The fall of an American Icon

[turbo_dog]

I bought a Chicago Schwinn last summer very similar to one I had when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun to get it back working again, but after riding more modern bikes for the last several years, i really noticed that Schwinn is HEAVY!!

There are still bikes made in the USA, but most of them are pretty high end stuff. Tough to find one under $1000 I would think. I believe Cannondale and Trek still make some of their top of the line stuff in the USA. And there are several semi-custom type manufacturers, like Lynskey, etc.

The only exception for affordable American made bikes I can think of is the Worksman bike
http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_sc/s ... isers.html

I guess "affordable" is relative. I look on Craigslist a lot and luckily enjoy working on them myself. Or at least taking them apart. getting them back togethere if a completely different story. lol

[heviarti]

I started riding on a 40 pound 1956 schwinn tiger. That's why if you gave me one of these two pound super whiz-bang race bikes mounted with a Sturmey I could make fun of the larger percentage of these bicycle racers. I just can't handle a derailleur bike, or i'd probably manage .5 of c.

[wazu013]

I rode a Schwinn Varsity until my hips and knees went into the basket.
http://sheldonbrown.com/varsity-shaddox.html

[Viking45]

I rode a Schwinn Varsity until my hips and knees went into the basket.
http://sheldonbrown.com/varsity-shaddox.html

I had a large frame Varsity in kind of a light blue. Very tall bike and a little heavy but I put many miles on it back in the 80's.

The only exception for affordable American made bikes I can think of is the Worksman bike
http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_sc/s ... isers.html

Neat stuff,I did a "make my own" and stayed away from the luxury items(midnight blue frame)but I got white wall tires,chrome fenders and the precision sealed crank bearings and it came to $531. I also went the springer front fork
Not all that bad for a heavy duty bike made in the USA.
The three speed coaster brake hub brought it up to $621.

[switchman1]

Like JerrBear I was hoping he was clean, however a cheat is a cheat, what about the competitors who didn't dope? All the way down to number 5? Thats really sad.

[JerrBear]

Well, it looks like Lance has finally fessed-upness to doping. NOBODY lies to The Oprah!

[hogwild]

Did he really dope? I understand he may have had his own blood extracted and then the red cells concentrated. This would allow a higher hemoglobin content to carry oxygen. Now; is that really cheating? Probably by the letter of the rules; yes. Is everyone doing it? Probably.

My view of pro sports is let them do whatever they want. Turn'em loose. It's their bodies. Since they're not hurting other people's bodies; just my evolving libertarian opinion.

[JerrBear]

Did he really dope? I understand he may have had his own blood extracted and then the red cells concentrated. This would allow a higher hemoglobin content to carry oxygen. Now; is that really cheating? Probably by the letter of the rules; yes. Is everyone doing it? Probably.

Mr. Hogwild,

Alas, we will have to wait until tonight to see what he "cops" to...

[turbo_dog]

Did he really dope? I understand he may have had his own blood extracted and then the red cells concentrated. This would allow a higher hemoglobin content to carry oxygen. Now; is that really cheating? Probably by the letter of the rules; yes. Is everyone doing it? Probably.

My view of pro sports is let them do whatever they want. Turn'em loose. It's their bodies. Since they're not hurting other people's bodies; just my evolving libertarian opinion.

I used to agree with this. It is their bodies and they can do whatever they want to them; But doesn't that basically force everyone to have to dope to compete? Doesn't quite seem fair to those that choose to play "clean".

My primary outlook in life is this: Do whatever makes you happy as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else. By putting those that choose not to dope at a disadvantage, doping hurts others.

I think I said it earlier, but my main beef with Lance Armstrong isn't even his use of performance enhancing drugs, it's the way he threatened, vilified and bullied people who told the truth about him. He only cared about protecting himself and his legacy and didn't care about burning down the lives of anyone who crossed him. I am interested to see how he comes off in the interview, but I've read too many nasty things about him to go along with the people who say he is a good guy that was only doing what everybody else was doing.

[Viking45]

I read an article a few years back that said cocaine use was rampant in pro baseball back in the 70's.
It makes sense,they didn't have strict drug testing back then and cocaine was the drug of choice for many celebs and sports figures.

I wonder how many "homers" got knocked out by stoned players?

[Viking45]

If there ever was a story that has been beaten to death it would have to be this one. Woweee,how much longer they going to drag this out?