Nostalgia bikes

Agent57

waynej wrote:

Best Christmas present I ever had was my red Grifter.

Ok it wasn't perfect. It was very slightly overweight and the gear linkage was make of break-as-soon-as-you-look-at-it-tanium so you either had to leave it in third or screw a spoke into the hub and bend it to keep it in first. But it looked great, rode great and could withstand huge punishment - brilliant bike.

Got my Grifter for crimbo, too. I didn't have any problem with gears though, and it did take some abuse. There was what we called "slip gear" between first and second, IIRC. I remember I folded the plastic flap on the front mudguard under, so it rubbed on the tyre and made a sound like a motorbike (at least to my 9 or 10-year-old ears). At least, it did until it wore away; then I had to resort to Star Wars bubble gum cards pegged to the seat stays so they hit the spokes.

I also had a very good collection of plastic bread tags on the front brake cable.

After the Grifter, I had:

- a Viking Warlord 10-spd "racer"
- a Peugeot Carbolite 103 10-spd "racer"
- the 531c bike in my signature; a 12-spd "racer".

Fast forward 20 years to my carbon fibre bike; now called a "road bike" rather than a racer.

EKE_38BPM

My entire transport history:
Raleigh Tomahawk - hand-me-down from my older brother
Raleigh Chopper - hand-me-down from my older brother
Raleigh Europa (5 speed racer) - 2nd hand, present from my parents
Raleigh Stratos (10 speed? racer) - hand-me-down from my older brother
Specialized Hard Rock MTB - hand-me-down from my older brother
Cars
Raleigh MTB (piece of 'made in China' rubbish) - bought in a rush when going to Uni
Various cars
Motorbike (well, 50cc)
Car again. Still own this one after over 10 years
Giant OCR (road bike) - My first brand new bike. I loved it. Nearly cried when I found a crack in the chain stay. Gone but not forgotten
Btwin Vitamin (SS) - Winter commuting hack. New chain and freewheel fitted about an hour ago.
Raleigh Banana (converted to fixed) - My main form of transport. My friend bought it at about the same time I got my Europa. I was jealous at the time, but I was faster than him so jealousy didn't last long.
Thinking about doing my CBT.

The really strange thing is, I can't remember what happened to ANY of the bikes before the Giant. I don't think they were stolen as I would remember the loss, but no-one I've asked (brother and parents) can remember either?! How can six bikes just disappear with no trace?????

secretsam

Raleigh Arena 5 speed, second hand, rode funny 'cos I think it had been crashed :shock: but it got me riding (didn't learn until I was 13 :oops: )

Then graduated to an Orbit Gold Medal, which was too big so I bought a new frame from Bike Tech on PArk St in Bristol - a 'no name' shop special 531 frame (quite common then, there were around 5 or 6 framebuilders in Bristol) - still have this now.

Then a long break filled with cars, beer, fags and marriage, then the Spesh Sirrus I use in London (second hand) and my CAAD8 (new this year)

mitb

There's an age thing here, I am 36 and just missed the wave of wanting a bmx (my younger brothers both had them) and got a succession of racers instead, only to get hugely into mountain biking later and regret never owning a bmx (still want one!). But the standout racer was a 1986ish Peugeot HLE Premiere. Not a serious bike at the time (it was £179) but I thought I was well and truly The Nuts on that badboy. And you know the best thing, purely by chance I found it a couple of months back in my parent's garage! I thought it had been binned years back, I nearly wept.

Rear mech shagged, back wheel pringled and rusty as anything but otherwise pretty much complete and serviceable, so currently in the middle of a resto project. Got a £30 better condition girls version for donor parts off Gumtree too but hope to get them both going, I love working on it.

I swear, when the the kids have gone to bed and the wife's out and I get the Brasso and tinker with my parts I am the happiest man in the world....

t4tomo

mitb wrote:

I swear, when the the kids have gone to bed and the wife's out and I get the Brasso and tinker with my parts I am the happiest man in the world....

I'm sure you are mate, I'm sure you are.....

mitb

That sentence was designed for maximum Beavis and Butthead appeal. I am a little alarmed at the lack of surprise to the Brasso. That's gotta sting...

t4tomo

Brasso is perfect for knobs and helmets isn't it?*

t4tomo wrote:

I had a 2nd hand raleigh commando, in black with the big chopper style seat and colour coded changer 3 spead sturmey. I then saved up and bought a 10 speed raleigh racing bike (down tube shifters), which lasted me to uni only to be replaced by a 2nd hand BMX , which was more suited to bunny hopping on and off pavements and tearing down tow paths.

I've just recalled what I thought was a raleigh racing bike was actually a Viking Warlord - cool name.





*brass ones of course

Agent57

t4tomo wrote:

I've just recalled what I thought was a raleigh racing bike was actually a Viking Warlord - cool name.

We should form a club! (See my post, above. )

t4tomo

That's was what prompted my memory recall - suddenly though "Hey I had one of those". Mine was a mettalic blue one, with stubby "sports" mudgurads and toe clips, although I may have bought the toe clips seperately. Eventually it became 5 speed as chain rub wore through the front derailleur arm!

Makes you think though in the days of triple chain rings and 10 speed rear sprockets, we used to manage fine with 10 gears. No idea what the ratio's were, but I could climb all the 1in3 hills near me (although I may have had to zig zag up some of the really steep bits).

http://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/ncl/pics/Viking%20catalogue%201977%20(V-CC%20Library).pdf

bit of nostaglia linked above

Agent57

Mine was silver, with a rear rack for my school briefcase. I remember asking at school if I was supposed to keep pedalling when I changed gears, as I'd never seen a derailleur before.

tiredout

I remember starting on a chipper, then a kids racer of some sort with everything i could find bolted to it from mudgaurds, racks mirrors and even a little thing near the hub on the fork which clocked how far you had ridden some kind of early cycle computer, and later my dads old holdswoth framed road bike with a brooks saddle.

The bike i really remember was an old style upright mens bike i found in our back garden when we moved, which after a bad crash ( never try to get a leaf out of your front wheel with your heel while riding), I built it into a motor bike styled bike. my dad welded a couple of longer staight tubes onto my cut off bent forks raising the front up, put wide handlebars on the front and knobbly tires,and sprayed it mat black - it was the bollocks. This was back in 1983, just like a modern day rigid mtb before they were about

SimonAH

Oooo, just remembered my Raleigh Pathfinder, one of the last UK built Raleighs I believe? Flat barred 10 speed. Loved it!

t4tomo

tiredout wrote:

.....even a little thing near the hub on the fork which clocked how far you had ridden some kind of early cycle computer...

I had one of those too, a little mileometer that was driven by a thingy on the spoke that knocked a little cog around half a turn as it went past. Positionedlow down on the front fork, so hardly convenient for a quick glance mileage check.

Before I got the viking, I had a loan of my uncles bike (I think technically he refurbed it and gave it to me for my birthday) which was an old steel flat bar 3spd SA jobby from the 50's which had a cable driven speedometer, from a cog wheel on the front hub. It looked like it had been lifed of a motorbike, but may have been cycle specific.

It was great fun measuring your down hill speed (the dial maxed out at 40) but given the noise it made much have compromised rolling restance something rotten.

My uncle borrowed / took the bike back after I got the racer and he's still riding it now.

EKE_38BPM

SimonAH wrote:

Oooo, just remembered my Raleigh Pathfinder, one of the last UK built Raleighs I believe? Flat barred 10 speed. Loved it!

I had a Raleigh MTB and it was one of the first made in China. Hated it. Hated it. Hated it.