Friday fun: what is the crappiest / oldest bike with which you completed a tri (Page 2)

Best we can figure 1972 Torpado.   Shimano 600 shifter, derailures, wheels. and brakes.   Did first tri in 2005 used it for 2-HIM, 10 sprints, and Oly and number of rides and couple Du's. 

Not 1972, unless upgraded. Brake shifters came out in the early 90's but threaded headsets were the norm by 2000 and steel frames were on the way out by 2000. Probably sometime in the 90s.

In 2006, a 1974? Takara 10 speed. Big ol' bike. I was brand new to triathlon. I racked the bike, walked around the other side, and the whole rack fell over. The transition-area guy scratched his head and said, "I don't know why that rack fell over. These are all light bikes, 'cept that big yellow one in the middle." I didn't own up. You know, that bike did fit me really well, but it weighs a ton! Shifters on the down tube, schrader valves, and a cushy seat.

Edited by Shoeless 2010-01-23 11:25 PM

Did my first tri in Oct '08 on my '93 (that's 15 yo for you non-math folks) Giant MTB---I had at least put slicks on it....man the feeling when I saw the results and that I had ave 20mph for the 12.4 mile bike split  Of course coming from a swim background it was eye opening to hear that whoomp whoomp whoomp of the disks coming and going---but I did actually pass some people too!!!  Then I upgraded just a little bit to a '09 P2C...and added a PT rear wheel/cover....and a Zipp 808 front----yeah I was bitten by the bug pretty hard and didn't think doing B2B full on my MTB was a good idea......

2004 did my first tri on a bike I picked up from ebay a few weeks prior when deciding to get fit - instead of being on ebay it should have been in the bin!  Think the bike was from the early 80s, weighed a ton and had about 5 gears, no name on it from memory.
Paid about $50 for it, $30 for new tyres and raced on it for one race only.  Got the bug in the race bad, parked it outside a tent at the tri that a local bike shop had to look at the new bikes inside as I had decided during the bike leg I was going to upgrade before my next race.  Noticed the bike shop owner and friend sniggering at my bike - went home and did some research and bought my current bike at another shop during that week.