squirtdad

Do you have bike that you have always been able to depend on and can't quite see getting rid of, whether or not it is in heavy rotation of riding.

I have one

It started out as a 82 Nishiki Olympic 12. I bought it new from the Off Ramp in Santa Clara for ~$300. Decent but not fancy....classic Sugino, diacompe, suntour gear with powershifters on the downtube,

For 7 years this was the bike, commuted, road for fun on weekends, did lots of lucky lager runs, even a couple of Triathlons in Folsom Lake.

I don't have pic from this time

I got a new Miyata 1400 in 89 and the nishiski was loaned to a friend for road riding (he had moutainbikes) until he bought a Miami Vice centurion

I was not super into biking for while (got married, lots of work on house, lots of work, etc)

The next version of this bike was a simple bar and lever replacement, with the idea of this being a more casual riding bike. This also gives an idea of what the bike was like with drop bars



Rode it, but then it got packed away in container for a year and half while we did a remodel

Once it was liberated, I had caught the bug again and rebuilt this from the ground up. This rebuild taught me about bike forums, shedldon brown, brooks saddles, 700c conversion, frame cold setting, buying parts on ebay, head set removal and installation, cassettes, rattle can frame painting and the joy of thumbies. by the time i was done the only original parts were the frame, fork and seatpost.

The first iteration of the cockpit was like this, and it quickly proved to me that flatbars are not for me and for some reason trigger shifters hate me.



so few more changes and the bike is in the form it still is today



I commuted on it today and it is still the go to for errands.

I still use by other bikes and once I get done with getting rid of winter out of shape will move to commuting on the torpado.

But this bike will faithfully wait for it's next excursion

USAZorro

That poor rd.

My Fuji Finest just keeps finding itself under my butt - despite contemplating selling it off several times.

Drillium Dude 

This is my Old Faithful. Owned since 1994, stolen, recovered, ridden up and down pretty much everything, including rocky, gravel-grinding on Cino a couple years ago. I will never, ever get bored of this bike. It does it all!



DD

eschlwc

old faithful

my '76 moto grand record was my first road bike as an adult. it's the only one that ever has a rear rack attached, so it's the designated grocery getter. it's very solid (heavy) in the rear stays, which makes it great for this purpose, but maybe less so on its own without a load (as compared to my two lighter road bikes).



it came as a bit of a franken bike with suntour gearing and the sugino crank. i retained the crank, but i've added new wheels, modern calipers, and campy nuovo record most everywhere else.

squirtdad

much classier than my nishiki

bradtx

squirtdad, May seem like an odd choice, but this is the one bike I wouldn't ever sell. It's been beat to death, helped me toe dip into the touring pool, and even accidentally went on a club road ride. '98 Trek 7000ZX bought new in '97.

Brad

An old photo following a wash and over haul:

Snacks

Ooh, she's pretty.

Lascauxcaveman 

Gotta be the '72 Lambert, mine (in various guises) since 1982:









Almost put it up for sale when I bought my first "modern" bike. But then I thought, "Well, maybe it'd be OK to have two bikes."

Those were more innocent times.

Essthreetee

Squirt dad, I too have a Torpado that I commute on...same exact bike as yours.
But my Old Faithful is my Bianchi Limited.
It was the first bike I "built". Got it as just a frame. Acquired a fork here and gathered parts for it.
It has gone through MANY different build ups and served different purposes.

I ALMOST sold it when I got my first "real" bike...even had a guy test ride it...but had to tell him I changed my mind.
It is now back in rotation...meaning it gets ridden at least once in a while. But when it does, I remember how comfy it is and enjoy the ride.

Here it is in its latest build.

3speedslow

This is a good question post, one that requires more thought. I'll get back to ya'.

jefnvk

The Scott is heavy, slow, too small, not a great MTB, and not particularly well suited for anything, but I've owned it since I was in middle school in 1997, barring catastrophic failure I never see it leaving my stable. Took me all over before I could drive, led me into my biggest crash (25MPH into a pine off an unseen mogul) that pretty much laid me up for two weeks as a freshman in college, practically lives in the back of my car and despite its unsuitability, still gets ridden more than my favored Peugeot.

That damn Specialized computer I got new with it just keeps on chugging, too! Wish I could find a pile of those NOS.

EDIT: on second thought, when does the Vintage part of C&V kick in?

CuttersRidge

Hybrid bike, '93 Schwinn Crisscross, came with butterfly bars, big as a truck, can carry a lot, chromoly. That is largely my emergency bike. Big basket conveniently fits on front, rack on the back.

