I read a lot of your posts from the Readers Other Modifications on this here forum, and from what i read i have noticed that there is a fair bit of interest in push bikes. I also have quite an interest in pushbikes, and as this is my 1000th post here on Retro Rides i thought that i might mark that small occaision by talking about my push bikes, of which there are many! Due to the amount of bikes i have in my collection(?) (i've not counted them but just looking out of my kitchen window i'm going to guess that it's somewhere north of 30!) my back yard is lovingly referred to by mrs Pistonpoper as the place that bikes go to die! This is just not true, it is infact the place where bike go to get saved, usually very VERY slowly! Sometimes the bikes i get get recomissioned, and put back onto the road by me, sometimes they get sold off as projects, and sadly some of them get broken up to be used as spares, usually for something i am building, and then usually when i have a fair collection of spares that i didn't use for my bike builds, i put them up for grabs on fleabay! So how am i going to do this, and where do i start? Well, like my other thread of babble where i waffle on about my car collection, i'm just going to post pictures of my bikes as and when i do anything with them (could take a while!) I'm not really sure how well it works with my car collection, sometimes to me it seems a bit dis-jointed (if thats even a word!) but i don't really know a better way of doing it without having a thread for each (and thats not going to happen lol) So then, a starting point... Lets have a photo...
What we have here is my Raleigh Record. It has been with me since the mid nineties when i rescued the frame from a skip. I will never sell it! It has been through several re-incarnations over the years, and is currently, and very slowly going through another one. This was the first re-incarnarnation.
As bikes go, i love this one, it rides nice, it is a little heavy (by modern standards) and it's comfy.
Comedy photo of it midway through it's second, or third re-incarnation.
How it looks currently, while awaiting it's turn at yet another re-incarnation. This bike has been responsible for the loss of interest in many other bikes, including a bike that i bought brand new! But i'll get to that in a minute! Next up, the only bike that has nearly made me sell the Raleigh Record.
My early sixties Triumph Palm Beach (er, frame!) I had been after this bike for maybe fifteen years, and it belonged to my friend, who i will refer to as Mr. F. Now Mr. F. was a cycling enthusiast of biblical proportions, when he wasn't riding bikes, he was tinkering with bikes, reading about bikes, or planning to take his bikes to a destination where he could ride his bikes. Cycling, he loved it! Anyway he rode this Triumph Palm Beach everywhere, it was highly modified with amoungst other things a really fancy hub gear arrangement (I think it was 14 speed, but i may be wrong). Anyhoo, i had badgered him for years and years about selling me the frame should he ever get bored with it, but i thought he never would. Then one day we were talking and he said that he would swap it for a smaller frame, as he was finding the 23" frame a little too large. So, eager to get my hands on the Triumph finally, and knowing that my brother had a 21" Raleigh Magnum frame in my folks garage that he dragged out of a skip in the eighties, and still had done nothing to it, i swapped it for the Triumph! My friend, Mr. F. was delighted with the smaller frame. My brother however spotted Mr. F. out on his 'new' bike about a year later, and said to me one day, "Have you seen Mr. F's new bike? It's a Raleigh Magnum like mine!" I laughed, and said that it was his old frame, and, i gave it to him over a year ago. I followed that up by saying that he was never going to get around to doing anything with it, so i figured Mr. F. should have it as atleast then it would get used! My brother was not impressed. So I asked Mr. F. if he ever got bored with it, to let me have it back. A little while later i got it back. As a gesture of good will i built it up into a complete and rideable bike for my brother about three years ago. He's ridden it once, and since then it has been rusting in my folks back yard
Kinda urinates me off a bit as he was so angry, and adamant he needed it back, but now he's got it, he does nothing with it! Anyway, here's another pic of the Palm Beach...
I basically robbed the Raleigh Rocord of all it's bits to build it, hence why i nearly sold the Rekord. I then came to my senses and just re-built the record with bits from a womans bike i was given! Mr. F. was impressed with the build of the Palm Beach when he saw it again. However it is now undergiong yet another transformation, back to something nearer to it's stock configuration, sadly Mr F. wont get to see it this time as he died at the beginning of 2015.
Moving on, this...
I bought this Saracen Mantis brand new.
