Road Bikes I Have Owned

Triathlon Forum
1

Thought it might be interesting to hear what bikes folks have owned and what they thought of them…here’s my list:

  1. Trek something or other…bought it in 1984…my first nice bike. Had to have something to go visit the future spousal unit at Duke while I was carless at UNC. Fell in love with both the future Mrs. Spot and cycling.

  2. Gitane…traded in the Trek for something a little sexier. Cool bike. Sold it to a bud to buy bike #4.

  3. Miele with Campy Athena…still wish I had this bike. Bought it after reading a review in “Bicycling Guide” (remember that mag?). Classic lugged Columbus steel bike with chromed forks. My first bike with clipless pedals…those old red and white Looks.

  4. Trek 2300…put aero bars on it for riding in Wichita, Kansas and that heinous Kansas wind. First bike with STI…loved it from the get-go. The tubes started to delam a little towards the end of our “relationship.”

  5. Cannondale R2000…bought to celebrate a promotion to Major in the USAF. Traded in the Trek and the Miele, plus a Marin MTB as the wife said no new bikes until some left. Came with Spinergy Rev-X wheels…great in headwinds, suck in crosswinds. Never need truing, though. Still have it. It sits attached to my Cycleops trainer in the basement.

  6. Cervelo P2K…bought it after returning home from OIF. Awesome bike…got fitted to it by the guys at Big Ring Cyclery in Golden, Co…the first time I have had anyone do anything more than have me stand over the top tube to judge the size. They did a great job…I am very comfortable on the bike.

  7. Cervelo R2.5 Chorus…didn’t really need it, but I was turning 40 and jonesin’ for a new road bike. I told my wife I was coming up on my mid-life crisis, and she had a choice between my getting: 1) A girlfriend or 2) A new bike. Being the smart women that she is, she called my bluff and told me to go ahead and try and find a girlfriend (knowing the chances for a balding old chubby guy were pretty much nil). But she took pity on me and let me get what I really wanted in the first place…my new R2.5. Love it…stiff and comfortable…soaks up bumps like its frickin’ magic, yet I can’t get it to flex.

Spot

2

To many to list - notable ones are

Specialized Allez Epic Pro - carbon…(quite a few of em)

Raleigh Technium Pro

Nishiki Alpha (old school baby) - with a J-Disc even

Tomassini

Basso GAP

Waterford

Vitus 979 (was that the number? with the integrated Mavic headset)

Litespeed (Ultimate, Palmeres, Vortex)

Softride Power V (AWESOME bike - 5 of em)

Softride Rocket (TT7 and R1’s)

Cervelo P3

3

Okay, I’ll bite…

  1. An assortment of banana-seated kids bikes that got ridden all over the river valley.

  2. Red K-mart special 10-speed (literally). Can’t even remember the brand. shifters were mounted to the (threaded) stem. Got me to college. Didn’t ride it much. Got stolen.

  3. Giant Iguana MTB #1. Rode all over campus. Stolen before it could go off-road.

  4. Giant Iguana MTB #2. Rode all over campus. Stolen before it could go off-road. See a pattern?

  5. GT Pantera MTB. Shimano LX stuff. Rode all over campus. Didn’t get stolen. Got stored in garage till the kids were born. Then got rode all over town as my only bike when I got “serious” about cycling. Currently semi-permanently mounted to the trainer.

  6. 2005 Specialized Allez Elite. 105/Ultegra mix. It may not have the “bling bling” factor (nor the geometry) of a P3C or a TiPhoon, but in six months time it’s gotten me through my first triathlon. I’m hooked!

4

"Miele "

Had one of those but mine had Suntour friction 12 sp. Was a great frame for it’s day. It was made of Ishiwata 022 quadruple butted steel with nice lugs. Another small Canadian company but the bikes were made in an Italian tradition.

5

Late 80s
Raleigh with campag. Don’t know which model as I did not carE at that time of my life - riding was everything.
Peugeot (it had 10 speeds)

90s
MBK
Colnago
Peugeot

2000s
Varoius Giant TCRs
Giant OCR for commuting
Cannondale CAAD5 Road bike
Specilized S-Works Transition
De Rosa Tango

I currently have 4 road/TT bikes.

6
  1. Miele with Campy Athena…still wish I had this bike. Bought it after reading a review in “Bicycling Guide” (remember that mag?). Classic lugged Columbus steel bike with chromed forks. My first bike with clipless pedals…those old red and white Looks.

