Your bike history

My first real bike was a 1965 Schwinn Racer 3 speed, which I outgrew so I gave it to a neighbor.

After that Schwinn I wanted something faster but dad didn't want to spend the money for a new bike so I had saved up my allowance and bought a used 60 or 61 (can't remember) Puch Bergmeister in 67, the idiot who had the bike painted the bike blue and when some of the blue flaked off I found out it was copper color; I destroyed the bike in 71 due to a rear brake failure; it came with crappy Simplex, this was the worse derailleur system I have ever used.

After sometime doing something for Uncle Sam I bought a brand new 1976 Trek TX900 which I had it spec'd with Campy Nuovo Record components, but after a year and finding out that girls didn't really dig guys who had a bike that worth more than their car so I sold the bike and got a nice car. 

I then bought a new 77 Schwinn Traveller which after I got the next bike this bike became my ride in the Pacific surf bike and because of all the ocean water soakings it got I junked it in 2001.

By this time I wanted to get back into serious cycling but money was still short since I was in college so in 1980 I got a Trek 412, with this bike I started to do some club racing but I totaled that bike in 1984.

In 1984 I bought a 84 Trek 660 frame and fork and had it spec'd with Suntour Superbe components; this bike I raced a lot in and eventually made it to cat 3 level with it; I still have this bike which has about 160,000 miles on it, it's now semi retired till I get around to getting the frame and fork repainted, 20 years of southern California sun faded out the decals and paint, but it still rides good.

Being that the above bike was my only bike and if I crashed it I didn't have a fall back bike so in 87 I bought a 87 Miyata Team with Dura Ace SIS; this bike never got used in racing.  I retired from racing in 88 due to needing to spend more time with my family; I still have this bike as well, it has about 2,000 miles on it, I haven't rode it much obviously.

Also in 87 I got a 87 Giant Rincon with Shimano XT which those components were just pure trash, not as bad as the Simplex but darn near it, I still have this bike.

Then in 91 or 92 I found a used 88 Miyata 712 with 105 SIS in a garage sale for cheap, it was in decent shape so I bought it, I still have that bike, I commute to work on this bike these days.

In 2003 I got a hold of a  85(?) Miyata 512 which I fixed up and gave to a friend.

2007 went on a trip to England and ended up buying a new Mercian Vincitore Special with Athena components and had it shipped to my home, this bike was so beautiful I was scared to ride it for fear of scratching it all up, so after several years of another friend bugging me to buy it I sold it for what I paid for it!  That was the worse buying decision I ever made, it wasn't the bike that was bad I just should have never bought in the first place, at least I didn't lose any money on it.

in 2010 I bought a used 85 Schwinn Le Tour Luxe in mint condition for just $60 with only 250 miles on it, this is the bike I use currently for loaded touring, so far I've only done short tours but this summer I'm planning a month long tour; this bike has Suntour Mountech.

2012 I bought a used 84 Fuji Club in a garage sale, another mint condition bike with only 5 miles on it!  The guy who bought it new decided he didn't like biking after just one ride so he stored it away, I paid $40, I still have that bike, and have ridden it, this bike was so new it took about a month for the rear derailleur to loosen up; this bike has Suntour ARX; this is the lightest steel lugged bike I have, it only weighs 20.8 pounds

2013 I found in a dumpster a Dawes bike, not sure what year it is or the model because the model decal is gone but the paint is in great shape, it's only a frame/fork/bars/seat/and crank, this is going to be a retirement project.

2013 I bought a 13 Lynskey Peloton with mostly 105 but I spec'd Ultegra for the rear, Cane Creek 110 headset, Enve 2.0 fork, and Speedplay Frog pedals; this is my main road bike, it also is the most comfortable riding of all my bikes, although the Schwinn Le Tour Luxe settles down to almost a Cadillac like ride when loaded.

2014 I found another dumpster bike, turned out to be a 83 Schwinn Voyager, the bike was complete and original with Shimano Deerhead, it had some sort of unknown grayish blackish goo covering the bike which took me 4 cleanings to get that crap off, after the crap was off and I polished it up it turned out to be in really good shape; I still have this one as well.

Last year a friend gave me his IronHorse mtb to fix up so I could give it to another friend who has a kid that needed a bike.

So I have 8 running bikes and one not running bike all hanging in the garage. 

Here’s mine:

1980s Raleigh Burner

Late 1980s Raleigh Lizard, stolen

Early/Mid 1990s- Raleigh Dakota, last ridden 2002, not sure what happened to it.

