Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

notime
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby notime » Wed Jan 14, 2015 9:12 pm

ldrcycles wrote:I would have a guess at a Malvern Star, purely on the basis of the shape of the forks. The only forks i've seen like that were on a late 80s/early 90s Malvern Star, the model name of which escapes me now. Possibly Elite but i'm not sure.
Thanks, It looks like a fair bit of effort has gone into the fork, not even sure I'd fit a bigger tyre in. But a few things that differ from the Malvern's of this age, my seat stays are not flat where they connect to the seat tube lug and it also is the original paint and I don't believe Malvern Star went this style on roadies and no sign it ever had decals.

roadrash2
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby roadrash2 » Sun Sep 06, 2015 2:19 am

Hi new here some one mentioned a bike stickerd up with jock bullpen stickers well funny enough I picked up a bike today stickerd up with jock bullen stickers and no identifieng marks to say what the frame is apart from numbers on crank housing so far I've had no luck with them can any one help it's a alloy mountain bike frame that's all I know

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drubie
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby drubie » Tue May 17, 2016 11:23 am

Image

Mid to late eighties Centurion Cavaletto, tange infinity frame in a large / 60cm.

A few years of commuting (and not far either, less than 10km each way). The rider (not me) a bit bigger than average but not a total ham beast.

This is the second of these taiwanese frames he has broken. My advice is to treat them a little carefully, they don't seem quite as tough as as other Tange frame sets.
So we get the leaders we deserve and we elect, we get the companies and the products that we ask for, right? And we have to ask for different things. – Paul Gilding
but really, that's rubbish. We get none of it because the choices are illusory.

michalmox
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby michalmox » Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:46 am

Please help, someone recognizes the frame manufacturer, model bicycle?

Details on the forum here: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=93588

Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/michalmor ... 7103229314

Image

Image

DazMez
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby DazMez » Sun Oct 29, 2017 6:08 pm

Thanks to drubie for creating this post. I followed his advice, read the post etc. Recently spotted an old bike, cottered cranks... drop outs not forged etc but when I saw 'Mafac Racer' on the centre pull brakes drubie's words rang out in my head. So I feigned indifference & bought the bike. An old Peugeot.

Kronos
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Kronos » Fri Nov 10, 2017 7:33 pm

Stem shifters generally indicate a junker / fixie candidate.
Where your shifters are located doesn't really matter as such. By modern standards downtube shifters are junk. You will most likely be deleting the shifters and replacing them with something more modern such as brifters, or in my case double tap brifters which make the bike I ride awesome because of the modern creature comforts.

A fixie is a perfectly good waste of a bike frame. Please don't feed the fixie habit by putting fixed gears on a quality steel frame. Fixies are the tools of the devil :evil: Nothing worse than seeing a good bike frame with an ugly looking stem and even worse handlebars, with bear trap pedals on a fixie. Fixies are for kooks... If you want to ride one gear then just leave your bike in one gear. Using a fixie for anything other than improving your cadence is ridiculous.

Derailleur gears have been around since the 1930s, just make sure that the derailleurs are in the right place, and not bent, this can indicate that the bike has been dropped and the bottom bracket is also bent, which can be a further sign of a generally mistreated bike you should avoid.

Make sure you've got a good aluminum stem that can be replaced yeah, but don't worry where the shift gear is, you'll be replacing most of it. I just threw out the gears and Shimano RSX STI groupset from a Giant steel bike. Don't dismiss lugged steel frame as opposed to welded. Lugged frames can often be stronger as opposed to welded frames.

Yeah make sure all the bits use allen key bolts so that there is ease of access, make sure the bottom bracket is easily accessible you will want to get rid of this for something more modern. Don't really worry about any of the running gear. You're going to throw this out. 90s steel bikes are much more accessible and can be made to fit just about any current groupset with some effort by the owner. Don't worry about rebuilding old groupsets even Shimano Soara groupsets will be better than anything that was on the bike. Switch to modern brifters, you will love yourself for so much longer.

