A Midwestern Hello
06-12-23, 09:58 PM
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A Midwestern Hello
Hello everyone,
I'm a college student from central Iowa, I've always enjoyed biking but only recently did I really find a love for it. My coworkers would talk all the time about their bikes and rides and I always wanted to be a part of that, but I rode a Walmart Mongoose and figured I was out of my depth. I broke that same Mongoose a few months back and decided maybe I should get a bit more serious. A friend of mine who I went to cycling classes most mornings with let me borrow an old bike from his parents, a Ross Eurosport 10 speed from sometime in the 80's as far as I can tell. It was in rough shape but I cleaned it up, replaced the shifter cables, and took apart and rebuilt the drive train. Working on the mechanics and learning more about the way it worked was unbelievably satisfying and I was hooked.
I bought my own vintage bike online, an old Cannondale in similarly poor shape, but I brought it home, cleaned it, rewrapped the bars, replaced the brakes and the saddle, and finally had myself something I was proud of. I did all that work and realized it was too small for me, but I was able to resell it and turn a nice profit.
But now the dilemma still stands, I'm a 6'4" guy primarily interested in road cycling and I have no idea what bike I should buy as my first "Grown-up" ride. Any suggestions? Thanks everyone, hoping to make this a hobby I can really fall in love with.
I'm a college student from central Iowa, I've always enjoyed biking but only recently did I really find a love for it. My coworkers would talk all the time about their bikes and rides and I always wanted to be a part of that, but I rode a Walmart Mongoose and figured I was out of my depth. I broke that same Mongoose a few months back and decided maybe I should get a bit more serious. A friend of mine who I went to cycling classes most mornings with let me borrow an old bike from his parents, a Ross Eurosport 10 speed from sometime in the 80's as far as I can tell. It was in rough shape but I cleaned it up, replaced the shifter cables, and took apart and rebuilt the drive train. Working on the mechanics and learning more about the way it worked was unbelievably satisfying and I was hooked.
I bought my own vintage bike online, an old Cannondale in similarly poor shape, but I brought it home, cleaned it, rewrapped the bars, replaced the brakes and the saddle, and finally had myself something I was proud of. I did all that work and realized it was too small for me, but I was able to resell it and turn a nice profit.
But now the dilemma still stands, I'm a 6'4" guy primarily interested in road cycling and I have no idea what bike I should buy as my first "Grown-up" ride. Any suggestions? Thanks everyone, hoping to make this a hobby I can really fall in love with.
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06-12-23, 10:30 PM
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ignominious poltroon
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Have a look around the Classic and Vintage forum https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/ One of my favorite people there is from Iowa, fwiw. @bikemig
06-13-23, 05:35 AM
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Hello everyone,
I'm a college student from central Iowa, I've always enjoyed biking but only recently did I really find a love for it. My coworkers would talk all the time about their bikes and rides and I always wanted to be a part of that, but I rode a Walmart Mongoose and figured I was out of my depth. I broke that same Mongoose a few months back and decided maybe I should get a bit more serious. A friend of mine who I went to cycling classes most mornings with let me borrow an old bike from his parents, a Ross Eurosport 10 speed from sometime in the 80's as far as I can tell. It was in rough shape but I cleaned it up, replaced the shifter cables, and took apart and rebuilt the drive train. Working on the mechanics and learning more about the way it worked was unbelievably satisfying and I was hooked.
I bought my own vintage bike online, an old Cannondale in similarly poor shape, but I brought it home, cleaned it, rewrapped the bars, replaced the brakes and the saddle, and finally had myself something I was proud of. I did all that work and realized it was too small for me, but I was able to resell it and turn a nice profit.
But now the dilemma still stands, I'm a 6'4" guy primarily interested in road cycling and I have no idea what bike I should buy as my first "Grown-up" ride. Any suggestions? Thanks everyone, hoping to make this a hobby I can really fall in love with.
I'm a college student from central Iowa, I've always enjoyed biking but only recently did I really find a love for it. My coworkers would talk all the time about their bikes and rides and I always wanted to be a part of that, but I rode a Walmart Mongoose and figured I was out of my depth. I broke that same Mongoose a few months back and decided maybe I should get a bit more serious. A friend of mine who I went to cycling classes most mornings with let me borrow an old bike from his parents, a Ross Eurosport 10 speed from sometime in the 80's as far as I can tell. It was in rough shape but I cleaned it up, replaced the shifter cables, and took apart and rebuilt the drive train. Working on the mechanics and learning more about the way it worked was unbelievably satisfying and I was hooked.
I bought my own vintage bike online, an old Cannondale in similarly poor shape, but I brought it home, cleaned it, rewrapped the bars, replaced the brakes and the saddle, and finally had myself something I was proud of. I did all that work and realized it was too small for me, but I was able to resell it and turn a nice profit.
But now the dilemma still stands, I'm a 6'4" guy primarily interested in road cycling and I have no idea what bike I should buy as my first "Grown-up" ride. Any suggestions? Thanks everyone, hoping to make this a hobby I can really fall in love with.
Have a look around the Classic and Vintage forum https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/ One of my favorite people there is from Iowa, fwiw. @bikemig
To the OP: I wouldn't look for a particular brand of bike as what you find is always hit or miss. You do want to learn which bikes are worth restoring. One way to do that is to put up a want to buy post in the C&V valuation forum along with roughly where you are located and your height. The posters will help find you bikes and it will also help give you an idea of what to look for. The good news is that the used bike market has crashed a bit so prices are down. The bad news is that the inventory doesn't look that good so you'll have to be patient. If you're in Des Moines, you'll soon see that a local flipper/restorer is sitting on a healthy inventory of bikes in your size so his bikes will show up in any search for tall frames. Since you can do your own work, you'll likely save money by buying a bike that has not been restored. Plus it's usually better finding a bike with more or less original equipment.
This is one of the bikes from the local seller in your size:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...type=top_picks
But put up a WTB in the C&V valuation forum (there are two C&V forums, one is for valuations). You'll get a range of ideas of what to look for and what is a reasonable deal.
Edit: I like Motobecanes and there are two good ones in your size available locally:
This one is a reasonable deal at $125. The stronglight 99 triple is a nice touch. Motobecanes have good finishes and are generally well equipped.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...2-4d64018985dd
This one is a little taller at 25 inches and is being sold by the local seller/refurbisher. It's a nice bike and the price is reasonable at $225:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...2-4d64018985dd
You can search the catalogs online to get info on these bikes. This is the 1978 Motobecane catalog:
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalo...nd_Touring.jpg
Last edited by bikemig; 06-13-23 at 06:27 AM.
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