Bike Messengers Who Love Classic & Vintage
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02-24-18, 06:23 PM
#77
52psi
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 4,016
Bikes: Schwinn Volare ('78); Raleigh Competition GS ('79)
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A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
07-18-21, 01:14 PM
#79
Full Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Palm Springs, California
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I was a Seattle messenger from 1994 to 2007, with exception of a 1 year plumbing apprenticeship. When I first started, the fixed gear thing was non-existent. Downtown Seattle is very steep so about half of us rode mountain bikes with 1" or 1.5 slicks, the other half used road bikes. in about 96 my boss sold me a pristine Guerciotti frame for cheap. I didn't have the money to build it with proper road parts, so I bodged it together as a fixed gear. I was the only messenger in Seattle to ride a fixed gear. Everyone told me I was crazy. About 2 years later, it became the norm.
It's pretty sad that the messenger business has been pretty much destroyed by the internet. In the mid 90's there were about 200 messengers working in Seattle, now I hear there's less than 20.
Good times back then, also some pretty rough times.
It's pretty sad that the messenger business has been pretty much destroyed by the internet. In the mid 90's there were about 200 messengers working in Seattle, now I hear there's less than 20.
Good times back then, also some pretty rough times.
07-19-21, 02:16 AM
#80
Me duelen las nalgas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Texas
Posts: 13,512
Bikes: Centurion Ironman, Trek 5900, Univega Via Carisma, Globe Carmel
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There are still a few bike messengers here. Some converted Bianchis. I'll try to photograph their bikes, and maybe the riders, next time I see them. We occasionally get together for casual night rides and pub crawls. Fixies are popular here, mostly for cosmetics. And because hipsters. Downtown and surroundings are mostly flat-ish, so they can get away with it. Although there are some short steep climbs just beyond the downtown and gentrified areas. They're young and strong so I guess they manage. My knees would say nope.
07-19-21, 08:04 AM
#81
2k miles from the midwest
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Washington
Posts: 1,964
Bikes: ~'75 Colin Laing, '80s Schwinn SuperSport 650b, ex-Backroads ti project...
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I was a Seattle messenger from 1994 to 2007, with exception of a 1 year plumbing apprenticeship. When I first started, the fixed gear thing was non-existent. Downtown Seattle is very steep so about half of us rode mountain bikes with 1" or 1.5 slicks, the other half used road bikes. in about 96 my boss sold me a pristine Guerciotti frame for cheap. I didn't have the money to build it with proper road parts, so I bodged it together as a fixed gear. I was the only messenger in Seattle to ride a fixed gear. Everyone told me I was crazy. About 2 years later, it became the norm.
It's pretty sad that the messenger business has been pretty much destroyed by the internet. In the mid 90's there were about 200 messengers working in Seattle, now I hear there's less than 20.
Good times back then, also some pretty rough times.
It's pretty sad that the messenger business has been pretty much destroyed by the internet. In the mid 90's there were about 200 messengers working in Seattle, now I hear there's less than 20.
Good times back then, also some pretty rough times.
02-24-22, 10:54 PM
#83
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Hotel CA / DFW
Posts: 1,737
Bikes: 83 Colnago Super, 87 50th Daccordi, 79 & 87 Guerciotti's, 90s DB/GT Mtn Bikes, 90s Colnago Master and Titanio, 96 Serotta Colorado TG, 95/05 Colnago C40/C50, 06 DbyLS TI, 08 Lemond Filmore FG SS, 12 Cervelo R3, 20/15 Surly Stragler & Steamroller
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I have a Lemond SS model name the Filmore after that district in SF and is really a joke since not many aside from Greg have the power to SS in SF
02-24-22, 10:59 PM
#84
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Hotel CA / DFW
Posts: 1,737
Bikes: 83 Colnago Super, 87 50th Daccordi, 79 & 87 Guerciotti's, 90s DB/GT Mtn Bikes, 90s Colnago Master and Titanio, 96 Serotta Colorado TG, 95/05 Colnago C40/C50, 06 DbyLS TI, 08 Lemond Filmore FG SS, 12 Cervelo R3, 20/15 Surly Stragler & Steamroller
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I was a Seattle messenger from 1994 to 2007, with exception of a 1 year plumbing apprenticeship. When I first started, the fixed gear thing was non-existent. Downtown Seattle is very steep so about half of us rode mountain bikes with 1" or 1.5 slicks, the other half used road bikes. in about 96 my boss sold me a pristine Guerciotti frame for cheap. I didn't have the money to build it with proper road parts, so I bodged it together as a fixed gear. I was the only messenger in Seattle to ride a fixed gear. Everyone told me I was crazy. About 2 years later, it became the norm.
It's pretty sad that the messenger business has been pretty much destroyed by the internet. In the mid 90's there were about 200 messengers working in Seattle, now I hear there's less than 20.
Good times back then, also some pretty rough times.
It's pretty sad that the messenger business has been pretty much destroyed by the internet. In the mid 90's there were about 200 messengers working in Seattle, now I hear there's less than 20.
Good times back then, also some pretty rough times.
02-25-22, 01:57 PM
#86
Banned.
Join Date: Jan 2022
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I used to sell/give my most beat-up frames to a small group of messengers in Quebec.
They built them, trashed them, then landfilled them, generally one frame a year.
They really didn't care about C&V, they just liked steel because it was easy to build, and cheap if they got doored.
In the spirit of many messengers, once they noticed rust on the R chain stay, they'd go off road, hard until it snapped.