2005 Another Raleigh MTB, heavy, had front disc brake and rear rim! Locked up outside a block of flats, gradually disappeared by 2007.

2012 Trek 3900 MTB- still going 

2016 May B’twin Triban 500SE- first road bike, very quickly got the road bike bug. 

2016 August CADD8 105, sold the Triban

2017 Feb Peugeot Comp 500- fancied a bit of retro

2017 Nov Ribble R872

Trek, Cannondale and Peugeot all still going. 

Early 80's.. Thinking it was a steel Malvern Star bmx.. White and pink.
Then a steel Diamond back.. Nice bike.. Soon stolen.
Then 90's bought 2nd hand GT Timberline MtB. Loved that 1. Dirt jumping.. When cassette wore out I threw that out and bought a 24inch chromoly bmx cruiser.. Road that lots.. Big dirt jumps, rhyme sections.
A mate needed cash so I then bought his Kastan 24. Fantastic at $400. Best parts everywhere on it. Figured he was strapped and would sell it back to him a month or so later.. Anyway.. 11+ years later I still ride her.. Real beauty.
Then shed caught fire.. My chromo 24 melted. Kastan was in my house.
Then 2nd hand alloy big frame roady. $150 Guessing 2*6 speed. 80km daily a while. Stolen.
Then new Reid Condor 6 speed cassette. Love it. Still most often used bike here. Never serviced. At best is a chain wipe with Muk Off.
Wheel breached true by about 1mm last week.
Guessing 7-10 years old.
Last year bought another flatbar roady. Avanti Blade Comp. Bars ain't my feel so currently waiting for shifters to dropbar her. She has spacers and a long headstem.. Fits well.
A couple of weeks ago scored a chromo giant bmx $75 in great condition. Backyard bouncing planned.
Last week ordered a Cell fixie.
Ride to work is 7km with a 1 metre height difference. Figuring 1 ratio good enough.

Riding is fun...

Oh gosh, this will be long. I'm old.

1965 - 24" single speed coaster brake. A Super Elliot's I believe. My 8th birthday.

1969 - Inherited my older brother's blue 27" with - marvel of marvels! - 3 speed derailleur gears and a nice lightweight alloy front hub. Destroyed said hub by putting the front wheel in backwards, the LHS cups (now on the right) decided to screw themselves in crushing the hub. Rebuilt the wheel on another hub and the older brother never commented. Phew.

1972 - converted the old 24" into a chopper, with waterpipe fork extensions and a home-welded Z-bars, a sissy bar converted from a pot stand and a custom saddle made by myself. The front wheel barely stayed on the ground long enough to turn.

1973 - converted an old 28" frame into a mountain bike with 28" wheels with 2" tyres. The rims were made for rod brakes but I fitted a single rear caliper which wore the brake pads concave, but it did stop. Galvanised water pipe front forks attached to home-made crown and water pipe riser bars. Harken Hex-grips. Indestructible. Rode it to the station for years and it was never stolen. Still in the shed somewhere.

1973 - saved and bought my first road bike, a Raleigh Record 27" 10 speed, Huret derailleurs and Weinmann centre pull brakes. Rode it all over the place, eventually wore out the 5 speed block till the chain skipped. So heavy! 14kg of British steel. Eventually c. 1982 was buzzed by hoons at 100mph - I saw their wing mirror pass under my handlebar - and gave up the bike except to ride to the pub or the shops over the years. (recently restored, image).

Until...

2009 - Bought a £12.50 Universal folder off Ebay to ride to work. Spokes kept breaking on the awful wheels.

So I bought second hand hub brake hubs and a 5 speed Alfine rear and rebuilt the wheels using BMX hubs. Heavy as lead but great riding through the snow.

2010 - Got a Raleigh Twenty, enthused by Sheldon Brown's description of them. Totally original, from a shed in Letchworth where it had lain since goodness knows when. Was fun to ride, though I never customised it in the end as it was so cute. Obscure wheel size made tyres difficult. The hub dynamo and lights worked like a dream, still.

2011 - Sold the Twenty to one of my students who rode it to uni for years and to work afterwards. Bought a second hand Ridgeback Flite flat bar 700c with 9x3 speed Tiagra/105. Got the bug and improved it to 10x2 speed 105. That was a good bike, fast too, but very harsh and a bit flexy in the bottom bracket. My first bike with Allen keys and an Ahead stem.

2012 - A pink Planet X Carbon Pro, bargain, with 10x2 speed Ultegra. Light but vague steering and flexy. Sold the frame pretty quickly and moved the components over to...

