Official "My name is..." "And I ride..."
- Thread starter dieselcruiserhead
- Start date
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
Very cool guys....
Here is my rundown.. I thought I'd let the bikes tell some stories...
First, here is my little breakdown of bikes/ the garage. Between of the two of us (me and my wife) we have 8. Then we probably have another half dozen down at the shop which are mostly POS burning man bikes & old cruisers... In my hands are the bars off a '71 Honda motorcycle that will likely end up as the handlebars on my cruiser/townie (the white trek in front of me).
Bikes from left to right are:
Hanging left:
My Ventana MTB
The '98 S-Works Single Speed
On the floor:
my old mid 90's Trek Hybrid/Cross
Carrie's Cruiser
to the right of me, in the closet:
Carrie's Giants: her roadie and her full suspension
hanging on the wall:
Motobecane 29er Outcast - single speed
My old Univega roadie, still truckin...
More bikes: My wife Carrie. This is a Burning Man bike. This is my buddy's turbo diesel 60 to the left of her under construction... We have probably a half dozen more Burning Man bikes mostly down at the shop (where this pic was taken). That is also an old mid 50's Schwinn tandem frame, brazed. Probably too rusty, unfortunately to do anything with...
Bike stories:
I started riding as a kid when my dad got us old Specialized Hard Rock bikes when we were about 12 or so and we basically rode them to death through about 16 or 17 when we finally got our first cars...
We grew up in the Adirondacks (upstate New York) so had free range with little danger so we were sort of gone all the time, playing with buddies, biking and skate boarding. The two towns (Keene & Keene Valley) are about 5 miles from each other and between them is the Ausable River with small and medium cliff jumping and fishing and swimming holes all over the place. The MTBs were basically the method of transportation and sometimes we'd ride 15 or 20 or 25 miles in a day between the towns and swimming holes. We lived at the top of the road about 4 miles straight uphill (in the highest house in New York State) so that was part of the trip too, streaming down hill at 45 or 50 etc - pretty scary and crazy looking back at it. No sunglasses required as we'd go so fast the tears would come out of the side of yours eyes and stream towards your ears...
Years go by without riding and finally, one day, I spent a whopping $90 for an old road bike (old 10 speed) that was an early 80's Univega. This was in college in Burlington VT.
I was an intern earlier that summer down in D.C. for a summer and we hung out at a nasty bike messenger bar (dollar Guinness) in Madams Organ and became friends with some of those dudes (and thought messengers were "cool" - as nutso as they were getting hit by cars regularly). So that was my style in Vermont on the Univega, rippin through traffic, usually no helmet. Quite retarded. I'd also find myself in the middle of nowhere miles and miles from anywhere and was my one and only time I was a "roadie" to an extent... Burlington is (or was at the time) cool because you could be in the middle of nowhere within 5 miles... The Univega is the first/closes bike on the right in the top-most pic, with the mustache bars with white handles (still truckin' 10 speed style) and would be a hell of a fixie today... Here she is and a friend's old S-Works on the roof of my HJ60 making the trek across the country when I was moving out west in 2001. Somewhere around Gunnison Colorado if I remember correctly.. Pardon the crappy pic, photo of a photo:
In 2005 Carrie & I started going to Burning Man so we acquired a plethora of bikes related to that, mostly cheap off Craigslist. This is my mid 90's "Trek Hybrid" that has been through hell and back and has never so much as even had a flat. I bought it for $15 at St. Mary's thrift store in Heber City. She's about to see full retrofit into 'cruiser' status with some fatty/knobby cross tires and a paint job. This is the one that will end up with the Honda motor cycle handle bars.
This was also my 'first MTB' here in Utah (I was literally rippin' around on it, including some crazy descents!).. LOL, it's also a '29er' with its 700c cross wheels... She is still my #1 townie:
After the Trek and my wife's cruisers made the trip to Burning Man on the roof of the diesel '71 FJ55...
