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The verdict is in...or is it? The cumulative list of our favorite/best bikes...

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The verdict is in...or is it? The cumulative list of our favorite/best bikes...

Old 01-19-23, 07:24 PM
  #26  
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I'm putting my money on the Huffy Aerowind.
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Old 01-19-23, 07:48 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by noobinsf
I would guess that the most mentioned and the top model are the same -- Peugeot and the PX-10. It seems like the brand with the most consistent magical pixie dust among the various models and levels, and the PX-10 seems to me like the most accessible of the highly sought after models, the one that was just out of reach for most members here during their youth. My guess for the surprisingly popular one would be the Raleigh Super Course.
Great guess! But I will say this - the most mentioned frame/model is not from the most mentioned brand. And the PX-10 didn't beat out another one of its counterparts.
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Old 01-19-23, 07:49 PM
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Who cares. Each knows the best. The one you are riding. Unless it is a Carabela - mine stunk, but looked nice.

DeRosa for race bike
AustroDaimler for endurance rides

Touring = who cares, anything with long chainstays, wide tires and braze-ons everywhere, but not too heavy.
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Old 01-19-23, 07:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
OK, I wasn't going to guess, but since I have to wait for the results anyway...

Most frequently listed brand? De Rosa
Most popular model? Schwinn Paramount
Biggest surprise? Specialized Sequoia -- surely I've mentioned mine often enough for it to make the list, even with hundreds of participants
Biggest upset? No Trek
One of these is wrong, one is just barely wrong, one I wish wasn't wrong, and one is completely wrong However these are awesome guesses and I probably would have made far worse predictions myself!
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Old 01-19-23, 08:36 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by AdventureManCO
Bluish/Green
Celeste?
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Old 01-19-23, 09:08 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by AdventureManCO
Bluish/Green
AHHH! A Frejus, of course!
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Old 01-19-23, 09:27 PM
  #32  
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And in 3rd place for the the most frequently mentioned brand for 'the best bike you've ever ridden', we have....



Schwinn!!!


Out of a total of 303 bicycles recorded, Schwinn comes in 3rd in our overall list with 16 wins for the 'best bicycle ever ridden'. And you can probably guess which model was the most popular...




More details revealed soon on just how many, and some of the other Schwinn models mentioned, but for now, we've got to keep moving on to #2...

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Old 01-19-23, 09:39 PM
  #33  
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Coming in at # dos for the 'best bike you've ever ridden, we have, what many here may have suspected was going to come in at #1. You probably already know what's coming...



Raleigh!!!


Out of a total of 303 bicycles recorded, Raleigh comes in 2nd in our overall list with 17 wins for the 'best bicycle ever ridden'. The models run the gamut, and include most of your favorites. Conspicuously absent from the running, however, and much to the chagrin @Bad Lag, is this -



But, no time to cry, we move on to the grand winner, the most frequently mentioned bicycle brand when discussing the (supposedly) finest riding bikes ever! I'm surprised that nobody guessed it, and a few even got it backwards...
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Old 01-19-23, 09:53 PM
  #34  
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And finally, the moment every...bike nerd...really into old bikes...who just happens to be visiting this forum tonight...has been waiting for! The King of the Hill! Numero Uno! The Creme de la Creme! The top of the heap!














Ready for it?























No, really. Are you sure you want to know?

























The winner is...............................










































Trek



Nope, not even kidding. Some even thought Trek wasn't even going to make the list! Maybe they were just being facetious, but with a WHOPPING 30 bikes out of a total of 303 recorded, Trek blows away the competition leaving everyone else in the dust! Apparently cyclists just can't get enough of cracked dropouts, busted seat clusters, death forks, and one piece headtube/lug combos!

But really, c'mon, what's not to love here...


Incredible Trek 170...even though a 170 didn't make the list...
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Old 01-19-23, 10:04 PM
  #35  
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Wow, Trek.....really??

