katsup

I am currently commuting on my '92 Trek 950. It is setup to be upright so I can ride while my broken clavicle heals.

This is only temporary as I plan to install the original bars and commute with my Vaya (not vintage) once I am fully healed.

VRC

Yes---89 Bottechia

veganbikes

Not quite but kind of. My main purpose built commuter is a new frame and semi-new fork but with a vintage style (in the frame) and many of the parts are vintage-y old 90s XT RD with an XTR 9 speed shifter and old Ritchey Force Lite bars. It was going to have old Campy cranks but I got some better Tiagra hollowtech cranks which are way better because I can easily get chainrings and parts for it unlike the old Campy Triomphe stuff which is a 116bcd which nobody makes anymore.

My "new" Phil Wood frame will certainly not see much commuting but I will bring it to work sometimes.

CliffordK

Most of my rides have some element of commuting, errands, shopping, etc, and I don't really differentiate between commutes and other rides.

My oldest bike that I regularly ride/commute is my old Colnago Super. Probably dating back to 1968 or 1969 (first couple of years of Super production).

It wasn't that "vintage" when I bought it as a teenager. And, it has had many miles and many years of commuting. It just got older with me.

And, it still gets out a lot. It is a BEAST of a bike.

This was headed up to Crater Lake last year. I think I can still call it a "commute" as it was riding to the start of a "ride the rim" ride.



This was up in Portland this summer. I'm also calling it a commute as I towed the Bike Friday trailer from Eugene to Portland to do some activities in Portland. The bike went on the Foglie Morte hill climb ride in Portland (without the trailer). The photo below was returning from across town purchasing a battered Bike Friday Tikit.

Viich

I'm 88 Bianchi Strada for dry commuter, with a '93(?) Giant Innova steel hybrid converted to drop bar for rain and, with a change to studded tires, winter.

Bike Gremlin

After how many years does a bike count as vintage?

52telecaster

i have no idea what the convention is for vintage. i just like old bikes getting used instead of neglected.

BobbyG

1984 Nishiki International Ole Edition...on dry days. Sooooooflexy, soooooo comfortable with 700x32s.

ascherer 

He said it...we all thought it!

79pmooney

That bike is IMO near perfect for a commuter. Horizontal dropouts with adjusting screws. Makes chain tension for fix gear/single speed/internal hub easy. Fender eyes and clearance. That frame is from the days of Japanese/Engish standards; the best most universal set of standards the bike world has ever seen. so everything that bike may ever need will be widely available for a long time.

My fix gear commuter/rain bike/winter bike started as a Peugeot UO-8 in 1976. Wrecked it and put the parts I could transfer on a Japanese Schwinn frame not very different from what you have. When it died an unnatural death, the parts went onto a Sekine, then a Miyata, then a probably Japanese built Trek, all again, not very different from yours.

If that were mine, I'd put a Mafac centerpull front brake on. Of course, this means adding the cable hanger to the headset stack which can get you into trouble with having enough threads for the locknut. Remedy? The really cheap replacement headset from Tange. Use just the top and keep your better sealed lower bearings. (It's $8 and works surprisingly well. And what you have may well be a Tange headset and the two might mix and match.)

My previous frames were all compromises for fit and function. The last one, the Trek, is a keeper. Very good fit, good ride, near perfect for my use. When the seatstay cap cracked, I took it to a framebuilder for the repair and had it powder coated. Between that and framesaver, it should last my lifetime if I don't wreck it. The Miyata was a better bike but a poor fit for me. Put 27,000 miles on it before I shortened it several inches.

Ben

noglider 

I own ten bikes (including one tandem), and they are all old. The newest is the tandem, a Burley Zydeco, which is from 2002. My newest single bike is a Lemond RS (titanium) from 1994. The bike I ride the most is a 1974 Raleigh International with new components on it and a home-made paint job. Most of my bikes are from the 1970s.



The International has dynamo powered lights, a front rack, and a 3x10 drivetrain.

Darth Lefty 

I occasionally ride my Dad's 1976 Paramount, a year older than me. It's a little to primitive for regular use, especially lack of braze-ons for anything but the RD and rear brake, but also friction downtube Campy shifters are no great shakes. The ride, however, is fantastic. I wish I could transport the secret sauce to my daily bike.

CliffordK

Made before you graduated High School?

Bike Gremlin

+1
I've "rejuvenatd" a 1996 rigid steel MTB and use it as a winter commuter (skuaw rides it in the warm half of the season). Not sure if that counts as vintage, but here it is.

lost_in_endicot

I ride my '84 Schwinn Voyageur every once in a while. I have a '70's Peugeot mixte I bought with the intention of building up into a commuter, but I finally convinced myself that it's just too small.

AusTexMurf

Tom,
Which bars and stem on your International ?
Beautiful ride !

noglider 

Thanks!

It's an Origin 8 stem, tall, with a short extension. The bars are Nitto Mustache. Shifting is a little odd at those angles, but it's not hard.

BritishV8

Here's what I've been commuting on lately. I procured a North St. pannier to make it more suitable.

noglider 

My neighborhood has tons and tons of people who commute by bike. Many of the apartments are quite small, so people keep their bikes locked up outside overnight. There are lots of old bikes, and it's clear that people have old bikes not out of sentimentality but because they're practical. In my eyes, the most practical, durable, and reliable bike is the English three-speed, if you're not going to climb hills or ride long distances.

Abe_Froman

I caught the C/V bug over the summer, and bought an '82 or '83 Bianchi Professional in celeste, with a full Suntour Superbe groupset (including hubs...).

I came to the same conclusion. The bike was a VERY good ride. Smooth, responsive, agile, fast. Just great in every way. But brakes were bad, ergonomics were atrocious with the skinny handlebars and old school hoods. I thought downtube shifters would be cool as a throwback..but they're just a pain in the ass. Really makes you realize how long ago builders pretty much nailed frame design, but how much advancement there has been in components. I think I'm going to try to sell off the groupset, and rebuild the bike with fully modern parts.

noglider 

@Abe_Froman, check out the thread on old frames with modern components. It's not for everyone, but I'm about to modernize yet another old frame. I like bikes like that.

BobbyG

I constantly figit with the gears on my brifter bike and rapid-shifter mountain bike. The downtube shifters on my old road bike make me think twice before reaching down. Actually I think three times. Since my brifter bike is my main ride, I first try to change gears with my old bike's brake levers out of habit.

Hoopdriver

My daily commuter is a 1972 Raleigh Super Course. Reconfigured with 5 speed IGH/Drum rear and Dyno/Drum in front.

52telecaster

nice!

Piff 

What crank is that? Beautiful.