Vintage commuter

[Scruffmonster]

Hey,

I dont know if this is the right section, but it seems as good a place as any.

After having two decent bikes stolen, I'm looking to buy and build a bike that's nice, but less desirable to thieving swines.

I care little about how I look when commuting so, despite being a guy, I'm looking at vintage (80's is vintage, right?) ladies road bikes. Used values are low which I take to mean they get stolen less. I'm 5' 8" so I guess most bikes will fit, and I can pick one up for between £60 and £100.

Can anyone offer any counter arguement as to why it's a bad idea? Or possibly some advice as to any particular brand to steer clear of, points to look out for and such.

My other commuters have been single speed conversions and I'll be converting whatever I buy, so running gear isnt really a problem.

Any advice welcome,

Thanks.

 

[raindog]

I think this is the problem
"a bike that's nice, but less desirable"
I don't think that's possible - anyway, some b@stards will nick anything.
I've got several bikes, but for nipping to the shops or just general riding I've got a really old mountain bike that I call "The Heap" and it really is 'orrible. All the transfers have been scratched off long ago, various bits are going rusty, it's got an old beat up rack on it, and it weighs about 15 kilos, and is generally the most undesirable machine you could imagine, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone nicks it one day.

 

[Scruffmonster]

I know what you mean... If it was a question of buying something really undesirable I'd ride my own junker with the child seat on it, but I need something that will carry a decent speed. It's a 17 mile commute. I dont really want it taking many minutes more than an hour ten.

I think the fact that ladies road bikes with sloping top tubes sell second hand for so little has to be a detterant to the magpies. I'd say that most bikes are stolen to be sold, not ridden. With that said, stolen bikes produce 100% profit so £60 is £60.

 

[tyred]

Just be wary of any thing French from before the early 80s as they may have metric threaded headset and bottom bracket making sourcing replacement parts tricky. Older Raleighs can have this issue as well. Otherwise there should be no real issues so long as you have one of the common wheel sizes - 27", 700c, 26" as some smaller frames had various 24" wheel sizes which are tricky to find now.

Most of the lower end ones will probably have a single 46 or 48 tooth chainwheel and 14-24 block as standard making for a relatively high bottom gear. Fit a 40 tooth chainwheel and it will be much better if you have hills or start/stop traffic to cope with.

 

[growingvegetables]

nice, but less desirable to thieving swines.

A bit OT - but never mind. Few years ago, son #2 developed a habit of "rescuing" abandoned and wrecked bikes; he'd take them round to my place, with the intention of salvaging anything useful and learning some maintenance skills (hmmmm - double fail, on both counts).

The last one he "rescued" was .................... a wreck. Unridable. Ever. No redeeming features at all.

He locked it to the rail by the front door - and lost the key. Couple of weeks later, some undesirable chopped the lock and stole it.












And, damn me, if the scrote didn't bring the blasted thing back a few days later, and prop it against the door!

 

[DCLane]

I'm finishing putting together an old bike, termed 'Lethal Impact' for this reason - which will also be for anyone wanting to borrow a bike to use.

It should be that cheap that it's not worth stealing. Bike was donated since it was dangerous to ride, paint was donated by Gareth from here and I've re-used spare parts to complete it.

Total cost: Under £20. Hopefully it can be loaned out lots of times, but if it's stolen I've not lost anything except my time. Which means I won't mind doing another.

 

[raindog]

It should be that cheap that it's not worth stealing.

Believe me, if it's rideable, it's nickable

 

[biggs682]

i used an elderly togglechain Phillips for ages as my main commuter it was great fun and never missed a beat till i stopped using it on a daily basis , current commuter is an ufo steel framed track framed bike , no decals no name just a nice reliable bit of cycling transport