Vintage Mountain Bike: My 1984 Schwinn Sierra

Rockin' those bull moose handlebars....80's style.

I rarely take self portraits, but this one seems very period correct, Star Wars tee shirt and all.

As a followup to my last few articles about vintage mountain biking, I wanted to introduce some of my readers to what a first generation mountain bike looks like. I recently acquired this 1984 Schwinn Sierra for 70 bucks a few days ago. This was the first mountain bike made by Schwinn and 1984 was the first year of production. This model was a mid-level option at the time, with the High Sierra being the top of the line mountain bike in the lineup.

My first impression of this bike is how indestructible it feels while riding. This bike comes with really beefy Araya 26x1.75 alloy wheels with high flange sealed hubs that are bolted onto the frame. The wheels alone probably have a combined weight of  over 10 pounds, including the tires and tubes. Although this was a bit of a drawback while climbing, I feel that these wheels can rollover and mow down anything in their path. I don't think there is anything that I can do to easily taco these rims. 

This bicycle features the highly coveted bull moose handlebars. Bull moose handlebars have a unique design that combines the stem and handlebars into a single welded piece. Adding to the uniqueness of this design, this bike comes with old school friction thumb shifters as well. 

"Bull Moose" handlebars and thumb shifters, also known as "thumbies".

The brakes on this bike are truly unique. They are not the disc brakes seen on mountain bikes today or even the V-brakes seen on most 90's mid-school mountain bikes. These are first generation cantilevers, made of all steel with a winged shaped design.When adjusted, these brakes have incredibly good stopping power, although the front brake pads on this bike are starting to squeak and show their age.

Dia Compe cantilever brakes were one of the first braking systems used on mountain bikes.

When I got this bike, it was covered in silt over years of not being cleaned or maintained. The grease was 30 years old and never changed out throughout it's existence. I took this bike apart, regreased all the bearings and dunked most of the drivetrain parts in Simple Green to get the years of dirt and grime buildup off of them. I re-lubricated the chain as a temporary solution but will end up replacing the chain and freewheel in the future to make it ride just a little smoother. 

So, how does it ride? Let me start off by saying that this bike isn't for everyone. Its an old bike, there should be no illusions of it riding like a modern mountain bike or better. For one thing, climbing hills on this bike is more difficult because of the bigger front chainrings, the longer wheelbase and the overall weight of this steel bike. I made all of the hills I normally make on this bike, but found myself climbing on my largest rear sprocket most of the time. Granted, I had a backpack full of my camera gear when I took these photos on my last ride.  What this bike lacks going uphill it makes up for on the way back down.  This bike rides like a beast on flat singletrack and  takes downhills with speed. Its important to keep in mind that people were not thinking of riding their bikes over rock gardens or getting massive air off of jumps when these bikes were made. In the early years of mountain biking there was a big focus on trekking rather than racing like there is nowadays. Having a durable bike that could take a beating was key, but people also had the common sense to get off their bikes when the terrain became too gnarly. The mountain bike was originally designed to take people where a road bike couldn't go. In it's humble beginnings, it was purposed as a tool for exploration rather than an off road racing machine. Although this bike is heavy, there is no compromise to it's durability and this mountain bike rides like a tank. These are how the first mountain bikes that rolled off the assembly line were built.

This bike marks the start of a new focus for my blog, as well as a shift in the type of bikes that I will be collecting, riding on and talking about. I'll still do a couple of articles on vintage road bike riding, however the preservation of old-school mountain biking culture has taken precedent. One might assume that I'll be going off on a tangent of all things 90's mountain bike related, like talking about John Tomac's drop bar riding position or Tinker Juarez. Not at all; I'll be talking about mountain bike culture from the way I grew up seeing it, not from a nostalgic ex-racer's point of view. Some very interesting articles to come. Stay tuned!

Vintage Bikes of the future, 26 inch wheel mountain bikes?

Why you should start collecting 80's and 90's mountain bikes

They say 30 years makes a classic. So pretty much, judging by my time here on this earth, I'm pretty much a classic myself. Classics enjoy the respect of enthusiasts and turn heads when being showed off in a modern environment. The mountain bike as it originally was has also become a classic. 