I don't mind ebay at all for components that you can no longer purchase, but find a guy at a friendly local bike store that can order you new components for far less money when you need new components. Sakae can be good, but if you stop by and find anything with Nitto parts on it, grab it, this is high end. Sakae is more found on consumer level bikes. Nitto is an institution still to this date. SunTour is a little higher up the food chain. Don't even worry about old Italian stuff unless its made out of titanium.

Older road bikes can tend to have drop bars that are a bit narrower than modern standards, 40 to 42mm, unless you have broad shoulders these can be nice anyway. A narrower bar will let you move into and out of traffic far easier. It's like having a smaller steering wheel on your car, once you get used to it, you will wonder why you ever wanted wider bars.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby P!N20 » Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:27 pm

Back the tandem up, you're in the wrong forum section if your nay-saying vintage components.
Kronos wrote:By modern standards downtube shifters are junk.
While I love and use brifters, what's wrong with downtube shifters? They were used by professional cyclists for decades. Cable tension isn't even a problem for non-indexed friction shifters; you can always make micro adjustments to hit the sweet spot. Can't do that with brifters.
Kronos wrote:which make the bike I ride awesome because of the modern creature comforts.
You're in the retro section - creature comforts aren't a priority.
Kronos wrote:A fixie is a perfectly good waste of a bike frame. Please don't feed the fixie habit by putting fixed gears on a quality steel frame. Fixies are the tools of the devil :evil: Fixies are for kooks...
I'll try not to take offence. Riding fixed gear has its own discipline, challenges and qualities, it's not better or worse than freewheeled bikes, just different. I don't see what's so bad about converting road frames to fixed gear as long as you aren't grinding off cable guides and the like, which was popular circa 2007. Have you actually ridden a fixed gear bike? Despite what is often broadcast, riding fixed gear is not reckless, crazy or dangerous.
Kronos wrote:just make sure that the derailleurs are in the right place, and not bent
A minor point, but a bent derailleur hanger can be straightened out quite easily. Another benefit of steel frames.
Kronos wrote:Lugged frames can often be stronger as opposed to welded frames.
Tell me more.
Kronos wrote:make sure the bottom bracket is easily accessible you will want to get rid of this for something more modern.
Not doubting the convenience of cartridge bottom brackets, but what's so bad about cup and cone bottom brackets? They are easily adjusted and maintained. Again, you're in the retro section, loose ball bearings and pin wrenches are what make us tick!
Kronos wrote:Don't even worry about old Italian stuff unless its made out of titanium.
I don't even know where to start with a comment like this. How do you think Campagnolo forged their name into the annals of cycling history? With beautifully designed top shelf components, that's how. Take a look at how many Tour de France winners have used Campy components: http://cycling-passion.com/tour-de-fran ... year-year/ I'd revise your quote to say something like,"Don't even worry about modern Italian stuff unless its free."


I'm not arguing about putting modern components on a retro frame, that's cool, but to say don't do this and chuck out that, I feel you're missing some of the philosophy and subtleties that give us retrogrouches so much joy.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Kronos » Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:34 pm

Campag is just a name... Just like Nitto or Suntour is also just a name. Just because it's got a made in Italy or France stamp does not mean its automatically better. My most fun bike to ride at the moment is the Giant I rebuilt. I'm in the retro forum yes, that doesn't mean I'm here to give bad advice. Some of the best and most underrated steel bike frames came out of Taiwan or Japan, in the 1990s, when the same couple of manufacturers were making them there.

Down tube and bar end shifters will only get you into more unnecessary trouble. I would rather be able to pull the lever and grab some gears when I need them, especially in an emergency situation (that's why I run Double Taps).

Most people by and large who ride fixies are kooks, you see them wobbling about doing anything but going straight, or falling over at traffic lights or going down hills and eating pavement because they can't unclip fast enough, heaves knows what they will do if a car pulls out in front of them.

