So I bought this bike new from Pro Bikes in Asheville, where I grew up. This was in 1987 or 1988. I was in the 10th or 11th grade. Rode this sucker for years, around the curvy, hilly Asheville area back roads and in a couple of races. Then when I went to college it was left at the house. The house sold, my dad moved, and the bike moved with him. He rode it a bit but it ended up beside the garage, in the weeds, where he lives in Weaverville, near Asheville. This is where I found it in 2015. I had boys of my own and I decided to restore it with them (if I could get them interested) and they could ride it. They helped a little, but largely watched with an interested eye rather than interested hands.
But it was almost fully restored and my oldest son rode this bike in the same triathlon I first rode the bike in, in Cohutta Springs, Georgia. I think it was about 25+ years after I’d ridden in that race. I also raced in that race with him, but we did a relay, so I ran and he rode the bike (my wife swam). I restored this bike in 2015 but am just now getting pics up here and this blog post published.
The picture below is the bike on rack, just rescued from the weeds beside the garage in Weaverville. There was a significant amount of cutting of weeds and vines so that the bike could be freed from its captivity.
Here is the bike before is is cleaned. This is straight from the back of the garage.
And these are after it has been restored. I decided not to repaint because the original paint job was not bad. A few chips and spots, but overall it was in great condition. Just needed to be cleaned and polished. The brake hoods, in the “before” pictures look black, but they aren’t. They are white, but they’ve rotted so badly that they appear black. I replaced them with NOS original hoods that were used on this model of bike.
I did replace the handlebar tape, hoods, brake pads, down tube gear shifters, the saddle, rims and wheels, tires and tubes, chain, rear cassette, all cables, bottle cage, and left off the tri-bars and replaced the computer. Total cost to refurb this bike was about $275.
And here are pics of my kiddo riding this bike in the same tri I rode in. I first rode this bike in a triathlon at Cohutta Springs in 1989. Kellen rode this restored bike in that same race in 2015. It was the first race for both of us.
From Fourth Island 