Crested Butte, 1980. There was a repack mountain bike race that day-viewed the first generation of mountain bikes, a far cry from what we would consider to be a mountain bike today. Cantilever or drum brakes, bull moose bmx-style handlebars, and heavy frames with long rear triangles were on the forefront of technology back then. Many of these bikes have sadly not made it into collector's hands after decades of rigorous thrashings on the mountain bike trail. The ones that have made it will soon be as valuable as the most expensive vintage Italian road bikes.

With the recent popularity of vintage road bikes and fixies, old ten speeds have enjoyed a vast number of avenues for replacement parts and upgrades. Most tire manufacturers still make 27" tires, for example. 27" and 700c wheel replacements are still to be found for many of these bikes, even replacements for rear wheels that require a freewheel instead of a cassette. In fact, ever since 700c became the popular wheel size on road bikes, they have been able to co-exist with 27" bikes until this day. I'm guessing back then bicycle companies respected the consumer's wallet, that or 27" wheel touring bikes were seen as benign and not a threat to 700c wheel racing bikes. 

Never in all of bicycle history has there been an attempt so blatant to eradicate a wheel size option than what the bicycle industry is doing with regards to the 26 inch mountain bike. A year ago, I wrote an article saying this would happen, based on market trends and feedback from working at a bike shop. It seems that overnight, all of the good, mid-school wheels and components have either been bought up or priced up at a 300% inflation rate. This is an unexpected outcome to the 650b and 29er wheel craze of the last few years. I can't seem to find anyone who sells good 26" freewheel threaded wheels anymore, unless they are heavy bolt ons for cruisers. The only wheelsets I find available are cassette compatible and top end brands like Mavic. What ever happened to the Zac 19's?

I can only compare what is happening to the 26", unsuspended, steel mountain bike to what happened to film photography. All the powers that be in the photography industry got together , and in less than a decade, film photography was gone. I saw my first digital camera around 2001, a box-like object that used a floppy disc and could only take five pictures at a time. By 2004, 3 mega pixel cameras where starting to become common among most people. In 2009 when I took my film camera to Germany, I received a few impressed looks and one person even told me that they had forgotten what a film rewind sounded like. I had to take my film to a specialty camera store to get it developed, and that was 5 years ago. I still have my film cameras (good ones, at that) but seldom use them because I don't know where I'll develop the little film that I have left in my refrigerator. Were film cameras that much more inferior than digital cameras? No, in fact a 35mm camera with a really sharp lens could get the equivalent of 64 mega pixels in image resolution. My medium format camera could get an even much higher resolution still. So why did the industry have to force film into obsolescence?

For the same reason why the bike industry is forcing out the 26" wheeled mountain bike: to make money. By forcing everyone to upgrade across the board, the bicycle industry is forcing consumers to buy their product, because all other options have been eliminated. As much as I loved my film camera, once all of the one hour photo labs started closing down, I really could not use it anymore. So let's say I were to break a wheel or a 7 speed shifter on my mountain bike. There may soon come a time where that will mean the end of that bike's lifespan as a mountain bike. It will from that point forward have to become a beach cruiser, because those will be the only wheel and tire options that will come in 26 inches. As a desperate measure, I may just have to buy a Wally World bike or a Magna bike from Target with 26 inch wheels, just to swap parts onto my old mountain bike. 

As consumers, we can choose with our wallets whether or not we like what the bicycle industry is doing. When I say bicycle industry, I am not including bicycles found at department stores, many of which still come in 26 inches. I'm including The two big American owned companies in the industry and the one big but still emerging Taiwanese "giant" who are driving the change. "The Big Three" currently own most of the patents in the industry and are known to buy out other companies just for the sake of eliminating the competition. If we don't like what they're doing, then we don't need to buy their mountain bikes, it's that simple. When we start seeing more aftermarket parts available for our old-school rigs, then we can entertain the idea of buying their products again. 

In conclusion, forced obsolescence is never a good thing. Look what that did to letter writing, no one writes hand written letters anymore. Fewer people read the printed page, now you see people reading on their tablets and "eBooks". People don't invite other people over to look at their photo albums anymore, everything is shared online and invitations are kept to a minimum. When something becomes obsolete, our values and manners suffer. Some people will say that it's just a wheel size, that it's just a hobby and that truth be told all bikes were meant to be disposable anyway. But it's much more personal than that. Pricing out the consumer or forcing an expensive change on them is taking advantage of their long time integrity and the fact that they're cyclists. It's telling them that there's a cost of entry and a economical barrier to doing what they love to do. It's telling the consumer either pay up or quit riding a bike. It's an underhanded and indirect way of pre-qualifying people to do something that everyone should have the right to do; ride a bike. Straight up class warfare, if you ask me. 