You're right fixies have a certain purpose in training you how to spin a cog correctly, or in getting better at keeping up the cadence. They can also be nothing more than a reason to call out hazard as you're riding past another kook.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Kronos » Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:35 pm

Campag is just a name... Just like Nitto or Suntour, or Thomson is also just a name and I've got SR-Suntour and Thomson components on my current bike. Just because it's got a made in Italy or France stamp does not mean its automatically better. My most fun bike to ride at the moment is the Giant I rebuilt. I'm in the retro forum yes, that doesn't mean I'm here to give bad advice. It is a fairly common 90s mass manufactured lugged steel frame. The only reason I chose that bar anything available was the overall condition of the frame. It still looks like it rolled off the bike stores floor.

Lugged steel frames can be (though not always) stronger than early attempts at welding frames in a modern sense. That is self explanatory really, the joins simply were or were not up to standards as bike companies moved to frames made out of steel tubes to welded tubes and secondly if you bend/break a component on a steel lugged bike, it's not such a big deal to repair them as it would be a welded frame. Not that I advocate that of course.

Some of the best and most underrated steel bike frames came out of Taiwan or Japan, in the 1990s, when the same couple of manufacturers were making them there. They had it right at the time, and they weren't just doing what they're doing today in mass manufacturing everything in only in 3 sizes (or 6 if you're lucky) in terms of the modern manufacturing process.

The location of the shifter doesn't necessarily make a frame better or worse. It doesn't particularly say anything about a bike other than that there were more than a few bad bikes with stem shifters which were tourers. Then there were quite a few that were not cheap bikes and are still quite decent.

Purely from a logistical point of view down tube and bar end shifters will only get you into more unnecessary trouble. I would rather be able to pull the lever and grab some gears when I need them, especially in an emergency situation (that's why I run Double Taps). It's modern and sensible and safe. I don't know maybe you don't use a vintage steel frame bike as a commuter as I do? Either way I would also rather dung up a 90s steel frame than ride an expensive carbon bike on the road.

If I bend a steel frame in the process so be it, I get a new one for a hundred or two, if I bend a derailleur or a bottom bracket in the mean time I straighten it. My only comment re: that is that a bent derailleur or bottom bracket can be a sign of a bike that has been crashed or otherwise neglected. Not sure what the big deal is about a fairly accurate statement.

Anyway, my last carbon bike I had anything to do with (a BMC Team Machine no less) snapped its seat stays in two from regular riding on the road. That's not just a catastrophic failure that could have been fatal. Needless to say I learned my lesson and I won't be riding a carbon bike on the road any longer. Carbon is strong until it receives torsion in the wrong direction and then it just snaps in half.

Most people by and large who ride fixies are kooks, you see them wobbling about doing anything but going straight, or falling over at traffic lights or going down hills and eating pavement because they can't unclip fast enough. Heavens knows what they will do if a car pulls out in front of them. Most of these people are easy to spot from a few hundred metres away.

Yes, you're right fixies have a certain purpose in training you how to spin a cog correctly, or in getting better at keeping up the cadence. They can also be nothing more than a reason to call out hazard as you're riding past another kook. Using a more exotic, or even decent Japanese, or Taiwanese road bike frame as a fixie is just a perfectly good waste of a decent frame to begin with... Particularly once you put ugly quill converters and even worse handlebars on it after you're done. That's just my thoughts however.

But there is no real need to ride a fixie (other than training aside) and the excuse that its somehow "more natural" is luddite behavior (we're going to smash technology because its deplorable.) We've had derailleurs (no pun intended regarding this thread) since the 1930s. We've also had this magical invention called "brakes" for just about as long. Those things that arrest momentum before you do the other thing to stop on a fixie which is crash. They are (in my own thoughts) deservedly the second-most castigated form of cycle transport after unicycles when they're not being used for their intended purpose.