I fell for the hype and had a 87 560 Pro. Kept coming in as the slower ride when compared against others, weird industrial lugs, and too flexy! Every time I stood to pedal the FD would wind up rubbing on the chain after a few strokes. I've really never had a desire to go back.



And the frame on my 2010 Madone shattering on a ride is really what started me down the path of all these steel bikes. No more Treks for me.....welll except my Y-Foil....oh and the 5200.... damn!
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Old 01-19-23, 10:19 PM
  #36  
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Okay, so here is the entire list. Take in all in, pour over it. There is a lot to digest here. Below we'll start talking more about framesets and models, as well as some interesting takeaways and highlights.

Remember, don't shoot me! I'm just the messenger! Love it or hate it, here is what folks had to say.

In alphabetical order:

3Rensho
Alan
Alan Record carbon
American Eagle
Austro Daimler Vent Noir
Basso
Basso Gap
Batavus
Batavus
Battaglin
Cromor
Bertin C35
BF Goodrich
Bianchi
Bianchi
Bianchi
Bianchi
Bianchi
Bianchi
Bianchi
Bianchi Celeste Proto
Bianchi S9
Bianchi Sport
Bianchi Trofeo
Black Mountain
Bob Jackson
Bob Jackson
Bontrager Privateer
Bottecchia Professional
Boulder Brevet
Bridgestone RB-1
Bridgestone RB-1
Bridgestone XO-2
Bruce Gordon
Cannondale
Cannondale
Cannondale CAAD5
Cannondale Crit
Cannondale six13
Cannondale SR900
Cannondale T1000
Capo
Carlton Continental
Carlton Flyer
Carrera
Carrera
Centurion Carbon
Centurion Elite GT
Centurion Ironman
Centurion Ironman
Centurion Ironman
Centurion Ironman
Centurion Ironman
Centurion Ironman
Centurion Ironman
Centurion Ironman
Centurion Prestige
Centurion Pro Tour
Chris Pauley Tierra
Cinelli
Cinelli
Cinelli SC
Cinelli SC
Cinelli SC
CNC Special
Colnago
Colnago
Colnago
Colnago
Colnago Arabesque
Colnago C40
Colnago Super
Colnago Super
Colnago Tecnos
Conago Master Olympic
Concorde
Concorde
Curtlo
Davidson Impulse
Dawes
Dayton Roadmaster
De Rosa
De Rosa
De Rosa
De Rosa
De Rosa
De Rosa Nuovo Classico
De Rosa Professional
DeBernardi
Derby
Dinucci Allez
Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx
Eisentraut
Fredo Speciale
Freschi
Fuji The Finest
Fuso
Gary Hale
Gazelle Champion Mondial
Gazelle Champion Mondial
Gianella/Marinoni
Giant Iguana
Giordana XL Super
Gios
Gitane Super Corsa
Gitane Super Corsa
Gitane Super Corsa
Gitane TdF
Gitane TdF
Griffon
GT Karakoram
Guerciotti
Herse Competition
Hetchins Brilliant
Holdsworth
Holdsworth Pro
Hollands
Hollands
HVZ Meteor
