Missing being a 10 speed girl........

Intrepid Wheelwoman

Intrepid Wheelwoman

New Member
Perhaps it's because I'm getting older and I'm looking back on my life (Oh gosh, -no! Don't tell them about that bit.), but I'm finding myself missing the joy of riding a skinny tyred 10 speed bike. For some reason I kept all my old 10 speeds, - and most of them are past products of Now Zealand's now vanished bicycle industry.

An example: My old bread and butter Morrison Concorde.

"Morrison Monark: The best NZ produced mass-market bike of this period. Lugged Hi-Ten frame, mostly SunTour parts and Araya Staylite rims, those dull chromed ones. These were bought by the well-heeled and by aspiring cyclo-tourists not quite able to afford genuine 531 and low gears."
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The same held true for the Concorde bikes, only they didn't have the posh Sun Tour bits. Mine does now, - Woot Sun Tour forever! I changed out everything steel on my Concorde for period correct alloy bits except for the wheels which are still the originals. The tyres are the originals too. The saddle is a Japanese made leather 'Airbike' which is a blast from the past in itself. Feeling nostalgic I bound the handlebars in shellaced cotton tape, but didn't quite go so far as to use corks in the bar ends.

It's a nice bike to ride, but for far too long it's been hanging up in the garage doing nuffing (sigh).

When it comes to gents' frames I've got such delights as a somewhat rarish 1980s Healing GTX-105 Arabesque (Healing being the other NZ brand in the 70s and 80s) and a plain repainted unbadged silver Morrison Monark I picked up cheap a good while ago. A Kiwi made Raleigh Arena completes the 'modern' trio. The prewar Kiwi bike industry is represented by a 1930s Empire track bike with a chrome-moly lugged frame as light as a maiden's sigh. This poor old thing needs a lot of work having been abandoned in a damp shed long before I found it.
England is represented by a 1950s Wearwell Path Racer and Australia by a Malvern Star 'Super Star'.

So yesterday found me looking over my old roadies and wondering why I don't ride them anymore. The fact is I do need the exercise coz my doctor says so and I am feeling more well now even though my reserves are still on the slender side. My Morrison Concorde is ready to go, the other bikes will need to be serviced and tuned up before I can ride them, but that's Ok because the Concorde will be just fine to get me started. I'm surrounded by bike trails in the district where I live so I don't have to go riding amongst horrible motorcars....... So what's my excuse?
 
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Sorry, Intrepid Wheelwoman, but there's no excuse. You gotta get riding. :)

I thin I might know what you mean about reserves being low, though maybe for different reasons. When I was 50 years old I could ride a bike just about as strongly as ever. There's a couple of truly steep hills in my neighborhood. And I'm sure there was a difference in my performance on them between 30 years and 50 years. Small difference. Otherwise, no.

But now, a mere five years later, the difference is obvious at all times. I can still ride a bike. But it takes noticeably more of my overall strength to do it. 10 mph winds, which I didn't even notice before, are now a nightmare. I can still ride. But it takes me longer and leaves me more tired.

I"m sure I'lll ride a bike until I'm no longer steady enough to do it. But I think my days as a serious bicyclist might be dwindling.

But anyway......I like the looks of the bike in the photo. And the others sound neat enough, too. But one thing I do not miss about ten speeds is those skinny wheels/tires.
 
Well definitely no bicycle riding today as we're right in the middle of our Autumn wet season. It's raining so hard at the moment the local ducks have got together a petition about it.

But yes BGW it's well time I took my merino wool sweater out of my wardrobe and put on my Tai Chi exercise pants. No Lycra for me, loose and comfortable is the watchword for IWW's bicycle clothing.
My Morrison Concorde has 1 3/8 x 27 tyres so it's a good compromise in the narrow tyre department as compared with some of my other bikes. When I was a much younger woman I liked skinny narrow tyres on my bikes, though after I do some riding about on them again I'll get back to you about that.

I hear what you're saying about strength dwindling with age. Though overall I think there are more pluses with bicycle riding as an OAP than there are minuses. When I first moved here to the rural countryside and started to ride my Hercules and other old push bikes again on a regular basis my doctor noted a steady improvement in my general state of health as time went on. I guess with wanting to ride my old roadies again I'm wanting to see if I can push things just that little bit more.
 
I have a 1974 Schwinn World Sport hanging up in my basement. I bought it new and it probably doesn't have 30 miles on it. It is still like new; no scratches, no rust. It has the original metal head badge which I'm told is significant.

I bought it and the girl's version for my wife (ex.wife) the same day and we divorced about a month later. So much for 'togetherness'. I think we rode them together once then I moved to Colorado and brought the bike with me. It's been stored inside since then. Maybe I should drag it out, clean it up and see what I can get for it.

Tom
 

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Oooooo that's a very nice bike Tom. I love original condition 10 speeds. But hanging it upside down like that will make all the iron molecules rush to the headset and make it giddy ;)

I hear what you're saying Tom, when I was still married it was my ex's influence that got me back into cycling again, but it didn't help my marriage either (sigh).
 
I'd like to cycle, but the base of my spine doesn't like it very much, especially if there are hills and hard work involved.
 
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