|
Links |
Bikes | ||
|
REVIEWS by Twain Mein • Fair Wheel BikesAivee Wheelset 8/16/2015 • Lightweight Urgestalt 12/15/2015 • Parelee Z-Zero 3/26/15 • Lotus 110 10/02/17 • Kestrel 4000 12/06/17 • Chapter2 Tere 3/19/18 • Lekki 8 Zero Gravity brakes 9/25/18
Shopping
Sites |
 Cervelo S3
|
 1998 Turner | Whoa! |
It all started when I got a blue bike with a hard plastic seat and training wheels; but it was rickety and too big for me. Then my grandparents got me a small yellow coaster bike with grippy treads; it was great for skidding. When I was 9, dad got me a three-speed with a banana seat for 79$ from the Emporium. It was the first bike I loved to ride. When I was 9 or 10, pops got me a Cylclepro BMX bike. I put on an alloy-head "gooseneck" and clear grips (which were stolen). It weighed about 36 pounds. When I turned 12, pops upgraded me to a sweet black and red univega; my sister ran into me and crushed the rear wheel. But it was this bike that got me in to cycling. In my Senior year of High School, I began riding with my neighbor, and my dad bought me a Nishiki Custom Sport. It was blue and fast, and I started going on 13 mile journeys with my friends Derrill and Gary. In 1984, Gary and I rode up Kings Mountain Road the Summer of our Senior year--my legs were shaking on the descent, but we felt like heroes. We rode around 25 miles. The ride is still a challenge.
In college, I bought a Schwin Varsity (34 lbs) for 70$ and put upright bars on it. I sold it later for a profit; the ride was dull and resonated. Bought my first mountain bike, a Diamond Back, with Deore components and Sugino cranks with goofy Biopace gears and a u-brake. This was before suspension. In my Junior year, 1985, deliberated between a Bianchi Limited and a Nishiki International. Opted for the Nishiki and had the shifters/rear derailleur upgraded to Shimano 600 index shifters. My average speed went from 14 to 16 mph, and I reached 53 miles per hour on a descent on Willamette Road in Eugene, OR. Over the course of time, I put mountain bike bars on it, full tri set up, and ultimately converted it in to a 'cross bike. I still own it and the ride of those steel tubes is still amazing.
The Nishiki truly got me hooked and I began competing in triathlons in 1987 with a fabric disc wheel liner and first generation Scott aerobars. A few years later, my parent's aerobics instructor went in to business with Brent Steelman. For $400, i got a Steelman racing frame; it was short wheelbase and very light, made out of high-nickel steel. It was fast, but rode rougher than the steel Nishiki. I ended selling it back to Brent and buying a Mountain Bike frame from him in 1994; it took months to receive it. In 1998, upgraded my road bike to a Fuji Team, scandium framed that weighs around 2.5 pounds. Also bought a Turner mountain bike; full suspension and amazing. In 2000, bought a Hunter Cyclocross frame from a friend; raced just two cross races in the next two years. In April of 2004 I got my ultimate road bike, the Teschner SC7000. It has reignited my love of cycling.