Wow Patty! Back in the day...when men were men, and bikes were... lugged steel, steel forks, cages, gum hoods, downtube shifters, enough spokes for squirrels to ricochet off of, cotton & leather gloves...and folks even carried their own water!
I made a typo error, not the first today. SRAM is its own company. It is not Shimano. I wonder how many typos I made today. That's what happens when I multi task. Sorry for any confusion.
SWEET story and sweet rides there! That's the Sram Red group right? How does he think it compares to the Campy and Shimano groups? I'm a fan of Campy stuff. Once I tried it I was HOOKED.
In my early years I worked in a bicycle shop. Yes, I learned all the parts and could even change a flat. I met my husband through working at the bike shop. He raced bicycles for many years. When I first met him he had a Gios with Campagnolo Super Record. When we got married we gave each other Vitus 979 frames (the bike Sean Kelly raced except his was blue) with Shimano Dura-Ace group, index shifting (when it was affordable) and Clement silk tubular tires. Campy was the thing to get in the late 70s early 80s until Shimano came out with this Dura-Ace line. Even now Shimano dominates. Here is a picture of my Vitus:
Here is a picture of my husband's newest bicycle, a present from his mom (and a great deal from his friend who owns a few bicycle shops):
The above is a Trek Madone with Shimano SRAM group. No, he didn't get the Dura-Ace but he loves the bike and rides it quite a bit. Yes, the carbon fiber Madone is lighter that the Aluminum Vitus, by just a little bit. Just to show how different bicycles are now, you can get this bike with the Dura-Ace wireless shifting system. Incredible isn't it? I'll stick with my old Vitus and AD (Austro Daimler) six speed hub with down tube shifters, an antique to some
Evelyn and I enjoy weekend bike ridesin the rural countryside around our neighborhood. Each one is at least 20 miles and I'm sworn to secrecy not to tell where they are... We keep them down to 20 miles because Butt-ittis sets in soon thereafter... At some point we like our rides to bring us to water. This is a picture Evelyn took at a tidal creek at high tide near her home... Everyone should get a bike and ride... Bob.
We dont use clipless at all. My husband just has loosely adjusted cages so he doesn't have to buckle in and out, and I use diagonal straps. Such an advantage in winter when it's 35F and I can wear my regular comfy insulated hiking boots and thick wool socks. We are not into speed at all, just enjoyment of riding in our beautiful countryside of rolling hills.
We purposely have our bikes built up as 9 speed. It wasn't easy getting some of the parts we wanted, we had to look for new old stock. I have mostly Ultegra components and ST-R 600 short reach brifters. I know several smaller guys with them too, so last I heard Shimano doesn't label them as 'women specific' i think, just as 'short reach'- the bikes stores always say WS to their women customers though, so they feel they are getting something 'specially engineered for the ladies'. lol! I have short fingers so they are a blessing.
My saddle is tipped to my personal perfect nether comfort degree.
It's absolutely beautiful! Is that a little Bee on there? Cool. Love all the retro looking bottles and stuff. Looks like a women's specific shimano kit, i see the spacers. I had one of the those bendy handlebars too at one point (forgot the name but liked it). Perfect blend of old and new there. My legs would always get numb early on so I had to tip the nose of my saddle down just a touch. Made all the difference in the world to me.
My favorite bike has to be my Cannondale. Though it was aluminum, it was superlight, had a carbon fork, and fit me like a glove. It had the WS shimano kit. After I got the new bike though, I fell in LOVE with Campy. I had never tried it before, but OMG the difference is just huge. I just don't believe Shimano can ever match the precision shifting and ease of Campy. Especially when climbing. OH to have a sweet ride like that again - someday.
I sent my husband your pic at work and he loved it too. We started the talk about bikes again. Hahahahaha. So I'll keep watching craigslist and such until I find us something. Then we can build em up. Gonna have to be steel frames though. Luckily TONS of people around here ride. Though it's boringly FLAT, the weather is perfect. NOW YOU DID IT Strumelia. I mentioned going to the local rails to trail and he jumped at it. So we'll be out there soon.