I also didn't say at any point that you should or would agree with me, so there is really no need for the attitude. I'm just "pissing into the wind" or as they say "having a nature break." It's up to you whether you want to take anything I say on board. It's up to you to be angry about something unnecessarily. I'm just putting words on a screen. As I learned from an early age from my saint of a mother, just because your friends are into or not into something that you like does not mean you have to get all huff and puff about it. You can ignore my opinion as you so wish.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby P!N20 » Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:36 pm

Kronos wrote:Campag is just a name...
A name that has been associated with high quality components since 1933.
Kronos wrote:Just because it's got a made in Italy or France stamp does not mean its automatically better.
Totally agree, yet here you are telling somebody new to retro bikes to steer away from anything old and Italian.
Kronos wrote:Lugged steel frames can be (though not always) stronger than early attempts at welding frames in a modern sense.
I'll leave that for the frame builders to argue, but I feel the quality of workmanship would be more of a determining factor than the jointing method employed.
Kronos wrote:It doesn't particularly say anything about a bike other than that there were more than a few bad bikes with stem shifters which were tourers. Then there were quite a few that were not cheap bikes and are still quite decent.
I'm sure there were plenty of decent bikes with stem shifters. However, there were also a lot of gaspipes with stem shifters, as it's far cheaper and easier to clamp on a stem shifter than braze-on shifter bosses. Anyway, I don't have any problem with stem shifters, it just usually indicates a lower end frame.
Kronos wrote:Purely from a logistical point of view down tube and bar end shifters will only get you into more unnecessary trouble.
How on earth did cyclists survive for a century before the development of brifters?[/sarcasm]
Kronos wrote:I don't know maybe you don't use a vintage steel frame bike as a commuter as I do?
I sure do! Fixies too, cause apparently I'm a kook.
Kronos wrote:Most people by and large who ride fixies are kooks, you see them wobbling about doing anything but going straight, or falling over at traffic lights or going down hills and eating pavement because they can't unclip fast enough
There must be some $h!t cyclists in Noosa. I've got suck in my pedals on a couple of occasions - on both my roadie and fixies - coming to a stop at lights. About the only thing damaged was my pride. I don't see how this is exclusive to fixies.
Kronos wrote:heaves knows what they will do if a car pulls out in front of them.
Er, maybe stop?
Kronos wrote:Using a more exotic, or even decent Japanese, or Taiwanese road bike frame as a fixie is just a perfectly good waste of a decent frame to begin with...
I tend to agree that a road frame should be used as a road bike, but I'd rather see a frame being ridden, so if that means a singlespeed conversion, so be it.
Kronos wrote:Particularly once you put ugly quill converters and even worse handlebars on it after you're done.
Who's putting stem converters on retro frames? I know you can get them, but I don't know of anyone that has actually installed one.
Kronos wrote:At no point did I say you had to or should agree with me.
Phew!

I think you have some experience to share with putting modern components on a retro frame, but I think you're misleading people by poo-pooing any bike that's different to yours.

Also - what attitude? You're the one calling people kooks.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Kronos » Sat Nov 11, 2017 5:05 pm

You get me a little. I just tend to cry a little inside every time I see a high end frame with a fixed speed gear on it in the streets or on a blog. Yeah there's plenty of hipsters in Noosa, it's pretty much the hipster capital of Australia. We are all pretty much here because we like riding bikes. If I wanted to go back (personally) to riding a fixie I'd get myself another BMX bike (which is where I started out originally).

Campag is a great name with a long history as is Nitto for that matter to be around for that long. Maybe its just a small part of envy, but not really considering I can afford to run decent SRAM gear on my steel bike I'm not sure its that either. I don't really know what the point is other than Shimano and SRAM for that matter are just names also. You will decide which one suits you best on the basis of which groupset suits you best. It's a circular question with no real answer, (just like pissing into the wind actually providing you don't have a headwind). Each have their advantages and disadvantages, and if you like down tube or bar end shifters and you want to weigh up the pros and cons and ride that then ride the bike as you intend to.

There are lot of dungers, but the point was you shouldn't really discriminate just because it has stem shifters. I'm also not saying that others would not have gotten by in the past. I'm just saying technology moves on, more times than not for the better. So really (again personally) if you're not doing it for arts sake, and a hanger queen I have to raise the question as to why you would use older technology instead. But maybe I'm missing something here.

