Chuckles1

1981 Raleigh Super Grand Prix. Sorry, no pics. It's on a magnetic trainer downstairs in an exercise room too small to get far enough back for a picture. Two x Six speed non- indexed shifting. Nothing special; just a good old steel frame bike that was my first new bike ever (I rode hand me downs when I was a kid). My only bike from 1981 to 2007, used every year with minimal maintenance (if it weren't broke, I didn't fix it). Probably have 35-40,000 miles on her, and a lot of good memories.

mcours2006

1985 Gardin, though most of the components are modern. The frame, seatpost, handlebar and stem, and bottle cage are original. I am the only owner.

phughes

1984 Ross Mt. Rainier. I changed the bars, but still have the original bull moose bars shown in the first image. They are still pristine.

phughes

That is beautiful

Gresp15C

It's a great lesson: Sidestepping the debate about fixed / freewheel / brakes, there's nothing that a bike "needs" that wasn't already in widespread production, before many of us were born.

Oldsledz

1963 Montgomery words Hawthorne 3 Speed. I have the original seat for it also.

7up

My 1954 Balloon tire 3 speed Jaguar

RiceAWay

I am presently 76 and have had just about every good bike that was made at one time or another. Older steel bikes are as good as anything on the road if you are a sports rider. Also 8 or 9 speed shifters are more than good enough. What in the hell do you care if it takes you 25 more seconds to get to the top of a hill than your equal age and fitness buddy with the $10,000 bike with Di2 and top of the line Carbon Wheels on it? I have a Look KG685 which is a climbing bike that weighs 16 lbs in XL size and I just set a personal best over a 25 mile course with 1,900 feet of climbing with my Lemond Zurich steel bike that is 5 lbs heavier ready to ride. The bull**** about bikes is simply getting too deep to avoid the smell of. The absurd number of speeds is not even impressing Euro-pros anymore. Tubeless tires may reduce the number of flats you get but if you do get one it takes a idiotic amount of time to get them back on the road again. New has ceased being better.

tomato coupe

Celebrate older bikes ... don't rant mindlessly about new ones.

cb400bill

So, Mister Off Topic Ranter, what's your oldest bike?

Jmpierce

Not my oldest but the bike I've owned the longest. 82 Trek 710. Mostly Dura Ace 7400XX, rode it today. I forget how great a ride this bike is.

grayEZrider

British made lugged but low end three speed., Bought from the first owner, a woman whose father brought it over here for her 17th birthday. Original except for grips and tires it is still ridden now and then to a local cafe for breakfast.

shdwfx

My 1987 Vitus 979. Owned new since day 1. Bought by mail order from The Colorado Cyclist and spec'd with a combination of Shimano 600 (drivetrain) and 105 (brakes) although I swapped in a Campy Chorus seatpost later as I couldn't resist. Still rides great after 33 yrs and never had any issues with the aluminum bonded frame (knock on wood).

Phil_gretz

1971 Jeunet

Hypno Toad

1965 Schwinn Twinn

Speedway2

My oldest bike that I still own.
I bought this 95' Marin Muirwoods BNIB in '95....a few months before my son was born. One of my favourite bikes to ride!
My son now rides it and is impressed that a bike older than him runs so smooth and the condition mechanically/cosmetically it's in.

Slightspeed

i had a 1961 Legnano Gran Premio, but it was too small, and I sold it a few months ago. I'm keeping this 1964 Legnano Roma that I got new as a junior racer. Still fits, and I still really love riding it.

Craptacular8

My oldest bike, is my mother's 1944 Western Flyer...knockoff that I use for yard art. I had to replace the wheels, as the originals had rusted through where they had rested for so many years. They are also yard art, but could no longer support the weight of the bike.

The oldest rideable bike is my 1984 Raleigh Rapide Mixte. The frame, fork, headset, and derailleur hanger are original. The rest is a more modern 2x10 mixture of microshift/105. It was originally a drop bar bike.

Craptacular8

What are you using to hold your water bottle there Phil_gretz

Phil_gretz

It's the modern Minoura BH-60 mount and a Velo Orange reproduction cage. I really don't like the cheap black applied finish of the Minoura mount, but it's mostly hidden by the bottle anyway. One could strip it with Easy-Off or chemical stripper, sand it, finish the edges better and polish it. I wasn't that committed.

rustystrings61 

Oldest (currently owned) is the '71 Gitane TdF converted to fixed gear -


- while the one I have owned from new without any breaks in continuity is my '02 Mercian, which gets oldness points for being built to replicate British road/track bikes of the early '50s -


- but the bike with which I have the LONGEST history is my '76 Puch Royal X my father bought for me in early '78, which I foolishly sold in '87, learned it had been stolen, then spent decades looking for one like it before this, my original one, surfaced on FB Marketplace. And yes, the friend I sold it to who lost it to theft very graciously waived all claim to it.

stevel610 

Oldest rideable is this 85 or 86 Raleigh Team USA. Upgraded the wheels to sealed bearing Formula hubs with CR-18 rims. This photo has the old (original) wheels.

Oldest is a late 1940's Humber with dynamo front hub and Sturmey Archer 3 speed.

vane171

WOW that's one big frame can you tell us how tall you must be to ride it?

My brother bought a sporting bike (really racing since it had tubular tires) around 1970 when we were still kids and it was never used much until I took to riding it in 1990s in my more advanced age. After replacing wheels (because orig tubular rims made it too expensive to buy tires for it) and most of the drive train, I still ride it and in a sporting fashion. If I fish out some pic of it, I will post it.

Nice to see that people still ride the classics, downtube shifts and toe clips and all.

tkamd73 

Well I’m 6’2”” and can stand over it with room to spare, 36” inseam. It’s not my largest frame, when I got the bike it had tubulars also, rode it that way until my first flat, then switched it over to clinchers.

Fish out the pics of your bike, and post them please. Check out the CV forum, lots of people riding classics there. All my bikes, except one, have DT shifters, and toe clips. The one that doesn’t, has flat pedals, internally geared hub, and a coaster brake.
Tim

vane171

I am 5'81/2", inseam 33", I suppose that's average, fit M frame at its top range I think.

I posted several pictures on the thread Emtpy road ahead' in post #2511, one has my bike in them.
https://www.bikeforums.net/21663163-post2511.html

I mention in that post, I bought a fairly up to date secondhand bike. As you can see from the pictures, I ride in the rolling hills countryside and that means very frequent shifting and I really look forward to indexed shifting on handlebars.