2013 - Bianchi Infinito, the first model, with the flax inclusions (anti-vibration) and the curvy frame.

Used the Ultegra on it until i took of the Ultegra group and put Super Record on instead (having come into a small legacy after my mother died). A lovely bike, smooth relaxing for long rides, but lacking a bit of get up and go when you wanted to get up and go.

2014 - Canyon Ultimate AL 9.0 - Put the Ultegra on this bargain frame. When they were first imported people bought them for the 10 speed DI2 and sold the frames cheap on Ebay.

Rode that until 2017 when the frame cracked, later with an Athena group on it.

2015 - Tempted by a bargain (new) Sempre Pro. They were being sold off cheap at the end of the model. Put Chorus on it and it was brilliant but it was rarely used, so it went off to a good home 10 months later, because...

2016 - Sold the Sempre Pro frame and put the SR group on a bargain Colnago EPS frame that I got at a price too good to refuse, new old stock from Italy. Amazing bike, handmade in Italy, even the tubes are handmade. The model before the C59. Stiff as anything and comfortable. Seem fairly rare.

2016 - Got the hankering for a steel frame again and bought a bargain Tommasini frame from a chap somewhere on the Great Western line. Built up with 2009 Record 9 speed. Lovely.

2017 - As the Tommasini wouldn't take modern groups (127 rear spacing and I wasn't prepared to bend a classic frame) a Brian Rourke frame found its way to me. Now built up with a bargain Chorus group from the Sempre Pro.

2017 - the Canyon cracked and I bought the cheapest frame I could find, and end-of-year bargain Cinelli Experience. Which turned out to be a bit of a bargain rocket, stiff as you want and comfortable too. My current ride to work. The white bar tape and saddle are now black. Guards and lights spoil it.

Got a bit of push back from the OH on the Rourke so no new bikes for a while... One in, one out, is the new rule.

A sample in photos including some of the missus bikes and some of the frames/bikes I had to let go.

I hope my wife doesnt see this. 

~1977 Raleigh Arena

1995 catalogue mtb (Eagle something?)

1996 Marin mtb

1998 Gary Fisher Sugar 2 mtb

2000 Storck Adrenalin carbon mtb

2010 Specialized Allez (first road bike on cyclescheme)

2013 S-works tarmac

2014 Planet x cx bike

2015 Tifosi commuting bike

2016 Specialized tarmac sl4 winter bike

2017 Specialized Allez from ebay when i realised riding carbon on icy roads was stupid. 

Triang  - first 2 wheeler, learned to ride by getting pushed down a hill by my dad

Raleigh Strika - Great for wheelies!

Raleigh Arena - Got stolen when a group of bigger boys pushed me off it! tough times!

Peugot Carbolite 103 - Heavy but raced it as a schoolboy in the early 80s, very badly

Alan - Glued and Screwed! still got in my dads loft

Claude Butler Mountain Bike - My wliderness years

Cannondale Bad Boy - Cracking versatile bike, currently in bits in my garage

Trek 2.1 - Still got it

Wilier - I built this entirely from 2nd hand frame and parts bought on Ebay then had it custom sprayed, only ridden on dry days as its my pride and joy! Old mans stem though! 

Rapide Gravel Bike - Current commuter bike. 

We're loving this thread, currently racking our brains at road.cc Towers as I type. We're going to pick a winner out of these and send some road.cc socks to the person we think has the most enviable/interesting/unusual list (if you've got photo evidence even better) so keep em comin'! 

Cheers

About 40 years ago.....

Not many really... dates are not exact.

1970s- Raleigh Chopper, Grifter

1980s- Dad's old bikes... probably early 50's steel road bike, then a very nice Archie Wilkinson road bike, with titanium forks.  Dad thinks the whole thing may be Ti, but only the forks are unpainted.

1993- Ridgeback hybrid (now given to father-in-law)

2005- Giant XTC mountain bike

2008- Wilier Lavaredo alu road bike

2012- Wilier Izoard XP carbon road bike

2016- Argon18 Nitrogen aero road bike

Childhood - 3 different rigid mountain bikes, think they were all 3x7 gear setups.

First was some lurid tricolour fluorescenct thing that was pink, yellow and green - proper explosion in a Stabilo Boss factory paintjob. No idea of the brand. Would have been about 1990

Then I had a Giant and then a British Eagle Zero Rock - my dad bought one exactly the same in a bigger size which I now have in my bike shed. Doesn't really get used but still works, got it going to take to the Isle of Rum with me a few years ago.