As to converters, you only really have to look on the internet for a while (not the best example of course because the internet tends to provide you the answers you want to see) to see a litany of older frames with stem converters. As to why they do it? Why not really. If you can run 31.8 handlebars that means you can run pretty much any modern bar that you would like on your bike. I've decided on your side I would rather wait for a set of 3T (again just a name) Prima 199s to turn up in the right width for my bike because quill converters are ugly.

But this is all getting a long way from providing useful advice to people who want to ride vintage bikes.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby bychosis » Sat Nov 11, 2017 5:30 pm

Stem shifters are just the quickest way to start determining the quality of the frame. By and large, once you've seen the stem shifters the rest lines up as cheap too.

If fixies are your thing (and I quite enjoy riding mine) old junk is perfect for a fixie conversion, no harm in grinding off lugs on a cheap frame. It's not nice to go modifying a valuable frame.

I'll slot my self half way between enjoying using old stuff, but really loving the convenice of new gear. I rode with downtube shifter on a roadie for about 12 months, it's easy enough, but you just try to plan shifts a bit better than with brifters.
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:48 pm

Kronos wrote:Campag is just a name... Just like Nitto or Suntour, or Thomson......
A lot of the names you deride within your voluminous posts have decades of race-proven R&D which in turn have given these names the ability to put quality stuff in the hands of normal riders. I appreciate modern technology, and have been resto-modding 70s, 80s and 90s frames for a long time now, although if it's something special, then it doesn't get the treatment, just refurb. Couple things though,

Fixies are in some ways the purest form of the bike, and I've met lots of different people who ride fixies. Some who want the simplicity, some who like the primal elegance of a fixed-gear bike, and yes some who are trendy. Of the people within this forum who have multiple bikes, lots would have a fixie in their collection.

You refer to bent derailleurs a lot, and I think maybe you mean bent derailleur hangers. A bent derailleur goes in the bin, a bent derailleur hanger can be straightened (easy on a steel frame).

You also have a lot to say about bottom bracket accessibility (?) and I'm not sure what you mean by this. They're all accessible. If you mean modern cartridge-type bb's versus cup and cone, then I have to disagree, I will happily rebuild an old school bb, and in some ways prefer this to buying just another part.

And the issue with brands just being names, and while this is true to a small extent, the name is usually an indicator of quality and reliability as most of the names you've mentioned (Campagnolo, SunTour, Nitto, Sakae etc) all have a background in competition. To this day, I still believe SunTour made the best friction derailleurs ever, and I'm slowly building up my SunTour Superbe groupset for the Raleigh Panasonic rebuild.

And reading that you binned a Shimano Rsx groupset made me sad. These were good stuff, and are developing a retro cult following, because they worked so well.

And dt shifters are cool and functional, and are the only serious option for a friction-shifted bike. Brifters for high-volume mass-produced Giants, Treks etc, and downtube shifters for classics, like Raleigh Ti and Masi Gran Criteriums and Peugeot PX's.
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Kronos » Sat Nov 11, 2017 10:24 pm

I get the fact that a lot of brands have a history, my issue with Campag in particular is that you tend to as a whole pay more for it unnecessarily, unless there is a particular feature you want. Me personally I want Double Tap so I have it. Campag has its own cool things, but the cost overall is generally a detractor for me.

In my defense I binned a non-functioning set of Shimano RSX shifters. They could have probably been rebuilt but I don't really have time for that. Yeah despite the fact that the Giant I bought was a mid-level cross between a tourer and a race bike it has/had a lot of surprisingly good kit on it. SR-Suntour and Shimano RSX is nothing to sneeze about. I do prefer cartridge style bottom brackets, they're more accessible to modern components and newer cartridges of course.

The bike in question I'm riding mostly at the moment is nothing particularly special but its the sum of all the parts. Putting a new SRAM groupset on it makes it a fun, modern bike. No more no less. It also comes down to the fact that I could buy a $3000 steel frame and have just a frame, or likewise I could have a full steel/allu bike with the parts I want on it, set up how I want to ride it. Having bent or broken parts on a bike (if its a worthwhile recipient of new parts) is not such a bad thing. I was simply using it as being a case of a bike that possibly may well have had a hard life already.