When I got being really into MTB again I ended up with an old 2001 Stumpjumper hardtail from a friend for only $150 if I remember correctly. Not a lot of change between (hard tails at least) from 2001 and today. One of the last great Specialized bikes with real class, they just don't make them like this any more.... The frame was about 3.5lbs and pretty killer and just a hair small so now it lives in New York State with my little brother as his #1 bike... This bike brought the 'biker' out of me again here in Utah as I'd been years and I live in MTB heaven and was hardly riding (doh!)... Since then it's been a pretty brutal addition (and loving every second of it). This little bike also went through hell and back for me and was my #1 MTB even through all of last season...
I also bought a really clean (basically brand new) '98 S-Works frame on Ebay as a result - for only $36! This is both "my baby' but one of the bikes I ride the least as it's also a hair too small for me. It will be really hard to ever sell this bike though. It's only been a single speed since I've owned it but have switched to 29er permanently for any single speed activity... It would make a good townie though, maybe.. I also found the magic gear (36/20 or 36/21 works great on it), chainstays at 16.93" if it helps) and 36/15 also works killer for around town... I rode this guy even through the spring of this year (and riding single speen made me a much much stronger rider in general).
Again, this bike really has a ton of old school Specialized class...
Finally, last fall I started researching and researching on potential bikes, mostly using the MTBR forums to finally move beyond POS/old used bike status. I was able to get cost through a friend and basically ascended right to bling-MMM MTB. It also uses 650b wheels which are a pretty sweet hybrid between 29er and 26" wheels, gaining a lot of momentum... Really a work of art. She is shortly getting a new RockShox fork and getting bumped up to 5.5" travel. She is a good all-mountain style bike as is currently my go to and I already have thousands of miles on her... XT components, Hadley hubs, yada yada...
Here is my rundown.. I thought I'd let the bikes tell some stories...
First, here is my little breakdown of bikes/ the garage. Between of the two of us (me and my wife) we have 8. Then we probably have another half dozen down at the shop which are mostly POS burning man bikes & old cruisers... In my hands are the bars off a '71 Honda motorcycle that will likely end up as the handlebars on my cruiser/townie (the white trek in front of me).
Bikes from left to right are:
Hanging left:
My Ventana MTB
The '98 S-Works Single Speed
On the floor:
my old mid 90's Trek Hybrid/Cross
Carrie's Cruiser
to the right of me, in the closet:
Carrie's Giants: her roadie and her full suspension
hanging on the wall:
Motobecane 29er Outcast - single speed
My old Univega roadie, still truckin...
More bikes: My wife Carrie. This is a Burning Man bike. This is my buddy's turbo diesel 60 to the left of her under construction... We have probably a half dozen more Burning Man bikes mostly down at the shop (where this pic was taken). That is also an old mid 50's Schwinn tandem frame, brazed. Probably too rusty, unfortunately to do anything with...
Bike stories:
I started riding as a kid when my dad got us old Specialized Hard Rock bikes when we were about 12 or so and we basically rode them to death through about 16 or 17 when we finally got our first cars...
We grew up in the Adirondacks (upstate New York) so had free range with little danger so we were sort of gone all the time, playing with buddies, biking and skate boarding. The two towns (Keene & Keene Valley) are about 5 miles from each other and between them is the Ausable River with small and medium cliff jumping and fishing and swimming holes all over the place. The MTBs were basically the method of transportation and sometimes we'd ride 15 or 20 or 25 miles in a day between the towns and swimming holes. We lived at the top of the road about 4 miles straight uphill (in the highest house in New York State) so that was part of the trip too, streaming down hill at 45 or 50 etc - pretty scary and crazy looking back at it. No sunglasses required as we'd go so fast the tears would come out of the side of yours eyes and stream towards your ears...
Years go by without riding and finally, one day, I spent a whopping $90 for an old road bike (old 10 speed) that was an early 80's Univega. This was in college in Burlington VT.