Primitive Don

Sanwa gas pipe special, long ago relieved of its 600 Arabesque group and bent fork. My favorite for tooling around town.

northbend 

My old faithful owned since '81. Just took this photo today while out giving it some love around the upper and lower Snoqualmie Valley.

SJX426 

I would have to say my '97 Rockhopper is old faithful. It was purchased to be a beater as well as introduce me to mountain biking, which never really happened. It was sort of a fantasy on a budget. It ended up being the goto bike when I needed a short run on two wheels or to commute. When the weather is poor or I need to haul something, it is the bike of choice. It hasn't really been modified, just maintained. Saddle, stem and pedal changes. Chain and rear block replaced along with tires.

This is not a recent pic so not all the changes are included.
[IMG]Truck with packw, on Flickr[/IMG]

When I want suspension, it easily adapts to that mode.
[IMG]P1020526, on Flickr[/IMG]

I guess it really doesn't qualify as C&V but that wasn't a selection criteria! It has over 3000 miles on it which isn't much for many of you but.....

In 2015, old faithful was this fella that carried me over 2500 miles last year. Wore out a rear tire.
[IMG]P1020207, on Flickr[/IMG]

OTS 

Love threads like this.
Lots of pictures and warm feelings.

texaspandj

I have 5 other Ironman but this one. Wish I knew how to post a larger pic. This one is never in a tore down state or needs to be upgraded, for me just about as good as it gets and rock solid dependable. Comfy too. Dura ace where it counts, fd,rd,bb,head set,hubs, and freewheel. I think about it like this: Even if I were to ride cross country this would be the one.

Velognome 

My Giant Iguana has been with me for 25+ years, as a MTB, Dropbar HD touring rig, Pack mule for groceries and now as my winter ride and gravel road cruiser....so ya, I got one

e.

sailorbenjamin

Here she is, dumpster fresh, almost ten years ago. I just rebuilt her again this winter. We moved from the hills to the flats so I got rid of the 18 gears, full fenders and lights and put a coaster brake on her. Still waiting for the pictures to come back from the developer.

daf1009

Not too old and definitely not C&V...but has the look! My Pinarello Surprise has carried me more miles than any other bike! Recently, I had it hanging in my garage...and it spoke to me..."Hey, you have not rode me in a long while, how about we take a spin?" So, got it down and was reminded of how I love riding this bike!

The Golden Boy 

Two days before I got out of the Army, I bought my 1987 Schwinn High Sierra- my idea was that this was going to be my transportation on the college campus I was going to be going to. That never happened. I lived off campus and worked split shifts so I 'needed' a car.

When I got back into riding, this was the bike I was doing it on. This bike is what imprinted what a "cool" bike is. The stability, utility and cool- bunches of braze ons, fillet brazed, chrome, long wheelbase...

After a while I realized that MTBs weren't exactly what I wanted... But it was those characteristics on a touring bike.

I haven't ridden the High Sierra much in the past few years, but so much of this bike is so cool I can't bring myself to sell it. I've tried a few things, changing to drops, changing things around...

My latest idea is to set it up with trekking/ butterfly bars. I'll post progress pix!

jimmuller 

This collection would not be complete without one of these:



Upgraded once, then restored (almost) to original:



Then upgraded again (but no new pic just yet).

3speedslow

My old Faithful.

Was a spur of the moment CL decision almost 4 yrs ago. Looked beaten and neglected ,the price was great. Not C&V at all and will never be classic but certainly vintage one day. Scorned by many for not having the pedigree.

2010 Motobecane USA Fantom Uno CX.



Changed many things like saddle ,tape,levers and tires to become a solid commuter, errand and gravel trail bike. It's SS/FX gearing of 39/16 made hills easy and quick speed doable. Rode all over central NC with it. Braze ons for racks front and back made it ready for many different outings.

The bike I brought with me to the coast when I had to come take care of my folks. The bike I rode to the jobs I had while trying to get back into the workforce.


Even when I had more bikes to ride it always stayed in the ready room for the errands, short deliveries and rainy days


It was the one that met the van one day but stayed frame true so I could rebuild her again.

She continues to be that bike.

OldsCOOL

My small but interesting fleet has been completely renewed since 4/14. I think I will keep it this way for a while. .

bikemig 

My 1991 Team Stumpjumper. It was my first mountain bike and had everything I liked at the time, a rigid fork, light steel (tange prestige), and a lot of suntour/WTB grease guard goodness (easy as pie to overhaul with a grease gun). I stopped using it for offroad riding when I picked up a "modern" mountain bike with a front suspension fork. The bike got hung up for a while and then I fixed it up with trekking bars for more general road riding. Next iteration is going to as a gravel grinder mutt probably with a drop bar conversion: