crank_addict

This one is often grabbed for rides. Never to worry about some scratch, gets beat on the gravel trails. Its slowly getting upgrades to ALL STEEL parts. In the works are another set of tubulars. I should stay with the Campy theme, but now thinking high flange STEEL hubs. Small cog 5 speed is all it deserves.

Funny too as sometimes in the Sat. am group rides, there's always a whiner.... this, that, blame it on some modern bike, or part, blah, blah. I just love to rock on with this Beotchia - shut-up and enjoy the ride

Giacomo 1 

My Fabio Barecci gets a lot of love.

I'm not completely sure why. It's nothing to special. Just Aelle tubing. But she is overdressed in Campy regalia. Maybe I love it because of it's somewhat loud appearance, it's Colnago'esq paint job, or the fact that it might be the only example in North America, or maybe because I can't find out anything on who Fabio Barecci was. I'm just not sure, but I do like this bike and it gets a lot of ride time -

SquidPuppet

1977 Speedster sold for $96.95 new. Single speed gas pipe boat anchor.

The new saddle cost more than the original new bike did.
The wheels cost more than the original new bike did.
The crank set cost more than the original new bike did.

All in it's close to nine times what the bike cost new.

Stupid, I know. But it hits a nostalgia sweet spot from my teens and it rides like a marshmallow on a cloud.

sloar

No markings, I've been told they are the original bars. I have all the original parts for it. I've been trying to decide if I should put the original brakes back on.

gomango

Gotta be the Merckx AluCross.

Great all season bike. I have 1/2 the price of a new Cross Check into the bike after selling many of the original parts.

I just wish I could cram more tire into the stays, but who really cares?

It's fun.

[IMG]Untitled by gomango1849, on Flickr[/IMG]

3speedslow

Still has to be this one. More miles and tons of cleaning time with this one. Really easy to move around the city and on any surface. Simple one speed gear leaves me enjoying the ride more then thinking about the technical aspects of it.

I have the feeling this might change as more bikes get built back up from the move. Sorry, not C&V, but it's the one.

Dave Cutter

I love this bike.


It isn't valuable. It isn't rare or in anyway special. In every sense it is my worse bike. But (to me at least) it's the best looking bike I've ever owned.

Fahrenheit531 

If I'm really honest, it's my zero-prestige, do-whatever-I-ask-without-complaint Super Sport. It's a size too small for me and has seen about a bazillion miles in its life at the hands of who-knows-how-many owners. Don't ask why that misfit rack is on there right now. We'll call it a reflection of the bike's sometime role as mobile parts bin.

...the OP did ask about "more love than it probably should." This bike should, by any objective standard, receive a tiny sliver of what it actually does.

sloar

I like seeing all these bikes. Usually we are showing off our waxed and polished pride and joys. Keep em coming.

Shp4man

It weighs 45 pounds and it goes 10 MPH. I still am thinking of ways to make it better.

seedsbelize 

84 Letour Luxe, with Brooks Cambium, Busch and Muller lights, and S and S couplers.

bmthom.gis

For me it is my commuter. ..a Peugeot. Not sure which model, but it has a Carbolite frame upgraded semi modern drive train that is mismatched (one shifter is Ultegra, the other DuraAce), truvative cranks, 9 sp mtn bike cassette with a Deore RD and Ultegra FD, Nitto Randoneer Bara and a Brooks Cambium (with matching tape). Does a great job as a commuter!

CMC SanDiego

John E, I currently work at the top of Lusk Blvd (on Wateridge Circle) and keep a bike at work for lunchtime rides. I hate climbing up that hill, and can count on both hands the times I that I went up that way instead of going the long way around on Barnes Canyon Rd. If you climbed up that regularly....on a Schwinn Varsity!... I bow to you and your climbing prowess.

kickstart

Basically all my bikes.............

jpaschall

The Super Sport and the Le Tour are so great. Tons of patina, love it.

CMC SanDiego

This is my 1971 SuperCourse that I built as part of the VeloCheapo contest several years ago. I went overboard using powdercoat, new decals, and newer components... which wasn't cheap, so of course I didn't win, but I keep the bike and keep changing its set up. here it is as I built it originally:

Here it is as a Cargo bike with the X-tracycle attached.

No matter how it's set up, I just enjoy riding it. I've done day-long rides, grocery rides, trail rides, and this bike just eats it all up.

exdraghunt

I probably put waaaay too much effort into this bike.

A 1983 Sears-Roebuck Free Spirit.



Got it free from my grandfather (he'd gotten it from a neighbor, bet never used it) and proceeded to turn it into a cargo-bike. I put folding baskets on it, (probably worth more than the entire bike), then shelled out the money to replace the derailleur when the original crapped out about a year ago.

Next up it's getting a dynohub with drum brake and an IGH, to turn it into my winter commute bike.

greg3rd48 

@bmthom.gis I love the Peugeot. Any Peugeot for that matter catches my eye but yours is a head turner. @Giacomo 1 Now that is one flashy bike. There is no wonder that it gets a lot of "love".

Great bikes everyone. All the attention that these bikes get is well deserved. Here is my contribution, my '74 Peugeot U08 build whose only original parts are the frame and fork. It is one of my regular commuter bikes and handles long rides beautifully too.

vtchuck

My Trek 660.... from the end of the Trek steel era. Meh late 80's paint. Got the frame in a trade and built it up from parts I had .... Japanese, Italian, French.