Here's my answer to what the bicycle industry is doing. I'm going to start collecting vintage mountain bikes and components. I hope to accumulate enough parts to do my own maintenance without ever having to step foot in a boutique, hipster-owned bike shop. Once I can no longer do maintenance on my bikes, all future mountain bikes will come from Target. That's how I'm going to choose with my wallet and I'm sure others will follow suit. The modern bike boom is over, it's been over for about 3 years now. With this forced change the specialty bicycle market will not keep enjoying it's temporary run of sales for very long. Once the bicycle demands of the upper echelon of society are met, they will not derive any more profit from the rest of us. Until another Lance Armstrong comes along and gets people into Tour De France fever, most people will no longer see the need to buy an expensive bicycle again. 

End of rant.

What If Lance Rode an old 10 speed bike?

Would Lance Armstrong still be fast on a 10 speed?

When people talk about Lance Armstrong, is isn't without reservations, resentments, or any love lost for the recently dethroned athlete. Lance Armstrong, however, has done nothing to rectify his public image, besides showing us how to change a bicycle tire on an old Peugeot (We're glad you finally learned how to do that, Lance).

It's been almost two years since the USADA cleaned his figurative clock of all of his fraudulent Tour De France victories, Olympic medals and world records. Someone who has been raked through the coals the way Lance has should by now have attained a certain amount of humility. There are many things that Lance can do that will put him in a positive light again, maybe even reinstate his status as an athlete. Who better than Lance to set up cycling programs for the underprivileged youth of America, for example? There are good cyclists everywhere from all walks of life, but the sport doesn't follow them, it follows the money. Apparently so does Lance. Someone like Lance could turn the status-quo, like Jonathan Boyer did for team Rwanda or John Candy did in Cool Runnings. If Lance weren't so self centered, he would make a great coach.

The other thing Lance Armstrong created was the stereotype of the American cyclist. The Strava obsessed, weight weenie, goo slurping, middle aged jerk in a mid life crisis who makes it rain money every time he walks into a bike shop. Readers of my last article will see the illustration of how cyclists used to dress. Blue jeans, casual clothes, tee shirts and sneakers was the dress attire until the late 1990's. Now everyone who rides their bicycles on the roads or even on the trails is wearing full team kit, perhaps subconsciously thinking that is what they have to wear to be like Lance. The uniform serves it's purpose in the hot summer months, however its not a year round requirement to ride a bike. What Lance needs to do for his public image is to change the way that he is seen riding a bike. Trek no longer sponsors Lance, he needs to trade in his carbon fiber Madone for an old ten speed. He needs to  wear regular clothes on his training rides. He needs to show the world that it really isn't about the bike, because his whole career and the aftermath of it he has shown the opposite.

If Lance were to say, race me in an unsanctioned event like an alleycat, riding on a Schwinn Varsity or a Huffy Aerowind and still beat me, an avid recreational cyclist, then my level of respect would be much higher for him. That would turn the bike industry on it's head, since they could no longer sell people on the performance gains of high end bikes. If the average person knew that they could enjoy cycling on what they already own, instead of looking at cycling like a specialized equipment sport that requires endless upgrades, there would be more cyclists around the world and money would be trading hands hand over fist. After all, I'm just quoting Lance here. He was the one who wrote the book "It's not about the bike". Only somebody of his celebrity or infamy could pull it off, too.

Would you like to see Lance on one of these for a change?

Talking about Lance Armstrong is beating a dead horse to many people. I wanted to write this article because even though Lance isn't around racing his bicycle anymore, the damage he did to the sport still remains. On the local and national level, many riders are still juicing up to win races. Strava obsessed cyclists clip pedestrians on multi-use paths. I'm sure even though it hasn't been discovered yet, new methods of doping have already made their way into the professional ranks. I don't believe for a minute that a certain recent grand tour in Spain was raced cleanly, without drugs or sabotage. Lance can show redemption by condemning his own past actions as well as not letting anyone else get away with what he did, whether it be on a local, national or international field. Who better than Lance to point out the cheaters?

