This was my first "adult" bike.

My parents got it for my 16th birthday in '86. I was a lucky boy. It has served me REALLY well for the past 21 years. My escape while in highschool. Transportation while in college. Get out and see the world vehicle after that. It's a 58cm frame, and as you can see, it's a size or two smaller than what I should have had. I've tried to keep it as original as possible over this time. I've had to swap out the shifters, freewheel and chain a few times and added new brake levers as the originals got scratched up from crashing. Put on a Brooks Team Pro and Nitto Techno Dlx w/ Dirt Drop bars. Other than that, it's pretty much like they sold it out the door. Amazingly original wheels. I think that's because I've always had it in dry Southern California. That and I don't use brakes while going down hills :-) I used to rebuild all the bearing surfaces annualy, but have fallen off.

I don't ride it too much anymore, unfortunately. I've become so used to high volume tires on my other bikes that the 700c X 28mm tires it fits seem way too harsh when I ride it on the less than perfect CA roads. I'm contemplating building up a 650b wheelset for it right now so I can extend it's use. I hope I can pass it on to one of my kids someday.

-- Cheers, David

Redlands, CA

cyclotourist@gmail.com