And rode it and rode it until i had worn the knobbly tyres almost into slicks! I thought it was great to the point of neglecting all my other bikes, then i took the Record out for a spin one day, and i've not ridden the Saracen since! I'm not sure what i'm going to do with it to be honest, but it might just become a donor for this...
This is the first bike i ever bought brand new, i saved like crazy to get it by working on a building site through the summer holidays when i was at school. I have had it since 1986, and no, it won't be for sale! It's a Puch Mountain Cougar, and it was originally silver, but i re-sprayed it badly in the nineties! It's currently waiting for its re-incarnation when it will probably be combined with parts from the Saracen, and re-painted silver again.
A Halfords Turbo, um, frame. Basically Halfords Version of the Raleigh Bomber, i bought this second hand in about 1984, man alive this thing is heavy, i think the frame is made from gas pipe, this frame and forks are heavier than the complete Palm Beach! I'm slowly collecting parts to turn it back into a bike. Next up...
Mrs Pistonpoppers Muddy Fox Courier Comp... This isn't it!
This is, well, the frame of it is. Basically this is mrs Pistonpoppers Muddy fox Courier Comp that she had as a kid. She kept talking about doing it up, but frankly it needed a lot of work, Like everything that was attached to the frame removing, and replacing! So it was always just stuffed at the back of the shed. So, a couple of years ago i had the frame stripped and powdercoated, and i then started to price up the bits. It soon became pretty obvious that all the bits needed would cost more than a new bike, sooooo...
I bought a brand new Muddy Fox Impel, and stripped it of everything, and put it all on her Courier Comp...
Ta-Daaaaaaaaa... Brand new Muddy Fox Courier Comp! She was chuffed to nuts when i gave it to her on her birthday! She still rides it to this day!
Don't know what this is, but i thought the frame was interesting. It's currently stripped to a frame and awaiting some sort of plan of action. The next one should be easy to identify.
Yep, i'm sure you've realised that were not just looking at the cheap Dunlop Mountain Bike, but the Raleigh Chopper that i found in a bush a year or so ago!
Here it is out of the bush! Another bike waiting a restoration, it's going to be yellow, it won't be for sale! It wasnt the only treasure in those bushes either...
Here's the other treasure that was in that bush! A Raleigh Bomber... Also awaiting it's turn!
I've no idea what this is, but i found it down the tip and i liked it, so i had to have it, it's got suspension front and back, and although it is clearly for a child it is just big enough for an adult to ride, although it does look a bit funny.
No idea what this is either, i dragged it out of a skip. It has been rattlecanned black and in places it seems to say Volkswagen or something under the paint, but it has a newer Cadillac sticker on top of the paint. Presumably someone wanted to 'upgrade' their bike at some point lol. Anyway, i thought it was interesting, so i dragged it home... Might try to look into what it actually is at some point, then try and restore it!
A Murray Mooutain bike from the eighties... I love the orange tyres, grips, and brake wires!
My friend left this with me to look after about thirty five years ago when we were kids. She was an American girl, and her dad worked for IBM. we were playing one day and they were going back to the States for a holiday, so when her Dad picked her up from my folks house, she left the bike in our garage and told me to look after it until she came back. That was around 1981... They never came back, and her Dad was transferred to a site in the US, so her bike has been in my folks garage ever since lol! Anyway, it's a Columbia Sports 3, and it's big enough for an adult to ride, and ideally it wants saving, but it probably wont be by me lol.
Next up my Coker Monster Cruiser! This thing has 36" wheels, and is a lot of fun to ride, but it is quite hard work lol. I brought this in from the USA, and it was ridiculously expensive (for me) to ship here. I had originally bought a Dodge Dakota pick up with a truckman type top in the USA. So i bought the Monster, and shiped it to the guy selling the Dodge, and he put it in the back for me! So far the shipping had cost me about $100! When the car shippers turned up to collect the Dodge they said it had to be empty, with nothing in the bed, so they took the bike out, and took the truck! I then had to have the bike shipped to me on it's own £300!! Ouch... Lesson learned! I'll never sell it, because no one will ever want to pay me what it's cost me lol!
Here it is next to my Dyno Glide for scale! This brings me quite neatly onto my Dyno Glide!
One of my favourite bikes in my collection. Single speed, but so easy, and comfortable to ride, it's not even very heavy!