The truth is we don't owe Lance anything and neither does he. He will go down as the biggest loser of the 21st century. His public life has gone to tatters, and there is little he is willing to do about it. His example serves as a warning of the consequences of big headedness, arrogance and dishonesty.

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Rules of Old School Mountain Biking

Top 20 Rules of Old School Mountain Biking

If you grew up in the 90's or were already into the mountain bike scene back then, then this article will make sense to you. Long before consumers were priced out by carbon fiber, metric wheel sizes, electronic shifting and "E-bikes", there was mountain biking. Real mountain biking. The kind of mountain biking that required skill and a little bit of recklessness. Back then there were no cycling computers, no phone apps to track Strava or even cell phones for that matter. The most travel available on a suspension fork was 80mm, not 120mm or more like today's bikes. If you are a 90's survivor, or riding a 90's survivor mountain bike, here are the top 20 rules of old school mountain biking you will need to be aware of. Welcome to the club.

1. Trail etiquette is becoming rarer than 4130 Chro-Mo and neon fade color patterns. Respect others on the trail and assist any fallen rider.

2.Always lift the front wheel to clear obstacles on the trail. A steel fork is a beautiful thing to waste.

3. Suspension? Your body is the suspension. Form your body into a spring by bending your arms and your knees.

4. E-bikes are not mountain bikes. They're off road mopeds. Now repeat this line ten times in your head before moving on, until it becomes natural.

5. If the jump is too high, or the climb is too steep, a real man walks it. 

6. It's okay to wear blue jeans and flannel on your mountain bike. 

7. Goos, pre-workout drinks and legal steroids are for wusses. Do you get hungry on the trail? Eat some trail mix, a Powerbar, or a banana. Real food, you wussy!

8. Upgraditis is not a condition we suffer from. Don't fix it if it ain't broken. If it is broken, buy it New-Old-Stock off of eBay.

9. Always shift your weight behind the saddle when bombing a descent or flying off a ledge. Use the rear brake, only feather the front one.

10. You only need seven gears to shift on your rear wheel. A real old-school pro does it with six.

11. If you ride with thumb shifters, that's boss.

12. V-brakes earn you respect on the trail. Cantilevers earn you instant free beers, facial hair and overall success in life.

13. Never make fun of the hippie old guy that looks like ZZ Top and rides a Walmart bike while smoking a cigar in his cutoff blue jeans and tie dye tee shirt. That guy can smoke you on the trail and drop you like a bad habit.

14. Not sure which wheel size to get? There is only one, and it comes in 26 inches. Now pick a size, any one you like, as long as its 26.

15. Yetis are real. So are Klein bikes. But seriously......they're out there.

16. If gram counting is your occupation, I'm sorry, someone didn't love you enough. Give that man a sandwich and a heavy steel bike, pronto!

17. A scar tells a story better than Strava does.

18. Never, under any circumstances, is it okay to show up to a trail with your legs shaved (unless you're a woman, then feel free to do your thang).

19. The bike should always cost less than the car, even if the car cost $800.

20. Clip-less shoes are for roadies that ride mountain bikes. Platform pedals and hiking shoes are all you need.

These are rules for the off-road retro grouch to live by. Its time to take back what was once ours from the roadies who got bored, crossed over into mountain biking and sanctioned every tree stump on the trail. Next time you go mountain biking, bring that retro bike that has been sitting in a garage for a while. Take an old pair of blue jeans, rip them in half if its hot or cuff them at the heel if its cold. Wear a tee shirt, not a jersey. Turn off your cell phone. Wear a wrist watch if you have to. Keep it old school.

A Tale of Two Peugeots: The PGN-10 and the PSN-10

Discussing my two favorite Peugeots from 1985

1985 was indeed a great year for a lot of things. Back To the Future came out, as well as one of my favorite movies of all time, The Goonies. I was born that year so that is probably the best thing that ever happened! All joking aside, that year also introduced two very unique models from the Peugeot bicycle factory. 

