My wife and I were wandering around the square before the St. Paddys parade, and stopped in at the local bicycle shop (Peddlers). Anyway, there was a bicycle club getting ready to ride in the parade, and they had some really cool bikes. Rick (bicyclerick, the shop owner) invited us to ride in the parade.
I was surprised. They weren't the usual spandex and carbon fiber bicycle crowd; these guys had a bunch of customized old bikes. I went home and grabbed my old pit bike that I built 16 years ago to ride around large autocross sites (which hadn't been out of my basement since we moved in 2000).
I bought the bike from a thrift shop in 1993 for $5, because it was the same bike (except for the color; my original was purple) I got for my 8th birthday in 1973. I traded a Flowmaster muffler to my little brother for the wheels (that came off his 1980 BMX bike), and got the seat, tires, and handlebars at Peddlers.
Anyway, after surfing around this site some on Sunday, I got inspired. I hauled my Sears 3-speed tourer (Christmas present, 1980) out of the basement where it, too, has been languishing these many years, and did this to it:
The only parts on it that aren't original are a nut and bolt I used on the fender (out of my garage stash), and the rear reflector bracket which I modified to use as a fender mount (yep, that's the front fender turned around and mounted on the back). I may eventually get around to removing some decals, and might get some new tires if the age-checked originals get worse.
Alan
I was surprised. They weren't the usual spandex and carbon fiber bicycle crowd; these guys had a bunch of customized old bikes. I went home and grabbed my old pit bike that I built 16 years ago to ride around large autocross sites (which hadn't been out of my basement since we moved in 2000).
I bought the bike from a thrift shop in 1993 for $5, because it was the same bike (except for the color; my original was purple) I got for my 8th birthday in 1973. I traded a Flowmaster muffler to my little brother for the wheels (that came off his 1980 BMX bike), and got the seat, tires, and handlebars at Peddlers.
Anyway, after surfing around this site some on Sunday, I got inspired. I hauled my Sears 3-speed tourer (Christmas present, 1980) out of the basement where it, too, has been languishing these many years, and did this to it:
The only parts on it that aren't original are a nut and bolt I used on the fender (out of my garage stash), and the rear reflector bracket which I modified to use as a fender mount (yep, that's the front fender turned around and mounted on the back). I may eventually get around to removing some decals, and might get some new tires if the age-checked originals get worse.
Alan
I bet cream coloured tires would look great on that Sears...