I had the exact same bike, and bought it after that review. Lava Orange color - I loved that thing and regret ever getting rid of it. I would love to find one of those in good condition - I’d buy it in a heartbeat. Ahh, the memories…

7

Mine was metallic purple…I didn’t get much on the trade in…I regret trading the bike in to this day. Do you remember the model name?

8

I just ordered an '05 Litespeed Tuscany today! Can I count that?

9

You bet!! Gotta love those Litespeeds. Wonder how I can convince the wife I need one of those, too.

Spot

10

"Do you remember the model name? "

Could have been the Miele Team Issue. It was their high end racing model. I had one down fom that - the Miele Alizee.

11

Not off the top of my head, but let me think about it. I might have to call them just to find out! I swear that was one of the smoothest bikes I’ve ever ridden.

12

Mine…

  1. Schwinn 3-speed. Toured the San Juans with that one.

  2. Azuki Gran Sports. Learned the basics of bike maintenance on that bike.

  3. Trek 520. First “real” bike. Suntour Cyclone. No indexing. Sold it to a co-worker.

  4. Specialized Allez Epic. First indexed bike. Sold this one to a co-worker too.

  5. Schwinn Cimmaron MTB. Went through two of these. The 1st ex ended up with this one.

  6. Paul Barkley custom Softride. This one went through many configurations, from downtube to bar-end to STI. It’s now outfitted for tri/tt.

  7. Torelli track bike. Bought for $500, sold it to a team mate two years later for $500.

  8. Pro-Flex 853 MTB.

  9. TiCycles custom ti Softride road bike. My main rig.

  10. TiCycles custom steel Softride track/single speed bike. My fun “around town” bike.

  11. Burley Duett Tandem that’s been ridden twice by me and my soon-to-be ex.

That covers it. Wow, never thought I had so many.

13

  1. Bianchi (Shimano)

  2. Landshark (Shimano)

  3. Raleigh (Shimano)

  4. Eisentraut (Campy)

14

Early 60’s - Columbia 3 spd, Sting Ray knock-off
Late 60’s - Schwinn Varsity 10 speed
70’s - Mercier 10 speed
Late 80’s - Centurion Carbon Dave Scott IM
Early 90’s - Fuji Team Ti road bike (still have it and it looks/rides like new.)
Zinn custom TT with True Temper aero tubing
Late 90’s - Giant MCR, Michael Burrows design
2005 - QR Lucero

“You know you are getting old when you see your father in the mirror.” Anon.

15

  1. Miyata friction shifting Shimano circa 1986 first real bike. Steel frame, did first century on this one. Upgraded pedals to original white Look pedals.

  2. Cannondale SR800 Shimano 600 7 Speed SIS Down tube circa 1989. Steel fork, Huge diameter Alum tubes. Later added Scott Clip on bars-- original one piece with raised pads-- to do first tri. Came with Biopace rings that were changed to round ones. Replaced a Selle Italia Turbo saddle with Flite that is currently on a cross bike.

  3. Specialized Epic Carbon Shimano 600 Ultegra 8 Speed STI circa 1993 did next two season of tris on this one. After getting beat up on the Cannondale I wanted something more comfortable. Originally came with Scott Drop In bars that got replaced with regular drop bars and aero bars.

  4. Litespeed Tuscany Shimano Ultegra 9 Speed STI circa 2001 first, second and third Half IM

  5. Quintana Roo TiPhoon with Shimano Ultegra 9 Speed circa 2002 first IM

  6. Cervelo R2.5 Dura Ace 10 2004

  7. Cervelo P3C Dura Ace 10 2005

The Cannondale was given to my Dad to ride, but got lost in a hurricane-- he got the Epic Carbon I and got the Tuscany. Currently have the Cervelos and the Litespeed.

16

Specialized S-Works: Best bang-for-the-buck frameset you can buy. Light as hell and stiff. $400-$600 with fork and headset on Ebay, if you’re patient. My current work bike (training, crits, rain, et cetera).

Orbea Dauphine: Older aluminum frameset. Nothing spectacular - not overly light/stiff/comfortable. Won my first race road race on this frame. Amazing paint.

Coppi something-or-other: Non-descript aluminum frame. Not much different than the Orbea. Good character, though.

Ciocc Com 12.5: First road bike. Steel and fucking beautiful. The friend I sold it to just sold it himself. I wish I had more experience with bikes before I had this one - I had nothing to compare it to at the time.