Jamis Quest
Klein Quantum
Kona Kapu
Legend Ti
Legnano
Legnano Sport
Lejeune
Lemond Tourmalet
Lemond Victoire
Lemond Zurich
Litespeed Natchez
Look
Magistroni
Manitou FS
Manufrance Hirondelle
Marinoni Sports Tourer
Maruishi Aerolite
Masi
Masi
Masi
Masi GC
Masi GC
Masi GC
Masi GC
Masi Team 3V
Maza
McLean
McLean
Medici
Medici
Mercian
Mercian
Mercian KOM
Mercian Vincitore
Merlin ti
Merlin ti
Merlin ti
Merlin ti
Merz
Miele
Miranda Juliet
Miyata 312
Miyata 710
Miyata 912
Miyata 914
Miyata Koga Full Pro
Miyata Pro
Miyata Team
Miyata Team
Mondia
Mondonico
Moots
Motobecane
Motobecane Grand Record
Motobecane Grand Record
Motobecane Grand Sprint
Motobecane Team Champion
Motobecane Team Champion
Nishiki Competition
Nishiki Cresta
Norman Rapide
Olympia
Olympia Fusari
Oschner
Pake
Pashley
Pegoretti Palo Santo
Pegoretti Palo Santo
Peter Mooney
Peugeot UE-8
Peugeot UO-8
Peugeot UO-8
Peugeot UO-8
Peugeot
Peugeot Biarritz
Peugeot Neuilly
Peugeot PH-10
Peugeot PFN-10
Peugeot Pro 10
Peugeot PSV
Peugeot PSV
Peugeot PX-10
Peugeot PX-10
Peugeot PX-10
Peugeot PX-10
Peugeot PXN-10
Pinarello
Pinarello Stelvio
Raleigh
Raleigh Competition
Raleigh Gran Sport
Raleigh Gran Sports
Raleigh Gran Sports
Raleigh International
Raleigh International
Raleigh International
Raleigh Professional
Raleigh Professional
Raleigh Professional
Raleigh Record Ace
Raleigh Super Course
Raleigh Super Record
Raleigh Super Tourer
Raleigh Team (SBDU)
Raleigh Team (SBDU)
Rawland
Richard Sachs
Ritchey Road Logic
Ritchey Road Logic
Ritchey Swiss Cross
Ritchey Ultra
Rodriguez
Roland Della Santa
Ron Cooper
Ross Aristocrat
Rossin Prestige
Rossin Prestige
Roy Thame
Ryan Vanguard recumbent
Schwinn
Schwinn Cimarron
Schwinn Continental
Schwinn Paramount
Schwinn Paramount
Schwinn Paramount
Schwinn Paramount
Schwinn Paramount
Schwinn Paramount
Schwinn Paramount
Schwinn Passage
Schwinn Project KOM-10
Schwinn Prologue
Schwinn Superior
Schwinn Volare
Schwinn Voyageur
Sears 10 Speed
Serotta KOM
Serotta Meivici
Somec
Specialized Rockhopper
Specialized Rockhopper
Specialized Sequoia
Stan Johnson
Supercycle Excalibur
Takara 970
Tommasini Tecno
Tommasso
Tommy Quick
Torelli
Trek 400
Trek 414
Trek 414
Trek 414
Trek 520
Trek 560
Trek 560
Trek 560
Trek 560
Trek 610
Trek 620
Trek 700
Trek 700
Trek 7000zx
Trek 7000zx
Trek 720
Trek 720
Trek 720
Trek 760
Trek 760
Trek 760
Trek 770
Trek 850
Trek 870
Trek 930
Trek 957
Trek 970
Trek TX900
Trek Y Foil
Trek Y Foil
Univega Gran Premio
Univega Specialissima
Vitus 979
Vitus 979
Wally Green
Waterford
Wes Mason
Witcomb
Woodrup
Zeileman Type Special
Zeus
Zunow

