Learn Me: Buying Used Bikes

I'm looking for a used bicycle. Nothing fancy. Just the ability to cruise some bike trails with the baroness. It doesn't have to be especially fast. I know I'm going to be able to bike faster than her. And she's got a sort of hybrid bike.

I'm kind of looking at more vintage bikes. I was a hard-core cyclist back when I was in high school, and I got used to riding a bike as old as me. I really liked having shifters on the drop bar. I'm not a fan of click shifters, there's just more that can need to be adjusted or has potential to go wrong.

Aside from proper fit and care/maintenance of chain and wear items, anything in particular I should be looking for?

These two have caught my eye as strong contenders.
A Puch that looks to have been fixed up pretty recently.
A Concorde.

Select bike of choice from Craigslist, show up with friend who is police officer in uniform. Enjoy free bike

Bridgestone XO-5

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/

I am infatuated with old steel road bikes. After going through more than a handful of late model whiz-bang bikes, the first time I ever rode a vintage bike, I was sold and have never once wanted to go back. Lugged steel frame road bikes have a ride all of their own. It's not placebo either. They don't buzz or vibrate. Even harsh bumps just go thump, thump and the bike absorbs the shock without passing it on to the rider. Very important for long rides as it keeps the fatigue at bay.

My main rider started out of a 125 dollar 1988 Centurion Ironman Dave Scott.

I kept the downtube shifting but updated from 7 speeds to 10 speeds. It's all bolt in. You get the advantage of good gearing for all conditions but still retain the old school.

A little powdercoat, some fresh decals, and some various vintage Shimano stuff from the Bay of E and Bob's your uncle.

Why do I gush like a teenage girl over this bike? Because I spent thousands of dollars searching for a bike that would allow me to ride for hours without being incapacitated the next day. This bike did that. Nothing the bike shop offered would allow me to ride 75 miles in comfort. Yes, it's about four pounds heavier than a high end aluminum modern bike, but when you're riding long and steady, smoothness is more important than weight. It's not like it's a tank either, it runs about 23 pounds all up.

I've also got a 99 model aluminum Cannondale for spirited riding. It's my newest bike. It's exceedingly light weight and very stiff. Quite harsh riding overall. But, when the hills loom, it climbs very smartly. I ride it when the ride is short, say 30 miles and hilly. It's a frekin rocket up hills. Old Cannondales like this were hand made in USA and very stiff. All of your effort is expended in propelling the bike as the frame doesn't flex and absorb any of it. The downside is, the frame doesn't flex and absorb anything else either.

If the above is too long or too hyper, I apologize. I love my old bikes as much as anything I've ever owned.

Vintage and cool. https://columbus.craigslist.org/bik/5513790495.html

Yeah, after having a nice vintage bike, I don't want to go to a cheap, modern one. I don't want to shell out the $$$ for a nice, modern one.

I guess my question is for feedback on particular bikes that look like they'd be nice. The Puch I listed really caught my eye (it's also near work). The Motobecane looks really nice. The Bridgestone, I don't know if I like as much as the others. I'm not a fan of that handlebar style, although the horns could help.

I just looked for a bike that has a frame that fit and had good bearings. I am not that hardcore.

In the late 80's and early 90's I would pick up old Schwinn's for $5 at garage sales - I would clean them up, ride them a little, and then sell them at my garage sale for.... $8? NOBODY wanted these type bicycles and now it kills me to see what folks are asking for them in the Chicago area; home of Schwinn.

On another note - a bicycle rebuild is a good project for a young person to learn mechanics and painting. I rebuilt a few of them in my day as a young man - we should encourage kids to rebuild bicycles.

In reply to Beer Baron:

What size do you need? I've got an old Schwinn Superior - I believe it's a pre-war one, but it's a bit of an enigma. It's a track bike/fixie but I probably have the majority of the parts needed to add gears, if you want a project.

Here's a pic when I first got it. It has new tires & a new Brooks saddle now.

For casual riding I don't know why you'd want drop bars. Or small tires, for that matter.

I wouldn't buy a bike that I couldn't run 700x38c tires on.

I've got a 1983 Razesa which is considered a very high quality steel road frame, but I didn't bring it with me when we moved west because it would only fit a 28c rear tire and I wanted a gravel bike for our forest roads.

In reply to PHeller:

I agree on the tires. I started riding one of my cyclocross bikes on the road with 35c tires a few years ago. As you say, it can definitely open up more route options when you have some sidewall.

When I can ride again, I'd like to build up a 650B wheelset for one of my road bikes.

In reply to XLR99:

My only issue with my cross bike on 35c hybrid tires is that I can't keep up with a group who are all on roadies. I'm a solid 1.5-2mph slower on it. However, if speed isn't a factor, it's fantastic.