Egg beaters - HAHA. Those probably wouldn't have tasted as good. We actually used egg beaters on all our road bikes because we were mtn bikers first. Never even tried road shoes. Can't imagine stepping down on that huge lump of junk on the bottom of a road shoe. So we always wore mtn. shoes and egg beaters.
UMMM........ you know you spend WAY TOO MUCH time and MONEY in a bike shop when the owners GIVE you (for free) your kids first real bike! A Jamis LadyBug
OH and did I mention SHE CAN't hardly walk yet at the time.......
Here's Frankie Andreu's bike he rode through all his US Postal Tours. He still rides the same one. Oh and let me just say if I'm allowed to have a crush on a man other than my husband IT IS FRANKIE! He is the sweetest man and so easy on the eyes!
Jon has never been more proud than this pic right here! He made it up a Gap (Neels aka Blood Mtn) with these guys and 2 girls. There's Frankie in yellow up front, 2 Jittery Joes PRO RIDERS, and Jon is in the gray jacket in back. The girl on the far left is a PRO Mtn Biker too. The other girl (peeking her head around) is just a so-cal chick that could really ride. I was probably a good half hour from seeing this peak too. It took me and quite a few of the others that long to get there. On any one day we would do 2 to 4 Gaps. One day I think I was 2 full hours behind the leaders. And mind you I was NEVER last. That ain't HAPPNIN. Haha.
Here's a climb I actually made in not to awful a time. The whole camp was in MARCH in the mtns of GA. It was in the 40's or 30's the entire time. The mountains were either ice or snow. The descents were treacherous. Ah LOVE
We started out with mtn. bikes in 1999 or so. Enjoyed them so much that we thought we'd try road biking too. Got some Treks and set out. Sold those and ended up with that sweet Team Giant Cannondale. Rode that for several years and put a LOT of miles on it. My hubby is a tinkering sort, so he was dying for full carbon. So we got the Titus (white) with full Campy (and OMG that was one sweet ride). We had matching ones and matching kits so we looked pretty cool (if you ask me, LOL). It was like I had to fund the next bike by selling the old one all the time. So finally, after we had our daughter in 2006 and our bikes started getting dusty sitting, we decided to look at them another couple years Haha. We loved our bikes so much that we had 4 bikes (2 mtn. 2 road) inside the house with us at all times unless we were riding. haha. It's pretty bad when your bikes are much cleaner than your vehicles or house. So finally the need for $$ and the bikes sitting there reminding us of what once was made us sell them off. Then just before we moved here I sold my beloved Gary Fisher Sugar mtn bike that I'd had since 2000. That still makes me want to cry. BUT - of course we cannot be without bikes, so we found some Jamis hybrid cruisers (7 speed) on craigslist and snatched em up. My poor husband is still clinging to his Gary Fisher mtn bike though and doesn't want to part with it.
We are crossing our fingers that we can get Amber into it. We won't push of course, but we will definitely nudge! We'll be heading out to the local rails to trails ride here in the next few weekends. She still has training wheels, so it will be a leisurely ride with stops to watch butterflies and pick flowers I'm sure.
Great bike PIC! There is no better eye candy for me than bike pics. I could FLOOD this place with bike pics. Heck I just may have to. LOL I've not ridden a steel bike but I've read and heard enough to know that they are the absolute most comfortable ride to be had. I had to look earlier today on craigslist to see what was available. You got me all itchy again. Haha. We are bike nuts to the core. My husband may have a summer project after all.
Mandy, cool pix! Do you still have both the Cannondale and the white road bikes?
Here's me a few years ago on my custom steel Luna. It's not a racing bike, more like a road/touring bike. It's really comfy, with very wide gearing range because it's quite hilly where we live.
Great photo there Patty!
Wow Patty! Back in the day...when men were men, and bikes were... lugged steel, steel forks, cages, gum hoods, downtube shifters, enough spokes for squirrels to ricochet off of, cotton & leather gloves...and folks even carried their own water!
My husband back in the day,
Mandy, yes it is the red group.