Look KG 386i: First carbon fibre bike. Not overly impressed, especially considering the price. Just sold it today.

Cervelo P2k: Nothing spectacular. To me, a decent TT frames are all about the same.

Quintana Roo Caliente: Good bike. Light and comfortable.

Bianchi Reparto Corse: Old school (circa early 80s) steel frame. Celeste and beautiful. Comfortable ride.

Bianchi Pista: Fixed gear. Perfect commuter bike/play bike. Nothing to think about except pushing the pedals.

Abici Zero Gravity: Just picked this up today. It’s their new carbon fibre frame. Compact geometry, very light and huge tubes (think old Cannondale aluminum tubing). This will be my climbing bike (for a while, at least).

Bianchi Cross Concept: Cyclocross bike. Winter trainer for one season. Nice and comfortable (steel), but it was a little big for me so I sold it.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all I can think of right now.

…Oh god, I didn’t realize people were going all the way back in time. In that case:

Redline BMX bike: My first real bike. I spent hours on that thing. I’d ride everywhere.

Trek road bike: I think it had 26" wheels, not sure though. I remember it was a new design and was slightly smaller than a normal 10 speed.

Scott mountain bike: Back before mountain bikes had big ass tires - they were more like cross bike tires of today.

Mongoose mountain bike: Got it for high school graduation.

Specialized Rockhopper mountain bike: Rode it enough to decide I don’t really like mountain biking that much.

Haro mountain bike: Bought it last year for cross training. Quickly remembered that I don’t like mountain biking that much.

17

I had one of these:

http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/kits/images/Motorcycle/mpc-10speed.JPG

It was about $85.00. I rode it to school in the 9th grade for show and tell when we read a book about the TdF. I think it was golden colored. I didn’t let anyone else ride it. It was the first possession I can remember being “thrilled” about. All these years later I can remember having a dream that it had been stolen, then waking up and finding out it was not true, and being really happy.

http://www.geocities.com/sldbdealer/1962/62dlct05.jpg

18

Started out with a Takara outfitted with SunTour components…heavy, steel, but a “gift” from Rick Taylor who got me started in Multi-sports and cycling when I was about 14.

Saved up for a Cannondale SR800 (3.0 Criterium Frame) with Ultegra 600. This bike was set up with Scott DH bars and a turned around seatpost that had to be modified in order to get “level” when turned around. Also at some point had a first generation seat shifter and a vinyl wheel cover…I wanted to be just like Mike Pigg but I was only about 16.

Next bought a Serotta Colorado II frameset and transferred all the components from the C’dale. Was set up more “road” style with clip-ons. This was while I stripped and polished the Cannondale.

Joined the Army…and 12 years later decided to get back into the sport…returned from OIF and got a Litespeed Saber with some help from Matt at ABG. Its set-up with Dura-Ace, Ksyrium SSC SL’s, and a Profile cockpit…LOVE IT.

19

'77 - Raleigh Super Course (sold it)
'79 - Somec w/ Superbe/Record mix (stolen)
'84 - Trek 650 (?) - (stolen)
'85 - DeRosa w/ Super Record (in-law bike)
'91 - Trek MTB 850(?) (gave it away)
'95 - GT GTB fixie (townie, spring trainer)
'97 - Merckx Ti EX w/ DuraAce (main ride).

20

OK; bunches but here are the notables.

  1. '77 Raleigh Super Course- first real racing bike. Upgraded with set up Super Record/Mavic tubular wheels. Just bought another at a garage sale last year to use as my beater bike. Its paint is trashed but oh my, British steel.

  2. '85 Trek 660S -full Suntour Superbe Pro. Did the majority of my collegiate racing on that one.

  3. '82 Colnago- SL/SP Columbus tubing, black with yellow detailing. Full Super Record. This was the bike I always wanted in high school but couldn’t afford til after college. Still have.

  4. '78 Nishiki International- put a triple and front and rear Blackburn racks on it and traveled the world fully loading touring. My friend for thousands of miles in far off lands.

  5. '90 Rodriguez Road Race- built up frameset from Seattle’s R&E Cycles with Dura Ace 7, then 8, now 9. Paint must be seen to be believed.

  6. '96 Merlin Triathlon- now Ultegra 9 and current tri/TT bike.

  7. '02 Specialized S-Works Hardtail- XTR/XT mix, my offroad ride.

Need something in full carbon just to say I have one.