Modern Vespa

I'm not just into scooters. Vintage bikes are an addiction too, especially steel frame road bikes. Is anyone else here into this as well? Please feel free to post pics of your vintage steel frame road bike in this thread!

Definitely my favorite bike of the bikes I own, a 1969 Reynolds 531 framed Crescent Pepita in very nice and clean original condition:



/ VNS

I have two vintage steel bikes I commute on regularly. (I've afraid they get far more use than the Vespa does, though the Vespa certainly beats out the car.) One is a 1952 Raleigh Superbe Sports Tourist, and the other is a 1978 Schwinn Super Le Tour that has slowly been transformed into a 3-speed city bike. (I also have a Rivendell custom All Rounder from 2000, and a 1984 Trek 710, but they don't get ridden much. I'm a big fan of 3-speed hubs.) The Raleigh is great. I've had it out on 70 mile rides over dirt roads and highways.

I'm down to five bikes in the garage; all but one steel and most lugged. Most aren't quite so old, though. In addition to the three below, there's a 1997 KHS Summit-X converted to an Xtracycle, and Deb's 2009 Specialized Globe Carmel 3. Oh, and an old 26" balloon-tired unicycle from the '50s.

The Trek is somewhere in the garage abandoned mid-modification turning it into a city cruiser, after I started yet another hobby distraction.

Specialized Sirrus 105 biopace - all the gears have been replaced multiple times.

Not sure if this is what you all were expecting.
My first Road Bike - thousands upon thousands of wonderful miles.
The wife keeps asking why do I keep that old thing.
No answer; I just can't get rid of it.

It's a beautiful bike, and I think it is deserving of a Brooks B17.

My Bridgestone XO-1 that's had many iterations over the years. Currently in flat bar "dad bike" mode but itching to throw the mustache bars back on it

Early '70s Raleigh Sprite.

I have two steel frame bikes, a mid-'80s vintage Colnago Super with (mostly) Campy Record, and a 1989 Team 7-Eleven Eddy Merckx with Shimano Dura-Ace.

The Merckx was built for Tommy Matush, on November 21, 1989. Tommy was the 25367th best cyclist in the world.

Apologies for the crappy pics.

Vintage, huh?

Darn these years go by quickly.

This is not vintage, it's just... my bike.
Bought it new 83' and it still is my bike.

Solid, steel framed bike with already originally clumsy Shimano 6 speed gears. They are still clumsy, I mostly use only half of them.

It had curvy 'racing' handlebars as standard, but I chose optional straight bars.

My late 80's Bottecchia, with Chorus 7 speed groupset.

Here's my Colnago Master Olympic; all Campy Record. Circa 1993, and mint condition despite riding it like heck back in the day. I used to clean it top to bottom after every ride which seems so foolish now but at the time it was my most expensive investment.[/img]

I had an injury to my heel a while back and the only real exercise I can get now is swimming or cycling.

Fine by me. I've been riding road bikes since about 1975.

All of my best bikes from back in the day were either crashed or stolen but these are two that get the most use now.

I picked up the Motobecane Grand Jubilee at a garage sale for $10. All Campy, chromoly double butted frame. My, admittedly, not too accurate fish scale says just under 22lbs (10 kilos).

The Schwinn Traveler gets used more because it is more comfortable and what's the hurry? The same scale says 38lbs (17.5 kilos).

Sigh...the Bridgestone/Rivendell vibe is strong here...still kinda miss my '93 XO-1.

However: my current trio of bikes have stories of their own: my newest (to me, anyway) is a mid-70s Motobecane Grand Jubilé (my friend/IT client is Canadian, and originally purchased it there, hence the different spelling), which I bought from him about nine years ago, and converted from a 12-speed Shimano group to a two-speed kick-back/coaster hub setup (hence the bike's nickname, FauxFix). Nice-if-tattered Vitus tubing with ornate Nervex lugs & crown.

Next-oldest in the roster is the go-fastee of the lot, a Geoff Butler (no relation to the better-known Butler) lugged Reynolds 531C tubes, wide-range nine-speed Shimano Ultegra group with Dura-Ace DT shifters and Cane Creek 200 SL brakeset with SCR-5 levers, Ritchey wheels, hubs and seatpost, wide(ish) Nitto-via-Rivendell bars/stem. San Marco saddle which I'm less than thrilled with. (Nickname: Goldenrod.)

Last and hardly least: my going-on-36-years-old Alex Moulton AM14S, bought new in August 1985, probably the most money I've ever spent on a bicycle ($1700 all-in at the time), and the one that had my cycling pals scratching their heads: multi-tubed space-frame (Reynolds 531, in several diameters), narrow 17-inch wheels, front/rear suspension, SunTour group with seven-speed cog in back, Stronglight 52/62 in front, front/rear racks with fitted bags, and, for a while Zzipper front fairing. Good times on some early group rides. (Nickname: Tiny Dancer II.)