Mandy, my husband hasn't used any of the new Campy but he said a lot of racers think that SRAM is better.
I made a typo error, not the first today.
SRAM is its own company. It is not Shimano. I wonder how many typos I made today. That's what happens when I multi task.
Sorry for any confusion.
SWEET story and sweet rides there! That's the Sram Red group right? How does he think it compares to the Campy and Shimano groups? I'm a fan of Campy stuff. Once I tried it I was HOOKED.
In my early years I worked in a bicycle shop. Yes, I learned all the parts and could even change a flat. I met my husband through working at the bike shop. He raced bicycles for many years. When I first met him he had a Gios with Campagnolo Super Record. When we got married we gave each other Vitus 979 frames (the bike Sean Kelly raced except his was blue) with Shimano Dura-Ace group, index shifting (when it was affordable) and Clement silk tubular tires. Campy was the thing to get in the late 70s early 80s until Shimano came out with this Dura-Ace line. Even now Shimano dominates. Here is a picture of my Vitus:
Here is a picture of my husband's newest bicycle, a present from his mom (and a great deal from his friend who owns a few bicycle shops):
The above is a Trek Madone with Shimano SRAM group. No, he didn't get the Dura-Ace but he loves the bike and rides it quite a bit. Yes, the carbon fiber Madone is lighter that the Aluminum Vitus, by just a little bit. Just to show how different bicycles are now, you can get this bike with the Dura-Ace wireless shifting system. Incredible isn't it? I'll stick with my old Vitus and AD (Austro Daimler) six speed hub with down tube shifters, an antique to some
Great pic Bob
I agree with you there about the fun of cycling.
Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race. ~ H.G. Wells
Evelyn and I enjoy weekend bike ridesin the rural countryside around our neighborhood. Each one is at least 20 miles and I'm sworn to secrecy not to tell where they are... We keep them down to 20 miles because Butt-ittis sets in soon thereafter... At some point we like our rides to bring us to water. This is a picture Evelyn took at a tidal creek at high tide near her home... Everyone should get a bike and ride... Bob.
Here's one of Brian's bikes, a Rivendell custom:
We dont use clipless at all. My husband just has loosely adjusted cages so he doesn't have to buckle in and out, and I use diagonal straps. Such an advantage in winter when it's 35F and I can wear my regular comfy insulated hiking boots and thick wool socks. We are not into speed at all, just enjoyment of riding in our beautiful countryside of rolling hills.
We purposely have our bikes built up as 9 speed. It wasn't easy getting some of the parts we wanted, we had to look for new old stock. I have mostly Ultegra components and ST-R 600 short reach brifters. I know several smaller guys with them too, so last I heard Shimano doesn't label them as 'women specific' i think, just as 'short reach'- the bikes stores always say WS to their women customers though, so they feel they are getting something 'specially engineered for the ladies'. lol! I have short fingers so they are a blessing.
My saddle is tipped to my personal perfect nether comfort degree.
It's absolutely beautiful!
Is that a little Bee on there? Cool. Love all the retro looking bottles and stuff. Looks like a women's specific shimano kit, i see the spacers. I had one of the those bendy handlebars too at one point (forgot the name but liked it). Perfect blend of old and new there. My legs would always get numb early on so I had to tip the nose of my saddle down just a touch. Made all the difference in the world to me.
My favorite bike has to be my Cannondale. Though it was aluminum, it was superlight, had a carbon fork, and fit me like a glove. It had the WS shimano kit. After I got the new bike though, I fell in LOVE with Campy. I had never tried it before, but OMG the difference is just huge. I just don't believe Shimano can ever match the precision shifting and ease of Campy. Especially when climbing. OH to have a sweet ride like that again - someday.
I sent my husband your pic at work and he loved it too. We started the talk about bikes again. Hahahahaha. So I'll keep watching craigslist and such until I find us something. Then we can build em up. Gonna have to be steel frames though. Luckily TONS of people around here ride. Though it's boringly FLAT, the weather is perfect. NOW YOU DID IT Strumelia. I mentioned going to the local rails to trail and he jumped at it. So we'll be out there soon.