Then while I was studying in London I bought a second hand road bike, think it was a Raleigh, from a guy who was about to move back to Canada, can't remember the model but it was a 7-speed with a double chainset, Shimano downtube shifters, brakes with suicide levers and stainless steel rims that were pretty much frictionless brake tracks in the wet. Got hit and runned by a black cab which pushed me into a parked car which saw off the forks, sold the rest of it for about £40.

Moved to Bristol, inherited my dad's old Raleigh Record Sprint made from Reynolds 531, think it was a 1994 model, 6 speed & double chainset, all black glossy paint job. Had it for about 4-5 years for commuting and got into leisure cycling on it including my first 100 miler. The seat tube then just sheared between the band-on mech and the BB one day as I was on a climb putting it out of action for a while (see next entry),  although my dad's mate welded it back together which held for about another 9 months before it was stolen.

Bought a Canyon Roadlite AL in 2014 (the drop bar version that was very similar to the Endurance, before they changed Roadlite name to a flat bar fitness bike) with Ultegra 6800 & Aksiums. which is still my best bike. 

When the Record Sprint was nicked I bought a second hand Kinesis Crosslight Pro6 frame from someone on these pages (thanks if you are reading) and built it with 105, TRP hy-rds and Aksium discs  up for commuting duties, bit of off road stuff, nasty winter rides and carrying child #1 on the back.

2018
specialized tarmac pro, dura ace, ffwd
Trek
Dolan

2017
Specialised tarmac pro, campag record, Ffwd wheels
Trek
Dolan

2016
Scorpion CS, campag chorus, Ffwd
Trek pro-caliber 9.7sl mtb, sram xx1/shimabo xt8000
Dolan

2015
Scorpion CS, campag chorus, spin industries wheels
Kona Kula
Dolan

2014
Starley, ultegra, shimabo/use wheels
Kona Kula
Dolan Preffisio, 105 5800, campag Thaksin wheels

2013
Spin industries, sram force, spin wheels
Kona Kula
Chas Roberts, campag veloce, campag Thaksin

2012
Coinage cx-1, campag record, revolution carbon wheels
Kona Kula
Kona jake the snake, ultegra 10,

2011
Cinelli e-strada, sram force, revolution wheels
Kona Kula
Kona jake the snake

2010
Colnago cx-1, campag record, revolution wheels
Kona Kula
Kona jake the snake

2009
Kona king zing, sram force, mavic cosmic carbone
Kona Kula
Kona jake the snake

2008
Kona zing
Kona Kula supreme
Kona jake the snake

2007
Kona king zing, dura ace, mavic carbone cosmic
Kong Kula supreme, Xtr, ringle/stans wheels
Kona jake the snake, ultegra 10,

2006
Kona zing alloy/carbon, dura ace, mavic carbone cosmic
Kona Kula, XT
Kona jake the snake

2005
Pinarello Prince SL, dura ace, ksyrium sl
Kona Kula, XT

2004
Pinarello Prince SL
Fondriest carbon, dura ace, ksyrium

2003
Giant tcr alloy, ultegra

2002
Giant tcr alloy, ultegra
Voodoo mtb, xt/xtr

2001
Giant tcr alloy, ultegra
Voodoo mtb, xt/xtr

2000
Giant tcr, ultegra
Voodoo MTB, xt/Xtr
GT I drive, xt/xtr

1999
Giant tcr alloy, ultegra
Specialized allez alloy, ultegra
Specialized m2 mtb, XT

1998
Specialized alloy road bike, ultegra
Specialized m2, XT

1997
Trek 2100 carbon road frame, shimano 105
Klein MTB, XT, AMP forks

1996
Dennis field 653 frame, mavic/campag group
Kona cindercone, LX

1995
Dennis Field 653, mavic/campag

I think that's about it.

A long list to follow, my excuse is I have been doing this for a while and have raced in most disciplines, and tour and commute.