Wow, nice to see all these lovely bikes - just keep them coming!

rajron, you should restore that Specialized Sirrus 105 Biopace!

....bicycle..? What is it..?

Not particularly "Vintage" at just 24 years old. But it is steel, albeit not lugged like all of the others. And it is definitely unique, and the bicycle I ride the most. This is part of what sidelined the LX.

Nice conversion. I see XtraCycle mods all over Gotham (and a few here in AP as well). Not fast, but oh, the utility.

My 37 year old Schwinn Cruiser. Originally, it had flatter bars and different tires for beach use. Over the years, it's had different tires, seats, and bar styles to suit my riding needs-street, trail, beach, or mixed. Depending on the configuration, 30-35 lbs. BTW, the world's not upside down; I was just too lazy to pull the bike down for the photo. The empty wall space next to the black storage rack is the hole my next Vespa will fit in. Don't tell my wife...

I've never seen another. I'm sure there are some in Cleveland, and the Surly Big Dummy variant. But out here in the exurbs, not a single cargo bike to be found. I get asked questions about it more than the LX150, 180SS (sold), MGA, or Smart Cabrio (sold) combined!

I have one and used it extensively when my children were younger, hauling both of them on the back sometimes. I have studded snow tires on it now and use it mainly when the roads are icy. (Are there studded tires for the Vespa? But those would be a pain to change. Hey! I need a dedicated ice Vespa) In Santa Fe, I've seen a few others, and there are a couple of bakfiets as well.

I have one in my shed that I can't get motivated to dig out and take a picture of.

It's called a Raleigh Technium. The down, seat and top tubes are aluminum. The fork, chain and seat stays are steel.

How does that work? It's glued together.

In College in Flagstaff I bought a 60's early 70's Peugeot road bike. I rode that bike everywhere. Parked it once in front of Bozo's Bus Stop and it got stolen - but I got it back. Parked it in front of the bar again and somebody whacked the top tube and put a big dent in it. I still rode it though. Finally left it outside Denver 'cause there was no room in the truck. I still look for it once in a while on CL.
Now I'm on the hunt for a medium/large frame mixte frame. It'll show up some day.

Great bikes folks!

Mine are all carbon I'm afraid. I heard there was a connection between Vespa and cycling folks. We love two wheeled vehicles.

Me too -- I love bikes. Although mine is a reproduction custom mixte frame (women's frames are find to hard to find) that I bought from a fellow blogger that was my height and weight -- I also have a Brompton. I use her beautiful photo but have made quite a few mods.

On my mixte frame, I have added a titanium rack and moved from the pictured handlebars to drops to more casual handlebars through the years.

Oh, yes!

Saw these at a thrift store this weekend. Very similar to my own, and a matched set. I believe it was $50 for one and $75 for the other. If we didn’t already have too many bikes …

Goldenrod looks like the precursor to the Vespa Wotherspoon!

I love the ride of a good steel frame and steel fork. None of my current bikes would be considered vintage, but here is a photo of my wife and I with some custom steel bikes we really enjoy.

I just assumed that you took the photo in Australia.

My 1948 model 64 Westfield Columbia.
It was my mom’s second husband’s childhood bike.
“Original” replacement tubes (western flyer brand…and thick!) in original tires. Seat tube is a solid steel bar.
Skip tooth sprockets and chain.
I’m in the process of restoring it.
At some point it was repainted with brush paint (green and white), I’ve stripped the frame and collecting fenders, pedals..etc.

Bismarck, Modell 126 Toni Merkens, made in 1951 in Radevormwald, Germany.

Goodness…hadn't thought of that till now!

My ride for a bit of exercise to the local bakery for a vanilla slice.
Circa 1971 about the time when when The Mixtures released The Pushbike Song.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pushbike_Song

Some really beautiful bikes on this thread.
I posted mine in the other bike thread. It’s only 12 years old, but it is steel, and my only bike now.
I do love a nice lugged steel frame.
I have owned:
1970 Raleigh Record (Stolen)
1984 Red Bianchi (crushed by a bus)
1986 Schwinn Prelude (sold for lack of riding😭)
The Raleigh and Schwinn were single speed converts for messenger work.
I am always looking for another 1984 Bianchi Special frame for sale someplace I loved that bike..

Oooooh! Finally a Bianchi!

A beautiful looking frame and that's a compliment coming from a Colnago enthusiast

Hey, Colnagos are cool, and Bassos, De Rosas, Cinellis, etc…
I think the passion Celeste hit me at a young age, and it stuck.
Vespa, Bianchi, my wife…
I like pretty Italian things.