Egg beaters - HAHA. Those probably wouldn't have tasted as good. We actually used egg beaters on all our road bikes because we were mtn bikers first. Never even tried road shoes. Can't imagine stepping down on that huge lump of junk on the bottom of a road shoe. So we always wore mtn. shoes and egg beaters.
Man I love talking bikes!
Ok, so I can't resist showing off my favorite bike, my Luna. (I also have a Rivendell Rambouillet)
My Luna:
Did you get her some eggbeater pedals? lol
UMMM........ you know you spend WAY TOO MUCH time and MONEY in a bike shop when the owners GIVE you (for free) your kids first real bike! A Jamis LadyBug
OH and did I mention SHE CAN't hardly walk yet at the time.......
Here's Frankie Andreu's bike he rode through all his US Postal Tours. He still rides the same one. Oh and let me just say if I'm allowed to have a crush on a man other than my husband IT IS FRANKIE! He is the sweetest man and so easy on the eyes!
Jon has never been more proud than this pic right here! He made it up a Gap (Neels aka Blood Mtn) with these guys and 2 girls. There's Frankie in yellow up front, 2 Jittery Joes PRO RIDERS, and Jon is in the gray jacket in back. The girl on the far left is a PRO Mtn Biker too. The other girl (peeking her head around) is just a so-cal chick that could really ride. I was probably a good half hour from seeing this peak too. It took me and quite a few of the others that long to get there. On any one day we would do 2 to 4 Gaps. One day I think I was 2 full hours behind the leaders. And mind you I was NEVER last. That ain't HAPPNIN. Haha.
Here's a climb I actually made in not to awful a time. The whole camp was in MARCH in the mtns of GA. It was in the 40's or 30's the entire time. The mountains were either ice or snow. The descents were treacherous. Ah LOVE
We started out with mtn. bikes in 1999 or so. Enjoyed them so much that we thought we'd try road biking too. Got some Treks and set out. Sold those and ended up with that sweet Team Giant Cannondale. Rode that for several years and put a LOT of miles on it. My hubby is a tinkering sort, so he was dying for full carbon. So we got the Titus (white) with full Campy (and OMG that was one sweet ride). We had matching ones and matching kits so we looked pretty cool (if you ask me, LOL). It was like I had to fund the next bike by selling the old one all the time.
So finally, after we had our daughter in 2006 and our bikes started getting dusty sitting, we decided to look at them another couple years Haha. We loved our bikes so much that we had 4 bikes (2 mtn. 2 road) inside the house with us at all times unless we were riding. haha. It's pretty bad when your bikes are much cleaner than your vehicles or house. So finally the need for $$ and the bikes sitting there reminding us of what once was made us sell them off. Then just before we moved here I sold my beloved Gary Fisher Sugar mtn bike that I'd had since 2000. That still makes me want to cry. BUT - of course we cannot be without bikes, so we found some Jamis hybrid cruisers (7 speed) on craigslist and snatched em up. My poor husband is still clinging to his Gary Fisher mtn bike though and doesn't want to part with it.
We are crossing our fingers that we can get Amber into it. We won't push of course, but we will definitely nudge! We'll be heading out to the local rails to trails ride here in the next few weekends. She still has training wheels, so it will be a leisurely ride with stops to watch butterflies and pick flowers I'm sure.
Great bike PIC! There is no better eye candy for me than bike pics. I could FLOOD this place with bike pics. Heck I just may have to. LOL I've not ridden a steel bike but I've read and heard enough to know that they are the absolute most comfortable ride to be had. I had to look earlier today on craigslist to see what was available. You got me all itchy again. Haha. We are bike nuts to the core. My husband may have a summer project after all.
Mandy, cool pix! Do you still have both the Cannondale and the white road bikes?
Here's me a few years ago on my custom steel Luna. It's not a racing bike, more like a road/touring bike. It's really comfy, with very wide gearing range because it's quite hilly where we live.
I hate when that happens Sam.