horatio 

I wouldn’t call it an orgasmic experience, but two of the bikes I used to regularly ride that stood out (in terms of ride quality) were my first Basso Gap (‘84) and my De Rosa Professional, which has changed hands through several forum members. I had a half-dozen really nice bikes to ride at that time, but would generally take the Basso, despite its taller gearing, for pleasure rides. It just had a quality I thought of as “eager.” I sometimes regret selling it, but the De Rosa has filled that “gap.” One beautiful bike I owned was a Pinarello Montello. It was gorgeous, despite the flaking stickers, but it’s ride quality was meh.

3speed

My best riding bike ever was my 90 Miyata 914, built up with a complete 9sp Dura-Ace group. Mavic rims, though I forget which ones exactly. I always ran some nice, high end Vittoria 700x25c tires on it. It was just such a different, better, more natural, faster ride than any bike I've owned since. I've owned a couple handfuls of bikes, and that was the only one that was a true "race" worthy steel frame(supposedly the same as the Miyata Team, just came with a lower component group?). Maybe they're all like that, but I've heard many say the Miyata is a step above the other mass produced bikes. It was a hair too large for me. Hopefully I'll find another high-end Miyata frame in my size someday.

I sold it to a friend who bought it even though it's a little too small for him. He rode it on a ~20mi ride once and decided he wanted it. He put a little longer stem on it and doesn't mind being bent over pretty far. He rides it regularly and loves it. He's also had a couple handfuls of bikes and says there's just something perfect about that bike.

AdventureManCO 

Seeing as how you picked up another Legnano, how does that one compare to this one? Was it the same model?

BTW I agree about the PX-10. I recently finished building up my '68 and holy cow...light, nimble, stable, comfortable...it has it all.

USAZorro

I'm fortunate to have several that ride very nicely. That said, the International that I purchased from Sloar last summer seems to have it all. It fits perfectly, is relatively light, is comfortable, and it encourages me to go faster.



Perhaps it wouldn't be my first choice for a long day of riding, but maybe it would. I do have to ride other bikes often so I don't get too used to it.

randyjawa 

A question that is both interesting and timely.

I am presently moving closer and closer to getting my 1968 Grand Premio to original components,..


When I get back home, later this week, I will be installing a Legnano headset, a NOS Legnano cottered crank, some Legnano branded Campy high flange hubs and. Transmission and brakes are also in line to be replaced. Once that is all done, I will give my favorite Italian bike another ride to see how it feels. My guess is good...






The Grand Premio rides very nicely but not as nice as my X10, or my Atala Pro. To say that it rides better or worse than the dump found Sport (I think that is the model) is unfair, as the two bikes are years apart in ownership, for me. That said, we get to the timely part of your question...

I really like my Legnano Grand Premio! So much that I have thought a lot about offering any of my personal bikes in even trade for a Legnano Roma (I think I have some pretty nice bikes to offer). I guess that I should put a thread up on the For Sale forum just to see wasup.

Bit first I have to get home, open up the cottage, fill the pantry and then touch base with friends. Six months is a long time on the road an guess what part of my daily in Jamaica riding gear looks like...

bikingshearer 

This one. Mid-1960s Cinelli SC. There is a slight springiness, a little extra liveliness, that is subtle but definitely there and makes for a great ride.

I have some other great bikes that are a true joy to ride (especially the Ron Cooper and the Eisentraut), but there is something extra special about this one. The Cinelli, the Cooper and the Eisentraut are all set up pretty much identically (Campy 10sp triple, Campy Record or Chorus hubs laced 3x to Open Pro rims with Conti 4000 tires, Nitto stem and noodle bar, Rolls saddle), so by far the biggest variable is the frame. Besides, it's way cool to think that maybe, just maybe, the guy who built frames for Fausto Coppi also built this one. (Absolutely no way to know, but it's possible.)

If I could only keep one, I would very sadly bid the others adieu and keep this Cinelli.

AdventureManCO 

There is something here worth talking about. Reading through your page on the Legnano (dump find), its obvious that it did something more than most bikes and opened up your eyes to the greater joy of vintage roadbikes. So with that comes a question, meant in the most respectful way possible...how much of the joy of that Legnano was the actual bike, vs how much of it was the experience around the bike and the nostalgia that you now have for it?

I quite often have found myself having memories of things, and when I go back and rediscover it, I find my brain was almost hallucinating and changing the memory to remember something more fondly (not that that is a bad thing at all). I wonder how much of this is true for bikes. I remember my first real mountain bike, a '98 Schwinn Homegrown. I did everything on that bike and have many, many great memories. Well, it was sold a long time ago but around the same time got a basic mountain style commuter set up with a Homegrown frame I found. I built it up very similarly to my old Homegrown. Well, going through a selling stage, I thought for sure since I didn't ride this Homegrown very much, it would be the first to go. One spin around the block brought all those memories back to me and I wasn't able to sell it and moved that bike up in the bike priority hierarchy.

Based on your experience with the bike, the first thing I'd want to do is go find one of those junky Legnanos and experience the joy of it for myself - but I wonder if it would be the same experience, without the process of awakening around vintage road bikes that you felt as you rode it.

Reminds me of a junky Jeunet that was sitting at the co-op a few weeks ago that I'm sure is now gone but perhaps might still be there...

AdventureManCO 

Oh, and here is the PX-10, a '68 I believe. $40 from the local co-op in sad shape, what an amazing ride.






The first ride on it was magical. Commuting on it makes me a 20mph commuter, and it keeps up with other roadies no sweat.


It makes my ask why I would ride anything else.