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Old 01-19-23, 10:42 PM
  #37  
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And now for some thoughts...


Something to mention right off the bat is that you'll notice some of the selections have a full brand name and model listed, where others simply list a brand. Some of the posts were a little cryptic. Some listed only a brand, one word. Others posted a picture with no words, leaving the reader to either deduce through features or try squinting really hard. The worst offenders were absolutely the Bianchi, Eddy Merckx, and De Rosa crews. They would simply post a picture...'Bianchi'. Or a beautiful De Rosa...but what is it? What model? I'm making an assumption that probably a decent number would have been, say, a Professional, but regarding Bianchi, I have no idea - they all look the same! Same with EM.

To summarize, here are the top answers overall for brands:

Trek - 30
Raleigh 17
Schwinn - 16
Peugeot - 14
Bianchi - 11
Centurion - 11
Colnago - 10

Another thing starts to become abundantly clear as soon you make your way through the entire list - There are definitely some loved models for sure....The Masi GC, The De Rosa Professional, The Cincelli SC, and the Paramount. All of these have found favor among many cyclists. It begs the question. So which is the most favored frameset? What is most oft chosen, and stands taller than the rest? The one that blows them all out of the water, with a total of 7 replies with the same exact choice, is the mighty, yet humble...

Centurion Ironman!!!

While Centurion didn't make the top 3 with the number of bicycles chosen overall, nearly every Centurion chosen was an Ironman. It beat out the Supers, it beat out the Gran Criteriums, it even beat out the Paramounts! Now, I'm under no illusion that exposure plays little influence here. However, it is still mightily impressive, and given the fact that you can easily find an IM for about a 10th or 20th of the price of one of the pure bred I-talians (On my first group ride was a guy with an IM that found it put out for the garbage), it is an absolute no-brainer!

But what about the Paramount! It had seven as well! Right? Well, the IM still wins out because the 'Paramount' selections spanned all generations, covering multiple decades, different revisions, styles, manufacturing facilities, etc. The IM just had a few years, and they were all pretty tightly consistent. So there you go.

So congrats to all the IM fans out there - your day has come!


It is also fun to look at what people really liked as far as models go. In this case, I'm including models that may be different but have the same frames (to the best of my knowledge):

Ironman - 7
Paramount - 7, with a caveat: different generations
Gitane TdF/Super Corsa - 5
Trek 560 - 4
Trek 9xx - 4
Trek 760/770 - 4
PX-10 - 4
Trek 4xx - 4
UO/UE-8 - 4


The 'potential' best frames list -

The reason why I am separating these out is due to lack of information. It may very well be the case that most posters of a certain brand had a majority of the same model of said brand, but because I don't know (we'll never know), I'm putting them in their own category:

Masi GC - 'potential' 7
De Rosa Professional - 'potential' 6
Cinelli SC - 'potential' 5 (and different generations)
Colnago Super - ??? 2-6
Eddy Merckx - 5???
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Old 01-19-23, 10:45 PM
  #38  
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I think the only logical conclusion from this is that we, collectively, have no idea what we're talking about.

Who said Serotta KOM? Was it me? Does anyone else have one of those?
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Old 01-19-23, 11:12 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by AdventureManCO
Okay, so here is the entire list. Take in all in, pour over it. There is a lot to digest here. Below we'll start talking more about framesets and models, as well as some interesting takeaways and highlights.

Remember, don't shoot me! I'm just the messenger! Love it or hate it, here is what folks had to say.

In alphabetical order:

Stan Johnson
FTW
Thank you

hard to believe that Stan made the list(i have two).
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Old 01-19-23, 11:24 PM
  #40  
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While I love the work and data that went into this, I think (as others have alluded to), you really need to normalize against the number of bikes sold. To say that Trek is the best because it's the most popular isn't really fair when so many more people have ridden a Trek than ridden a De Rosa (as just one example). You'd want to divide the votes by the number of bikes sold of that model, I think.

Still fun to consider!
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Old 01-19-23, 11:29 PM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by AdventureManCO
And now for some thoughts...

Another thing starts to become abundantly clear as soon you make your way through the entire list - There are definitely some loved models for sure....The Masi GC, The De Rosa Professional, The Cincelli SC, and the Paramount. All of these have found favor among many cyclists. It begs the question. So which is the most favored frameset? What is most oft chosen, and stands taller than the rest? The one that blows them all out of the water, with a total of 7 replies with the same exact choice, is the mighty, yet humble...

Centurion Ironman!!!

While Centurion didn't make the top 3 with the number of bicycles chosen overall, nearly every Centurion chosen was an Ironman. It beat out the Supers, it beat out the Gran Criteriums, it even beat out the Paramounts! Now, I'm under no illusion that exposure plays little influence here. However, it is still mightily impressive, and given the fact that you can easily find an IM for about a 10th or 20th of the price of one of the pure bred I-talians (On my first group ride was a guy with an IM that found it put out for the garbage), it is an absolute no-brainer!

