Today’s Old Ten-Speed is a Falcon Team Banana (Replica, I assume). Submited by pondlife for fishface
In his message, pondlife pointed out proudly that, “…the seatpost has not seen daylight in years…” we do love to hear that. Pondlife also mentioned that all parts are original, but my research also indicated that this banana boat may be a 12-speed. This brings us to an important topic, Speeds. I want to make it clear right now - I have nothing against non-10-speed bikes(Some of my best friends are non-10-speed bikes!), but since the name of this site is the Old Ten Speed Gallery, I am going to do my best to keep it on topic. So, from here on, I am implementing a don’t ask don’t tell policy on your specific gear count. So please keep it ten speeds, and if it’s not a 10-speed, make sure it has something we’ll want to see. I do reserve the right to reject any entry for any reason. I will provide a text link to the violation if it is in good taste.
Thanks for showing us your Falcon fishface and pondlife.
I’ve always loved dumpster bikes (I even own one), so it’s appropriate that the first entry I received for OTSG is just that. Harv in California sent me this nicely repurposed 1972 Peugeot which he claims he “Found at the roadside, disassembled, but complete”. My only problem with Harv’s Peugeot is the flat bar he chose for this classic. As I stated in previous post, I am not a big fan of flat bars on road bikes, but this is a personal issue I will explain at a later time. Amazingly, Harv’s Peugeot almost sways me from my long held position on bar appropriateness.
1972 Peugeot UE-8 (European version of UO-8)
Thanks to Harv for offering his fine Peugeot for our enjoyment.
First off, I want to say thanks to BikeSnobNYC for linking to the OTSG in his post yesterday. That link alone blew the lid off my Google Analytics. The visits to OTSG went up 4170% from the day before - Insane! All this is great of course, provided I have enough good material to maintain even 1% of that new traffic.
My disappointment lies in the lack of Owner Submissions thus far. Of the 1233 visitors yesterday, only 3 owners sent me pictures of their 10-speed, and really only one of those entries was a true Old Ten-Speed. One of the entries was a component from a ten speed. While I appreciate that it’s a project the sender just started, I’d kinda like to see the whole bike. Another entry came in the form of two links, one to a picture of a gentleman in his underwear riding his De Rosa titled Ben and his De Rosa, Rose, the other to a picture of a young woman in her underwear standing in front of her Specialized Allez titled Kacey with “Kandy,” her Allez. The sender indicated that these two images were, “…shot as an addition to flickr’s bicycles & underwear group.” Once again, I appreciate the effort and thought, but it does not really fit the format of OTSG. The one entry received that I feel fits the format of this site will be posted this afternoon.
Now I do not want to come off as ungrateful toward the people who did send me their entries, but I would have hoped for more responses from the other 1230 of you out there.
Another pleasant surprise from yesterday’s flood of traffic was the poll statistics. I have learned from recent political exit polling that these things can be inaccurate, but nonetheless, I was encouraged that 33 39 of 63 74 respondents actually own an old ten-speed. I was even more encouraged by the 4 5 respondents who indicated that they were so impressed by this site and all the 10-speed talk, that they were going to trade in their oberhip fixed gear and opt for a sweet ten-speed steed. This is the kind of progressive thinking we like to see here at the Old Ten Speed Gallery.
This site isn’t even a week old and I’m already straying from my strict no 10-speed conversions format, but these two were just too good to pass up (they’re not QFCs so I’m ok with it). I found two motorized behemoths that offer very different options for the old ten-speed rider who is just too tired or too hung-over to pedal their crappy 10-speed around town.
First
The gasoline motor powered 10-speed:
This appears to be a late 80s or early 90s Murray Ten-Speed with a very nice 1950s Diner paint scheme. Beyond that, I’m not sure what everything else on this bike is.
Second
A Circlular Saw Powered Schwinn
This 1978 Schwinn LeTour would be a perfect option for the lazy-but-environmentally-conscious 10-speed rider. Rick claims that this bike contains 80% post-consumer goods-now how may of you Madone owners can say that?
Sell Old Toys has a nice late 70s women’s Schwinn Suburban for sale in or near Raleigh, NC. They’re even willing to ship that beauty to you. I have one recommendation to the man behind the camera. Always get at least one profile shot level with the bike if you really want to flatter that little two-wheeled angel.
Editor’s Note:
They also have a very nice looking 1986 Men’s Schwinn World Sport for sale; unfortunately, it’s a 12-speed, so it does’t qualify for a posting in the 10-Speed Gallery.
