The first bike that I bought, with my own hard earned money was a Redline BMX in 7th grade or so. I still have it. The first useful bike I got was in 8th grade. I would tally up my babysitting money and go to the local bike shop (Larry and Jeff's on 79th and 3rd in NYC). Each time I would think, gosh, if I could just babysit one more time I could get the next bike up. Then the next. Then the one with leather (may have been faux, but to contrast with foam) wrapped bars, dt shifters instead of stem shifters and sportier graphics (these are the things I noticed). And finally I had to go ahead and get it because I needed it to get to my summer job. It was a Panasonic DX-1000 (I think? Maybe the 500 had the foam handlebars). Anyway, I rode it all over Central Park and the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan. I took it on a bike trip to the Pacific NW one summer. And I outgrew it. I then had a series of beaters I didn't ride much. All errand bikes. Which has been most of my riding all my life. In the middle of college I got my friend's ?5 year old Cannondale racing type bike and rode that on and off for ten years. While commuting all over NYC I made it into flat bar to be like the messengers. I flatted on the 23s and got some 25s, but only certain 25s could fit. I realized that there were different tire clearances for different bikes! I also had an LBS build up a single speed bull horn 1980's lugged steel something or other. Messenger style, again. I continued with that as my daily commuter and then got a Redline 925 fixed gear used off CL and like the slightly fatter tires. I commuted on that 925 for a couple of years. Toward the end of that I discovered Riv. I sold the Cannondale for $175 15 years after I bought it for $225. That was worth it! I moved to Nashville and our bikes were in storage on on the way so I got a Raleigh Sprite off this or iBob list (thanks Marty!). IT was a lot bigger than the 925, but I had been reading Grant's stuff and thought I could go a bit bigger. I loved a bigger bike! I loved the 1x5 friction shifting and 700x35s and fenders and racks and I eventually got a dynamo. But I thought might do some road riding! So I got a used Nishiki Riviera off this list (thanks Patrick M!). But I always liked to ride the Raleigh since it had dynamo lighting. And with three young kids I rarely went on long bike rides during the day. I liked building it up, but I sold it after 2 years of little use. After a few years of that I had a 40th birthday and treated myself to a used Hillborne (thanks Jim M!). I ride everywhere on that and it is what I have been looking for now for awhile - a perfect town and country bike.
Living in the town known for country, Edwin in Nashville -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
