Bikes of Bygone Days, Part 3

    During the early period of writing this blog, I wrote a couple of articles (Part One and Part Two) about the bicycles I had owned during my lifetime. When I considered that I had owned only two road bikes from when I was age 14 until I turned 41, and in the ensuing twelve years I have owned twenty-two different bikes, I was reminded of another early blog entry entitled “No, I don’t need therapy!”, but now I’m thinking perhaps I do.
   Now remember, I have only had at most six bicycles in my “official” collection, and when you take into account the hundreds of bicycles I’ve bought and sold to customers over the past decade, that’s really a very small number. I actually think my exposure to so many different bicycles of various shapes, colors and manufacturers has helped to keep my mania under control.
   Back in my original article, I did neglect to mention a 2000 Giant Boulder SE mountain bike, which we still own, but it has become more of a borrower bike for others to use when visiting. I used to ride more single track out in the woods with my sons when they were growing up, but got thrown off a few times and decided to retire myself from the hardcore stuff before I really got injured. The last time I used this machine was during the final bike trip with my father back in 2014.

   The first carbon fiber bicycle I purchased was a 2010 Pinarello FP2. I absolutely fell in love with the brand after a trip to Rome in May 2011, during which I visited the incredible Lazzaretti bicycle shop (more on this later). I enjoyed this bike immensely, and became a stronger cyclist on it, learning to ride at a higher tempo for longer periods of time. Unfortunately, the FP2 was the odd man out when I purchased my Cannondale SuperSix 5.

   At this time, I had a number of lightweight racing bicycles and really wanted to have something more vintage. I decided to strip the fantastic components from my Colnago Dream Lux, sell that frameset and put the parts on a 1997 Colnago C-97 Competition in the company’s blue and yellow “Decor” paint style. I was a big fan of Johan Museeuw and the Mapei team, and I could envision them riding a very similar bicycle. One more parts swap involving yet another Colnago was eventually in the cards – more on that later.

   A customer who wanted to purchase the Motobécane Mirage I had repainted offered me a collection of bicycles that I could re-sell, among them a gorgeous Saeco-Cannondale replica team bike. Being a Cannondale guy and a big fan of legendary sprinter Mario Cipollini, I couldn’t pass this one up. I modernized the setup of this 2002 R700 Si and enjoyed taking it on some epic club rides Sue and I did with her siblings. There was an extended period of time when I was working on a bunch of red bicycles (including two Cipollini replica projects) and had a couple of red bicycles in my collection (see the next Specialized bike), so I just felt the need for a change.

   This 2011 Specialized Allez might have had the shortest stay of any bicycle in my collection. Influenced by the build of my neighbor’s Specialized Roubaix, I liked the lines of the bike and the killer racing stripe along the length of the top tube. I was looking for something light and fast for the area’s unpaved trails, and remember, this was before today's gravel bike geometry became the norm. The Allez frame lacked clearance for anything over a 28mm tire, and there was otherwise just too much chatter in the aluminum frame when riding on rough surfaces.

   My next trail experiment (on the heels of my collection’s “Red Scare”) was a 1989 Atala Cromor Triomphe, and the noise-dampening steel frame seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. There was also something really cool about the vintage Italian lines and its slick blue and white paint scheme. I was getting into family history at the time and desired to find a French bicycle. My love of Vitus bicycles was about to start, and it led to my next trail experiment. To make room, the Atala was sold to a friend.

   I was hoping the 1986 Vitus 979 Mk I, with its more flexible, bonded-aluminum frame, would be an excellent compromise between lightweight and vibration-dampening materials. This is another bike I really regretted selling, mainly because of its beautiful Mavic parts. The bike had a whippy acceleration that I really appreciated, but it didn’t have sufficient gearing for more hilly terrain. I was also becoming a bit weary of downtube shift levers. This bike went to a buyer in South Korea, and I eventually went with the Bianchi Cross Concept for all my off-road riding.

