Hello- I'm new to Classic Rendezvous and the wonderful world of classic
lightweights. I'll tell you a little bit about myself and how I came to ap
preciate these steel beauties. My name is Erik Olsson, I'm from Rochester,
New York USA. It all began this past April when the left rear wheel fell of
f of my car, and I found myself without transportation. I went down to my l
ocal bike shop and bought a used 1988 Trek 400 for $175. Not a bad deal as
it is in good condition with all original components. I subsequently fell i
n love with it. Now, obviously a 1988 bike won't qualify for Classic Rendez
vous but it didn't take long for me to realize that there was a whole world
of bicycling appreciation out there and that I was just scratching the sur
face. Since then I sold my car for $1000 to buy a 1985 Gios*torino "Pro" in
near mint condition with a Shimano Dura-Ace group, Cinelli stem and bars,
Selle Italia Turbo saddle, and Mavic G40 rims. Still however, a 1985 is not
a 1983. I am currently obsessed with trying to scrape together enough mone
y to buy a GEORGEOUS pearl white N.R. Eddy Merckx in excellent condition th
ey've had at the same bike shop for a couple of years. Its an older Merckx,
'80 or '81 (old style branding with underlining Y and M), but it'll be a w
hile before I can make that happen. I ride by that shop window almost every
day to see if its still there. It would be a crime if someone buys it on a
whim to save a couple hundred dollars off of what they really want. It des
erves to be with someone who would prefer to store it in thier bedroom rath
er than in thier garage. (If anyone in Rochester is reading this please don
't find it and break my heart). Its funny how my appreciation for these fin
ely crafted machines deepens and goes forward as thier date of manufacture
goes back in time. I've found cycling to be incredibly invigorating and ref
reshing. Someone pointed out to me that the latin root of the word "respira
te" is shared by the latin root of the word "spirit" which makes sense to m
e. For me cycling is like a meditation. My guess is that the Italians picke
d up on that spiritual connection when they perfected thier frame-building
techniques. Anyway, right now I'm having trouble finding pictures of those
older Merckx frames online. The one at CR is beautiful with those chrome lu
gs. Also, maybe I'll pose a question- Does anyone know of a different onlin
e marketplace for purchasing classic lightweights besides eBay? They have g
reat stuff but I'm getting a little sick of logging on to that site for bro
wsing. Looking forward participating in this forum -Erik Olsson Rochester,
New York USA