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Nov 16, 2020 15:38:33 GMT
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My hobby for the past few years has been the restoration/refurb of old racing bikes. They're cheap to source, simple to work on...and take up way less space than an old Golf GTi..!
I started cycling with my local club back in the mid 80s, when Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly were at the height of their careers.
The biggest bike shop here in Waterford, SE Ireland, at the time, was a Raleigh dealership, sadly now long gone.
I used to love going there and drooling over the racing bikes on display....way beyond my reach with their gleaming Campagnolo and Shimano components, Mavic wheels and Reynolds tubing frame-sets.
I've always liked the Raleigh team replicas; their paint schemes were iconic for anyone of my age.
So, I had an idea for 2020; build a full set of Raleigh Team Replicas in these iconic colour schemes. And then the Corona virus arrived to visit us all, so an unplanned few months stuck at home meant i finished the project way ahead of schedule!
Some were just refurbs, with a bit of tidying and some new service parts. Others were full resprays with new decals and then rebuilt with period correct (ish) components.
1978 Raleigh Record Before..
After...
1985 Raleigh Sirocco, refinished in the Panasonic team livery. Before...
After....
1988 Raleigh 531 Race, refihed in the Raleigh Banana colours. Before...
After...
1988 Kellogg's Pro Tour. Before...
After...
And finally, Early 90's Dyna Tech redone in the System U colours. Before...
After...  |
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Nov 16, 2020 16:10:40 GMT
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marvelous. A slippery slope to go down but all look rather splendid.
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Nov 16, 2020 16:45:20 GMT
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marvelous. A slippery slope to go down but all look rather splendid. Definitely a slippery slope...I'm at 20+ vintage bikes at this stage!
All the bikes I lusted after in my teens are now available for (relative) peanuts.
I prefer to find a bike that needs some work and can be ridden, rather than show queens that get hung on a wall.
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Nov 16, 2020 18:25:52 GMT
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full agreement. I'm sure you've seen my somewhat dubious attempts at reliving the glory days in other bike related threads on here, so I won't sully your collection with my efforts.
I've found that a large percentage of these had gone through the roof in terms of prices until relatively recently where it seems they have dropped somewhat in price to a more acceptable level for the likes of me, I can only see them going back up in price, only this time in the hands of collectors with a passion for them (like yourself) rather than as a bike to pull apart and attempt some rather questionable adaptations to.
I'd rather see a bike with some battle scars than a bike that's been locked away from the light, they are meant to be ridden, which is the reason I have but 1 or 2 aged classics, I simple enjoy riding but prefer some of the refinements that a modernish bike affords (gears that work and geometries more in keeping with my "modern man" physic". I'll still hop onboard a classic occasionally for a roll around the English greenery but it's a rarity these days, especially as 90% of my miles are commute miles rather than play miles.
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