But what about the Paramount! It had seven as well! Right? Well, the IM still wins out because the 'Paramount' selections spanned all generations, covering multiple decades, different revisions, styles, manufacturing facilities, etc. The IM just had a few years, and they were all pretty tightly consistent. So there you go.

So congrats to all the IM fans out there - your day has come!

This is all RobbieTunes fault!! LOL!!
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Old 01-19-23, 11:51 PM
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Originally Posted by AdventureManCO
However, it is still mightily impressive, and given the fact that you can easily find an IM for about a 10th or 20th of the price of one of the pure bred I-talians (On my first group ride was a guy with an IM that found it put out for the garbage), it is an absolute no-brainer!
Somebody should do an ad based on this

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Old 01-20-23, 12:02 AM
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Originally Posted by mhespenheide
To say that Trek is the best because it's the most popular isn't really fair when so many more people have ridden a Trek than ridden a De Rosa (as just one example).
I don't know. Obviously a lot more Treks were sold than De Rosas, but people on this forum are a lot more likely to own a De Rosa than the average person on the street. Maybe it's because owning a De Rosa is like being vegan (i.e. people who own a De Rosa won't shut up about it),, but sometimes it feels like everyone on this forum who owns more than five bikes has a De Rosa.

Should I share a picture of my De Rosa now? Hmm. Maybe not.
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Old 01-20-23, 12:02 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by mhespenheide
While I love the work and data that went into this, I think (as others have alluded to), you really need to normalize against the number of bikes sold. To say that Trek is the best because it's the most popular isn't really fair when so many more people have ridden a Trek than ridden a De Rosa (as just one example). You'd want to divide the votes by the number of bikes sold of that model, I think.

Still fun to consider!

Yep, totally agree. And pretty impossible, at least from a sanity/preserve-the-marriage standpoint. In one of my posts above, I mention the word exposure, and that's exactly what I was referencing. You nailed it. Far fewer people are going to have access to a Cinelli SC (from either a rarity or a price standpoint) than a basic Schwinn. However, there is a bit of an ignorance-is-bliss factor going on here too. It is likely that many of those people who chose Trek as their 'best ride ever' may never ride a De Rosa or Colnago or whatever, which means that they will live their whole lives, with that Trek still being the best bike they ever rode. We would only know if we were to have a gigantic bike-swap, where each person got to test out 200+ bikes and pick their favorite. And I bet we would still end up with plenty that liked the Treks the most.

It is also a good time to point out that I am not saying, nor do I think anyone is trying to make an argument, about any particular brand being the best per se, only what their favorite riding bike is. 'Best' may have some subjectivity, but 'favorite' in almost entirely subjective, as well as emotional, nostalgic, etc. If 90% of people ride brand X bike, and the other 10% of people have ridden both brand X bike AND brand Z bike and 100% of those that have ridden both all agree that brand Z bike is far, far superior in every way, shape, and form...then for 90% of people out there, their favorite riding bike is still brand X. It becomes less about what is objectively (i.e. in 'everyone's eyes') better, and more about enjoyment. We make the assumption that if only everyone tried some of the higher grade, more uncommon bikes, they would undoubtedly choose that over something else, and we just don't know. However, I am willing to take one for the team and be willing to accept some high grade Italians to see how they stack up against my average stable, for scientific purposes

There are also exceptions to the rule. I think millions of Huffys and Murrays have been sold, and I've definitely ridden some, and none of those were on the list, so even though there are plenty out there to ride, the list does make an account of quality at least in some sense, even if it is non-quantifiable. One of my favorite stories is from the guy who put down the 'Schwinn Cimarron' as his favorite. He mentioned owning around 750 bikes, and the Cimarron is the one he kept, over what he described as plenty of other 'high grade' bikes . While 'Trek' as a whole has more bikes out there than many of those smaller brands put together, I would say that some of the upper level Treks are probably just as uncommon as many of the Italians, so there is a bit more of an apples-to-apples comparison if you drill down. And yes, it is not fair. None of it is. Especially that Trek was listed the most. Life is cruel
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Old 01-20-23, 12:03 AM
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Originally Posted by jamesdak
This is all RobbieTunes fault!! LOL!!
BTW what ever happened to RobbieTunes? Banned?