Fixies are what they are, I have found no love for the fixie in my life, it's something I just don't get, particularly when it means pulling apart an old road bike that someone else could love if it were just set up properly. But then I've seen even classic road bikes such as Bianchis gutted and turned into a fixie. To me that's just a waste of a good frame.

If I ever decide that I want a fixie to train on I'll buy myself a BMX frame and build that up, it teaches you all the good habits, track standing and how to spin a cog for its maximum efficiency, without all the pretentious "fixies are more natural" hyperbole. As I said above we've had derailleurs on road bikes since the 1930s. There is nothing really "natural" about a fixie. I started out as a kid on dirt and probably will go back there eventually. If integrated properly into your training it will make you a better rider/racer. It's just that it hurts less now that I'm over 30 if I crash a road bike as opposed to a BMX bike.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Sat Nov 11, 2017 11:47 pm

See now that's a good example of how different people have an affinity for different things. I have never understood the BMX thing, and to a lesser extent, the MTB thing. I had a Mongoose BMX in the day (late 70s?). Had it for a week, hated it and flipped it for a bronze-green Raleigh Grand Prix. Re BMX and MTB, if I want to become cranky, sweaty and suffer anxiety, I'll just get married again.
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby baabaa » Sun Nov 12, 2017 8:56 am

Kronos wrote: But this is all getting a long way from providing useful advice to people who want to ride vintage bikes.
And in that regard can you please edit in and add.... "in my opinion".....at the start of all your posts above, as the points you are trying to make are really just that.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Kronos » Sun Nov 12, 2017 1:55 pm

baabaa wrote:
Kronos wrote: But this is all getting a long way from providing useful advice to people who want to ride vintage bikes.
And in that regard can you please edit in and add.... "in my opinion".....at the start of all your posts above, as the points you are trying to make are really just that.
At the end of the day on an internet forum is our own opinions, views and beliefs. That should really not be nescessary to state.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Sun Nov 12, 2017 11:26 pm

Kronos wrote:
(Fixies) are (in my own thoughts) deservedly the second-most castigated form of cycle transport after unicycles when they're not being used for their intended purpose.
Kronos, I have to ask:

Unicycles? castigated? Seriously I have no idea what you are talking about.
Unchain yourself-Ride a unicycle

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby singlespeedscott » Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:03 am

Kronos, a BMX as a fixed gear, seriously? That's got to be a first. I don't think I would want to be riding any sort of distance on a fixed geared BMX let alone one with a regular freewheel.

Any bike that gets ridden is better than one that sits neglected in a shed or thrown out for the hard rubbish collection. Regardless of the fact that it's set up as a fixed gear, a sympathetic restoration or as a retro ride with modern gearing, shifting and braking. I have bikes that fill all these categories and they are all a pleasure to ride.

Nothing wrong with downtube or barend shifting either. I find both as convenient has my Campagnolo ergo shifters and they certainly don't slow me down when I need to quickly shift gears coming into steep dirt climbs. Some of my fastest times on STRAVA are set on my friction shifting road bikes especially on the dirt roads around Noosa.

Nothing wrong mountain bikes either I have had been riding them for nearly 30 years now and will continue to do so for as long as I can.
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Kronos » Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:45 am

ColinOldnCranky wrote:
Kronos wrote:
(Fixies) are (in my own thoughts) deservedly the second-most castigated form of cycle transport after unicycles when they're not being used for their intended purpose.
Kronos, I have to ask:

Unicycles? castigated? Seriously I have no idea what you are talking about.
I have my understandings of dumb methods of transports others have there's, I don't want to come off as a knob so I'll leave it at that.

