Ok, Tom:
I'll arise from my late-afternoon stupor to rise to the challenge.
A fiend of mine found a Paugeot A0-8 in a thrift shop for $5.00; they didn't have any change, so he wound up paying $10 for it, which was the same amount he graciously charged me. It's a perfect size for me: 56cm with a 58 toptube. Krylon (at best) paintjob, and a real melange of componentry, including a Sturmey-Archer AW 3-speed hub, and Normandy hf front, both laced to 700c Wolber Super Champion 58s. Bike and rims stright, true, and undented.
I disassembled it; the guy who does our bodywork for our company fleet stripped and painted it with Sikkens polyurethane paint for free. Assembled it using stem, bars, brakelevers, Mafac racers, and seapost off a U0-8 left in the trash outside a neighbor's house. So far, we're still at $10.
Add nos transfers from W. Bingham, 700c-32 Specialized Nimbus tires bought on closeout, tubes from a bargain bin an LBS, a $10 TA single-chainring Cyclotouriste crank and $10 TA handlebar bag from the Cirque, and MKS quill pedals, Ideale saddle, and ESGE mudguards from various swap meets, and I have an all-weather randonneur/club bike for less than $100.
Only youse guys on the CR list know what a patchwork it really is! How about: "a veritable rainbow of componentry?"
Original, far from it; but quite attractive in grey-green Volvo metallic paint with silver fenders, honey saddle, and natural cork bar tape.
Chris Beyer Bloomfield, NJ ~~~~~~~~~~~
KCTOMMY wrote:
> As a taxonomical exercise, I would divide classic bikes into four broad
> categories: originals, restorations, modifieds (Moddies, for short?) and a
> fourth class for rat bikes, which are evaluated on the basis of the best
> ride for the least money. Call me crazy, but I like looking over grizzled
> old veterans that are kept on the road by doting riders, sometimes with
> brilliant low cost improvisations.
>
> My PX 10 used to be a rat bike contender. I traded a too small Trek
> (stripped it for the parts) for the frame and then leavened with eBay and
> parts bins scroungings. Total investment was under $250 if using parts
> lying around for more than 5 years count as $0 (wheels, Duopar derailer,
> Universal brakes, Icon bars, etc. etc.). And she rode wonderfully. Alas
> that I weakened over the summer and got her new wheels, new bar/stem, a
> Simplex front shifter, and a restored/modified fork for it. Now it's just
> another modified rider instead of a cheapo contender.
>
> Anyone able to beat $250 for an interesting classic ride? Come on, share
> your deep dark secrets.
>
> Tom Adams in Thawing (finally!) Kansas City
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Larry Osborn <losborn2@wvu.edu>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 11:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [CR]What to call this type? (Was 50 yrs from now...)
>
> > At 11:00 AM 1/4/01 -0500, you wrote:
> > >Anachronisms
> > >
> >
> > Yeah, that's better, although it's difficult to get away from the negative
> > connotation the word usually has. Including the word "classic" in a type
> > name would impart far too high a status to some of this stuff, unless one
> > is also free to twist the meaning around to mean "a classic example of how
> > NOT to make a ....(fill in the blank with your favorite example) but that
> > gets into sarcasm again, and can only lead to trouble ....... sorry Dale,
> > it just oozes out of me.
> >
> > Still searching for a word/phrase that says we're not Luddites or
> > techno-phobes, we're not building shrines to these things (well, I'M
> not!),
> > we're just happily ensconced in our chosen era.
> >
> > From the ruins of Temple Tullio
> > Osborn