...went on craisglist and started picking up old bikes for free on the free section there.

So far I've got a women's 27" Schwinn with Shimano FF rear cogs with an SIS derailler and Positronic shifters...now all I have to do is figure out how it works--anyone have experience with one of these bikes? I'm going to search for the what the serial number on the front means later. I'm repacking the rear bearings and have located, by happenstance, another Schwinn rear wheel that is from the same era but is not the rare FF cog set. I'll need this to cannibalize spokes...possibly transfer the whole FF cogset depending on which wheel is truer. The front derailler is a "Falcon"...whatever that is. This bike saw little use because some [your favorite word for 'numbskull' here] clamped down the lower end of the shifter cable so that it couldn't move in the cable tube near the front derailler--loosened it up and 'voila!' front shifter works like a charm! (Uh...after adding some superlubricant to the cable housing, of course.) The shifters are on the stem. This was a probably high-mid range model and stlll have the original seat in fine condition. The brakes also work fine and look to be originals too. The only two downsides to this bike are the rear derailler cable is not a stock part and has been modified to work on the front shifter so that it doesn't have a full range of motion and there is a bit of rust in non-obvious spots. I'm actually really pleased with this bike--it's comfortable and works good. Even the peddles are in free motion and no sticking. I read somewhere that this bike was designed (the ones with the FF cogsets) to last more than twenty years. The bearings seem to have no wear so these are superior bearings...although the cups are messed up a bit...since I have two rear sets I'm going to combine the best cups into one hub system and get the most out of this bike. Investment so far? $3.88 for one new tube.

Also, someone flaked on picking up an old Tunturi (model unknown--haven't located serial numbers yet) that is a Shimano GT200 derailler set so, after ten days, this guy got back to me and asked if I wanted it! Yay! This thing has a Sachs front shifter and a weird indexed 6 shifter ("Posidex Joytec x6s") for the SIS 7 derailer on the back. Since I'd also picked up some Mavic 238 front and rear Parallax STX wheels with a rear 8 cog set (for free too!) and Salsa quick releases, I decided to use those instead of the original 1.75" steel rims (very heavy) that were rusted out. Sweet! Now all I need to do is get a good set of pedals; one is shattered and rebuilding didn't help. Investment so far? $12.50 for bearings and a rear tire (I got a Velociraptor 2" rear for $12 at Velosport in Berkeley--ask them about their 'green tag' tires next time you drop in!) Even the tubes were good on this bike...the tires were just out of air!

Also picked up a tricycle for my niece while I was at it. Adjusted the handlebars and seat but this is not a vintage tricycle...it's only five years old...but it is a retro design that looks like it's from the the 1950s, all metal, red and white with a humongous bell on it.

I'll post pics when I get some more time...

Hooray! Hooray for craigslist!