Hi Ann,
Yes, I have a certain nostalgia for the bike of my youth - a Raleigh Grand Prix, green, with a brown leather saddle (I still have the latter and have no idea what make it is). Over the years I changed the parts on the frame - first a Dura Ace crankset with black anodized rings, then Weinmann 605 brakeset, NR derailleurs, Suntour New Winner 6-speed freewheel, etc. Then I changed the frame when I got my Ilkeston Raleigh frame in 1982.
I remember that first Raleigh very fondly - and boy was I proud of it - cleaning it and stripping it down to the bearings on a regular basis. I had become hooked on bikes and even more so as some of the older lads who lived on our street had some really classy early 70s bikes - Frejus, Holdsworth, Condor, Dawes, etc. all Campy equipped. They used to meet across the street from us and paint second-hand frames in the front yard of one house. In those days one could pick up interesting stuff at police auctions - peach baskets full of Campy equipment (makes me weep now to think what may have been) - and they did! I believe all of them still have their bikes - although the Condor owner is now into modern fluff!
But, Ann you are right, while I am nostalgic for that era, I am now itching to get at something more exotic (time wise) - it seems I have done the 70s and the 80s thing and now I want to get at bikes from my Dad's era - 1930s to 1950s. Or at least from my childhood - 60s. I am finding, however, that these are getting harder to find and are often pricey. I would love a good restoration project for the winter and I am still looking ;^)
Cheers,
Paul Williams,
Ottawa, ON, Canada
> It seems to me that many list members initial interest in vintage
> lightweights is based on the bikes remembered from our "youth." We owned
> or coveted those bikes when they were new and owning them now is just as
> pleasing. Sometimes those bicycles were high quality and in limited
supply
> and the bikes have great value now, sometimes they were just bicycles with
> memories and we get to revisit those memories decades later.
>
> What I find interesting is that my interest has gone beyond the bicycles I
> loved when I was young and I'm much more interested getting information
on
> and collecting older bicycles or bicycles I had no knowledge of as a
youth.
>
> How many of the list members here started out with an interest in a
> specific bicycle or era and gained interest in a wider range of timeline
or
> style based on exposure to all the information we share?
>
>
>
> Ann Phillips, Decatur GA