Three wheeler, rear wheel drive, single rod lever brake action directly on the front (solid rubber) tyre.
Fat single tube frame and fat tyre bike with single front rod lever brake and rear carrier. Used to learn to ride aged about 4 with my 9 year old sister sitting on the carrier as active stabilisers. No helmet, no parents no help when I headed towards the corner of a garage as my sister leapt off to safe herself. I dodged the corner of the wall as I flew over the handle bars. Nothing ventured nothing gained – I back on and got the hang of steering after that.
Slightly bigger (16” wheels) bike with front and rear rod lever brakes.  Used extensively including fitting the smaller front wheel from the three wheeler and used for jumping off ramps.
My first bike that was not a hand me down from my sisters, a second hand Halfords 24”  wheel all steel bike with flat handle bars, still single speed and cable brakes (no functional in the wet due to the steel rims. Converted to 5 speed with Simple gears and drop bars and crashed into the back of a car shortly after when I was looking down to see the gears.
1984 - first full size bike  – Peugeot Champion DuMonde frame (lugless welded frame and the only champion characteristic was where it hid all the concrete in the frame as the frame alone weighed about 9 pounds (over 4kg).  Built up with 27” wheels (Weinmann rims, Maillard hubs and Michelin zig zag tyres) more Simplex gears with 10 speeds and Weinman brakes. This went through a few iterations, repainted in black and gold and then white with blue candy stripes to prevent theft while at college. Crashed at high speed into a hedge when descending, folding up the forks which were folded and welded tubes rather than proper drawn tubes. Straightening them at the road side and then racing to the local bike shop to order new forks to avoid missing a day’s training.
1985 – Very second hand Clifford frame in 531 wild Orange paint and very relaxed  seat angle.  Built up as a training bike and still used as a fixed gear pub and shopping bike with retired racing bits.
1986 - Motobecane grand sprint Vitus 888 tubing frame from local racer as I started to race. More Weinmann brakes and added Suntour cyclone rear mech and Stronglight 99 chainset. First introduction to sprint rims (Atom hubs and Montherly Pro rims)
1987 - Hand built (Tony Revell) frame in 531 – one of the most comfortable bikes I have owned. Built up with Suntour Cyclone brakes, Shimano 600 front and rear mechs and chainset and Campagnolo Victory pedals.  Cinelli 65 bars and 1a stem – and I use the same on most bikes  since.  Originally a Turbo saddle but swapped to a Concor when I found I did not get on with the Turbo saddle. Rode this in the junior tour of Ireland representing Wales. This frame was badly bent in a heavy crash in 1989 in the middle of a road race – ultimately a friend bought the remain from me and straightened it out for commuter duty. The crash ripped the back off one of the Campag Victory pedals and dislocated my hip. I swapped to Look pedals straight after this
1988 – Bob Weston Frame bought as a training frame, equipped mostly from spares rejected from racing bikes. This frame took me to France and back from North Wales twice covering 750 miles in 6 days and cover a higher average mileage than the Tour of France I was going to watch.  I caught up with the Tour to see Greg Lemond’s comeback time trial in 1989 on stage 5 which was enough to convince e he would win that year
1988 – Ribble 653 frame and most of the bits from the Revel frame with the addition of wheels using Argent 10 rims on Campagnolo Victory hubs and stainless spokes. This frae was written off in 1989 when a car cut me up leaving me somersaulting over the bonnet and landing on my feet (Look pedals helped here!)
1989 – Peugeot Perthus Pro 753 frame and most of the bits from the Ribble. Frame bent in almost direct repeat of car turning into me. More painful for me with my shin hitting the front corner of the car and my ankle smashing into the crank. Forks from Ribble fitted to the remains and the same bike then raced in 100 ile time trial 3 days later. Walking was quite challenging for the next couple of weeks after this one
1990 Track bike in 531 with lugless fillet brazed construction and shot in rear stays. Another Orange bike but I repainted this one in blue.  Raced for a number of years including at Leicester at the track champs.  This followed my first track racing using my Dad’s Ephgrave road path frame from the 50s.
1990 – Kona Lavadome bought having had a go on a friend’s mountain bike. Spent many hours doing winter training in the hills on this and only sold recently.
1991 – finally replaced the Peugeot frame with a Raleigh Special Products 653 frame – a bit of a mistake as it had “special” geometry with a 75 degree or worse seat tube angle making positioning awkward and me longing for my old Revel frame and the holes for letting out gas during brazing were so large they whistled when you rode (some tape solved that).
1994 – new track bike – a Ribble 531 with Campag Record chainset.
1998 – experimental lo pro using a small frame
1998 – second attempt at low pro using a Muddy Fox alloy frame with colour coded carbon forks
2005 - 1950s tandem frame from ebay built for the school run taxi, taking two children to school for a number of years, the second child fitting on a custom rear seat.
 2007 – Accidental ebay purchase of Fondriest Mega plus frame led to upgrading  to a mostly Campag Mirage/ Centaur / Daytona equipped machine.  Unfortunately I had to conclude the frame was too small and needed replacing.  Wheels were Campag Mirage hubs built onto MA2 rims.
2009- training bike built around a Deeside cycles alloy frame – hugely stiff and significantly uncomfortable.
2010 – second tandem - a Dawes Galaxy bought in haste due to low price – I discovered why it was cheap when I tried riding it.  The forks were displaced sideways and needed some significant force to cold set them back into shape so that the tandem rides hands free.
2011 – hand built Penny Farthing – just had to be done
2011 – Planet X Pompino fixed bike with deep V wheels (the cheap sort that look good but appear to be full of concrete). Campag aero seatpin and Stronglight 99 chainset recycled from some of the earlier bikes.  I really like this bike and the way it rides – almost enough to look forward to winter when I can use it for most of my training.
2012  - ebay Chinese carbon fibre frame and all the bits from the Fondriest, plus a new set of wheels, Bianchi branded Miche.
2013 – swapped the training frame for a Columbus Zonal alloy frame with canti-bosses. This is used for training, touring and off road / cyclocross depending.
2014 - Mongoose BMX for playing at racing.
2015 – Team Orange E4 mountain bike in a sorry state but restored to replace the long standing Lavadome (see 13 above)
2017 – new carbon frame – Dolan Etape with the bits from the Chinese Carbon. Amazing improvement in comfort.
Small wheels folding bike undergoing conversion to something vaguely rideable
Not really bikes but to get to the round 30 counting them as a single entry -  I have built three recumbents, one unicycle and own a second unicycle.