I was an intern earlier that summer down in D.C. for a summer and we hung out at a nasty bike messenger bar (dollar Guinness) in Madams Organ and became friends with some of those dudes (and thought messengers were "cool" - as nutso as they were getting hit by cars regularly). So that was my style in Vermont on the Univega, rippin through traffic, usually no helmet. Quite retarded. I'd also find myself in the middle of nowhere miles and miles from anywhere and was my one and only time I was a "roadie" to an extent... Burlington is (or was at the time) cool because you could be in the middle of nowhere within 5 miles... The Univega is the first/closes bike on the right in the top-most pic, with the mustache bars with white handles (still truckin' 10 speed style) and would be a hell of a fixie today... Here she is and a friend's old S-Works on the roof of my HJ60 making the trek across the country when I was moving out west in 2001. Somewhere around Gunnison Colorado if I remember correctly.. Pardon the crappy pic, photo of a photo:
In 2005 Carrie & I started going to Burning Man so we acquired a plethora of bikes related to that, mostly cheap off Craigslist. This is my mid 90's "Trek Hybrid" that has been through hell and back and has never so much as even had a flat. I bought it for $15 at St. Mary's thrift store in Heber City. She's about to see full retrofit into 'cruiser' status with some fatty/knobby cross tires and a paint job. This is the one that will end up with the Honda motor cycle handle bars.
This was also my 'first MTB' here in Utah (I was literally rippin' around on it, including some crazy descents!).. LOL, it's also a '29er' with its 700c cross wheels... She is still my #1 townie:
After the Trek and my wife's cruisers made the trip to Burning Man on the roof of the diesel '71 FJ55...
When I got being really into MTB again I ended up with an old 2001 Stumpjumper hardtail from a friend for only $150 if I remember correctly. Not a lot of change between (hard tails at least) from 2001 and today. One of the last great Specialized bikes with real class, they just don't make them like this any more.... The frame was about 3.5lbs and pretty killer and just a hair small so now it lives in New York State with my little brother as his #1 bike... This bike brought the 'biker' out of me again here in Utah as I'd been years and I live in MTB heaven and was hardly riding (doh!)... Since then it's been a pretty brutal addition (and loving every second of it). This little bike also went through hell and back for me and was my #1 MTB even through all of last season...
I also bought a really clean (basically brand new) '98 S-Works frame on Ebay as a result - for only $36! This is both "my baby' but one of the bikes I ride the least as it's also a hair too small for me. It will be really hard to ever sell this bike though. It's only been a single speed since I've owned it but have switched to 29er permanently for any single speed activity... It would make a good townie though, maybe.. I also found the magic gear (36/20 or 36/21 works great on it), chainstays at 16.93" if it helps) and 36/15 also works killer for around town... I rode this guy even through the spring of this year (and riding single speen made me a much much stronger rider in general).
Again, this bike really has a ton of old school Specialized class...
Finally, last fall I started researching and researching on potential bikes, mostly using the MTBR forums to finally move beyond POS/old used bike status. I was able to get cost through a friend and basically ascended right to bling-MMM MTB. It also uses 650b wheels which are a pretty sweet hybrid between 29er and 26" wheels, gaining a lot of momentum... Really a work of art. She is shortly getting a new RockShox fork and getting bumped up to 5.5" travel. She is a good all-mountain style bike as is currently my go to and I already have thousands of miles on her... XT components, Hadley hubs, yada yada...
Attachments
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
Image that, I ran out of photos in that post...
The Ventana in action... This bike rules... Also, climbs like an absolute goat..
"Cow skull rock" out in the Uintas...
Some build up pics... Really, a work of art in every way in opinion. Also, durable and stiff as hell. And finally, hand made in California. I bought the frame primarily because it fits me well, but 650b also intrigued me and it's been a sweet ride.
The Ventana in action... This bike rules... Also, climbs like an absolute goat..
"Cow skull rock" out in the Uintas...
Some build up pics... Really, a work of art in every way in opinion. Also, durable and stiff as hell. And finally, hand made in California. I bought the frame primarily because it fits me well, but 650b also intrigued me and it's been a sweet ride.
