So the paycheck thread made me want to start chatting with Dave7378, Black92, and outnumbered about bikes.

I was going to start this off as a 20” only thread, but then realized that there are probably only a couple of us that still ride a 20” bike. Mountain bikes, road bikes, all you big wheel guys, post up!

What did you ride as a kid, back when 20” was the thing? I find it super interesting to hear of the bikes that people had as a kid.

So post up pics of your bike and let’s chat about them!

Bikes of the past:
Team Murray
Some off brand freestyle bike with pegs welded to the frame.
A few GT.
A well built Elf.
S&M
Hoffman
Kink
Subrosa
A fully built Haro Group 1, SR 2.0. I bought it bone stock.
The only thing stock when I was done was the seat post clamp. The rear dropout was cut to handle a 14mm axle. Spokes and axles were titanium. When the Chris King Aheadset came out, it went on the bike. Many parts were adapted from mountain bikes to this. Double wall Araya rims, Maxxis holy rollers, FSA aluminum 3 piece cranks, titanium spindle on the cranks, Shimano Deore brakes, Peregrine aluminum bars... the list goes on. I traded it for a car to build into a track car when I was 30. So I had over $2k into the bike and I traded it for a $2k Nissan 300zx.

My current setup:
Mostly stock Sunday Scout.
Peregrine aluminum bars. (New old stock) These were so light that when the package arrived, I thought I was ripped off and the box was empty.

The new seats are so damn low, with such a tiny seat post that had to go. I bought an Uno aluminum alloy post and a WTB Koda race seat. I started off with a Selle Stratos seat, but it made my ass hurt. The Koda has a slight bit more padding.

The chain was swapped out for half link chain.

The pedals are some ten year old Deity pedals. These are the lightest and grippiest pedals I have ever had. They do scare the shit out of me, so I won’t ever ride without shin guards. If they were to slip and backspin, I feel that they would thoroughly core sample my shin.

The finish on the bike is raw. It’s just a matte clear coat to protect the frame from rust. I frigging love the color of this bike. It’s quite fantastic.

I’m told that the Odyssey brakes I have are top if the line. Shimano doesn’t make the long arm DS brakes that I used to run. Now everything is damned disc. Finding a decent brake has been proven to be a problem.

The only thing I hate about this bike is the tires. Tires on bikes nowadays have grown. They are all fat ass tires. I want some 20x1.75 Maxxis Holy Rollers, but it appears I am looking for the Holy Grail. I think I will settle for some Michelin Country Jr., or possibly a skinwall tire, as I am not supposed to be grinding and doing fun stuff since the arthritis diagnosis of my wrists. Whatever it is, it has to be a good enduro tire, so I can hit a dirt trail as easily as I can cruise the pavement.

The pegs are gone. I pulled them off as I am not supposed to be having impact on my wrists.

Anyways, post up some pics of your bike and let’s talk about random BMX, and big wheel (over 20” mountain, and road) biking!

Had a Cannondale R400 that was at 58cm & just a hair too big. Rode it for a couple years, maybe just over 1k miles.
Decided it wasn't worth the $$ to upgrade an older bike to fit me better.

Uncle bought a Pinarello & gave me his custom build (Romeo frame, carbon fork, Ultegra drivetrain).
It's hanging in the garage, haven't ridden in about 2 years, the guys I used to ride with have dropped off & just don't have the time I used to for it (and have been putting miles on the motorcycle instead).

Old photo, before it needed a new BB & got a set of SRAM cranks.

Full titanium road bike with Campy grupo.
Ellsworth full suspension mtn. bike, Shimano parts.

Giant OCR Limited full carbon with Integra 30 spd. and DT Swiss mountain race wheels.

I have a 2012 Giant XTC 29er. It's stock, except for some VP "downhill" platform pedals for my bigass feet.

I just bought a 2021 Trek Checkpoint ALR5 over the Summer. Absolutely love it.

I had a 1970 Murray F3 Eliminator

Years ago the (now-) Ex and I did a road trip around her birthday. While out, I bought myself a K2 Attack 2.0.
It was certainly an upgrade from my Specialized RockHopper... I didn't realize until chugging around the trails how much heavier a full-suspension bike was.


(not my pic, but it's that model)

My Spidey Sense (and my scale) tells me I need to do more riding it and less walking by it in the garage.

My Schwinn Hurricane!

The Murray Eliminator makes an appearance !!

Shoot. Those ain't bikes. This is a bike. 1954 Schwinn Panther. I had one exactly like it except it was green.

Just bought a new triathlon bike after 8 years on my Craigslist Kestrel Talon SL.

My Canyon Speedmax CF 8.0 with Ultegra Di2 (electronic shifting).

Absolutely amazing. On my usual 20 mile route, I averaged 18.0-20.0 mph. With the new bike, I’ve yet to go below 20mph. The carbon wheels and Di2 helps quite a bit. Sadly my next race isn’t til November 2021. Sorry about the sizing. Help!

I've built and ridden 10-speeds since I was a teenager in the 70s. It was mostly tweaky stiff Italian race frames, Campagnolo components and sew-up tire type bikes that were fun to ride fast on (smooth city roads). Once we moved out to the country with typical rough MI roads and a long gravel driveway I decided to go in a different direction.

Considering I'm 60+ and less motivated to do speed runs I figured it was time for some balloon tire bikes that the wheels stood a chance of surviving our roads. Found a new leftover Raleigh Tourist with 3-speed and also a new leftover Columbia 1937. The Raleigh is the true rider that's a really nice bike despite being a Chi-com produced unit. The Columbia 1937 is more for putzing around on since it's a WalMart Chi-com repro but when I initially assembled it I removed the forks, crank, wheel bearings, pedals and packed the bearings liked they're supposed to be. I also found an old Murray Westport cruiser for $40 in good shape that is the designated "driveway bike" for getting mail (the mailbox is 1800' round trip).

The hard part now is deciding whether to sell the 10-speeds or hang on to them.

I just ordered this Schwinn cruiser today from Sierra Trading Post. $199 w free shipping. I haven't rode a bicycle in 25 years but this looks like just my style. 3 speed w coaster brake.

2017 Giant TCX and 2019 Giant TCR

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:


My Spidey Sense (and my scale) tells me I need to do more riding it and less walking by it in the garage.

ditto on the walk past (well for me, under, I have my Rockhopper (90's vintage) hanging in the garage

Well the first bike I remember was an E.T. bike in the mid 80s. I remember it well as I crashed and bit a monster hole in my tongue spraying blood everywhere as my heart would beat.
Thought my babysitter was going to pass out.

Rode that until I was big enough for a mountain bike and it was a Murray Mountain Shadow.

Then as posted in the first paycheck thread I bought a 1994 Mongoose Villian.

Grabbed some Lizard Skin tube pads and Bear Trap pedals.

Now I ride a Specialized Rockhopper Comp that I just bought this year and is still stock. Also have a 1998 Specialized Allez Sport that pretty much has had everything upgraded but the frame.

1960'ish Schwinn stingray with banana seat.

Metallic purple Schwin banana bike. Sorry no pics. Cell phones were not even imagined yet(45years ago?)

Oh man those mid 80s freestyle machines are remind me of some very good times.

My brother rode a GT Pro Perfomer. I didn't like the angle of the head tube on the GT and opted for a Redline...Man I was proud of the three piece cranks on that bad boy!

At 50 my freestyle days are behind me but I still hop on my Specialized Epic and tool around the trails here in Florida.