   I was getting tired of having to lug bicycles to the shore during the summer, along with all of the stuff my family needed to take with us. I wanted to buy an inexpensive bicycle with some vintage style to store down there year-round. I went back to my Cannondale roots and found a 1988 SR700 “Black Lightning”, which came equipped with special black and gold versions of components. This was a great bike, but it became the victim of a reshuffling when I purchased my Vitus 992, and another bike took up the “Cannondale slot” in my collection...
   

...in the form of a CAAD10 5 105 in Liquigas team colors. The Italian squad’s leader, Ivan Basso, had just won the Giro d’Italia and their roster was chock-full of rising stars, such as Peter Sagan, Vincenzo Nibali and Elia Viviani. I really liked the lime green and blue colors, and, at the time, this more affordable model was a good compromise from the elite-level SuperSix that I really coveted. Unfortunately, I found the ride inexplicably sluggish and (unsuccessfully) tried my best to tweak its setup to solve the issue.

   After Sue and I travelled through Europe’s Benelux region during the summer of 2017 and experienced the everyday use of bicycles, I was determined to ride a bike more frequently for short errands around home. I wanted to find something inexpensive with more of a utilitarian setup, perhaps with fenders and a rack. Incredibly, a gentleman in Affigem, Belgium, sold me a 1970s Flandria Randonneur and shipped it here for a total of just a few hundred dollars. The bike was enjoyable, but it was a bit of a beast, and I found that, with a seatpost clamp-on rack and some easy-mount fenders on my Bianchi, the Flandria became unnecessary.

   Another bike I very much regretted seeing leave my shop was one of my original build projects, a mid-1980s Colnago Nuovo Mexico, sold to my friend Brendan. A local craigslist seller had a 2008 Colnago Master X-Light, which had a similar look to the Nuovo Mexico, and I decided to purchase it, swap the parts between it and my C-97 and sell that bike. I enjoyed the ride quality of that bicycle very much, but grew tired of maintaining its chrome, and the paint chipped very easily. I found a carbon fiber Colnago from the same year with an identical paint scheme, and it seemed like a logical solution to eliminate the mentioned frame maintenance issues.

   The second-shortest stay in my personal roster has to be the 1999 Look KG 231 that my friend Jordan brought along during one of his parts swap projects. I’d been searching for a special Look frame for a while, and the cool fish scale pattern in the exposed carbon layup and attractive gold paint really stood out. The bike eventually became another of Brendan’s collection, as I had to make room for my prized Eddy Merckx Hitachi Team bike.

   In my most recent blog entry I explained my reasons for selling the custom-painted 1992 Pinarello Asolo, which leads to my recent purchase, a 2008 Pinarello Prince. I was thinking about some of my dream bikes and how unattainable most were. I happened to be wearing one of my favorite cycling-related garments, a Lazzaretti trainer-jacket, and recalled my visit to that store. I’ve always been a fan of Alejandro Valverde and can envision that sweet “Prince of Spain” bike he rode during the 2008 Tour de France.

Vaverde's wheels alone cost $3000!

   There really isn’t any realistic way I am going to find/afford that bike, but I could certainly find the model the rest of his team used! I’m probably not going to build it up to team spec, as that would still cost several thousand dollars, but I will “trick it out” in my own way to make it a fantastic bike. It already has a wonderful start with a Campagnolo Chorus group, and I’ll probably swap out the Spinergy wheels for something “Campy”. Stay tuned!

I'm not sure why some sellers take photographs from the non-drive side!

   This Saturday is the scheduled Santa Ride, and it seems like the weather is going to cooperate first time around – years past have seen several rain, snow or extreme cold postponements. We’ll be doing a 31-mile loop from Cycle Tech H.Q. out on back roads to Schwenksville, where we’ll meet the Perkiomen Trail and head through Collegeville and Oaks to meet the Schuylkill Trail. We’ll pedal through Phoenixville and Spring City back to our Royersford starting point. A wider-tired bike is recommended to deal with some of the rougher Perk sections. Hope you can join us!

   I’ll be taking a couple weeks off from writing for the holidays. Enjoy yourself and be safe – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!