Lastly, the last bike in my collection that i'm going to write about is this FELT. This photo was taken the day that i got it from the tip! In this photo i have not done anything to it, not even washed it. Infact i picked it up from the tip, and rode it home, i don't think it had ever been ridden before, it even still had the bobbly bits on the tyres from where they're injection molded! Who throws this stuff away? Anyway it cost me a tenner, and the original plan was to sell it after riding it a bit, but it's such a great bike to ride, that current plans are to replace the tyres with road tyres as most of my riding is on paved areas, and then just keep riding it!
Anyway, what do you reckon gang? Is this worth reading, and updating as i go? Also, if it is, from this point on i will start to include other bikes that i have, that may, or may not be up for grabs, so if you see anything you fancy do please feel free to let me know.
Thanks for reading
What we have here is my Raleigh Record. It has been with me since the mid nineties when i rescued the frame from a skip. I will never sell it! It has been through several re-incarnations over the years, and is currently, and very slowly going through another one. This was the first re-incarnarnation.
As bikes go, i love this one, it rides nice, it is a little heavy (by modern standards) and it's comfy.
Comedy photo of it midway through it's second, or third re-incarnation.
How it looks currently, while awaiting it's turn at yet another re-incarnation. This bike has been responsible for the loss of interest in many other bikes, including a bike that i bought brand new! But i'll get to that in a minute! Next up, the only bike that has nearly made me sell the Raleigh Record.
My early sixties Triumph Palm Beach (er, frame!) I had been after this bike for maybe fifteen years, and it belonged to my friend, who i will refer to as Mr. F. Now Mr. F. was a cycling enthusiast of biblical proportions, when he wasn't riding bikes, he was tinkering with bikes, reading about bikes, or planning to take his bikes to a destination where he could ride his bikes. Cycling, he loved it! Anyway he rode this Triumph Palm Beach everywhere, it was highly modified with amoungst other things a really fancy hub gear arrangement (I think it was 14 speed, but i may be wrong). Anyhoo, i had badgered him for years and years about selling me the frame should he ever get bored with it, but i thought he never would. Then one day we were talking and he said that he would swap it for a smaller frame, as he was finding the 23" frame a little too large. So, eager to get my hands on the Triumph finally, and knowing that my brother had a 21" Raleigh Magnum frame in my folks garage that he dragged out of a skip in the eighties, and still had done nothing to it, i swapped it for the Triumph! My friend, Mr. F. was delighted with the smaller frame. My brother however spotted Mr. F. out on his 'new' bike about a year later, and said to me one day, "Have you seen Mr. F's new bike? It's a Raleigh Magnum like mine!" I laughed, and said that it was his old frame, and, i gave it to him over a year ago. I followed that up by saying that he was never going to get around to doing anything with it, so i figured Mr. F. should have it as atleast then it would get used! My brother was not impressed. So I asked Mr. F. if he ever got bored with it, to let me have it back. A little while later i got it back. As a gesture of good will i built it up into a complete and rideable bike for my brother about three years ago. He's ridden it once, and since then it has been rusting in my folks back yard
Kinda urinates me off a bit as he was so angry, and adamant he needed it back, but now he's got it, he does nothing with it! Anyway, here's another pic of the Palm Beach...I basically robbed the Raleigh Rocord of all it's bits to build it, hence why i nearly sold the Rekord. I then came to my senses and just re-built the record with bits from a womans bike i was given! Mr. F. was impressed with the build of the Palm Beach when he saw it again. However it is now undergiong yet another transformation, back to something nearer to it's stock configuration, sadly Mr F. wont get to see it this time as he died at the beginning of 2015.
Moving on, this...
I bought this Saracen Mantis brand new.
And rode it and rode it until i had worn the knobbly tyres almost into slicks! I thought it was great to the point of neglecting all my other bikes, then i took the Record out for a spin one day, and i've not ridden the Saracen since! I'm not sure what i'm going to do with it to be honest, but it might just become a donor for this...
This is the first bike i ever bought brand new, i saved like crazy to get it by working on a building site through the summer holidays when i was at school. I have had it since 1986, and no, it won't be for sale! It's a Puch Mountain Cougar, and it was originally silver, but i re-sprayed it badly in the nineties! It's currently waiting for its re-incarnation when it will probably be combined with parts from the Saracen, and re-painted silver again.