Second and Bottom: The PSN-10 and PGN-10. Image courtesy of cyclespeugeot.com

At first glance the PGN-10 and the model above it, the PSN-10, look like your typical 1980's road bikes. But look closer, and the differences start to become clear. These bikes have quill seatposts that adjust from the inside of the post rather than from a seatpost binder bolt. Plastic Stronglight headsets would now seem like a quirky idea but were the rave on many 80's french bikes. Even Bernard Hinault promoted his line of plastic headsets. As strange and as prone to catastrophic failure as these design features seem to be, they are highly functional and have been free from any defect over the past 30 years. I'm sure that the seatpost has a weight limit, however riding these bikes it's clear to me that I haven't reached it. The Sachs Huret shifters and derailleurs on my PGN-10 are the cleanest and smoothest shifting of all the bikes that I own. In the following article I'm going to do my best to give a concise review of both bikes.

Kitt From Knight Rider, my PSN-10

Meet Kitt, My Campagnolo equipped PSN-10.

This is easily one of the most comfortable steel bikes that I own, only below "La Poderosa" in it's ride quality and handling. It took a lot of work to get this bike to ride the way it should. Even after having taken it all apart and greasing every single bearing the bike felt whippy and noodly. I researched this and it turns out that its a pretty common issue with this Peugeot model. To counteract the "whippiness" I replaced the 40cm handlebars with some 43cm Sakae FX handlebars I had lying around. The Modolo Speedy brakes that originally came on the bike were not centering correctly, so I replaced those with some Tektro takeoffs from another bike, purchased from a seller on eBay. The original Vetta saddle that came on the bike was dried out and as hard as a brick. I had an extra Brooks saddle that I was saving for a very special bike. I decided now it was the time to use it on my new bike, which I will refer to as Kitt.

The Ride:

Today I took Kitt for a 40 mile spin around the countryside, just to see if I like the bike enough to use it in my next bike rally. This bike definitely has it's talking points. For one thing, I have never ridden this far on a bike without clip-less pedals. The fact that I was able to ride 40 miles in the 97 degree heat and still come out okay means that this bike was mostly comfortable on all it's points of contact.

There is a bounciness to the Super Vitus tubing that resembles titanium or carbon in it's ride quality. Compared to other steel bikes that I own, this Peugeot can absorb road shock without compromising energy transfer through the frame. All this makes for a lively, springy ride, especially when the roads start to get gravelly.  

One might assume that a stiffer yet springier steel frame makes for a faster ride. I did not have a cycling computer to see how fast I was going. Furthermore, I felt I could have lowered the stem a little bit more to assume my usual aero position. The fact is that the speed of this bike still remains unknown. It certainly felt fast, however I know from experience that feeling and reality are two different things.

There was more stiffness in the front fork on this bike than on my other bikes. I  can attribute this to the Stronglight headset being made of Derlin plastic and therefore not transfering vibrations as efficiently as a steel one would. I will have to make sure to wear padded gloves the next time I take this bike on a long ride. 

One thing that helped the ride on this bike tremendously was switching out the stock saddle for the Brooks. I find that any bike with a Brooks saddle rides way better than a bike without one. Despite the odd seatpost and plastic headset, when all the pieces come together this bike works magnificently.

My PGN-10

I was fortunate enough to get this bike with very little use on it and very low miles on the frame and components. The only thing that I had to change out was the wheelset, because the seller put 27" wheels on the bike that didn't fit. I had some 700c wheels with Shimano 600 hubs lying around my garage that I replaced them with. 

This bike rides great with all of it's stock components. Not even the saddle needs replacing. This bike shifts well even while climbing, and I can hardly feel the transition from the large to the small chainrings when I shift. The Reynolds 501 tubing absorbs road vibrations well and in my opinion is more compliant than the Super Vitus as it isn't as bouncy. Since I have owned it I have not had to take it apart and overhaul it like I did with Kitt (My PSN-10 or the black bike, for those of you just tuning in). 

Reynolds 501 tubing makes for a light but strong frame on the PGN-10

The only thing that this bike needs is better handlebar wrap. Again, I can probably work around this by wearing padded gloves when I ride. I haven't done super long distances on this bike yet, however I have done 14 to 20 mile rides on it. From what I have ridden on it I can say so far its a great bike. I may go with this bike for my next rally, I don't know, I haven't decided yet. What do you think? Which one should I choose?

