squirtdad

What with this old stuff? I am not getting older, I am getting less young. I am not getting grey, I am going blond.

Now hand me the 8 track with Layla on it and get off my lawn

P!N20

I'm just a department store HSO. (Human shaped object.)

Pcampeau

No pics in thread yet? Here’s an obligatory Paramount. I’m surprised merziac didn’t beat me to it.


Welcome aboard eljayski!

USAZorro

But merziac's wouldn't be of a size rideable by mortals.

52telecaster

Welcome to c and v and know that there is an amazing amount of knowledge here and a few strong opinions but mostly if you're looking to be enabled. You found your home.

Gugiefied Austro Daimler.... If you hang around long enough you'll know what that means.

Bianchi84

Same for me. I still have the 1984 Bianchi and 1985 Cannondale that I built when I worked at a Bike Shop in Long Island, NY; never bought a newer one. Both still work great so never saw a need to change!

John E

I greatly prefer the appearance of road bicycles from the mid-1950s into the mid-1980s, perhaps because I took up bicycling at age 12 in 1962 and have ridden bicycles of that era ever since. They simply look "right" to me. (I became particularly passionate about bicycling for transportation, recreation, health, and general enjoyment in the late 1960s.) I like things like horizontal top tubes, toeclips, and non-indexed shifting. I also appreciate the versatility of a somewhat relaxed frame geometry, with ample clearance for wider tires and/or mudguards. I am also a huge fan of "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without," as well as a do-it-yourselfer who started working on my own electronics and bicycles in high school, then moved on to house, automobile, and appliance repair, as well.

Charles Wahl

{always from the drive side, except in extraordinary circumstances}
Welcome!

tkamd73 

I bought my first CV bike back in 85, a leftover 84 Schwinn Supersport from my then LBS, of course we were both way less CV back then. Welcome!
Tim

rumrunn6

mid-60s & I'm hardly ever in the C&V threads, but they interest me. lots of knowledgeable ppl here & while I can't contribute much, I do often read thru for entertainment

lots of other interesting sub-forums & threads, if you have some extra time to kill. you can go thru the sub-forums & see what the threads in each are. I'll bet some might interest you, even amuse you. you can also click the "new posts" links at the top for a look-see

after you've been here a little while & participate, you can click on your avatar at the top right of the screen & select "subscribed threads" & see if any places you've been, have new activity

welcome & enjoy!

SJX426 

I bought my first 10 speed in 1962 in Japan, I think it was a Panasonic. Long gone but I still have the 1972 Le Champion even though it is hanging in the garage because it is too bent up to ride. There were at least 4 bikes before the Panasonic, 1 Murry, grade school, two 3 speeds and a 5x1.
For 30 something years I transferred the Le Champ from one garage to another without riding it. Got back into riding in 1997 with a close-out sale RockHopper. Here I am 8 bikes later not counting the SO smaller stable.
Welcome and enjoy the ride.
P1000599 on Flickr

Saudadeii

There was nothing C nor V about my Univega when I bought it in 1985. Eventually, the entire bike world will end up in here.

Even Blink 182 is considered "classic" (hopefully not end up in here).

beicster 

I’m 54. I had no appreciation of quality bikes bikes back in the 70’s and 80’s. I didn’t start paying attention to quality until the early 90’s. I love the C&V bikes because I like the way they look. And, I like to tinker.

repechage

yes, the C&V sales forum and the adjacent valuation forum, with the near cousin early index and brifter forum.

framebuilders often has interesting content.

Hondo6

AKA Das Huffmeister!

OP: welcome, and enjoy browsing the forum. Especially the thread linked above.

SirMike1983 

C&V generally is pretty civil. Occasionally there are people who come in just to argue with others and take over threads, but certainly not to the degree I've seen in some of the other areas of the forum.

droppedandlost 

This is the only social media I do. (50 sun loops)
British, French, Italian, Japanese

AdventureManCO 

Wow, can't even. So good.

Wildwood 

C&V is a deep knowledge source.
C&V is a parts source.
C&V is a cyclotourist source.
C&V is a collection of friends source.

C&V with your other condiments is a spice of life.

Make mine Italian

......... and more!





as to C&V age...

79pmooney

I like the feel, ability to build custom (to fit this body), the durability and safety of well built steel and ti bikes. (And lugged steel is so forgiving the bar for durable and safe is really low!) My knees cry out for low Q-factors. Almost 50 years ago I had a steel bike that could extract absolutely everything this body had to offer. (Pure racer; it couldn't do much else.) And I was sold! Ever since then I have been trying to keep in my stable a ride as close to that as was feasible. Going X mph faster doesn't matter to me. The bike doesn't have to weigh "this". Having the newest and greatest doesn't matter to me. But "the ride" does. Money, my life and the years after a major head injury have shaped what was feasible to much more modest rides than I would have liked but the dream never left. Times have changed for me and now a fleet of bikes that coast like a modest car is something I can do. (While I drive my modest, paid for Prius C, perhaps for the rest of my driving days.)

