Pompiere

You shouldn't send a steel bike to the landfill, steel is infinitely recyclable. Take it to a scrap metal dealer instead and get paid for your trouble. A half-dozen Huffys would probably net you enough buy lunch.

nlerner

Fify.

AdventureManCO 

lol you guys crack me up


Gonna try the Record wheelset on it today and see how things improve, because I did like the geometry, felt efficient.

Kabuki12

Nice job on this. I remember when you found it and can appreciate what goes into a " left for dead" bike. I ride "Rusty" , my 1972 ItalVega that was left in a field in Morro Bay California for years, regularly . The chain was fused solid and EVERYTHING was rusty and stuck! However , the bearings all had good grease , still a mystery today. Yours looks a bit better ( a lot) than Rusty . What saved the frame on the ItalVega was the chrome under the paint . I used very fine steel wool and polishing compound which removed a lot of paint and revealed healthy chrome plating instead of rusted , compromised tubing. Keep on pedaling and I think you will find an improvement with good tires and wheels. On the first "as found" picture the chrome( the green is oxidation!) Silca pump still works , but not as good as the Zefal so when I ride it I take the Zefal. Joe

"Rusty" as found

Rusty's last canyon adventure a few weeks ago

AdventureManCO 

Well, I've been riding this one a bit more, and as I do, as with most bikes, its been speaking to me more about different things and I've been able to get to know it better and make a better determination on some things.

This bike has helped me find my perfect road bike size - it is 55cm. It just fits. I can't explain it any other way. It just does. I could probably swing 54cm, up to 56cm ideally, but 55 is the sweet spot - and we are talking top tube. I could probably go higher on the seat tube, and in fact that could possibly be preferential, but there is something that a 55cm top tube does for me that a smaller or larger does not. It is not so short that it feels stubby or crampy. Instead, it feels tight (in a good way), compact, and where it really shines is in its quicker handling. Really enjoying that. And it doesn't feel so long as to stretch me out too far. Jim Merz did a good job designing the geometry on this one.

Its probably the easiest tracking bike I have - I could literally just pedal up hills no handed and at low speed. It's that stable. The geometry is also tight in regard to steering, so it is quite a feat to be able to pull off such stability with something this quick-handling. That is a tribute to both Merz and Miyata.

Now, the thing I think I'm not enjoying as much is that it feels slightly sluggish. Like, just slow to get up to speed, not as light in the pedals. We've got a serviced BB and a new chain, cleaned up RD and jockey wheels so I don't think its the drivetrain? And I know what people are going to say. TIRES!! Well, I put on the Campagnolo Record wheelset with tubulars on it, and while it did improve the ride, it was not orders of magnitude different, and I can't explain it. I verified it by jumping on the Midget real quick (which my son was riding), and that bike is just a freakish anomaly - weighs more than most of my road bikes, but yet has quicker acceleration than nearly all of them, and between it and the Allez, no contest - the Midget smoked it. And what's funny about that is that the Midget has some mixmaster clincher wheels that don't even match. Which makes me think there is something intrinsic to the bikes that is more than just wheels/tires, or at least that wheels/tire cannot completely compensate for or overshadow.

All in all, I'm really grateful for this bike. It is teaching me a valuable component of the perfect ride. Now, if I can just find a bike with the size and stability of this bike, the quickness of the Midget, and the springyness of a good Columbus SL tubeset, the search ends.

+ the Huffy on the side for laughs

jdawginsc 

Bella Basso Gap is that for me. Though I have not experienced the greatness of the Huffente.