Hey all,
Everybody knows that the classic bicycle era ended in '86. That's when they let us Yanks into the Tour de France. (George Mount was just a scout) After Greg LeMond, Andy Hampsten, and the 7-11 guys raced in Europe, everything changed: People started buying mountain bikes instead of road bikes, Shimano moved the shifters from the down tubes to the brake levers, and cycle shoes clicked into the pedals. Lugs became extinct!
Within a few short years, Lance was winning stages on titanium bicycles (and the French weren't winning stages on any sort of bicycle) Folks in Europe were wearing Yankee's baseball caps and drinking Budweiser from St. Louis instead of from Czechoslovakia. McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken opened restaurants in London and Paris. And the only bikes that were being sold were aluminum models made by Trek, Cannondale, and Specialized.
So '86 was the beginning of the end. It is a little known fact that in that year, Gary Fisher and Bob Roll stole all of the European MOJO and shipped it back to California and Colorado where it was distributed to mountain bike companies. It was a big conspiracy to put the European bike builders out of business. :-)
'86 is a good cut off point. (Now we can include my lovely '86 Huffy-Serotta 7-11 bike with cut-away Henry James lugs in the discussions--even though it has Shimano components).
Let's get back to more important debates like, "How many Angels can dance on the head of a pin" :-)
Just my tuppence worth,
I'm kidding you know; '83 is fine with me,
Off like a flock of turtles,
Stratton Hammon
Louisville, Kentucky, USA
>Dale wrote:
>Therefore, despite previous thoughts, I am strongly inclined to freeze
the CR
>cut off at 1983!
>Seeing as how y'all are friends hanging out my garage, what do you
think? I
>promise to listen but not necessarily take your advice! <g>
>Dale Brown
>cycles de ORO, Inc.