But then there is this, lurking in a corner, just waiting...

aprieto28

I You'll love the ride. I rode mine about 30 miles today. I don't know why I haven't ridden in it a while. Oh now I remember, I have 8 other road bikes in my stable. got give a little love to all of them.

horatio 

Sweet build there. That photo makes me want to wax and polish my dingy Miami Vice Ironman!

rhm

+1

randyjawa 

I have built and ridden about a hundred, or two hundred or... vintage road bicycles. The first one, a mid seventies Sekine entry level steed was too big for me (62cm) and sported a bent frame/fork to boot. The first ride pulled me strongly to the drive side, whenever I loosened my grip on the handlebar. But I had the bug...


Each bike has its own feel but, for most, it is darn near impossible (for me) to identify those differences in feel. But I thought I could, so I did try to evaluate each bike as fairly as I could. Problem is, our interpretation of everything is always based on the moment, and the past and the possibilities of the future. So...

Each new bike found and built was accompanied by the novelty of newness. I did try to report positively (based on experience), and now, after piling up lots and lots of experience, I chuckle to myself when I see Bike Forum members rave over this bike or that. Great for those people, but I no longer rave about very many bikes. I am NOT a good enough rider to properly evaluate the ride qualities of most vintage road bikes. That said, some bikes just feel better than others, that old Dumpgano being one of those that is most fondly remembered.

So, the question was "how much of the joy of that Legnano was the actual bike, vs how much of it was the experience around the bike and the nostalgia that you now have for it?"

The first time that I rode the Dumpgano was the time I experienced the most pleasant ride of my life and that, I believe, will always be the memory. I was impressed with an old Italian road bike (not a lot of those reach the dump, even in Thunder Bay). I was impressed that I did not spend a single penny getting it road worthy and safe to ride. And, the day that I set out on that old, entry level steed, was almost perfect in an eerie sort of way (overcast and foggy, foggy to a point of being an almost magical environment).

All of those three things came together, and coupled with my own mind and body produced a memory of the nicest ride and nicest riding bike that I had ever owned. Few better bikes came before the Dumpgano and lots of much higher end ones have passed through my hands since. But I still longingly remember that wonderful "test ride" that lasted until the sun broke through the sky and fog. Another near magical experience, adding even more lore to a ride that can never be repeated.

Good grief, I do tend to ramble. The gist of all of this is that most of us taint our opinion because of a bike's age, or make, or build materials. That, to me, now, is sort of silly. Today my favorite ride is my ugly and well used Bianchi Touring, which I keep in Jamaica...


And my other favorite ride is my Cyclops, a Canadian steed that I ride in Canada...


And what is so special about each of those? Frame geometries and component selection, both are necessary for any bike and both contribute to ride quality, the component selection contributing more to "user friendliness" than actual feel of the bike...


In closing, and this should set me on fire, it occurs to me that modern bikes offer good to great ride quality, but the "user friendliness" factor is of a ten speed Brifterized transmission is wonderful (for me to use) when compared to any down tube friction shifting system ever offered...


So, I prefer to ride modern user friendly rigs and look at ancient or not so ancient steeds, which spend most of their time protected and hanging, for display purposes, on the wall, which is likely where Mr. Rabeneick 120d and its friction shifting, antiquated brake design, will spend much of its future...


But my Legnano Grand Premio is being built up to ride. Clinchers rather than sew-ups. 700c rather than 27" will make a huge difference in ride quality. And, though it grieves me to admit it, a transmission that is compatible with my seventy plus year old legs, will not look much like this...

Phil_gretz

I have a recently resurrected '79 PXN-10LE that I've ridden only a few times since building it. Maybe 100 miles on it. I rode it yesterday to and from work, and was considering this question on the commute home. This might be the "best" one I've ever ridden in terms of the sensations while riding it. The bike accelerates effortlessly, cruises well under power, corners confidently and feels simply wonderful.

Andy_K 

Yesterday I rode my KOM Serotta to work. For the previous two weeks I had been riding my 650B Grand Jubilé which weighs around 30 pounds b the time I get the handlebar bag on and has a ride that I’d describe with words like “solid, stable, and smooth.” Riding the Serotta reminded me of the scene in “Yes Man” where he tries Red Bull for the first time. It was like my whole commute was on fast forward. The way the bike corners I was afraid I was going to get a citation for violating the law of conservation of angular momentum. I didn’t have to do much more than think about turning and suddenly I was going that way. This bike is zippy, quick, and responsive.

So, does the Serotta have a better ride than the Motobecane? It really depends on what you want. It was an absolute blast to ride, but I wouldn’t want to do that every day, and I usually wouldn’t want it for a six hour ride. It sure was fun though.

Slightspeed

Legnano and Peugeot for me too. I've had the Legnano since new in '64, the '78 PR10 only since last August. Runner up is a '73 Super Course I built from a found scrap metal bare frame, and it is a sweet ride too. The Legnano Roma Olympiade is my first love, been thru two Eroica rides. It makes me smile every mile.

1964 Legnano Roma Olympiade

1978 Peugeot PR10

1973 Raleigh Super Course

clubman 

Fave bike was an 85/86 Japanese Bianchi with 022 frame set and 6 speed Sprint group. Like RiddleofSteel, I too like a flexy frame and jam out of the saddle and this bike acted like a spring. It had chrome sox, fork ends, campy drops and weighed in just over 20 lbs and I've never seen another one like it. No pics.

Bottom bracket split on a railway crossing 23 years ago. I had just got it back from Tony Beeks, a fine painter and restoration guy. Tragic

dweenk

Please, just for a test ride.