My pump up the tires and go for a ride bike.... nothing fussy or fancy:

John E

That was 15-20 years ago, when I was a mere kid in my late 40s. My route took me from the Sorrento Valley commuter rail platform up and around Lusk to Morehouse Dr., across from the current Qualcomm headquarters. That was before they paved the Mira Sorrento Place connection between Scranton and Vista Sorrento Parkway.

I used to "race" up the hill with another Sorrento Mesa area employee, who then bought a Specialized Epic so that he could beat me. Ever the pence-pinching Scotsman, I retaliated by replacing the Varsity with a UO-8 a coworker had given to me. I installed cheapo aluminum cranks and rims I had lying around and rode the UO-8 up Lusk every workday for a few years, until I cracked the chainstay between the chainring and tire clearance dimples. The big challenge was to climb Lusk in second gear (42/24), without standing on the cranks or bailing down to the 42/26. I guess the commute was harder on the frame than on me, and I'll bet the Varsity never would have cracked under the stress.

tarwheel 

My Bob Jackson World Tour comes the closest to your question. I bought the bike new from England, but it only cost about $600 total, which is pretty inexpensive for a new frame and fork shipped across the Atlantic. Although I originally got it to be my dedicated commuter, I have used it for touring, recreation and riding on unpaved roads and trails. I briefly "decommissioned" it a couple of years ago when I got another frame for commuting but couldn't bring myself to sell it. I had it rebuilt for loaded touring, but then decided I needed a stouter frame for that purpose, and turned it back into my main commuter. My most recent updates include a Shimano triple drive-train and a dynamo front wheel, which I just purchased for it.

One of the reasons why I love the bike is because Bob Jackson will paint their bikes just about any color and decal combination that you desire. I chose a Carolina blue that gets lots of raves here in NC (except from Wolfpack fans). I also love the bike's versatility. I rode it 400 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC on the GAP-C&O Canal trails loaded with rear panniers and Pasela tires, and I've commuted thousands of miles on it.

Here are some shots in various guises. I need to update my photos because the BJ currently has a red saddle and bar tape, which match the headtube logo.

John E

Yup -- a lot of Peugeot commuter/beaters in this thread. Your upgrades are, of course, more modern than mine.

John E

I am biased, of course, but I think those early 1970s Peugeot graphics are some of the most attractive ever offered on a bicycle frame. Since I built mine from a bare frame that I bought directly from the distributor while working at a Peugeot dealership, I can safely attest that mine has no original parts except the frame.

SJX426 

I want to contribute but have a difficult time finding an answer! I like all my bikes and have not feeling for any that haven't' been ridden. So those that haven't spent more than a couple of hundred miles under me don't get counted. That doesn't leave very many, like 3. So I think the bike that gets more attention (love?) that it probably should is not really a C&V bike, yet. Two more years and it will qualify, in my mind.

It is a 1997 RockHopper purchased in 1998 as an end of year close out. I picked it for general use, a new beater bike with an eye toward trail riding. This is as close to stock picture I currently can find. The only difference are the tires.
[IMG]PB_MTB_Drive_ W, on Flickr[/IMG]

I changed the stem and added more accessories, using it as a commuter in 2008 with 750 miles commuting.
[IMG]RHLightsFront , on Flickr[/IMG]

I knew it had a threadless fork/stem because there was a model with a suspension fork. I wanted to "upgrade" at some point in time. I went on trail with a friend and nearly lost my teeth from the vibration and decided to seriously look for a suspension fork. One day on CL I found it. A rebuilt Marzocchi SL that actually had a steerer that was long enough and came with a pump! Could not wait to install. The only catch was not having a front disk hub so I had to buy the adapters for mounting the brakes:

[IMG]Picture 128 , on Flickr[/IMG]
Original tires, BTW.

After moving to DC, I started looking for disk brake and wheel. Found a NOS BB7 on CL for $35 and a wheel with XTR hub for $50. Installed both. This allows me to swap forks in 20 min or less as an assembly. To do that, a new HS was purchased with a spare crown fork from the same HS model.

[IMG]RockHopper_ Sprung_2012_018 , on Flickr[/IMG]

So the next experiment was to determine the impact of using a suspension fork for commuting. Does it slow me down with an extra pound of weight and the energy absorbed with the fork? Not perceptible. If there is a difference, it is in the noise of the data. Oh and here it is in that configuration:

[IMG]P1020526 by , on Flickr[/IMG]

The disadvantage is the lack of a front fender. So it typically is used in this configuration:

[IMG]1997 Specialized RockHopper, on Flickr[/IMG]

So that is a lot of "love" for a bike that probably isn't worth all the attention, but it was worth it to me. The used parts of the front-end cost about half of the price of the bike when new. I have a very versatile platform that I can easily configure to meet my needs within limits. I would say it is my version of a Hybrid.


Right now the bike that gets the real love, and is worth it, can be found in other threads!

bmthom.gis

All parts bin stuff except for the bars, brakes and saddle. I just put my B17 narrow as seen on the picture on my carbon fibre bike and the cambium over on the Peugeot, as I have some Cambium tape to match it with.