Originally Posted by bark_eater

I haven't been at this for long but I do a bike or 2 a year. Since the end of the world, I still haven't had any signifigant shop time, but I have spent an inordinate amount of time on the internet, and have stocked up every little bit needed for the the next half dozen projects. I'm also coming to terms with being at N-30 with maybe 30 years left to work with, so the urge to take every stray home is cooling.

Originally Posted by iab

So you made me look.
2006 - 3 bikes
2009 - 2 bikes
2010 - 1 bike
2011 - 1 bike
2013 - 1 bike
2015 - 3 bikes
2016 - 1 bike
2018 - 1 bike
2021 - 2 bikes but there will be a deal for a third by the end on the month

I spend way too much, and it seems to get worse as time moves on. For why, it is pretty much I get a bug in my head and go with it. A few years later I liquidate to finance a new bug. The only one I sort wish I still had was that Viscontea pista, but in reality I don't get much opportunity to ride it. One of the 2021 bikes is too small and won't be long in the collection but it is such a unique bike I just wanted the challenge. I will be bringing much of the collection to Mike Kone's shindig in 2022.

Originally Posted by seypat

It varies. At least one a year. I have an organized ride in May. My tradition for that ride is that I acquire a different bike, fix it up and ride it on that ride. Currently, I have 2 or 3 in que so I might not get one for a few years.

Originally Posted by top506

At least one a year for the Lung Association charity ride; then it depends what shows up at the dump, dumpster behind the LBS, or how many frame and fork combos I can't resist.

Top

Originally Posted by Chuck M

Since October of last year I've done four. They are all survivors and have been taken down, overhauled with consumables being replaced as needed. None of them are restorations or anything worth painting. I do it because it gives me something constructive to do and I enjoy the results.

Some day I hope to find something classic or collectible and make a long term project taking my time to do a meticulous restoration. But for the time being, I'm happy just wrenching on them and riding them.

Originally Posted by Murray Missile

I wish to invoke my 5th Amendment rights at this time..............

Originally Posted by 3alarmer

.
...a few years back (maybe 5-6 years ago), I got into repainting frames, mostly because it was the only way I could find nicer bikes like Colnago's and Raleigh Pro's in my exact size, that I thought were affordable. It turned out to have the added advantage of making projects take much longer to accomplish. So I end up buying fewer bicycles, As a bonus, I get to play around sometimes with customizing the paint and graphics, to get something I think looks good. I can only paint here in the drier, hotter weather, because I paint outdoors in the back yard. By the time I buy stickers, paint, stripper, etc,, I think on average it costs about $100-$150 per frame. So "affordable" turns out to be a relative term.

Last winter I collected four project bikes that were mostly there, in terms of components, but had some paint issues, (Follis 172, Cinelli SC, an 80's PX-10E, and a Guerciotti). I stripped them down of parts over the winter and early spring. I just put the 2 part urethane clear coat on the fourth one, which is more or less the last step in my 2 and 3 stage painting process. Another candidate, a Moto Le Champion , popped up about four weeks ago, so that one got disassembled, stripped, primed, color coated, and stickered (finally) just yesterday. It really is a slow process, so it helps to control impulse buys. What's nice about it is there are built in stops along the way, where you have to wait for a coat to dry a couple of days, before you can do more work on it.

That's probably about it for this year. I get burned out on painting. Need to do some detailing, like lug lining, on the Moto, but I might do that post clear coat, so it's easier to repair If I slip.

Originally Posted by nlerner

I prefer to ride with the time I have, rather than tinker or build (though I do enjoy building a bike up from a frame and puzzling out how to outfit it from all of the crap I’ve seem to have accumulated). And I’d rather work on my own bikes rather than ones I’d just sell. Still, I have a lot of bikes, and am quite satisfied with what I ride regularly. I really don’t like the feeling of building up something new and then realizing it doesn’t ride as well as something already in the fleet. I’ve sold off lots of bikes as a result, some likely quite desirable to others. Perhaps the one exception is that each year I seem to build up a winter commuter or two, in search of the right level of crappiness for a bike that’ll get harshly treated in a Boston winter. And once winter is over, I sell them off.

Originally Posted by bikemig

I loved living in Boston but in terms of buying and selling old bikes, I'm glad I moved. There's too much great inventory there. I'll bet there's a real market for your winter commuters. I picked up my winter bike, a Bridgestone CB 1, in Boston for around $15 as a frame and headset. It's still going strong but I need to do something about the rust.

Originally Posted by nlerner

Hmm, I believe I sold a CB-1 after using as a winter commuter for a couple of years. It was really beat. Is it possible I sold it to you, Miguel?!

Originally Posted by bikemig

...Those white weinmann hoods seem to survive better than the gum ones. I wouldn't mind finding a set for the Raleigh Grand Sport I'm rebuilding.

Originally Posted by bikemig

You got me motivated with some of the French bikes you've built for that ride.

Originally Posted by fender1

Thanks! Jeff Lyon is a builder in Oregon, who I think is now pretty much retired. This frame has a lightweight top tube 7/4/7 and light weight down tube. Clearance for 35mm tires w/ fenders and a provision for internal wiring in the front fork.

Here is an older YouTube interview with Jeff:

https://youtu.be/Iu0s8UkRkyc

Originally Posted by bikemig

You may be the first poster here to start a thread about what a great job you are doing downsizing and then post a thread on a new build,

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

1-2 per year for the last 4 years. Its a mix of bikes for me or wife/kids.
That includes some examples where I already have the bike, dont use it, and convert it- so geared road frame to single speed, for example.

The next couple builds will be for my kids due to growing- find frames and swap all components from the current bikes.
At this point for me though, I have held out for a quality 64cm road frame from 1981 as my next project. Havent found anything yet though. Its shaping up to be a long wait.

Originally Posted by bikemig

I keep offering to give you a 64cm Peugeot UO 9 frameset quite likely from 1981 and you keep turning me down. I reckon this isn't what you think is a "quality" frame, . You don't know what you're missing.

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

Can you email me a couple pics? And is it bsa or French threading?
...haven't owned a peugeot before.

Originally Posted by Riveting

Here's comes the blasphemy. Never. I'll wrench on bikes for required maintenance purposes, but never to build/rebuild an entire bike at once. Maybe some day.

Originally Posted by bikemig

You should do more build threads. I think I've seen one from you. Your bikes are really interesting and unusual. I wouldn't have the patience (or the knowledge base) to track down the parts for the bikes you build. The oldest bike I have so far is a 1950s era Claud Butler jubilee. Looking at your posts though has me thinking of picking up something really old and preferably French. That's a rabbit hole I've managed to resist so far but I must just fall down it.

Originally Posted by 3alarmer

....I just discovered this stuff. It works much better at preservation (and restoration) of gum rubber hoods than Armor All, which is what I was using before.