Happy holiday riding. My first nice bike was an early 70s Motobecane Grand Touring. Can't wait to see how yours turns out. Really nice ride video and sound track.
Happy Thanksgiving ! We are spending the morning watching some of your older videos again!! A holiday tradition . Truth be told , we do this often. Cheers
Thanks for sharing your nostalgia and roots...I have never been able to put them down...yet...but I have become envious of those who have....Happy Thanksgiving!
Also interested in the finder video. I’m going to try to fit finders on my Fargo with 2.6 tires. I plan on modifying full finders, but I don’t know how well it will work.
I'm watching this on Thanksgiving morning and it's really inspiring me to go on a turkey burn ride this afternoon, haha. What isn't inspiring is the weather in Northern Illinois this morning, 27 degrees and dreary!😮 Watching you ride on brick paved streets makes me a little nostalgic. I grew up in an old seaboard town on the east coast and we had lots of these. Sometime in the 70's someone thought it would great to pave over those with asphalt to "modernize". In later years when the town began to gentrify the spent a lot of taxpayer dollars to have the bricks uncovered😂. Love those old french bikes. They can be hard to date though. Many had the serial number on the bottom bracket as a sticker which prolly fell off five minutes out of the bike shop, lol.
Ah - your weather is on its way to us. I'm not quite ready for the 20s but I'll deal with it. Its amazing how well those old brick roads hold up. I watched them redo two of the main roads in Akron a few years ago and the bricks were still down there. Not sure when or why they choose to cover or remove them. There are cobbled roads 100s of years old in Europe. I date the bikes mostly by finding the old catalogs online since they tended to change the paint schemes every single year. Cheers!
I’m a huge fan of the brick roads in your area! I’m guessing the winters are too harsh here to have them. I hope you have/ had a great holiday weekend!
I don't think it has much to do with weather as at the time these were laid the winter's were pretty bad. I think we are just an older city and many haven't been replaced yet. Cheers!
I am thankful for your videos, Tim, as we give thanks on this Thanksgiving and I enjoy your historical anecdotes about Akron. And years ago, still available digitally, Chrissie Hynde wrote a wonderful essay for the Wall Street Journal about her childhood in Akron, a love letter to the city, it seemed to me. It was a memorable read, sort of like a Garrison Keillor monologue about his beloved Lake Wobegon. 😀
I have read that! Very cool! I do love this place - even though it can be a frustrating place sometimes. Thanks so much for the support - I truly appreciate it. Cheers!
I had a customr bring in the oldest trek Ive ever seen, for me to refurbish. Its a 70s trek. It just says TREK on the seat tube and no other markings, with campy and shimano components. The lady said she bought it new in the 70s for 500, back when you bought a frame then parted it out. Its a sweet bike with almost no rust on it. I love making bikes work and look great again!
I talk to the animal on the road too lol. You got sooo many bikes on that wall! I want a old steel frame sweep bar set-up also! Can't find any anywhere. It's good to know people, be in a community, I suppose. Stuff lands in your lap. My loner attitude doesn't help in that aspect. Hope you can ride the new bike soon. Later skater. Biker. Whatever...
You mentioned Avocet. This was a brand that was native to Palo Alto California. An engineer cyclist named Jobst Brandt was the brains behind it l. A bike shop owner and former MLB player named Bernie Hoffacker was the financial backer. They had seats, cycling shoes and clothes, cycling computers and tons of other items made under that name. It was all happening at Palo Alto Bike Shop.
@ I’m not sure about how the brand was organized. Look up avocet and jobst brandt on Wikipedia for more information. Palo Alto Bike Shop also imported hand built Italian frames with their name on them. I had one myself with an avocet crank and seat. I also rode a few times on group rides with jobst back in the day…
I would love to ride Roger's bike as is before you change anything. It's kinda like slipping on a pair of someone else's shoes and getting a feel for their world on that bike.,
I've only seen a few of those on Craigslist . I think that model had like, uh, Vitus tubing . I have a set of those bars , they are pretty cool. But I do barcon shifters more now. Cool to see a bike that was actually ridden be passed on. The run on Motos here in CT lasted only two years.
It is - Vitus 888. This bike actually came from what was a Honda dealership across the street. A few people told me they used to sell Motobecanes - no idea how that came about.