Funny thing is I actually have an Ironman that I'm building up currently, but since I have never ridden it, I have no idea what it rides like and couldn't vote for it without at least having some time in the saddle. This is some good motivation.
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Old 01-20-23, 01:53 AM
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Originally Posted by AdventureManCO
We make the assumption that if only everyone tried some of the higher grade, more uncommon bikes, they would undoubtedly choose that over something else, and we just don't know.
I have a theory that at least half of what we perceive as superior about the higher grade bikes is the components. I’m not quite sure how to quantify this, but low end components, especially bike boom era low end components, just feel clunky. A crappy plastic seat, poorly surfaced bearing races, flexy brakes and levers...it all adds up to a bad riding experience and I bet we misattribute the fault to the frame more often than we realize.

The presence of the UO-8 on this list, I think, supports this to a certain extent. The UO-8 and the PX-10 tended to have the same brakes and derailleurs. Replace the wheels and saddle and there’s no reason a UO-8 shouldn’t be a fun bike to ride.

I have an experiment in mind that I think may prove or disprove my theory. (@nlerner will like this.) I have a Huffy Aerowind frame that I bought for $10 with the intention of using it in a future Clunker 100 challenge, but it has enough oddball features (Ashtabula bottom bracket, 21.1mm stem, etc,, that with no parts on hand I’d be hard-pressed to meet the $100 budget without buying a cheap Schwinn donor bike, and I don’t want to buy a cheap Schwinn. So I thought, why not go the other direction? Why not build it up with the sort of components I’d use on one of my high grade builds. I can always take the components off again when I’m done, and this would give me a fair assessment of how truly good or bad the Aerowind frame itself is.

Tying this back to the current topic, the last two bikes I’ve built for Clunker 100 challenges have had pretty nice components — Cyclone derailleurs, Sugino cranks, decent Dia Compe brakes — but fairly mundane frames — a Takara and a mid-grade Centurion (see, on topic!). Both of those bikes were pretty pleasant to ride. Now maybe those frames were just better than I’m giving them credit for, but also maybe they just didn’t have the bad components dragging them down.

Now imagine you’re comparing an 80’s Trek with nice SunTour components to a 70’s De Rosa with Campy Nuovo Record components. With all due respect to the Italiophiles among us, the De Rosa is going to have a tough time proving a dramatically better overall riding experience.
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Old 01-20-23, 02:30 AM
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There's a lot of Kool-Aid involved here, straight, uncut, watered down, sweetened and not.
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Old 01-20-23, 04:42 AM
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Originally Posted by AdventureManCO
Takara 970
It cracks me up to see this on the list. I will be willing to bet there was only one person to mention this bike and that person has dinner with my wife every evening.
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Old 01-20-23, 05:59 AM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by AdventureManCO
BTW what ever happened to RobbieTunes? Banned?
.
IDK, some kind of drama I heard but I somehow missed it all. Weird to hear about any drama here. He's been over on Paceline some but that play is so weird in that they talk more off topic than bikes it seems like. And while political stuff "isn't allowed" is actually is a lot of the time as long as you only approach if from one side of the fence. LOL!
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Old 01-20-23, 06:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
Now imagine you’re comparing an 80’s Trek with nice SunTour components to a 70’s De Rosa with Campy Nuovo Record components. With all due respect to the Italiophiles among us, the De Rosa is going to have a tough time proving a dramatically better overall riding experience.
Can't disagree with this as I have an early '84 Trek 760 and an '83 Colnago Superissimo. The first with Suntour Superbe Pro (Indexed) and the second with Super Record (Friction). From memory, they are very comparable. The first shifts really well and has a very solid feel. The Colnago is a bit small but is a joy to ride. Both have sewups with Mavic 501/GL330/Contentelal gatorskin on the Trek and Record LF/GP4/YJ 3/50.
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