A Halfords Turbo, um, frame. Basically Halfords Version of the Raleigh Bomber, i bought this second hand in about 1984, man alive this thing is heavy, i think the frame is made from gas pipe, this frame and forks are heavier than the complete Palm Beach! I'm slowly collecting parts to turn it back into a bike. Next up...
Mrs Pistonpoppers Muddy Fox Courier Comp... This isn't it!
This is, well, the frame of it is. Basically this is mrs Pistonpoppers Muddy fox Courier Comp that she had as a kid. She kept talking about doing it up, but frankly it needed a lot of work, Like everything that was attached to the frame removing, and replacing! So it was always just stuffed at the back of the shed. So, a couple of years ago i had the frame stripped and powdercoated, and i then started to price up the bits. It soon became pretty obvious that all the bits needed would cost more than a new bike, sooooo...
I bought a brand new Muddy Fox Impel, and stripped it of everything, and put it all on her Courier Comp...
Ta-Daaaaaaaaa... Brand new Muddy Fox Courier Comp! She was chuffed to nuts when i gave it to her on her birthday! She still rides it to this day!
Don't know what this is, but i thought the frame was interesting. It's currently stripped to a frame and awaiting some sort of plan of action. The next one should be easy to identify.
Yep, i'm sure you've realised that were not just looking at the cheap Dunlop Mountain Bike, but the Raleigh Chopper that i found in a bush a year or so ago!
Here it is out of the bush! Another bike waiting a restoration, it's going to be yellow, it won't be for sale! It wasnt the only treasure in those bushes either...
Here's the other treasure that was in that bush! A Raleigh Bomber... Also awaiting it's turn!
I've no idea what this is, but i found it down the tip and i liked it, so i had to have it, it's got suspension front and back, and although it is clearly for a child it is just big enough for an adult to ride, although it does look a bit funny.
No idea what this is either, i dragged it out of a skip. It has been rattlecanned black and in places it seems to say Volkswagen or something under the paint, but it has a newer Cadillac sticker on top of the paint. Presumably someone wanted to 'upgrade' their bike at some point lol. Anyway, i thought it was interesting, so i dragged it home... Might try to look into what it actually is at some point, then try and restore it!
A Murray Mooutain bike from the eighties... I love the orange tyres, grips, and brake wires!
My friend left this with me to look after about thirty five years ago when we were kids. She was an American girl, and her dad worked for IBM. we were playing one day and they were going back to the States for a holiday, so when her Dad picked her up from my folks house, she left the bike in our garage and told me to look after it until she came back. That was around 1981... They never came back, and her Dad was transferred to a site in the US, so her bike has been in my folks garage ever since lol! Anyway, it's a Columbia Sports 3, and it's big enough for an adult to ride, and ideally it wants saving, but it probably wont be by me lol.
Next up my Coker Monster Cruiser! This thing has 36" wheels, and is a lot of fun to ride, but it is quite hard work lol. I brought this in from the USA, and it was ridiculously expensive (for me) to ship here. I had originally bought a Dodge Dakota pick up with a truckman type top in the USA. So i bought the Monster, and shiped it to the guy selling the Dodge, and he put it in the back for me! So far the shipping had cost me about $100! When the car shippers turned up to collect the Dodge they said it had to be empty, with nothing in the bed, so they took the bike out, and took the truck! I then had to have the bike shipped to me on it's own £300!! Ouch... Lesson learned! I'll never sell it, because no one will ever want to pay me what it's cost me lol!
Here it is next to my Dyno Glide for scale! This brings me quite neatly onto my Dyno Glide!
One of my favourite bikes in my collection. Single speed, but so easy, and comfortable to ride, it's not even very heavy!
Lastly, the last bike in my collection that i'm going to write about is this FELT. This photo was taken the day that i got it from the tip! In this photo i have not done anything to it, not even washed it. Infact i picked it up from the tip, and rode it home, i don't think it had ever been ridden before, it even still had the bobbly bits on the tyres from where they're injection molded! Who throws this stuff away? Anyway it cost me a tenner, and the original plan was to sell it after riding it a bit, but it's such a great bike to ride, that current plans are to replace the tyres with road tyres as most of my riding is on paved areas, and then just keep riding it!
Anyway, what do you reckon gang? Is this worth reading, and updating as i go? Also, if it is, from this point on i will start to include other bikes that i have, that may, or may not be up for grabs, so if you see anything you fancy do please feel free to let me know.
Thanks for reading