Attachments
adventureduo
Dave Druck [KI6LBB]
Damn $50?.. you scored.
bigreen505
Expedition Leader
Found a pic online of my sole road bike. Paid $50 for it from a garage sale. The PO said they used to Time Trial (?) and this bike was built from spare parts to be a trainer. Some trainer. All Dura-Ace except for the King headset.
That looks suspiciously like a Sampson Ciao or maybe a Trihiti. Drop Eric at sampsonsports.com a note and see what he says. The headset alone is worth $50.
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
I was going to say the same thing --- wow, some deal... My guess is (I hate to say it) but probably a theft of some sort. Those wheels when they were made... Geez I forget the cost...
ntsqd
Heretic Car Camper
The PO looked buff enough to support her claim of having been a serious rider. It had been poorly maintained and she had mentioned that she had been riding after she stopped racing. I suspect that the bike didn't mean anything to her because it didn't cost her anything since her mechanic built it up from sponsored spare parts and she claimed that the frame had "gone soft". If she was spinning a story then she's pretty danged good at it. I'm still cleaning WD-40 grunge out of some of the little grooves in the weld beads. I've had to replace all of the drive train. Couldn't convince the pedals to come out of the crank arms - badly twisted a hex key trying, so it now has some 105's on it.
Frame is a GT according to the typical badge welded to the rear of the top tube. Fork is a carbon fiber Coda 'Slice.'
Those weren't the wheels that came on the bike, she didn't have the original wheels for the bike any more. These were just "some wheels" that she had. I looked them up shortly after I got the bike, well over a grand in late 80's dollars is what I recall. They're also known for sudden total failure, usually resulting in rider injuries. Right now it's on my trainer.....
Frame is a GT according to the typical badge welded to the rear of the top tube. Fork is a carbon fiber Coda 'Slice.'
Those weren't the wheels that came on the bike, she didn't have the original wheels for the bike any more. These were just "some wheels" that she had. I looked them up shortly after I got the bike, well over a grand in late 80's dollars is what I recall. They're also known for sudden total failure, usually resulting in rider injuries. Right now it's on my trainer.....
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dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
OK cool, makes a little sense..
Grim Reaper
Expedition Leader
I'm into older bikes and deals.
My daily driver is a 1995 T700 Cannondale that just got a set of Tiagra Brifters, front derailleur and a 105 Rear derailleur and a 9 speed rear wheel upgrade. It also got a Octalink 26/39/48 crank set I am not sure I like. When I go touring I think the 22/32/44 Coda cranks are going back on it. SKS fenders, Brooks Champion Flyer, Topeak MTX rack and trunk bag with fold out painers to make it a nice rounded out driver. Don't have a current picture. here is some older ones.
My dry single track/ backup/ utility bike is a 1998 M400 made more of a hybrid with a Specialized Crossroad on the back for traction and the 85PSI rating and a Specialized Hemisphere up front. MTX Rack and Planet bike fenders.
My Sunday driver is up for sale as my lower back just cant handle the riding position. Its a 1989 SR600 3.0 frames Cannondale. Full 105 group with a 7 speed Uniglide and Biopace 105 crankset. Wolber GTX wheels with Contact Ultra sport tires. Fase but painful. I refer to it as the "cruel mistress" She hurts my back and my nether region and makes me walk funny for days after 40 mile rides.
One of my wife's bikes is a real find....a $10 thrift store find. A bike I figure has about 50 miles on it before it was left neglected in a garage for 20+ years. Its a 1987 Georgena Terry "Gambit" Its a women's specific bike made for somebody 4'10-5'2" (wife is 5ft). It has a 27 inch rear wheel and a 24 inch front wheel to allow for minimal toe over lap with an appropriate top tube length while keeping nice seat and head tube angles for stability. 4130 CroMo frame, Sugino crankset, Shimano light action derailers with indexed shifters and DiaCompe brakes with "junior" brake handles. It is all original down to the bar tape and tires.