@@TimFitzwater There's a shop in Southington Ct called Renaissance Bikes.They told me they'd get tons of phone calls like "Do you sell Motobecanes?" When they said "no" people would hang up. I think he said it was '77 to '79. He's very enthusiatic and helpful and does restorations, which no shops actually do.
One cool thing about even cheap Motobecanes is how nice the paint is. I have a Gitane Tour de France(Reynolds 531) and the paint is trash. Smart move on Morobecanes part.
@@TimFitzwater Yeah I concur! I think they used Dupont Imron, like Trek. The guy at Rennaissance bikes flipped out over my Super Mirage, it's 98% mint , and I retro-modded it, and put flashy VO fenders on it. Yeah I have a Jeunet Franche Compe 58 CM (gaspipe) and it's got those tinfoil decals and it's pretty dinged up . I just hit it with white touch up paint . Great frame , even though it's base grade tubing.
I see your videos of you dipping in out of the valley and I feel out of shape every time. Historicity I’m a bit of a lazy rider when it comes to climbs. I’ve been avoiding climbs out of the valley so I end up driving to a trail head or riding through downtown so I can use W Exchange to climb to West Akron. Next year my goal is to make the climb out of the valley a typical part of my rides. BTW we’ve lived in that neighborhood over 20 years and still don’t feel like we navigate these streets well
When I got back into riding I just made it a point to get used to it. Living where I do I realized there wasn't much choice. When Erin started riding she would just meet me at the trailheads - then finally I convinced her to learn to use the gears correctly and just take her time. Its worth getting used to climbing(even really slowly in easy gears) for all the routes that open up. Yeah - I had a friend ove by you and I told him I couldn't understand why I would always fail to find his street at night - it didn't really go all the way through to anything. Back by Nervous Dog where I rode next it is like that too. By the way - the guys I mentioned who used to take me to the bars lived on Jefferson at the apartments. Lots of memories on this ride. (I lived in West Akron my whole adult life before moving to the studio)
@ yeah, that’s exactly how I need to approach the climbs this spring. Maybe I could pick your brain sometime about you preferred routs in and out of the valley
checking in to see if you rode on Wednesday....i did on the towpath as well; around 33.63 miles down to the Beaver pond and back to Indepedence. The weather was pretty decent with the sun playing hide/seek. However, the few of us cycling had the trail ALL to ourselves. Just curious Tim, do you have any recommendations for winter season riding gloves. The ones I've used build up with perspiration after about 20 miles in. The insides will tend to smell and then I wash them; only to face the challenge of drying/re-configurating the interior part of the glove. I am researching some better ones; reading reviews, etc. Any thoughts on the subject? See you and Erin out there-weather permitting.
Yes - got nice and wet on the way home! I like layering just like I do with clothes. Defeat wool gloves for the 40s - a second bigger pair to double up down into the 30s. Then I go with water proof lobster-style gloves for the real cold temps and layer the wool gloves underneath if needed. People also love bar mits. Definitely a ways to prevent sweaty hands
I've taken an extra pair of gloves and swap them out in the event the gloves get too moist from sweat. This seems to work, however if I could find a better pair; then I'm all ears
If it is in good shape and fairly cheap it would definitely be a good first vintage bike. They aren't anything super special to be clear - but would ride great and be good to learn how to work on. A couple hundred bucks tops though.
?Do ya got a dark room. i did since 1970, ton or my negatives hope to get scanned and enlarged old school style. who parnter to share prints that may pay for services. i want to do butt.. need find place to live and do. Bikes i got 4, 3 behind our local Marfa public radio station. await if get left hip fixed as age let de creepidness get in/lazy but. if able wud restart world tour with gear gotten for. pics on my chanel here or face booked...
The darkroom at the studio was long ago turned into a wood shop. I still have the gear and used to print in my bathroom when I had the time - which I don't anymore. I only develop my negatives and scan. There is a darkroom in downtown Akron though. The Community Darkroom of Akron. It is membership based but you can also pay the owner to do the enlarging.
Being wet sucks. And many look great with sharp fenders. We crawled OUT of the seas for a reason! (weight on bikes doesn't matter - especially touring bikes - I could lose more weight off my belly then nice fenders add) )
I love fenders, so I'm really looking forward to your fender vid.
I'm sure you know more than me ...so I'll be interested in the feedback on it.
I second this!! I’m so excited
Chi tea latte is perfect for that weather.
So awesome!! 💕
😎
Digging the front black wall just waiting for the rear to join haha. Memories and age what a sweet French steed 🤘🏻
Thank you, Tim, for taking me with you!
