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I wish I’d kept it…

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  • April 5, 2013 at 4:20 pm #18415
    notfastenough

    I was just reading wjputt’s forum topic on building his new bike, and it got me thinking. When I was 17 (late 1993) I saved up to build my new bike.

    Faggin frame and forks in Reynolds 653 that were a sold-as-seen job at Harry Hall in Manchester. I had to take it to Frank Herety in Stockport to get the bottom bracket reamed because the build wasn’t even finished.

    To that I added 1994 Campag Athena 8 speed – it was the first year that Ergopower had trickled down to Athena, and looked the business.

    Mavic Open 4CD SUP rims on Athena hubs and DT swiss spokes. San Marco Rolls saddle, Time pedals, Cinelli bars and stem with yellow bar tape to match the yellow ‘Faggin’ name on the black frame, and Continental Grand Prix tyres; the wire bead ones that went up to 150psi!

    However, I joined the RAF, discovered girls etc etc and it sat in the garage with criminally little mileage – don’t think I’d even worn the anodised layer off the brake track. :\”> I lost interest and sold it years later.

    I wish I could ride it now! =((

    With hindsight, it was a bit big for me, there was toe overlap with the front wheel, the rear triangle seemed to flex (I did wonder whether it was indeed a 653 or just a 531) and the 53-39 chainset was, shall we say, a little ambitious. But still, I imagine I’d have fun swapping it all over to another nice steel frame and giving it a blast.

    Slightly off-topic, I bought the bits, got the wheels built and the special-tool-stuff done at Neil Walton Cycles in Didsbury, which was a cool little place until the local scallies discovered that they could walk in and stroll off with serious amounts of mountain bike and there wasn’t a lot anyone could do about it. Repeatedly. They ended up not being able to get insurance and had to shut up shop.

    So, anything you wish you hadn’t got rid of or still had access to?

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Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)
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  • April 13, 2013 at 12:30 pm #726357
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    veseunr

    Raleigh Road Ace with 531 and
    Raleigh Road Ace with 531 and Shimano 600 ….. :”(

    April 13, 2013 at 11:49 am #726355
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    hairybiker

    My schoolboy racing days
    My schoolboy racing days Holdsworth Professional 531 double-butted, 3/4 chrome red and white with Campag Nuovo Record throughout (apart from the brakes which were Universals). My father had kept it in the garage until last year when he moved in with my brother – I haven’t got to the bottom of the story yet but I believe it was thrown away :”(
    Oh, and another from my schoolboy racing days, my Ti Raleigh 531 double-butted track iron which got sold when my interests became more motor powered!

    April 13, 2013 at 1:12 am #726353
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    badkneestom

    I’m working desperately to
    I’m working desperately to keep my dad’s bike: 1990 Cannondale 3.0 Road Race Series with SR300 setup.
    It’s the least flexible frame ever tested in 1990 and years before.

    I remember thinking it was a ridiculous design growing up: why would you want to sit that high and feel like you’re falling forward?

    Now, the bike literally as old as me, I’m trying to keep him from upgrading the downtube shifters or simply selling it to get a modern bike.

    It’s a bit of a rough ride, but the power transfer is incredible. The weak point in power transfer is YOU, the bike literally clangs its’ disappointment if you let up halfway through a pedal mashing session.

    April 12, 2013 at 10:28 pm #726351
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    notfastenough

    Some great replies to this
    Some great replies to this thread!

    April 12, 2013 at 10:05 pm #726349
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    OldCog

    “So would you ride it?” I
    “So would you ride it?” I asked the LBS owner, showing him the forks of my 1973 531 Holdsworth Mistral.

    “Not downhills,” was his sensible answer, but rode it on all gradients for another 15 years till finally stripping it and hanging it on the cellar wall.

    And five years later, realising it was just nostalgic clutter, I binned it. I’ve got carbon and titanium these days, but none go all day long like the Holdsworth. Is the difference just in me? Probably. So maybe it’s that difference in me I threw out when I junked the Old Holds.

    April 11, 2013 at 12:30 pm #726347
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    shay cycles

    Actually – No
    Have had around
    Actually – No

    Have had around 20 bikes over the years but still have my last racing bike and ride it sometimes; made the measure M&B Dronfield and it feels as good as it did in the 80s. I’m not so good though so can’t use it when things are too hilly.

    But all those I’ve not kept? No regrets at all

    🙂

    April 11, 2013 at 12:22 pm #726345
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    Bhachgen

    I had a gorgeous Lotus
    I had a gorgeous Lotus Alu-framed hard-tail MTB. Massively fat tubes, light as a feather, immensely fun to ride. Sold it a few years back as I wanted something more “sensible” and n>1 didn’t really work in the flat I was living in.

    Now I live in a house with a big shed and wish like hell that I still had it.