I love steel bikes. My singlespeed is built on an '82 Shogun 400 and a geared roadie is a restomodded '85 Trek 400.

The house brand 10 speed that I picked for $75 at Montgomery Wards back in 1986 took all the abuse that the 11-15 year old version of me could throw at it. I can't even remember what happened to it after I got licensed by the state to drive cars..

Find one of those.

In reply to gamby:

True enough about the speed. Due to large local populations of Mustang Man, flat billers, and 9000lb soccer mom appliances, I've grown to try and minimize time on the road.

We have a large amount of both paved and gravel rail trails, and singletrack locally that you can string together into pretty fun rides.

And yeah, love the steel frames! Even my MTB is a steel framed Soma.

Back to the OP's question, the most used bike we have is an 80/90s chro-mo MTB I trash picked. It now has fenders, a rack with pannier basket, and fat road tires. It can (almost) be ridden by all 4 family members, and is used as wind trainer hack, school bus, local errand runner, and auto parts retriever when I don't have a working car in the middle of a project.

Nothing I've ridden compares to the vintage Trek 560 I built up for my wife, and I've ridden a lot of bikes. It's a mid-range lightweight steel road bike from the late 80s, built in Wisconsin. I built it up with more modern components like 8-speed Dura-Ace brifters for her comfort, but here's the kicker.

I got some 650b wheels for it, and threw some hand-made Grand Bois 30mm tires on. Holy batman, are they smooth! I'm jealous because it doesn't fit me. If you can get a lightweight 700c steel road frame and throw a couple hundred bucks at it to put nice 650b wheels and tires on, you'll be in heaven.

Got the Puch. Plan to make a few modifactions to customize it.

I actually like drop bars. Even just putzing around, but especially cruising for a while. I think they offer me the most options for hand position. The most natural hand position for me is to place the heal of my palm right on the brake horn, or side of the bar.

I will strongly consider some wheels that allow for bigger tires. These wheels aren't too bad. I'm mostly riding on paved bike trails.

Although I started out riding MTB and still do, I agree about drop bars being my choice for comfort. There are so many hand positions available you can move around for different conditions and to prevent fatigue. When you talk about shifters on the drop bar - do you mean the old down-tube shifters pictured above, or shifters that mount to the lower ends of the handlebars? I've got the bar-end shifters on my drop-bar MTB and I'm enjoying them, but the modern "clicky " shifters are much better than the first generations and have never given me any trouble. You are right that the friction shifters are near impossible to break, though.

XLR99 wrote: In reply to gamby: True enough about the speed. Due to large local populations of Mustang Man, flat billers, and 9000lb soccer mom appliances, I've grown to try and minimize time on the road.

I'm in the same boat. RI has a great network of bike paths, so I mostly stick to those.

The drop bars are the Wright Brothers' less famous but more commonly used invention!

In reply to Beer Baron:

Excellent! Puch makes good bikes.

Are the wheels 700c or 27"? If 700c, there are tons of good options in cheap tires. The budget solution was a Panaracer Pasela in 700x28, or 700x32 if they fit.

Usually the limiting factor in how wide a tire you can run comes down to clearance between the chainstays and seatstays. Many bikes are tight there, so you're limited in options. If the Puch has a few mm of clearance where the tires sit, you're fine upgrading without changing wheel size.

Tight clearances can be compensated for by going with a smaller diameter wheel, but then you'll also have to lengthen brake reach if you're using rim brakes. Typically road bikes of this period have 27" (630mm) wheels or 700c (622mm) wheels.

In reply to ultraclyde:

Downtube shifter. Not bar end. I don't like bar end.

Downtube is what I'm used to, comfortable to drop a hand to without upsetting balance, stupidly simple to maintain.

I don't know what size the wheels/tires are (I'm not at home). I do know that it uses the thicker car/mountainbike style valve stem, rather than the really narrow race tire type of stem.

In reply to Beer Baron:

The car valves are "Shraeder" and the skinny valves are "presta". There's some new lingo for you.

Some of you may recall the Specialized I found last summer. It was an '87 SE that I put back on the road- which meant a new seat, and new tires just to do that- I also threw in new wheels so that they matched.

I found it in a local recycle center and got it for $80. I deleted the pictures from Flikr, though. But it's a cool bike.

But. If two people are looking for just cruising bikes- think about what kind of bike you really want. And old school road bike can be great, but it may not be that casual cruising bike that a couple would both want. I know my wife would not want one, and I'm WAY faster when I have this bike than my old Mt bike- which was already faster than her.

I'd figure out what the baroness wants first. And then get something "matching" for you. But don't pass on a dream bike for you. That how I got the Allez SE.