Cyclists help me out

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I suggest you switch bikes with him for a day. He'll probably still kick your ass.

"It's not about the bike."
- Lance Armstrong

Check the weight of your wheelset with tires vs his. An entry-level, modern wheelset should help immensly. You could probably find something used for $100 or so. There's nothing wrong with your frame. Upgrade the brake levers if the cables coming out the top is too dorky looking.

The thought crossed my mind to upgrade parts on the old bike. I just kinda thought it would be kind of a waste since the bike was so old.

You guys think it would be worth it to put $200 of new stuff on such an old frame?
 
I haven't read all the other posts, so sorry if a repeat.

Go to a bike shop, and get fitted. Yes it's considdered rude to get fit, then buy somewhere else, but... I have a deal where all my maint. and most major parts purch, come from that shop that hooked me up. You can also ask them to hook you up with something used, as when your ready to go big, you'll come to them. They may hook you up expecting your addiction to increase... :D

Go to bikes direct .com and you can find some pretty good deals. Try e-bay first as they will blow out last years models for cheap. I bought an entry level carbon and 7005 alm. bike with 105 components for $750 shipped to my door with the pedals (read ok, but not the best pedals). The frame says Windsor on it, but it's made by TREK.

Good wheel-sets, good tires (kevlar), and a good fit are important. But pretty much anything over your '70's bike will feel like a rocket.

Wheel and deal, get the word out at the good bike shops, alot of people are trading up right now. If you talk to the mechanics, and they are asses, say adios. There are many bike shops that won't,and don't like to work withnovices looking for deals. A good bike shop, with nice people make you want to go back..Good luck, biking is absolutely delicious. Just finished a quick 20 miles (of hills) this morning with a friend... you just can't beat the work out, and it's fun too.
 
The thought crossed my mind to upgrade parts on the old bike. I just kinda thought it would be kind of a waste since the bike was so old.

You guys think it would be worth it to put $200 of new stuff on such an old frame?

No, and there are several reasons for this:

1) You bike probably uses 27" wheels, which are a different size than typical road bike that uses 700c wheels. Because of this, your brakes won't work.

2) Rear Hub spacing is different on older bikes.

3) New hubs use cassettes, old one use freewheels. Never shall the two meet. Try finding a 5 or 6 speed cassette!!!!

4) Since you can't get a cassette with 5 or 6 speeds, you will need a new rear derailler, new cassette, new chain, new shifters, and new cranks to get your wheelset to work.
 
It is all about where you look. I found a vintage cinelli with all campy stuff on it for 800 bucks at a bike shop locally. you just have to look. for $500 you arent going to get much bike, but you should be able to get something solid. i honestly dont think you'd be able to retrofit your current bike with nice 8 or 9 speed stuff and a new wheelset for $500 either unless you buy beat stuff. there are some cycling shops that will rent higher dollar bikes for weekends, locally here in philly there is a shop called cadence that will. of course you need to have a credit card with a decent line of credit should you wreck it, but you may want to ask around.

hell i rock out on a fixed gear road bike and do a 150 mi race on it every year. people look at me like i'm wearing a pink gorilla suit and shoot banannas out of my ass when i start the race, but when i finish close to the spandex jockeys they dont say much.
 
What size bike do you need? How do I measure it? My neighbor tried to sell me an old school high end race bike that had a ton of high dollar components on it. He wants $300.00 for it since that is what he has in it.

PM me if you want pics and measurments. I don't have a metric tape measure so you better give me the lengths in inches.

22" from the handle bar stem the the seat post.

23" from the center of the crank pin to the botton of the seat post

26" wheels

Total weight is 20.1 lbs.
 
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I PM'ed or e-mailed your more pics.
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that Kestrel front fork is scary, on a bike of that vintage and weight I am curious whether the headtube is either oval or cracked.

I am not sure if this has been mentioned but www.roadbikereview.com is a good forum and resource to check out for classifieds and who is having a sale.
 
yep but the fork was enough for me. So I assume that one time the rear brake was internally routed? Given the time I am surprised not to see holes in the crank arms
 
My observational skills are lagging behind my replying skills (first pic also shows a rear brake with cable). That is strange. So where on the bike does the owner have $300.00 tied up in it? or is that what he paid for it?
 
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The cracking, drilled hole, and bent fork are scaring me. Kestrel made a great bike and if it was in good shape, I would say grab it and just replace the rear wheel. As it stands, the frame and fork are in, at best, questionable structural condition so I would pass.
 
Actually I have a lead on this exact bike:

http://www.diamondback.com/items.asp?deptid=17&itemid=214

I can get it brand new for $500. There is a little hole in the wall bike shop by me that where I stumbled across this thing. Guy said its been sitting there for a year and a half, brand new, I rode it the other day and its nice.
 
Snag it. You can find similar bikes for about $700 if you hunt around, but at 500 it is a really good deal. It won't impress your friends (even though the frame is probably welded in the same factory as the Treks, Giant's and Specialized bikes), but if you can't keep up with them on it, you have nobody to blame but yourself. The components are good enough that the bike should last you 5,000+ miles.
 
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