These bikes are somewhat rare finds but are common enough that I decided to do an article about them. If someone comes across a bike like one of these Peugeots, they are keepers, especially if they are the right size. For a long time I couldn't get my hands on a Peugeot, now they seem to be coming out of nowhere. I have been involved in buying and restoring old vintage bikes for a while now, and I am just starting to get some really cool bikes into my collection. Now that I have worked out all the kinks on mine I am definitely not getting rid of them.  I hope to hold on to mine as long as I can and maybe one day my son will enjoy them as much as I do now. Stay tuned for more articles like these and subscribe to my posts for more updates.

Some Notes on maintenance and care:

Do not overtighten the quill seatpost. It may lead to a bulge in the seat tube or failure of the seatpost. Get it snug tight until the seatpost no longer moves.

Derlin plastic can decompose if exposed to bleach or anything that has chlorine. Do not store this bicycle near pool chemicals as this will deteriorate the headset and cause it to crack. Do not clean the bike with hot water or mineral spirits and rather use a biodegradable cleaner like Simple Green. 

To be fair, many road bikes of this era had quirky features, such as odd seatpost binders, Italian and French bottom brackets and headsets, plastic derailleurs, etc. These were even more evident on higher end bikes than others made during that period. With proper care, I believe these bikes can last another 30 years without problems. However, once something breaks it can't be replaced. Keep that in mind when looking to purchase any vintage bicycle. 

Crits Vs. Rallies: Which one has more bang for the buck?

Criteriums Vs. Bicycle Rallies

Being an active cyclist, it's only natural to want to take the next step in proving one's fitness level and ability. Many new cyclists enter their first criterium race unprepared or unfit for the demands of competitive cycling. I thought I was a good cyclist until I raced my first criterium. I was lapped twice by guys averaging 21 miles an hour in a pack. I didn't know the principles of drafting and I wasn't expecting the sudden attacks and unpredictable nature of the riders participating. Being the new guy in the group didn't help either. I didn't receive any favors from the pack and the veteran riders made fun of me. After that first experience I nearly stopped riding my bike altogether, thinking I had no natural ability to be pursuing cycling. Then I remembered why I started riding in the first place, because I enjoyed it. I didn't buy my first bike thinking that I would end up riding around in circles like a NASCAR race for bicycles. I bought it because I wanted a long term fitness plan to keep me active through my 20's and beyond. 

This outlook has kept me riding for the last four years since my first criterium, however it wasn't enough to keep me satisfied with riding bikes long term. I needed fitness goals, milestones that I could reach and say that I did something meaningful as a cyclist, even though I never won a race. So this year I started participating in bicycle rallies, events that are usually non-competitive in nature that have varied participation and are usually 60 to 100 miles. My first bicycle rally was the Collin Classic in June of this year. I was over 10 pounds heavier than I am now when I participated, however I was able to complete 69 miles averaging over 17 miles an hour. Unlike criteriums where someone doesn't even get mentioned if they don't finish in the top ten, every rider at a bicycle rally gets some sort of recognition. I wasn't expecting a medal for finishing the hundred mile Hotter N' Hell this year, however a crowd of volunteers was waiting for me at the finish line to take off my helmet and put a medal around my neck. In addition the riders received a tracking chip that tracked their progress and overall time from start to finish. You could compare how well you rode against other riders in your age group, and also see your overall ranking. Bicycle rallies give away tee shirts, water bottles and coupons for restaurants for the same cost of entry as a criterium race. In a criterium race, you pay $35 to get whooped by a bunch guys with disposable income, most of them riding $10k carbon fiber bikes and most of them able to show up every week and pay the same fee to race. 

Are all the participants fat, slow, frumpy old guys on hybrids that do these bicycle rallies? Absolutely not. Furthermore a lot of older guys in their 60's and older participate in these rides, and can overtake guys half their age through the course of 50 to 60 miles. A lot of participants that do bicycle rallies are seasoned distance riders, with amazing fitness and endurance. There are also riders of all ages and all abilities that come to these events. There are even shorter routes for families to do, and you will see moms and dads pulling their kids behind them on bicycle trailers. 

All I can say is that I can't wait to do my next bicycle rally in October. I don't know if I'll do another criterium ride in the future, however I'm 100% sure that I would like to keep doing bicycle rallies.