before the revolution

There are usually two functioning bicycles in the house, though Nicky's doesn't really count as it hardly get used and is currently up in the loft staying out of the way. There are usually two bicycles belonging to me in the house, though one is also generally up in the loft, currently awaiting me getting round to trying to unstick the seat pin with some ammonia. Two functioning bicycles belonging to me is new. Whilst the old newbie on the left is by no means a well-functioning bicycle, it is currently rideable, a state in which it has probably been since it was built in the early 2000s (the vendor suggested it was six years old but the pre-Revolution EBC branding visible in the photo suggested up to twice that) and in which it has remained in whichever shed it looks to have been sitting in for most of the time since. I'd be surprised if it's done more than 500 miles in its life; the only damage to the chainrings' and sprockets' teeth is from rust; the tyres are lightly worn, but the sidewalls are worse from age than the tread from use; cheap plastics would probably be very offended to be compared to the material the saddle was made from and the slight cracking seems more from poor materials than heavy use or a heavy user. With no work, it can be ridden now. With fresh cables, chain, saddle and lots of checking and tightening and probably some pissing-about with wire wool it could be ridden safely and unsqueakily. Ideally, it will be suitable for a number of purposes: it accepts tyres up to 38, which will make it more capable than my proper bike at getting to work through roadsful of icy wheel-ruts if we get snow again this year, and whilst it came with fat Rigida non-aero touring rims they're 700c and so technically interchangeable with the spare wheels from properbike; it has sufficient lugs and clearance for proper full-length mudguards and proper bosses on the seat stays for a rack, so can (with its fat tyres) take over primary load-carrying (possibly over non-road-bike-optimal terrain) duties; it has a pre-compact-geometry 23½" frame, so should just be adaptable enough for borrowing by my dad when he visits; whilst it came with canti V-brakes it has a drilled front fork and a brake bridge at the back for normal brakes, further enhancing component modularity with otherbike. Whilst the eventual aim will be to convert the 2*5 (freewheel) setup to something more modern and STI-shifter compatible (perhaps rebuilding the rear wheel to keep the fatness whilst upgrading the hub to a freehub) that'll have to wait, so it could (should the current gears or cheap shifters fail) be temporarily converted to SS, using the spare drop handlebars and brake levers from oldbike (though as an SS it would be less dodgily-kneed-parent-borrowable). Well worth £40, anyway. I now have a spare.