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Has anyone ever seen an actual 1981 Schwinn 7-Eleven team bike?

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There is no greater story in any sport than a young adult who defies the older competitors (who sneer at them and refuse to let them participate) and he/she kicks their a**es. It's a time-honored story. Unfortunately, the youngster often burns out or becomes so disenfranchised with the sport that they move on.

Like the Dogtown Boys when they entered into skateboarding competition.....holy cow, what a story that was to live through!

Kevin
And if you didn't live through it, a pretty good documentary to transport you.....

Dogtown and Z-Boys https://g.co/kgs/D3dici
 
The curtain was pulled back when Tom Simpson died during the ascent of Mont Ventoux in the 1967 Tour de France.
Then the 1984 US Olympic team blood doping scandal gave credence to the phrase, if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I can just about guarantee that pushing the boundaries of what you can get away with is inherent in every human competition that has ever been devised.
If Lance hadn’t come clean, it all would’ve just been accusations and speculation.
You can assume anything you like, but OJ Simpson was never convicted of murder.
Maybe he’ll come clean on his deathbed, but then, I don’t think he’s as stupid as Lance was.🤪
 
I don’t believe for a second, that Lemond was riding clean.
He may have thought he was riding clean, but think about it.
He was riding for a French team, with one of France’s biggest cycling stars, who was a proven doper, at the height of the doping era.
He did what the team directors told him to do, or he didn’t ride for the team.
I’m sure, there were very few questions asked at that stage of his career.
He probably always thought the reason he felt so good the next day, was because he was young and invincible.
 
I hadn’t thought about Eric Heiden for years. He is still mentioned up here in NorCal, AFAIK he still holds the unofficial record for riding up Old La Honda Road, a notorious grade near Stanford.
 
Thanks everyone. I had seen the Murray and Huffy badged bikes, but never an actual Schwinn made 7-Eleven team bike. I did a search and came up with two shots with Heiden on a Paramount from 1981, the only year Schwinn sponsored.

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And if you didn't live through it, a pretty good documentary to transport you.....

Dogtown and Z-Boys https://g.co/kgs/D3dici
The real documentary is amazing......to watch those boys in their prime. The movie was OK, but the real film footage and the circumstances of the drought which left all the swimming pools dry and the Dogtown Boys finding those pools to practice in. And the first time one of them went over the top curb of a pool.....

Kevin
 
The curtain was pulled back when Tom Simpson died during the ascent of Mont Ventoux in the 1967 Tour de France.
Then the 1984 US Olympic team blood doping scandal gave credence to the phrase, if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I can just about guarantee that pushing the boundaries of what you can get away with is inherent in every human competition that has ever been devised.
If Lance hadn’t come clean, it all would’ve just been accusations and speculation.
You can assume anything you like, but OJ Simpson was never convicted of murder.
Maybe he’ll come clean on his deathbed, but then, I don’t think he’s as stupid as Lance was.🤪
Lance didn't come clean, that was my point. He bullied & lied, and used all his power & influence to destroy the lives of his accusers. Only when the mountain of evidence was stacked against him did his 'lawyers' tell him to come clean. I'm sorry, but that's lower than low.... he was only thinking about saving himself and his precious foundation somehow.

Kevin
 
Thanks everyone. I had seen the Murray and Huffy badged bikes, but never an actual Schwinn made 7-Eleven team bike. I did a search and came up with two shots with Heiden on a Paramount from 1981, the only year Schwinn sponsored.

View attachment 1841154

View attachment 1841155
What I've read is that the Paramounts never went abroad and competed against the likes of the Raleigh SBDUs, for example. I think they were plenty strong, but wouldn't have been light enough.

Kevin
 
Bicycle racing: the original doping sport.
They've been doing it since way before anybody else ever thought about it, likely over a hundred years.

Eddie Merckx still holds the 100 mile speed record and a few others doesn't he? Pretty amazing for 60 year old equipment. He must have been pretty jacked for some of those trials.

Lance just got caught, outed actually. His giant Secretariat heart gave him the edge over all the other dopers.

I’ve always liked bike racing though, at least everybody cheats equally.

Everybody is “clean“ except Lance though…..

The old Red Zinger and Coors Classic races were great fun to watch here in Colorado back in the day.
The racers used to say that those races were tougher than the Tour simply because of the altitude.
Love this line in your post: “I’ve always liked bike racing though, at least everybody cheats equally.” Sad but true. I’m sure there is some level of doping going on even now.
 
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