I went to one of their swap meets once, and I could find nothing useable in their stash.
I said so, and they laughed. They wanted to make enough to pitch in for 40 oz's and lunch.
They built them, trashed them, then landfilled them, generally one frame a year.
They really didn't care about C&V, they just liked steel because it was easy to build, and cheap if they got doored.
In the spirit of many messengers, once they noticed rust on the R chain stay, they'd go off road, hard until it snapped.
I went to one of their swap meets once, and I could find nothing useable in their stash.
I said so, and they laughed. They wanted to make enough to pitch in for 40 oz's and lunch.
03-16-24, 12:51 AM
#87
Newbie
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searching owner of Fondriest
You mentioned you know most owners of these bikes, do you know the owner of the flat bar fondriest? I think I have the same bike, purchased from a dude who was with SFBMA but turned out to be a bad apple.
This is a very strange thread to stumble upon while looking for more info on Rob Stowe. I know almost every single bike in the thread and their owners. Let me clear up a couple things.
Why so many CV bikes? Because they're cheap. And because we know good bikes. It seems silly to ride a motta or pinarello for work until you realize that your nice bike has been hanging on the wall for years while you log thousands of miles on some turd. If you gotta ride a bike everyday might as well make it something nice. Better to get beat up on the street than collect dust. The only bike I wouldn't ride for work was my Pegoretti built Giordana. And that's mostly because I only ride track bikes at work.
Bar tape gets used, abused, and gross. When it shreds there's little motivation to replace it because it will just happen again. You get used to bare bars. Nobody wears gloves either. Your best bet for durable tape is cloth tape.
Locking is required unless you're at a standby spot with other messengers. Your bike WILL get stolen otherwise. If there are other messengers around you can leave your bike unlocked or freelocked (locked to itself). At 1 Post you can even run downstairs for a coffee or across the street for a beer and leave your bike freelocked most of the time. As for the lock just sitting on the stays, that's just a quick theft preventative. Someone grabs the bike, the locks falls and makes a loud noise. Or mostly just to get the lock off your hip while you sit down for a coffee.
Replacement forks and weird parts. Lots of these bikes are found forkless for cheap or free. Or handed down from someone else. My friend just found a forkless Rob Stowe in a dumpster which is why I was searching around for more info and stumbled up on this thread. Old forks get busted pretty quickly with street use. If you have a question as to why anything is on a bike it's likely because it was what they had to fix it at the time. This goes for weirdo thumb shifters, mismatched wheels, old saddle, whatever. You fix it when you get home with what you have and next thing you know it's 6 months later and you still have a dollar boot in your front tire or you realized you never actually did replace your front mech cable.
And the most controversial topic: Track bikes on the street. This argument will never be settled so lets just agree to disagree. A lot of us ride track bikes and have for years and will forever. Should any joe schmoe go ripping around in traffic on a track bike? No, probably not. But they're nice, fast, cheap, and easy to maintain. I actually worked on a similar makino to the one posted, the only difference between mine and his is my fork has aero blades while his are round. I retired mine from work because the tubing was getting pretty sloppy, it's paper thin Columbus Keirin tubing definitely not meant for a 190lb dude with a 30lb bag on the street.
If I think of anything else or snag some photos I'll post again if I can remember to.
Why so many CV bikes? Because they're cheap. And because we know good bikes. It seems silly to ride a motta or pinarello for work until you realize that your nice bike has been hanging on the wall for years while you log thousands of miles on some turd. If you gotta ride a bike everyday might as well make it something nice. Better to get beat up on the street than collect dust. The only bike I wouldn't ride for work was my Pegoretti built Giordana. And that's mostly because I only ride track bikes at work.
Bar tape gets used, abused, and gross. When it shreds there's little motivation to replace it because it will just happen again. You get used to bare bars. Nobody wears gloves either. Your best bet for durable tape is cloth tape.
Locking is required unless you're at a standby spot with other messengers. Your bike WILL get stolen otherwise. If there are other messengers around you can leave your bike unlocked or freelocked (locked to itself). At 1 Post you can even run downstairs for a coffee or across the street for a beer and leave your bike freelocked most of the time. As for the lock just sitting on the stays, that's just a quick theft preventative. Someone grabs the bike, the locks falls and makes a loud noise. Or mostly just to get the lock off your hip while you sit down for a coffee.
Replacement forks and weird parts. Lots of these bikes are found forkless for cheap or free. Or handed down from someone else. My friend just found a forkless Rob Stowe in a dumpster which is why I was searching around for more info and stumbled up on this thread. Old forks get busted pretty quickly with street use. If you have a question as to why anything is on a bike it's likely because it was what they had to fix it at the time. This goes for weirdo thumb shifters, mismatched wheels, old saddle, whatever. You fix it when you get home with what you have and next thing you know it's 6 months later and you still have a dollar boot in your front tire or you realized you never actually did replace your front mech cable.
And the most controversial topic: Track bikes on the street. This argument will never be settled so lets just agree to disagree. A lot of us ride track bikes and have for years and will forever. Should any joe schmoe go ripping around in traffic on a track bike? No, probably not. But they're nice, fast, cheap, and easy to maintain. I actually worked on a similar makino to the one posted, the only difference between mine and his is my fork has aero blades while his are round. I retired mine from work because the tubing was getting pretty sloppy, it's paper thin Columbus Keirin tubing definitely not meant for a 190lb dude with a 30lb bag on the street.
If I think of anything else or snag some photos I'll post again if I can remember to.
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