My Ecto-10… Speed
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
I reached a new level a geekdom. Luckily for me, it’s a healthy dose (no pun intended, of course).
Late in the summer, I purchased a vintage Raleigh 10 speed bicycle off of Craigslist. This was the end of a long search. You see, I am 6′ 7″ and an XL bike frame isn’t easy to find… let alone a used one! And to find one that is in good shape and not ugly as sin is nearly impossible! Yet fate dealt me a good hand and I found a bike that was the right size, in great condition and a fun color scheme of white, red and chrome.
It’s that color palette that first caught my attention. It reminded me of the Ecto-1. After a little research, I also discovered that the bike was made in 1984, the same year Ghostbusters was released. With that in mind, I had no choice but to flush out the Ghostbusters theme and turn this old 10 speed into an Ecto-10 Speed.
I purchased a pair of vintage WW2 khaki bicycle saddle bags off of ebay for cheap, as well as a Ghosbusters logo and Venkman name tag patch to sew on the bags. I mounted the saddle bags to a chrome rear wheel rack (to match the chrome fork in front) with a glossy red wood shelf down the center that I added (to add extra support for the saddle bags and continue the color scheme).
With some khaki handlebar tape, and a hand sewn top tube pad to bridge the color gap between the front and back of the bike, I now have an Ecto-10 Speed.
If you combine Ghostbusters and Bicycling, the official colors would be red, white and green!
Whether I riding in the city streets, or on bike trails, I am always representing the Ghostbusters community on two wheels.