Enjoy your videos!
Cheers!
Edmund ... he is such a groovy cat! =]
He's the best - I love him so much!
Sic bike Tim I love fenders looking forward to your fender vid.
Happy holiday riding.
My first nice bike was an early 70s Motobecane Grand Touring.
Can't wait to see how yours turns out.
Really nice ride video and sound track.
My first vintage bike was my Dad's Motebecane Nomad.
Happy Holidays!
Thanks - Cheers!
Happy thanksgiving love the new videos!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks Tim , and Edmund looks great . Be well
Cheers!
Thanks for the entertainment while I wait for the turkey to cook! Happy Thanksgiving Tim!
Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁
Happy Thanksgiving ! We are spending the morning watching some of your older videos again!! A holiday tradition . Truth be told , we do this often. Cheers
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks!!
Thanks for sharing your nostalgia and roots...I have never been able to put them down...yet...but I have become envious of those who have....Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! Cheers!
holy shit!, closing with a "dad" joke. love it!
🤠
Happy Thanksgiving Tim! 🦃 I've got to say I really like that red and white paint scheme on that Raleigh. Thank for the video.
Happy Thanksgiving! Definitely a color scheme up my alley.
cold but sunny is a goated winter riding combo
Clean bowl club 😂😂
🐈⬛
Happy thanksgiving Tim. Thankful for the good vibes and entertainment. Enjoy your day 🚲
Also interested in the finder video. I’m going to try to fit finders on my Fargo with 2.6 tires. I plan on modifying full finders, but I don’t know how well it will work.
Happy thanksgiving - thanks!
I’m loving this video, Tim! Just what I need to watch while preparing the holiday meal. It keeps me sane. Have a great Thanksgiving! 🎉
Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Holiday! Oh, I'm definitely staying tuned for the next one.🤣🤣
Couple of 17% grades in the morning will set you straight for the whole week. Nice to see the brick roads in Akron.
Not many flat ride around here unless you want to start in your car - which is why I just got good at shifting!
Cheers!
Enjoy a Great Thanksgiving Tim 🦃🇺🇸🇨🇦🚵☮️
Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm watching this on Thanksgiving morning and it's really inspiring me to go on a turkey burn ride this afternoon, haha. What isn't inspiring is the weather in Northern Illinois this morning, 27 degrees and dreary!😮 Watching you ride on brick paved streets makes me a little nostalgic. I grew up in an old seaboard town on the east coast and we had lots of these. Sometime in the 70's someone thought it would great to pave over those with asphalt to "modernize". In later years when the town began to gentrify the spent a lot of taxpayer dollars to have the bricks uncovered😂. Love those old french bikes. They can be hard to date though. Many had the serial number on the bottom bracket as a sticker which prolly fell off five minutes out of the bike shop, lol.
Ah - your weather is on its way to us. I'm not quite ready for the 20s but I'll deal with it.
Its amazing how well those old brick roads hold up. I watched them redo two of the main roads in Akron a few years ago and the bricks were still down there. Not sure when or why they choose to cover or remove them. There are cobbled roads 100s of years old in Europe.
I date the bikes mostly by finding the old catalogs online since they tended to change the paint schemes every single year.
Cheers!
I’m a huge fan of the brick roads in your area! I’m guessing the winters are too harsh here to have them. I hope you have/ had a great holiday weekend!
I don't think it has much to do with weather as at the time these were laid the winter's were pretty bad. I think we are just an older city and many haven't been replaced yet.
Cheers!
Keep up the good work and Happy Thanksgiving🎉🎉
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am thankful for your videos, Tim, as we give thanks on this Thanksgiving and I enjoy your historical anecdotes about Akron. And years ago, still available digitally, Chrissie Hynde wrote a wonderful essay for the Wall Street Journal about her childhood in Akron, a love letter to the city, it seemed to me. It was a memorable read, sort of like a Garrison Keillor monologue about his beloved Lake Wobegon. 😀
I have read that! Very cool!
I do love this place - even though it can be a frustrating place sometimes.
Thanks so much for the support - I truly appreciate it.
Cheers!
Happy Thanksgiving Tim! 🦃
Happy Thanksgiving!!🍁
I had a customr bring in the oldest trek Ive ever seen, for me to refurbish. Its a 70s trek. It just says TREK on the seat tube and no other markings, with campy and shimano components. The lady said she bought it new in the 70s for 500, back when you bought a frame then parted it out. Its a sweet bike with almost no rust on it. I love making bikes work and look great again!
