I haven't loved a toy this much...
09-15-19, 08:02 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
I haven't loved a toy this much...
I had a traumatic bike experience as a 13 year old teenager. It was 1974 and all I wanted was a 10-speed bike for my birthday. My mother and step-father wouldn't buy me one. He said "I'm and engineer and there is no reason to have 10 speeds on a bike. I went to the bike shop and asked how much is your cheapest 10-speed bike. And they said about $100. Then I asked how much is your best 3-speed bike. And they said about $100. So we are getting you THE BEST 3-speed bike!" My Mom said "I agree and we are putting baskets on it so you can go to the store and buy milk!" They were both so happy. It was a really nice Raleigh. I rode it everywhere. I did eventually take the baskets off. But I was THE ONLY kid that didn't have a 10-speed bike.
When I graduated from college one of the first things I bought myself (after a water bed) was a 10-speed bike (12 actually); a 1986 Raleigh Technium, but never rode it much. The narrow tires didn't work well on Michigan roads. I've been using the Technium to follow my daughters around on their bikes through my subdivision for the last 20 years or so. Then my neighbor, who has a Felt and Pinarello, saw me and said "Hey that's a vintage bike! It's worth something." Come to find out it is considered a desirable bike by many.
In 2016 I got a bonus at work and left it in my checking account. I went to a nice bike store and tried all the bikes. I decided on a Specialized Diverge. Oh my, I haven't loved a toy this much since I was 8 years old. I can't believe how nice it is. I need to ride it more. I bought a Specialized Rockhopper 29er too so I can follow my daughter now on her Specialized Myka, and my other daughter has a Specialized Crosstrail. In the end, my kids will never have to experience the suffering I endured.
When I graduated from college one of the first things I bought myself (after a water bed) was a 10-speed bike (12 actually); a 1986 Raleigh Technium, but never rode it much. The narrow tires didn't work well on Michigan roads. I've been using the Technium to follow my daughters around on their bikes through my subdivision for the last 20 years or so. Then my neighbor, who has a Felt and Pinarello, saw me and said "Hey that's a vintage bike! It's worth something." Come to find out it is considered a desirable bike by many.
In 2016 I got a bonus at work and left it in my checking account. I went to a nice bike store and tried all the bikes. I decided on a Specialized Diverge. Oh my, I haven't loved a toy this much since I was 8 years old. I can't believe how nice it is. I need to ride it more. I bought a Specialized Rockhopper 29er too so I can follow my daughter now on her Specialized Myka, and my other daughter has a Specialized Crosstrail. In the end, my kids will never have to experience the suffering I endured.
09-15-19, 08:05 PM
#2
Forum Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Kalamazoo MI
Posts: 20,664
Bikes: Fuji SL2.1 Carbon Di2 Cannondale Synapse Alloy 4 Trek Checkpoint ALR-5 Viscount Aerospace Pro Colnago Classic Rabobank Raleigh C50 Cromoly Hybrid Legnano Tipo Roma Pista
Mentioned: 59 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3099 Post(s)
Liked 6,628 Times
in
3,797 Posts
Interesting introduction! Welcome to Bike Forums.
Likes For cb400bill:
09-15-19, 08:11 PM
#3
What happened?
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Around here somewhere
Posts: 7,927
Bikes: 3 Rollfasts, 3 Schwinns, a Shelby and a Higgins Flightliner in a pear tree!
Mentioned: 57 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1835 Post(s)
Liked 292 Times
in
255 Posts
For some reason break cables no matter how strong and never could keep a derailleur in shape so I adopted single speeds early on. You had a Raleigh at least!
Good to have you, enjoy the ride!
Good to have you, enjoy the ride!
__________________
I don't know nothing, and I memorized it in school and got this here paper I'm proud of to show it.
Likes For Rollfast:
09-20-19, 04:53 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: City of Angels
Posts: 4,870
Bikes: A few too many
Mentioned: 42 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1364 Post(s)
Liked 2,182 Times
in
1,184 Posts
Great intro and a super way to get to know you...Welcome, Ben
__________________
"EVERY PERSON IS GUILTY OF ALL THE GOOD THEY DID NOT DO"
Voltaire
Voice recognition may sometimes create odd spelling and grammatical errors
"EVERY PERSON IS GUILTY OF ALL THE GOOD THEY DID NOT DO"
Voltaire
Voice recognition may sometimes create odd spelling and grammatical errors
Likes For xiaoman1:
Likes For eaalto:
09-30-19, 05:16 AM
#6
Homey
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 13,500
Mentioned: 56 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2427 Post(s)
Liked 1,409 Times
in
902 Posts
Wow what a nice story! But at this point the bikes you are getting are not toys! Well, maybe still in our hearts, huh.. Welcome to Bike Forums and thank you for sharing such a cool story
10-01-19, 06:10 AM
#7
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posts: 33,025
Bikes: Merlin Cyrene '04; Bridgestone RB-1 '92
Mentioned: 325 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11981 Post(s)
Liked 6,691 Times
in
3,501 Posts
Welcome to Bike Forums!
__________________
See, this is why we can't have nice things. - - smarkinson
Where else but the internet can a bunch of cyclists go and be the tough guy? - - jdon
10-02-19, 05:21 PM
#9
Searching for answers...
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Off the San Gabriel River Trail, CA
Posts: 15
Bikes: 1985 Univega Competizione-Pro White; 1981 Schwinn Super Le Tour - Black Sable; 1987 Bianchi Limited-Metallic Celeste; 1972 Nishiki Professional - Green; 2015 Giant Defy Advanced 1
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times
in
3 Posts
Great story,,,,the appreciation factor is very real.