    April 8, 2013 at 4:28 pm #726343
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    jova54

    When I was about 18, 40 years
    When I was about 18, 40 years ago, I was given my Mum’s old touring bike. It was a proper man’s frame hand-brazed, HC Strudwick of Brighton, from Reynolds 531 which she had used for touring with my Dad in the early 50’s before they married.
    I had it stripped and sprayed in metallic purple, all the rage in late 1970’s, fitted with Weinmann brakes, pedals with toe-clips and 10 speed derailleur. I took it to college and Germany with me but when I was posted back to Catterick I couldn’t get it in my car and so I sold it to a mate.
    I’ve just made contact with the guy I sold it to, just need the nerve to ask whether he has still got it 😀

    April 6, 2013 at 7:46 pm #726341
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    Super Domestique

    Sorry if that bored you
    Sorry if that bored you senseless by the way!

    But that is what came straight to mind.

    April 6, 2013 at 7:45 pm #726339
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    Super Domestique

    I was an early BMXer in my
    I was an early BMXer in my area. Had a rubbish one but had the reputation as an ‘expert’ as I’d been doing it for longer.

    I then started doing longer rides, tow path, woods and the like.

    I was given an Elswick Whirlwind by my dad. He’d bought it second hand and did it up with new tyres, saddle, bar tape and shorty mudguards.

    I thought great, I can copy the cyclo cross I watch on Grandstand!

    But I wanted to ride off road so the bmx sale money and the 5 speed racer got sold and a heap of pocket money went on a Raleigh Maverick 5 speed, 1985 model, purchased in ’86 on sale.

    Guess what I regret getting rid of? The bmx? No.
    The racer? Nope, but do feel guilty I didn’t appreciate the work it took to get it up to scratch.

    I still have the Maverick frame, fork and wheels but I ditched all the rest.

    April 6, 2013 at 7:17 pm #726337
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    Adey

    The race bike my dad bought
    The race bike my dad bought me in the mid seventies, i think it was a Carlton? 😕 with my dad being a keen cyclist in the late 50’s early 60’s whenever i used to nag him about a bike (all my mates had Raleigh choppers)- “no lad i’ll buy you a proper bike”!! i was the only lad on my estate who rolled up on a racer while all my mates had choppers and ‘own built’ scramblers – off roading/scrambling and pulling wheelies on a racer was not easy!! really wish i had that bike now though 🙁 Also my dads old bike ‘rusted away’ on our back yard for years (a Dayton i believe)

    April 5, 2013 at 8:47 pm #726335
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    Liam Barr

    A few years ago I went on
    A few years ago I went on holiday with my mates in the summer and whilst on holiday my parents decided to clear out the garage. The day after I come back I decided that I wanted to go out on my bmx (which I admit hadn’t been used since the summer before). I was all ready to go out and I knew my friends were waiting for me when I realised there was an issue, my beloved bike was gone. I immediately found my mum and asked if she knew where it was to hear the reply “the red one which was way too small for you? Yeah I gave it to the charity shop because it didn’t fit you” she then went on to add that it had been sold within the hour. I have sinced try to replace it but it’s one of those things that’s gone for good 🙁

    April 5, 2013 at 8:30 pm #726333
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    FMOAB

    Yup, 1980s Dawes Galaxy, but
    Yup, 1980s Dawes Galaxy, but more importantly it had on it a set of hand built wheels with Mavic M3 CD rims with campagnolo record hubs.

    April 5, 2013 at 8:03 pm #726331
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    farrell

    My very first bike, it was a
    My very first bike, it was a BMX wannabe with a Michael Knight/Knightrider race plate. Why the bike was emblazoned with Knightrider related stuff I cant fathom but I did love Knightrider (I even got to meet K.I.T.T. in the Arndale centre once).

    The other bike I wish I still had is my Diamond Back Outlook bike. Bloody loved that bike until some shit nicked it.

    It got stolen about 16 years ago and I had a dream about getting it back a couple of months ago. I was devastated when I woke up and realised it was a dream and the bike was not returned.

    I still search on Ebay to see if one will turn up but I’ve not been able to find one with the same black and silver thread paint work.

    April 5, 2013 at 6:53 pm #726329
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    Kapelmuur

    My Mum is from
    My Mum is from Geraardsbergen, her house was about a mile from the Muur and her older brother. my Uncle Pros, was a keen cyclist (and Eddy Merckx look alike).

    1962’ish he built a road bike for me and brought it to England for my 15th birthday. It was a sensation, I don’t think derallieur gears had been seen in Shrewsbury before!

    Although I rode it quite a lot, mainly on my paper round, my game was football and the bike gradually fell into disrepair.

    I took it to the LBS but they could not source the metric parts it needed, so they made me an offer for the frame which I accepted.

    Very much regret that now, especially as vintage bikes are becoming so popular.

    For anyone who has cycled in Brussels, Uncle Pros was a founder of Aurore Cyclo, now one of the leading clubs in the city.

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