Nice! My 1982 Trek 500 is my earliest. It was mostly original but I put 9 speed Shimano 105 on it.
Cheers!
Please take care of those Motobecane drop bar grips Tim, they are in short supply for us Motobecane restoration enthusiasts!
Nice to know - couldn't believe those were still on there!
I talk to the animal on the road too lol. You got sooo many bikes on that wall! I want a old steel frame sweep bar set-up also! Can't find any anywhere. It's good to know people, be in a community, I suppose. Stuff lands in your lap. My loner attitude doesn't help in that aspect. Hope you can ride the new bike soon. Later skater. Biker. Whatever...
They really do. I did get some fairly cheap from Craiglist too. Nothing there is particularly valuable but some are cool.
Happy Thanksgiving - cheers!
That looks like a nice Motobecane. I’ll be interested in your thoughts after you ride it a bit. Cheers!
Definitely going to take it out as is before I do anything else. Cheers!
The weather looks still pretty warm in Acron. I rode through Acron on my OTET ride. Happy Thanksgiving!
Not too bad yet - high of 29 on Saturday though! Happy Thanksgiving!
You mentioned Avocet. This was a brand that was native to Palo Alto California. An engineer cyclist named Jobst Brandt was the brains behind it l. A bike shop owner and former MLB player named Bernie Hoffacker was the financial backer. They had seats, cycling shoes and clothes, cycling computers and tons of other items made under that name. It was all happening at Palo Alto Bike Shop.
Did they buy the name or have a partnership? - the vintage leather ones are made in Europe.
@ I’m not sure about how the brand was organized. Look up avocet and jobst brandt on Wikipedia for more information. Palo Alto Bike Shop also imported hand built Italian frames with their name on them. I had one myself with an avocet crank and seat. I also rode a few times on group rides with jobst back in the day…
Will do. Thanks for the info!
I would love to ride Roger's bike as is before you change anything. It's kinda like slipping on a pair of someone else's shoes and getting a feel for their world on that bike.,
I definitely will. Just need to button it up as is first. Then I'll take it apart to clean it up.
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I've only seen a few of those on Craigslist . I think that model had like, uh, Vitus tubing . I have a set of those bars , they are pretty cool. But I do barcon shifters more now. Cool to see a bike that was actually ridden be passed on. The run on Motos here in CT lasted only two years.
It is - Vitus 888. This bike actually came from what was a Honda dealership across the street. A few people told me they used to sell Motobecanes - no idea how that came about.
@@TimFitzwater There's a shop in Southington Ct called Renaissance Bikes.They told me they'd get tons of phone calls like "Do you sell Motobecanes?" When they said "no" people would hang up. I think he said it was '77 to '79. He's very enthusiatic and helpful and does restorations, which no shops actually do.
One cool thing about even cheap Motobecanes is how nice the paint is. I have a Gitane Tour de France(Reynolds 531) and the paint is trash.
Smart move on Morobecanes part.
@@TimFitzwater Yeah I concur! I think they used Dupont Imron, like Trek. The guy at Rennaissance bikes flipped out over my Super Mirage, it's 98% mint , and I retro-modded it, and put flashy VO fenders on it. Yeah I have a Jeunet Franche Compe 58 CM (gaspipe) and it's got those tinfoil decals and it's pretty dinged up . I just hit it with white touch up paint . Great frame , even though it's base grade tubing.
It was 41F in the Chesapeake Bay area today, with colder temps coming, so last day I could get away with wearing shorts!
Lol, was that an probably riding reference
yup
Happy Thanksgiving Tim ! I enjoy your rides and seeing the neighborhoods. Ever hear of Finny's on The Tow Path ?
Happy Thanksgiving! Yes - passed it last night going to Magic City across the lot.
17% wow. 3% on the rail trail kicks my old a$$.
Happy Try Not To Over Eat Day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I see your videos of you dipping in out of the valley and I feel out of shape every time. Historicity I’m a bit of a lazy rider when it comes to climbs. I’ve been avoiding climbs out of the valley so I end up driving to a trail head or riding through downtown so I can use W Exchange to climb to West Akron. Next year my goal is to make the climb out of the valley a typical part of my rides.
