The neighborhood garage sale was a success. I dumped a parted-out lawn mover and picked up two crappy bikes. First, the gem: A $5 red Trek 800 Antelope. This early ’90s (Verified 1991) monster sports a full Shimano 100GS grouppo, 20″ frame, “distressed” paint, and best of all… Biopace chainrings. The second acquisition came in at the bargain basement price of $2. The dark red metallic Diamond Back Cross Country 700c hybrid is of a similar vintage (1993 is my best guess), but had the added bonus of a Shimano SIS drive train with indexed thumb shifters. This beast features a broken cruiser springy seat and 12 lb. frame. If this wasn’t enough, a red Cannondale bottle cage was thrown in to sweeten the deal.

The Trek is probably going to get fixed up for a friend. However, I have plans for the Diamond Back. 700c wheels? Check. Canti-brake bosses? Check. Heavy lead pipe frame? Check. I think I see a beater single speed commuter in the making.

As luck would have it, I am planning a major upgrade for the Gunner. Did I hear full Ultegra grouppo? Did I hear something about a dedicated road wheel set? Paul’s Neo Retro brakes? Hmmm, maybe I’ll have some spare parts sitting around. What to do?

Update: Again, yep, same stuff…

Date: 2006.05.05
Time: 3:15 pm
Conditions: 55° F, breezy
Mileage: 19.2
Time: 1:06
Average Speed: 17.4 MPH

This story was posted on Sunday, May 7th, 2006 at 9:45 and is filed under Cycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.