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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Kronos » Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:05 am

ColinOldnCranky wrote:
(Fixies) are (in my own thoughts) deservedly the second-most castigated form of cycle transport after unicycles when they're not being used for their intended purpose.
Kronos, I have to ask:

Unicycles? castigated? Seriously I have no idea what you are talking about.[/quote]

I have my understandings of dumb methods of transports others have there's, I don't want to come off as a knob so I'll leave it at that.

singlespeedscott wrote:Kronos, a BMX as a fixed gear, seriously? That's got to be a first. I don't think I would want to be riding any sort of distance on a fixed geared BMX let alone one with a regular freewheel.
Yes serious, a whole lot of things people enjoy on road bikes and mountain bikes came from your dirt loving friends such as track stands, jumps and bunny hops among others. I would advocate you ride one for a while as I have most things (outside of a unicycle) and trying the sport before you pass judgment on the matter. I grew up riding BMX bikes both with a freewheel and with back pedal braking setup so you could not freewheel both options will teach you a lot about how to ride quickly in one gear when that's all you have.
singlespeedscott wrote:Any bike that gets ridden is better than one that sits neglected in a shed or thrown out for the hard rubbish collection. Regardless of the fact that it's set up as a fixed gear, a sympathetic restoration or as a retro ride with modern gearing, shifting and braking. I have bikes that fill all these categories and they are all a pleasure to ride.
I have had all manner of bikes set up in the past to get where I am right now including fixies for arts sake. Sometimes I would agree yes, other times no. Where I see a high end brand bike that has been mutilated to turn it into a fixie rode by a stubble/bearded kook in rolled up jeans, I'm gonna have to say pass.

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singlespeedscott wrote:Nothing wrong with downtube or barend shifting either. I find both as convenient has my Campagnolo ergo shifters and they certainly don't slow me down when I need to quickly shift gears coming into steep dirt climbs. Some of my fastest times on STRAVA are set on my friction shifting road bikes especially on the dirt roads around Noosa.
Nothing wrong with them until you get stuck in a situation where you need to downshift or upshift quickly to get yourself out of trouble. In my mos recent case of having to avoid yet another motorist who though the green lane for cyclists was a perfectly good place to come up while waiting for an intersection to clear like I did not even exist. Using Double Taps I can grab some more gears and mash the pedals to avoid being turned into a ghost rider.
singlespeedscott wrote:Nothing wrong mountain bikes either I have had been riding them for nearly 30 years now and will continue to do so for as long as I can.
Now that I did not say, I've owned some mountain bikes in the past sometimes and there is lots of good trails around Noosa also. However, at my age riding trails kinda tends to hurt more than it should when you stack it as you inevitably do. I still ride like I'm a 14 year old kid most of the time, but its safer doing it on a roadie than doing it on the trails.

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bychosis
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby bychosis » Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:46 am

Don't think you understand fixed gear. BMX has never been fixed, single speed yes, fixed no. Fixed has no freewheel, no coasting, no freewheel. An adult on a fixed gear BMX wouldn't be a fun experience either knees around the ears or standing up and full time pedalling? No thanks. BMX is not meant for that anyway.

As for bad situations, grabbing a few gears and mashing the pedals, that sounds like a recipe for a damaged drivetrain. I've done it on a MTB equipped with indexed trigger shifters - bent the chain, had to get a lift.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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baabaa
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby baabaa » Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:23 am

Have you even seen downtube or bar end shifters?
In both friction and also when in index you can shift from the smallest to largest cog or from the largest to smallest in one push or pull action. You don’t need to click,,,, click,,,,,, click,,,,,. Not sure how they slow the shifting process down. And yes as bychosis points out why would anyone want to mash gears like that anyway?
Can you please post a link or an image of a fixed gear BMX ? (Preferably in use and say a BMX race)
Oh and single speed mountain biking (with a BMX freewheel) is really quite a bit of fun but I am guessing you will have a solid opinion on that as well so anyone who does it should just stop it now?

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P!N20
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby P!N20 » Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:09 am

Kronos wrote:Where I see a high end brand bike that has been mutilated to turn it into a fixie rode by a stubble/bearded kook in rolled up jeans, I'm gonna have to say pass.
Er...are you sure they're not track frames?

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Derny Driver
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Re: Idiots guide to salvaged 80s roadies

Postby Derny Driver » Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:40 am

Kronos wrote: ...You can ignore my opinion as you so wish.
Mate you are on your own here.
I don't agree with a single thing you have said.

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