Thursday, January 6, 2011

My bikes, my obsession?

Its a later than normal post and I have been playing around with some of my bicycles getting them ready for the spring and Craigslist. I believe that I know which ones will be kept for myself and which are going to new riders, maybe I don't but it dawned on me that I have photos of each of the bikes that I have and thought I would do a more bike kind of post since I had a minute. When I was 500 pounds there wasn't a chance in hell that I would have been able to take a spin around the block on a bike and since losing the weight I am well..I'll just say it, addicted to messing about with older bicycles. It all started with an idea and a walk through a sporting goods store, that idea ended up with me driving home with a brandy new 2009 K2 Zed in my car, from there I was obsessed with bikes again. When I was a kid I had an old Huffy Santa fe' 10 speed, that turned into a Schwinn Super le' tour which ended up getting stolen off of my back porch in the early 90's and that was the last time that I owned a bike until the K2. I thought it would be fun to post up my little collection that I have acquired over the past months since I got a couple inquiries as to "what kind of this or that" do I have lately, so here goes.

The one that started it all my K2 Zed, this was a birthday gift from my wife in June of 2009 I was very self conscious about getting back on a bike because of my size and I even had my father pop off a quick picture of me sitting on it in the store before I bought it for that reason. This picture is exactly how I got it and there have been some changes to the bike since then but I figured it was a good shot so there she is, I started off riding about a 3 mile loop near my house and ended last year with 20 mile runs on the local rails to trails.

I picked this 1991 Schwinn Crisscross up just last week for a decent price and the frame is my size, its a really comfy position when I am on it and I will not be getting rid of this one any time soon. The plan is to upgrade a couple things and make this my secondary ride, or for when I am going to be doing more riding on the street than the rail trail.

From what I can tell this is a 1994 Trek 750 multitrack, I like the way it rides and it fits me but is a little small but it does adjust to a comfortable fit. I was thinking that if it adjusts down to closer to my wife's size that I would give it to her but it may be just a tad too big for her but since she hasn't checked yet I don;t know if it would work, my guess is that it will be just a bit too tall for her. This will likely be up for sale in the spring unless wify ends up liking it but she is more of a hiking kind of gal so chances are it will be on the list of craigs eventually.

I haven't looked into the year too much on this one, its a Trek 220 mountaintrack and is a kids bike, I suppose a small woman could ride it too but its more geared for kids. I thought about giving this one to my son as an upgrade to his bike but his is brand new (a year old) and he didn't seem to like this one so much when I brought it home so again it will probably end up on Craigslist at some point.

This is a 1995 Specialized Hardrock Sport, this frame is way too small for me but the bike is like new! if Wify does want a bicycle this will likely be the one that I make more comfortable for her. There is not a lot that I can say negative about this one besides a broken grip shifter that still works, I rode this one around the lake last week when it was warm and if it was my size I would keep it for sure. I am replacing the grip shift and it will go onto the list of craigs unless wify fancy's it once I have it 100% with the new grip shifter on it.

This one for whatever reason is very cool to me and I can't figure out my attachment to it! its a 1988 Specialized Rockhopper Comp and other than some spots that could use touch up paint rides awesome! I think that its all of the work that I put into it to get it looking good, this thing was covered in dirt, grime and all of the chrome bits were covered in a light rust. I spent more than a couple hours cleaning her up and was the first of my "addiction" after the K2, perhaps that's where the attraction is. It has new tires on it as it sits now (the tires in this image are gone) and its all cleaned up and ride ready, its a bit small for me but it is comfortable, more than likely it will go up for sale come spring but I don't want to let this one go.

Just a small unknown year Murray Legacy, this one will definitely go up for sale come spring, its too small for me, my son doesn't dig the looks or the only 10 speeds and ita gotta go so I can make room for more new old bikes.

Early 1990's Specialized Hardrock sport, I picked this one up last spring and cleaned it up, tuned it up and sold it to my brother in laws girlfriend, She seemed happy with it, I am happy that it got sold so win win for everyone. I was able to sell a bike so this proves that I can do it! so Wify knows that I have it in me to actually let go of a bike and our basement is starting to look like a bike shop between all of the parts I have accrued and the eight bikes that live down there currently not to mention the one in my bedroom.

I may have traded addictions or perhaps just found a hobby that helps me nurture a healthy lifestyle, either way I enjoy playing around with bikes and I like riding them even more. None of my bikes are the end all of high end two wheeled vehicles but they have all in their own way helped me to stay on track in one way or another along the way. As far as hobbies go I will take this one over my Playstation and Final Fantasy 11 online any day but it wasn't the case once upon a time and I am still a Final Fantasy geek even if I don't play online anymore.

That's my fleet? stable? pile O bikes, some I will keep, some will be sold in order to buy more bikes, this is my hobby and it is in fact an integral part of how I am able to keep the weight off. When You love what you do for exercise its not hard to go out there and do it every day, I even for some odd reason miss it if I can't get to the gym and take a ride on a spin bike or a stationary bike, it suits me.

That's all I got for tonight.

As Ever
Me

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