So now I have steel frames from '73, '79 and two from '83. Plus 2 ti customs, 2008 and '11. I consider them as C & V inspired.

First ti was a conscious "copy" of the early '80s Japanese sport bikes. Inspired by a Univega Competizione that fit like that old race bike. Geometry off that Univega except the BB kicked up a bit and HT pushed out a cm. (My call and maybe a mistake. As I get older and less confident, speed wobbles have crept in. I made the cal for the longer top tube to have an easy to find and "classic aka "Eddy Merckx" 12 cm stem.) That bike is "Japanese sport" in that it has similar fender clearances and eyes. Intended use. It also makes a very stylish rain bike.

Second ti bike is what might have been one of the hottest bikes at the start of a late '89s, early '90s race in a fictional word where gears were never invented. My avatar bike. Jessica J. Fix gear with a 2" road style dropouts so the rim stays inside the brake pads and opens to the front for quick wheel flips. Yes, like the really old days. Get to a hill, stop, and flip the wheel. And since I am not racing I spare my old undercarriage and stop at the top, unscrew the big cog and screw on a tiny one. (42-12 at 45 mph plus downhill is a blast!)

Both ti bikes - traditional steel forks. With nice crowns. One 531. Never asked about the other and I'm pretty sure it's different but it is just as nice. And I am still sold on the idea that steel forks are an ideal match to the less stiff titanium frame since the entire frame consists of tubes supported at both ends except that fork. (My "test ride" on a Merlin in the early days of ti consisted of an up hill sprint on a Merlin MTB. And my impression? "Make this a custom road frame and this is all there!" After nearly 40k miles, I still believe that.

Oh, the steel bikes:

1973 Raleigh Competition. A Friday bike. It cost me most of a grand to make it safe. Any potential love for Raleigh - gone. Still a flexible flyer by design. OK on rough road, can get disconcerting at speed. It is different and sometimes fun.

1979 Peter Mooney. This bike was designed to be my link to sanity post head injury. Number one design requirement - to be rideable 12 months of the year in the 48 states. So - room for huge 27" tires and fenders. (Think January in Maine with the tires you could get locally in 1979.) Cantis set at the intermediate height so I could run 700c just as easily. Ability to tour and go off road. It would never enter a race. And horizontal dropouts so I just could go fix gear if I ever wanted. Now - its a dreamy fix gear! And I've figured out how to get an even bigger gear range than Jessica J has on that short Campy dropout. Plus it can take (almost ) any tire so I can ride fixed on any "road" out there. Bike's name is Pete. We're wedded. He has seen me through my crazy years, done a few crazy rides. Ridden twice in insane rain. Camped covertly in places many of you know but that I will not say. And funny, he now wears a wedding ring. Serious. A brass? band around the DT It doesn't come off. (To keep derailleur cables from rubbing on the DT and decals between the top-mounted shifters and the under the BB cable guides. I used a turks head ring for decades to do the job but they get frayed and start looking bad. The wedding ring is a so much more elegant solution. And for the foreseeable fix gear years? Just elegant.

1983 Trek 510? My winter/rain/city fix gear. The bike that's been in my stable since 1976. On frame number 5.

1983 Pro Miyata. Fun! Pure race, perfect fit. Perfect handling. Fast! No bad habits. I don't think this bike has a top speed after which bad habits show. Quite sure this will always have 20 mph reserve over anything I'll ever be able to do. Only takes 24c tires. (25c in spec new rear tire doesn't even turn.) Running tubulars. Good tubulars are so forgiving and the bike so well behaved that 23c isn't scary on any pavement. (I raced in the '70s and it's "oh yeah! I remember why I loved sewups so much!" Back when only snobs rode tubulars. )

Best bike? It might be a toss between the Pro Miyata and Jessica J.

Road Fan

Maybe that's why "my computer" always seems slow, balky, and unreliable! Several hundred even older old farts also messing around reading about bikes!

Road Fan

Maybe that's why "my computer" always seems slow, balky, and unreliable! Several hundred even older old farts also messing around reading about bikes!

Polaris OBark

See?

Two of you guys just posted the same thing from the same computer.

Road Fan

I bet I hit Send twice when I noticed all the pics that those other guys left on "my computer!"

ollo_ollo

Must be serendipity, was just going to hang these + I'm a full blown geezer of 82, also hung out in the "Commuter" sub-forum prior to retirement, so you might want to check it out too. Don