Reminiscing (You're favourite old bike)

[Hilldodger]

I've just bought an identical Hercules Hunter to the one I had as a nipper off ebay for £10.50.

It's basically a sportier version of the Raleigh Shopper/Twenty.

 

[R600]

BSA star rider single speed upgraded to cow horn handlebars. first race bike was a hand me down BSA tour of britain, covered many a mile on that one

 

[tyred]

I've just bought an identical Hercules Hunter to the one I had as a nipper off ebay for £10.50.

It's basically a sportier version of the Raleigh Shopper/Twenty.

I knew about the Triumph and BSA but wasn't aware of a Hercules version.

 

[BirdOnnaBike]

I knew about the Triumph and BSA but wasn't aware of a Hercules version.

I had a blue Hercules Hunter in the early 70s. When I got to uni in the 80s, my best mate brought her bike along from home - also a blue Hercules Hunter!

My own favourite old bike was my 1980s white touring one built for me by Scott's in Birmingham, who have the most uninformative website in the universe, possibly:

http://www.scotts-cycles.co.uk/

Looks like they don't build bikes any more? My worser half totalled it by borrowing it to ride to work when his Claud Butler was out of action, and smashing it into an iron farm gate.

 

[Piemaster]

Another Sun fondly remembered here too. My first, and up to last year, only drop barred bike

 

[cyberknight]

strange, i had one but i am sure mine looked more like a motor bike when i was 9!


my Grifter had twist grip shifters - 3 speed as i remember and was in the gun metal grey until my crazy sister painted it with white gloss!!

i had a chipper to start with though, i am sure that had solid wheels - blimey, dont think health and safety would allow that sort of thing now.

heeh the grifter !!

Mine was blue with the same twist shifter , the hub cable pull snapped on mine so i had to ride everywhere in top gear , i certainly knew about it .

My favourite bike was a raliegh dynatech which i stupidly sold when i did not get time to cycle .

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Three of my favourites

 

[david k]

as a kid i had a viscount 'kp crisps' white racer as we called em

 

[Cyclopathic]

The bike I remember with most fondness was my first ten speed racer. We definitely called them racers back in those days as many other sorts of bike had not been invented so there wasn't the need for so much differentiation. I suppose some people might have been calling them road bikes back in the 80s but nobody I knew was.

It was the cheapest in the range of Raleigh team colour bikes and included what were advertised as some quite special new innovations. It had the flattened out tubing on downtube and seat tube, although being the very cheapest in the range it was virtually just flattened ot iron, but still.

The other fantastic new innovation it had was the duo-pace oval shaped chainrings, designed so they claimed to give you more power on the part of the stroke where it would be most beneficial. At the time I was impressed but thinking about it I'm not sure exactly how much difference it made. I suppose the answer lies in the fact that I haven't seen them around for about 20 years. Are they still used I wonder? Do they make the slightest difference?

It was also the first bike that I ever completely stripped down and managed to get back together without too many parts lewft over. It had gotten somewhat old and tatty and the decals were all scrappy so I decided to get it resprayed and to get the cost down as much as possible I stripped it down myself.

When I got it back it was metalic black with a gloss finish. I had paid extra for the metalic paint and I thought it looked the absolute nuts. They had removed the Raleigh badge from the front which I thought made it look even cooler for some reason. I think perhaps Raleigh might not have been fasionable in the school yard at the time or some such.

Point was though it really felt like my bike and despite its poor heretage I had looked after it and kept it working as well as it could. I think it might have even just had a sachs hurret rear mec but it still worked ok. Which reminds me of another fab invation that it had which was the supposedly ergonomicaly curved black plastic changers on the down tube. If not an innovation then they were certainly used as a selling point. To be honest they might have had to scarbble around a bit for selling points.

I loved that bike and I'd have another one in a second. I'd have any old racer from that era of raleigh racers in fact. There was the Record sprint which was the one I really fancied at the time and may have had something to do with my choice of black when respraying mine, or one of the Equipes which were also nice.

Anyway, time to stop playing with the traffic down memory lane. Enjoyin readin about other peoples old faves.

 

[Cyclopathic]

First bike I remember really fondly was a Raleigh Olympus. Mine was a blue one, 'cos the red ones looked naff to me! I expect I was about 11. Five speed, drop bars, totally cool!It had inch and a half tyres and a leather saddle. Cost 50 quid in 1975.

I rode it for years and eventually resprayed it metallic blue, changed the drops for cowhorns and had me a "track bike!" That lasted one summer, then I took it to school, lent it to Colin F*cking Raz and he left it outside without chaining it up. Tosser.

The insurance payout bought me a beautiful black shiny Crown Comet, a hand-built tenspeed tourer which lasted me until I stood up to ride it up to Totley from Woodseats in Sheffield. The rear dropout failed, bent and twisted and I never managed to get the wheel straight in the frame again. Bike was last seen rusting in a shed on Woodseats Road in about 1986

Two heartbreaking stories there. At least the comet went out in action. If I were you I would also still be very upset with Mr. Raz though.

 

[al-fresco]

My favourite was a ten-speed Peugeot bought from Graham Bufton Cycles in Dawley. Reynolds 501 single butted tubing I think. It was a horrible peach colour but it flew for mile after effortless mile.

 

[the snail]

I had a red BSA like this one in the early 80s, loved it to bits. I hope the scumbag who stole it died a long and painful death

 

[subaqua]

I always remember my Trak trail bike, had Front spring suspension and was like a BMX but 10 times heavier. its the bike i learnt most of my bike fixing skills on. I snapped the bottom bracket off and re welded it on stripped the whole bike down to frame and resprayed it. my fiorst decent bike was a Raleigh Phantom 10 speed. I didn't like the colours on the stripes so peeled the decals off. was a pale almost powder blue colour. its buried behind several bikes in the back garden i hope.

 

[Thelma]

I loved my bikes when I was a kid. My dad always built them from salvaged bits and bobs, buying as little as necessary, I think.

I had a Raleigh... ummm... 14 and before that.... a 9 I think. It was small and red with little wheels and I was about 6 years old. Happy days!

 

[Mac66]

Oooh. Was a big fan of the Peugeot Pro team in the 80s so went to Halfords and got myself a 10 speed Peugeot Equipe road bike. I must have been quick on it, because it was red.