Really tried to list all the bikes I ve been through...... Not Easy

Year 1998
Some Silver Shiny Roadbike
Cannondale Fat Boy

Year 2012
Canyon Ultimate CF SlX
Canyon Ultimate CF

2013
Canyon Aeroad
Canyon Triathlon Bike
14Bikes Citybike
Pearson Cycle Citybike
Parlee 5SLI
Cervolo P5-Six
Open Up 1.0 MTB bike

2014
Colnago C60 - White Colour
SevenCycles 622SLX

2015
Canyon Aeroad CF SLX
Cannondale Slice Black Inc

2016
Stinner Frameworks Custom
Cannondale Caad12
Felt IA FRD

2017
Cannondale Super Evo High Mod
Colnago C60 - Grey Colour
Independent Fabrication TI Club Racer
Parlee Z-Zero Disc
Speedvagen
Stinner Frameworks Ti
Open Up New ‘Gravel Bike’

@madcarew did your mum work for British Cycling? Her motivational methods may have inspired Shane Sutton (pulled uphill with the whacking strap)

Holy smoke. Dredging the memory channels:

First bike red push along trike (1970)

Second bike, Trike with (large) pram wheels and trailer. Loved that bike. Mum used to pull me up the hill home from kindy with the same strap she smacked my bum with when I was naughty

Indian 2 wheeler, handed down from 4 sisters. Red. 12" wheels?

Raleigh 20 (handed down from sister)

Rudge 24". Rod operated brakes

Unknown bike with 3 speed hub.  All the bikes so far hand me downs and hand painted and resurrected by Dad from local trash sales. Used to go on rides of up to 60 miles on this bike

At 13 got first 10 speed, Healing MCT270, second hand, first bike with indexed gears, and freewheel on crankset! Rode thousands of miles around the country side on it.

At 15 Bought my own bike for first time, morrison monark, 10 sp. Quite a quick bike for its day. Morrison monark stolen at 17. First forays into cycle touring. First bike with alloy rims (1985)

Worldrider something. Far too big for me, with 1.5" tyres. However, entered a local 50 mile handicap race and won cup from limit on it. A year later returned for defence of the cup  and won from scratch. Soon after sponsored by LBS onto a ...

Peugeot. Tubs, simplex gears, Weinmann  brakes. In an extraordinary leap of technology upgraded to 12 speed. Won a set of Sansin hubs in a race. They were beautiful and I rode them for over 20 years. 

Peugeot got stacked in a race, another LBS sponsored me onto a re-painted tarini in black and yellow, earning  me the local nickname of "the yellow peril". Stacked this into the front of a car on a local descent. Insurance payout got me on to ...

1st full alloy Cannondale 2.0 Criterium Full ultegra. Mavic MA40 rims. 14 speed!!!! (1988) Frame  weighed 2 lbs. Extraordinary in those times. Rode that to Commonwealth Games trials finals, 1989. Handling so sharp it had teeth and would spit you out of the saddle if you got it wrong. Sold to seek my fortune overseas. Also purchsed a damaged Cannondale of same vintage for a training bike. Retained training bike in storage.

1991 World rider MTB kitted for touring. V brakes, Deore. Extra braze ons for touring kit. Rode that bike many many thousands of miles on several continents. Even won a few crits on it with 1" tyres on. 

