Don't be frightened he won't hurt you. I made The Elephant Walk tandem in 2002. It was made by putting two bikes together.The
front is an old Ross and the back is a Park Pre not that it really matters.
.Making the tandem was
a great project and the bike runs great. Actually Rita and I have learned to
make it run great. Our usual 18+ mile route includes a bunch of hills and we
usually average over 12 mph. We think we are doing well for a couple of older
riders. In the St Paul Classic Tour (32 miles)we found that we could hold up
and actually
I have turned into a bike nut. I collect bikes from anywhere. My first bike I actually picked out of a trash pile the day after a yard sale. It's an old Nishiki that needed work. and was marked $5 it didn't sell so they tossed it. I am a pretty good bike mechanic even though I haven't done much bike repair for a long time. The basic technology is still fairly simple. I have a great helper, Sheldon Brown. Sheldon is in the Boston area (Newton Mass) at Harris Cyclery. He's a work. Since he is in the Boston area I believe he may be a lost brother of Click and Clack the Car Talk Guys. Sheldon went on to bikes and Tom and Ray went on to cars. The knowledge by all three in their respective fields is astounding. I think that Sheldon should do Bike Talk for NPR.
Sheldon Brown will has written for all the major biking magazines and there
was an article on him in one of the cycling mags just last summer with a giant
picture of his handsom face.
Don't be frightened he won't hurt you.
I now have upwards of ten bikes and am trying to keep it at that number but who knows when you will see a great bike deal or a great dumpster.. I don't have any great new superlightweight bikes.One of my best bikes is an old Bianchi ( we love the Celeste Green). I also have a great French bike that had tubular tires on it when I bought it for $10. One of my works in progress is an English Lambert that was also a bargain. There are lots of bargains in the basic bike out there. Old road10,15-21 speeds are redily available for almost nothing. Chances are an old bike may need new tires ( they are reasonably priced) , lubing and a tune up.Then you would be good to go and go and go.
I now ride over 2000 miles a year and my old bikes are doing fine. I have found out that the bike (Its Not About the Bike) is not as important as riding the bike. We met an elderly gentleman on the Gateway Trail who had been riding for 15 or so years and had an estimated 70,000 miles on his old Trek road bike. The frame had cracked last year so he had it rebrazed and it was fine
I