Some needful history, EBM with an important link, and Elie Mystal makes some excellent points…
Back in the days when John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” was getting tons of airplay on KPPC, I bought a brand new Peugeot UO-8 bike for $90.
I mention this because it was and still remains the best bike I’ve owned. Which, when you think about it is a pretty cool return on investment. For instance, I rode it from L.A. to Santa Barbara more times than I can remember. I rode it to San Diego and even rode it to San Francisco a couple of times. Throw in the fact that most Sundays I did centuries on it and it never even flinched.
Of course, in those days, I lusted after more expensive, exotic, and more performance-oriented cycles. Some I even bought but the Peugeot remained my day to day ride. If for no other reason as it was cheap and less in demand from the multitude of bike thieves that made commuting in Los Angeles by bike somewhat problematic.
A few years later I bought my ultimate touring bike. A custom frame from Bob Jackson in the UK with all Campagnolo components. While way more than I could afford, I’d decided to ride across the USA with the Bikecentennial. It seemed like a good idea to have a better bike to do it with.
A cunning plan if you will…
As it happens, my oh so expensive custom frame went walkabout after entering US Customs. This left me with my tried and true Peugeot which worked just fine when all was said and done. Sure, the Peugeot UO-8 raised a few eyebrows with some of the bike tog mafia but that was just water off a duck’s back.
As for the Bob Jackson frame, I got it back a couple of months after doing the Bikecentennial. I built it up with the Campy group set, used it once on a ride to San Diego and back, then sold it to someone with more money than sense. I even made a small profit on the deal…
As for why I’m saying all this here is it’s just a good example of doing something with what you have is often the best way to go and expensive stuff you lust after is, almost always, highly overrated.