Her other bike is as near as I can tell a 1984 Cosaro "Cabrio". Can find almost nothing of the brand. It was sold from Greggs bikes according to the sticker but nobody that currently works there has been around there long enough to remember anything about them LOL. Interesting high mid tier Mixte bike. Tang Alloy 2001 frame (MnCo), Suntour ARX derailleurs, Ratchet shifters, Suntour Freehub, Rando bars and Diacompe 500 brake set. This bike needs rims. Back is ben and the front is a cheap replacement Trying to find a good front hub that matches and lace a set of matching rims. This bike is known as "La gomme de visage". Thats French for "The face eraser". Wife face planted the first 200ft she rode it. :Wow1:
She also has a Walmart Schwinn MTB bolted to a trainer. LOL.
Bikes that have passed through my hands in in the last 12 months
1984 Peugeot P8
1984 Miyata six ten
1990 GT out post
1978 Schwinn Continental II
1989 Peugeot US Express
1991 Trek 720
1997 Trek 820
1972 Joannou Racer
1987 Schwinn Cruiser Supreme
My daily driver is a 1995 T700 Cannondale that just got a set of Tiagra Brifters, front derailleur and a 105 Rear derailleur and a 9 speed rear wheel upgrade. It also got a Octalink 26/39/48 crank set I am not sure I like. When I go touring I think the 22/32/44 Coda cranks are going back on it. SKS fenders, Brooks Champion Flyer, Topeak MTX rack and trunk bag with fold out painers to make it a nice rounded out driver. Don't have a current picture. here is some older ones.
My dry single track/ backup/ utility bike is a 1998 M400 made more of a hybrid with a Specialized Crossroad on the back for traction and the 85PSI rating and a Specialized Hemisphere up front. MTX Rack and Planet bike fenders.
My Sunday driver is up for sale as my lower back just cant handle the riding position. Its a 1989 SR600 3.0 frames Cannondale. Full 105 group with a 7 speed Uniglide and Biopace 105 crankset. Wolber GTX wheels with Contact Ultra sport tires. Fase but painful. I refer to it as the "cruel mistress" She hurts my back and my nether region and makes me walk funny for days after 40 mile rides.
One of my wife's bikes is a real find....a $10 thrift store find. A bike I figure has about 50 miles on it before it was left neglected in a garage for 20+ years. Its a 1987 Georgena Terry "Gambit" Its a women's specific bike made for somebody 4'10-5'2" (wife is 5ft). It has a 27 inch rear wheel and a 24 inch front wheel to allow for minimal toe over lap with an appropriate top tube length while keeping nice seat and head tube angles for stability. 4130 CroMo frame, Sugino crankset, Shimano light action derailers with indexed shifters and DiaCompe brakes with "junior" brake handles. It is all original down to the bar tape and tires.
Her other bike is as near as I can tell a 1984 Cosaro "Cabrio". Can find almost nothing of the brand. It was sold from Greggs bikes according to the sticker but nobody that currently works there has been around there long enough to remember anything about them LOL. Interesting high mid tier Mixte bike. Tang Alloy 2001 frame (MnCo), Suntour ARX derailleurs, Ratchet shifters, Suntour Freehub, Rando bars and Diacompe 500 brake set. This bike needs rims. Back is ben and the front is a cheap replacement Trying to find a good front hub that matches and lace a set of matching rims. This bike is known as "La gomme de visage". Thats French for "The face eraser". Wife face planted the first 200ft she rode it. :Wow1:
She also has a Walmart Schwinn MTB bolted to a trainer. LOL.
Bikes that have passed through my hands in in the last 12 months
1984 Peugeot P8
1984 Miyata six ten
1990 GT out post
1978 Schwinn Continental II
1989 Peugeot US Express
1991 Trek 720
1997 Trek 820
1972 Joannou Racer
1987 Schwinn Cruiser Supreme
Attachments
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