Sponsored in UK on to Benotto hand built Columbus SLX, with the first Dura-ace STI levers. The STI was a revelation for a sprinter like me. The frame was like riding a wet noodle. 

Raced  in South Africa on Colnago of dubious vintage, with Ultegra 600 gearing

Sponsored by cycle distributors in NZ on to Diamondback Apex TT. Probably the favourite bike I've ever owned. Rock shox Judys, Deore xt, 9 spd. Took 10 year old cannondale out of storage and started racing it. Also sponsored onto merlin Titanium road bike. Couldn't get to love it, even though it was a fabulous bike on paper.

After Apex was stolen got a stumpjumper, continued riding damaged cannondale (superb pro 7sp down-tube shifters and rear derailleur, Shimano DA front, Mavic rims, those Sansin hubs, shimano ultegra brakes, old school 600 cranks, FAG BB.)

10 year racing hiatus...

rec-ommenced racing on now 20 year old Cannondale, won first Crit back... it's not about the bike

Avanti Corsa pro, full DA. Carbon main triangle, alloy rear. My first intorduction to 7kg bikes. Rode like a wet noodle..... Frame damage on old cannondale finally becomes terminal and it's sent to scrap metal merchants. Nets $4.50

Insurance claim from wrecked Avanti nets first dream bike, Cannondale super6 hi mod, with DA off Avanti. Simply the most exciting thing I'd ever ridden. 

Stupid accident sees Cannondale replaced with the newer version of the same frame. Got old frame repaired.

Stupid crash sees new cannondale frame replaced with old. Insurance payout pays for 2nd hand Colnago C59 with new DA 9100 all over it. Old Cannondale gets new DA. Colnago frame gets flicked for most of what the whole bike cost.

Current bike repaired Supersix Evo Hi-mod, DA 9100, DA C24 wheels, or FFWD carbon tubs on race day. 6.55kg in race trim incl pedals and bottle cages. Still the most exciting thing I've ever ridden. 

Way too many to list induvidally or even remember what year i had them

So off the top of my head over the last 35 ish years ive had

Bmx's 60+ (been a bmx'er for 30 years, just sold 10 from my bmx collection)

Mtb's around 15, mix of hardtails, full sussers, dh rigs etc...

Road bikes 15, 12 of which have been Colnago's (been a roadie for around 7 years)

Then there's the odd bikes like choppers, budgies, hybrids etc...

I prob buy at least 2 bikes a year, used to have one road bike for commuting (5000 miles a year) and one road bike for good weather riding, always been a bit of a wheeler dealer when it comes to bikes plus have friends in the indusrty so always get good deals

Great thread, loving reading your histories...

1980 - 88 - series of terrible second hand death traps. One was a Humber with rod brakes.

1988ish 3rd hand Raleigh Ace. "Racer" with 5 gears but red so it went fast. All my friends had BMXs

1990ish Falcon Scorpio "racer" 10 gears! New! All my friends had BMXs

1992ish Terrible Emmelle MTB

1994 lovely 531 BSA prima (2nd hand) ended life as a single speed commuter until I cracked the frame in 2004

1998 handbuilt proper MTB hardtail. Stolen.

1999 Specialized BMX.

2001 Curtis BMX. Raw finish, T45 steel. Built like a tank. Amazing bike, spent loads of time and money on it.

2013 Charge plug 3. Bought as a bridle path basher, gave me back the road bug.

2017 Cinelli experience. Current favourite.

Some time this year, either a cargo e bike or an MTB again.

A childs Raleigh in the mid 70s, went without a bike for a while until about late '82 when I got a Raleigh Winner, that got nicked, got another Raleigh (Scorpio I think), that got pinched outside the village post office (though we lived in the village insiide a big housing estate so crime was rife in the 80s) and then I saved all my paper round money and bought a Falcon from Halfords for £114, it was literally every penny I had saved and a lot of money!

I'd started cycling to school around that time (it wasn't that far but was quicker than walking) and getting about a bit further, summer of 84 my neighbour (on a BMX) and I cycled to Bridlington from outskirts of Hull and back (circa 60 miles). This was along the A165, it was a doddle and no fear of being run over.

Commuted to college for 2 years (on the Falcon) and did my first audax , joined the army so without a bike for a while, accquired a new Raleigh Record Sprint for summer of '90 to tour around France, do more cycling and commuting to work, had it 11 years and did a shed load of miles on it somewhere around 80-85,000 miles, also had a dabble with a couple of mountain bikes -Kona Lava Dome and some big arse steel downhill thing and a Raleigh cr-mo MTB (still have the latter two) and foray into clipless pedals in the mid 90s.

