Re: [CR]newbie "want to buy" and autobio

(Example: Framebuilders:Norman Taylor)

Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 17:12:34 -0400
From: "Michael Schmidt" <mdschmidt56@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]newbie "want to buy" and autobio
In-reply-to: <6FD65F78-47C0-4248-9FF5-B822E1679B1F@mac.com>
To: Neil Moran <neiljmoran@mac.com>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Thread-topic: [CR]newbie "want to buy" and autobio
Thread-index: Aci20GTCo4NEAiLDEd2qZQAWy8lbaw==


Hello Neil,

Welcome to this CR List. I was the one that you met at the Recyclery in Sa n Rafael, CA the other day. We have a bunch of our membership in that area s o I hope that you can find some time to ride with them.

Good luck in your search for a fixed gear bike.

Best,

Mike Schmidt Stirling, NJ USA

On 5/15/08 12:06 AM, "Neil Moran" <neiljmoran@mac.com> wrote:
> Dear Classicists:
>
> I would like to buy a Belgian lugged steel frame and fork,
> approx. 59cm
> to 60 cm top tube, center to center, with horizontal rear dropouts.
> I plan to assemble a one-speed bike for my own use.
>
> I love lugged steel frame bikes, and can't say why. My
> screen saver is a lugged steel bike, made
> by a KOF.
>
> On July 14, 1971, I arrived in Diepenbeek, Belgium as an exchange
> student. For the next two
> weeks, from every television and café in Belgium, came the shouts,
> "Allez Eddy!" I had no idea what cycling was about,
> except that Eddy Merckx was riding in the Tour de France and was the
> national hero.
>
> For the next 12 months I rode my Flandria everywhere, rain or
>
> shine.
> I learned that bikes tend to fall down hard when fast cornering on wet
> Belgian cobblestones. At the end of my 12 month stay, I left the
> Flandria with my host family.
>
> Fast forward 37 years to Spring 2008. My college age
> daughter Katie and
> I found a nice Nishiki lugged steel frame and fork, circa 1984, at Bikes
> for Kids in San Rafael, just north of San Francisco. We stripped the
> parts and the old paint, then applied many coats of primer, color and
> clear coat. Stuck it in a warm closet to cure the spray can paint job.
> Then bought a bunch of cool components and assembled Katie's Fixed gear
> Nishiki, which you may admire at
> http://fixedgeargallery.com/2008/apr/4/KatieMoran.htm.
>
>
> Having put so many hours into her bike, Katie feels 1000% more
>
> ownership
> than if she or I had just bought one assembled.
>
> My current bikes are not Classic or KOF, so I omit that
> information
> here. I like to ride. The area where my wife and I live, Marin
> County, has great weather and both hills and flats.
>
> Neil J. Moran
> San Rafael, California