home. I took the bike to a shop here in town and they told me it's cost more to replace those two tubes than what the frame was worth. I got the same answer from other shops including online ones. That wasn't even considering the cost of repainting the frame. I sure wish I could have grabbed that other bicyclist and held him until the police came. Unfortunately he was able to get up and take off. Needless to say that frame of mine was dead.

Cheers
I sold a steel Landshark to a friend and he rode into a planter while riding with no hands which buckled the top and downtubes. Since it was a lugged steel frame, Landshark was able to replace the tubes. My friend rode it for years after that and then sold it to somebody else.
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Old 08-10-19, 07:57 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by big john
I sold a steel Landshark to a friend and he rode into a planter while riding with no hands which buckled the top and downtubes. Since it was a lugged steel frame, Landshark was able to replace the tubes. My friend rode it for years after that and then sold it to somebody else.
I too could have had the tubes replaced on my bike but the cost was more than what a new frame would have been and then there would have been the added cost of getting the repaired frame painted. I was really sad to see that frame go.

Cheers
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Old 08-10-19, 10:34 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
I too could have had the tubes replaced on my bike but the cost was more than what a new frame would have been and then there would have been the added cost of getting the repaired frame painted. I was really sad to see that frame go.

Cheers
The money wasn't an issue for this guy and he wanted a different paint scheme anyway. It was all grey when I had it and he had it painted multiple shades of green with sharks all over the tubes.
It was Tange Prestige tubing and was way too flexy for me @220 pounds. He was 175 then and it was comfortable for him. I was the only bike I ever sold anywhere near what it was worth.
I've given 3 bikes away, including the one I replaced the Landshark with. I'd rather give them to someone I like than to try and sell them. I have 2 bikes now I'd like to get rid of.
Other bikes I have sold cheap just to move them out. I sold a Cannondale CAAD 5 I had put 30,000 miles on for just $300. I sold the Nishiki I toured across the country on for $20 as a frameset.

I don't know why but I don't have any emotional connection with bikes, or cars for that matter. They are just things.

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Old 08-10-19, 11:58 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by big john
The money wasn't an issue for this guy and he wanted a different paint scheme anyway. It was all grey when I had it and he had it painted multiple shades of green with sharks all over the tubes.
It was Tange Prestige tubing and was way too flexy for me @220 pounds. He was 175 then and it was comfortable for him. I was the only bike I ever sold anywhere near what it was worth.
I've given 3 bikes away, including the one I replaced the Landshark with. I'd rather give them to someone I like than to try and sell them. I have 2 bikes now I'd like to get rid of.
Other bikes I have sold cheap just to move them out. I sold a Cannondale CAAD 5 I had put 30,000 miles on for just $300. I sold the Nishiki I toured across the country on for $20 as a frameset.

I don't know why but I don't have any emotional connection with bikes, or cars for that matter. They are just things.
A lot of people look at bicycles and/or car, as tools. The perform a job and there's no attachment to them. Others think of their bicycle(s) as old and faithful friends that they don't want to part ways with. I guess a lot of the latter if they had room for them would retire their old worn out bicycles to the wall as mementos of great times and places.

I have a number of Old School MIELE bicycles. Two of them are Columbus SL framesets, one is a Columbus SLX frameset (With Jim Miele's signature on each side of the top tube), one is a Tange No.5 UNO SL tubing frameset converted to a touring bike with the addition of cantilever brake bosses and bridge, rear carrier seatstay mounts and a third bottle mount under the downtube, one is a Tange Infinity frameset and another is a MTB converted to drop bar and bar end shifters. I really don't have the room for all of them plus other bikes I have that I enjoy riding but I'm very loathe to get rid of any of them.

Cheers
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Old 08-15-19, 11:51 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by downhillmaster
I would repair it. That is a great frame and happens to be the same one that Iowa Rep Steve King rides!
Very cool.
Is that true? I tried a google search to find out what kind of bike Steve King rides, but after wading through several pages about his racist comments, I had to give up. Not cool at all.
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Old 08-25-19, 07:01 AM
  #42  
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I tend to be of the school who would be sad for a moment and then unceremoniously dump it. I think about the 7 or so (I lose track) bikes that I have here or are on loan to my daughter and think I'd dump them in a heartbeat if they failed similarly. Then I think about that one special bike in the stable and realize that for that one (and only that one) I couldn't do that. Ever.
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