I really wish I had pictures of the bicycles I’ve had! Now that I consider them, I had quite a few.
John at Flat Pass, Moab UT, on his Amp Research B4
My bicycle history is, I hope, interesting: the first half-decent bike (and I mean that truly, it was only half-decent) was an old (and I mean old!) second-hand Cannondale that I bought off a fellow Colorado State University student, after my horrible “Univega” (which I destroyed in more ways than you can imagine) was crudely bent beyond salvaging by some fool (me) who decided to jump it off a burm at the base of the “A-trail”, but didn’t have the talent to land.
Camping in Castle Valley on one of many bike weekends.
I then proceeded to beat the crap out of that Cannondale on the trails around Horsetooth reservoir in Fort Collins, Colorado. But with the help of Mark Dinkelman – who was the manager of a bike shop in Fort Collins who got me parts for that Cannondale, and is still the hardest-working off-road biker I know – I rebuilt it and turned it into a fairly nice ride.
After acquiring (for cheap), fixing up and flipping a 1973 Chevy El Camino, I sold the Cannondale and got a very decent bike, a Diamondback <something-or-other> hardtail, which Mark convinced me to upgrade with better wheels… and boy was it a step up!
At the same time, Mark had convinced me to get into road cycling, and sold me a “Wheeler” with Shimano 105 components. Not a bad intro road bike.
Now for the good stuff.
Not too long after this, Terry Simpkins – whom I met in the dorm at Colorado State University, and we’ve remained friends ever since – had seemed to tire of his 1996 Amp Research B4, which he purchased new, but barely rode. I purchased it off him for next-to-nothing, and I still have it! It’s certainly now a classic, and someday (hopefully soon) I might do a nut-and-bolt rebuilt of it.
Also about this time, Mark was running an amateur cycling racing team, and managed to get sponsored by Klein, meaning he had a 1996 Bianchi Ti Megatube w/a full Campagnolo component group and carbon fork, just sitting there… so I bought that off him for next-to-nothing, and I still have it too! Again, certainly another classic. In fact, I might start riding that again the next time I’m in France.
The 1996 Amp Research B4 – a feat of engineering and a classic mountain bike.
The 1996 Bianchi Ti Megatube, another future classic.