2001 bought a Ridgeback Genesis Day 02, my first flat bar, epic bike, did everything, fast handling, was as adept on a fast run and high speed descending as it was carrying loads/doing utility duties. Sold that in '07 and replaced with a spesh Globe pro (Still main daily).

Meantime I'd bought a Raleigh special products Titanium (still got 14 years later) and by the mid to late 00s my bike fetish really took off

Older stuff, Carlton Super Python (Still got), AS Gillott, Rudge, Halfords of Birmingham single speed, Dawes Londoner, Dawes Galaxy (70s), Dawes Imperial, Barry Chick (with Campag 8x3), Claud Butler Velox, Peugeot Super Comp(PX-10), Hirame (in the most gorgeous blue ever but too small!), Bromwich, FW Evans, GPH Heswall (as ridden by Chris Boardman) and rebuilt as a 10x3 super tourer/audax.

Then there's the more modern bikes, Villager Eagle (as per my pic), Porche Bike R, Principia Rex, Principia RS6 (epic rocket ships), Peugeot 2000 (still got), '91 Gitane team replica (Vitus GTI & still got), Spesh Globe Elite converted to a drop bar tourer/audax/winter racer )still got), my first carbon bike after I sold the Principia's was a KTM that was direct from the continental team as an unused frame and is my main go to summer bike, then I bought a NOS Scott CR1 SL frameset (haven't built) and the last a few months a NOS '09 Spesh Sirrus Pro Ltd Carbon that is going to get gravel/off road duties this summer.

For me I'm done buying bikes for at least the next 4-5 years, I've got a few older bikes of different vintages and some modern stuff for going fast, pottering, utility/commuting and touring

Oooh good god, must be 35 years worth starting Raleigh's with Budgie, Chopper and Grifter BMX, the BMX being longest in the stable age 8-11.

Had paper rounds etc. so ruined a fair few shite ex catalogue mountain bikes (usually Townsend's). My mother's Raleigh Shopper, grandfather's steel bike with those metal brake rods. Non descript second hand bike at Uni then a nice ish Scott mountain bike for about 5 years followed by the odd commute apollo pile of shite.

Got into cycling recreationally with a Boardman hybrid which was stolen so upgraded slowly from Dawes Milk Race to Peugeot 2000ish with Sora then Specialized Allez to C2W Specialized Gravel which I still have with a wet bike GT and summer Cannondale... Oh and a couple of fixies, unicycle etc.

N+1 plus one...

It all started off 7/8 years ago for me.

I got a 2010 Giant Seek 4, 3x8 speed with big slick tyres. Not particularly fast, but more reliable than the bus for getting me to school and to see my (now) girlfriend. This bike then got converted to Sora 9 speed with a 50/34 crank, cycled around Normandy on that bike and loaded it up to go camping as well I eventually converted it to a DIY 1x cyclocross setup before stripping it and selling it (I sorely miss that bike)

Got my first road bike a year or so later... 2011 Dawes Giro 500 with Tiagra 9 speed. Rode that bike everywhere and tackled a fair few hills on it, massively increased my fitness too! Eventually ended up with Campag Zondas and Shimano 105 5800. Had my first crash on that bike and my first encounter with ice (which didn't end well). Also had a few very uncomfortable incidents with vehicles, one of which led to the police getting involved and the driver got fired from his job in the end. Last year I stripped down the bike for parts and sold the frameset.

At the end of 2016, I replaced the Giant with a Mango Point AR frameset which I built up initially with Sora R3000 before using the Shimano 105 5800 from my Dawes with TRP Spyre brakes. Used this bike for commuting to work and uni. Sold it a couple months ago to a chap whos using the bike for LEJOG.

Enter carbon;

To replace my Dawes I got a 2017 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Disc 8.0 with Mavic Cosmics, awesome bike, my PR's everywhere! Upgraded it to Ultegra R8000 a couple months ago.

With my Canyon as my summer bike, I sold my Mango and bought a Whyte Wessex 2018. The Ultegra R8000 shifters are on my Canyon, and the RS685's (from the Canyon) are now on the Wessex, also put some deeper DT Swiss R32 Spline wheels. Awesome winter and commuter bike.

Other bikes;

Peugeot Premierelle I saved, someone was taking it to the tip, spent a couple weeks restoring it and eventually sold that.

Also got hold of a Raleigh Olympus, saved that from the tip too which I restored... and sold!