BTW we’ve lived in that neighborhood over 20 years and still don’t feel like we navigate these streets well
When I got back into riding I just made it a point to get used to it. Living where I do I realized there wasn't much choice. When Erin started riding she would just meet me at the trailheads - then finally I convinced her to learn to use the gears correctly and just take her time. Its worth getting used to climbing(even really slowly in easy gears) for all the routes that open up.
Yeah - I had a friend ove by you and I told him I couldn't understand why I would always fail to find his street at night - it didn't really go all the way through to anything. Back by Nervous Dog where I rode next it is like that too.
By the way - the guys I mentioned who used to take me to the bars lived on Jefferson at the apartments. Lots of memories on this ride. (I lived in West Akron my whole adult life before moving to the studio)
@ yeah, that’s exactly how I need to approach the climbs this spring.
Maybe I could pick your brain sometime about you preferred routs in and out of the valley
I don't feel O'fended❤
😂
Hey, I'm in my 40's and I have an upright bar wider and more swept back than that....which is what you said as I type this lol. Great minds.
Ha! Nice!
checking in to see if you rode on Wednesday....i did on the towpath as well; around 33.63 miles down to the Beaver pond and back to Indepedence. The weather was pretty decent with the sun playing hide/seek. However, the few of us cycling had the trail ALL to ourselves. Just curious Tim, do you have any recommendations for winter season riding gloves. The ones I've used build up with perspiration after about 20 miles in. The insides will tend to smell and then I wash them; only to face the challenge of drying/re-configurating the interior part of the glove. I am researching some better ones; reading reviews, etc. Any thoughts on the subject? See you and Erin out there-weather permitting.
Yes - got nice and wet on the way home!
I like layering just like I do with clothes.
Defeat wool gloves for the 40s - a second bigger pair to double up down into the 30s. Then I go with water proof lobster-style gloves for the real cold temps and layer the wool gloves underneath if needed. People also love bar mits. Definitely a ways to prevent sweaty hands
What camera do you prefer using when biking?
My Canon R8 for photos because of its small size and GoPros for video.
Happy Turkey Day, everyone!
Happy Thanksgiving!
What’s the water bottle on the Motobecane? I had a Cannondale Velcro water bottle just like it back in high school.
It is - I had never seen that before.
Nice ride what model raleigh is that ? Stay safe and God bless
Its a 2014 Tamland 2
I've taken an extra pair of gloves and swap them out in the event the gloves get too moist from sweat. This seems to work, however if I could find a better pair; then I'm all ears
I answered below - but the layering technique is important to me - I try to never allow myself to get sweaty.
Saw a 1970s Motobecane Super Mirage for sale, I dig the look, seems to be in good shape, any opinions on this for a newb's first 'vintage' bike ?
If it is in good shape and fairly cheap it would definitely be a good first vintage bike. They aren't anything super special to be clear - but would ride great and be good to learn how to work on. A couple hundred bucks tops though.
I waiting to see if u keep riding in vans thru the winter, I’m in buffalo and that part of Ohio is very similar to buffalo ny
Not a chance. Anything below 35 and I’ll switch to my Winter Five-10s. Water proof and room for more sock.
speaking of coffee have you tried Coffeeneuring
To be honest I keep seeing posts about a "coffeeneuring challenge" and I have no idea what that is. I know "coffee outside" and "cafe stops".
@@TimFitzwater it is supposed to be like Rando ride except the check points are coffee shops I think it is supposed to be very silly
Ah. I guess I only drink coffee when I want to. 😎
?Do ya got a dark room. i did since 1970, ton or my negatives hope to get scanned and enlarged old school style. who parnter to share prints that may pay for services. i want to do butt.. need find place to live and do. Bikes i got 4, 3 behind our local Marfa public radio station. await if get left hip fixed as age let de creepidness get in/lazy but. if able wud restart world tour with gear gotten for. pics on my chanel here or face booked...
The darkroom at the studio was long ago turned into a wood shop. I still have the gear and used to print in my bathroom when I had the time - which I don't anymore. I only develop my negatives and scan. There is a darkroom in downtown Akron though. The Community Darkroom of Akron. It is membership based but you can also pay the owner to do the enlarging.
Fenders boo. 👎 We are semi-amphibious creatures. Increases weight and ruins the lines. Beautiful bikes. Thanks!
Being wet sucks. And many look great with sharp fenders. We crawled OUT of the seas for a reason! (weight on bikes doesn't matter - especially touring bikes - I could lose more weight off my belly then nice fenders add) )