When did "This thing of ours" get started?
 

Specifically, C&V. The grass roots "movement" before we got to where we are today, with vintage bikes, parts and vintage-bike-centric rides and events galore?

I bought my first vintage bike in 1994; it was only 11 years old at the time. However, I was already seeing references to vintage lightweight stuff in both sales ads in local publications (London, UK, where I happened to be stationed when I got into this) and online. That's right; way back then one could find a few websites dealing exclusively with vintage frames and components. One I recall vividly was Renaissance Cycles in Holland, which offered NOS Campy (at insane prices), NOS and used high-end framesets (somewhat less-insane prices) and even refurbished parts - this latter offering was the catalyst for me to try my hand at refurbishing my own parts.

What do you think? For me, it started in the mid-90s, but I didn't know there was a presence out there until I discovered this forum in 2009. Oh, I knew there were collectors and the like out there, but didn't know there were people like me that still rode them regularly, or that others took vintage frames and updated them with modern components. It's been great finding this community, and I'm curious how we got it to where it is today. My contributions to the hive mind have spanned just 10 years, but I've been into this far longer than that. What about you?

DD

For me it started in a fog of opioids and a stove up body with my wife helping me drag my old Schwinn up out of the basement. Slightly before my join date here.

I read somewhere, (possibly here) that through out history, right before the turn of the century people become nostalgic. Hence the retro movement.
When it started here I have no idea as I didn't join til 2015.
As for me, I didn't do "this thing if ours" because I wanted vintage, but more like I wanted to get the bike I always wanted but couldn't afford bitd. So the internet made me realize there were some still out there to be had. And now I got 4.....but I need ONE more.

When did you guys start calling all my good cycling equipment old?

DD, for me it never really ended, as it never ended for many on C&V.

In my case, in the early 2000s, I was still ridding my Schwinn Traveler bought with wedding money in 1980. It had replaced my '70 Sears Free Spirit (Austrian made Puch) which was stolen in college near the end of 1976. Both were and remained low-end Bike-Boom 10 speeds--- which always made me yearn for the Paramount I couldn't afford at Pete's Cycle in Bel Air, MD, where I was raised.

Both bikes were ridden a great deal and were never simply wall leaners nor basement dust collectors. I must admit my maintenance was minimal, but I kept them clean, they lived indoors while resting, and when bearings did not spin smoothly, I took care of the issue. It was while trying to take care of a worn out bottom bracket on the Traveler in about 2003 that I became aware of C&V and how the bike world had left me behind for SIS, brifters, indexing, CF, etc.

The owner of the LBS, where I had taken the Traveler, basically laughed at me and wanted to know why I was wasting my time and money. He said he might be able to fix or replace the BB, but he'd need several weeks, possibly more than a month to do so. In the mean time, he encourage me to take a look at all his $1500 and up road bikes. I rolled my Traveler out of his shop, turned to the internet, and never looked back. :D

It just kinda happened when I stopped upgrading bikes every couple of years. More of a "thing" by default.

I didn't join this forum for C&V, but that's why I'm still here.

Stage 1 - bought a few bikes in the '80s, when they were just "used bikes", never thought about them eventually getting "old", let alone "classic"
Stage 2 - never sold them, time passed, people started calling them "C&V" or the like
Stage 3 - Got a look at newer bikes, and that one-two punch of how expensive they are plus how soul-less. Sharpened my focus on old steel, and never looked back.

couldn't afford a corvette...

Early eighties for me, my oldest brother was a bike enthusiast he had his bikes. He would break everything and trash the junk. I would take the junk that he broke and try to rebuild, I've never used a bike mechanic or had a new bike. I bought my best bike from him circa 85, Masi Prestige. Still have it.

I worked in a bike shop in the 80s and I forgot to update my bikes as time went on. Plus all the cool bikes I wanted then but couldn't afford are now on deep, deep sale.

I may be one of the younger ones here (early 30's), and I'm new to the hobby. Needed a bike about 5 years ago and a friend sold me their UO-8 fixed gear conversion for cheap. I knew nothing about bicycles, let alone vintage ones. However, something about the steel frame and decals on the Peugeot really stood out to me, enough that I was curious what the bike may have looked like originally. I ended up on the Galaxy Bikes Instagram and was blown away by the restorations they do and really fell in love with C&V aesthetics. I ignorantly emailed the owner with some silly questions and he was extremely helpful. The rest is history.

Many great adventures start this way...

For me, it was continuing to ride the kinds of bikes that I started with in the early 70s. Now, nearly complete strangers bring me bikes, saying "I have this old bike to be rid of, and I thought of you." Is that a compliment?

In the mid-later 80's ('85-'88) my 1972 road bike was just old. I was a student, barely pieced it back together, Campagnolo 980 rear mech. ( Suntour was better but the bike was European).
There were guys looking for the newest, first generation SIS who were willing to sell old race bikes cheap, but no money to take advantage of that.

After graduation and with $ in the wallet, Student loans paid off, I bought a Ritchey mtb.

Next "vintage" purchase was in 2001, a Pinarello Montello, found in the local classifieds.

I bought my first "vintage" bike in 1974 75 or 76. I was in my teens and it wasn't a "vintage" bike then because it was a new Raleigh Super Course MK II. I bought my last "vintage" bike, the Raleigh Pro in 1978, but again it was new. There were a few in between, stolen or sold but I still have the Pro. That bike became "vintage" over the years. In 1987 I bought the shogun (new) for the boss lady. It was the only bike with full size 27" wheels that was small enough to fit her. Look at the head tube in the pics. That bike also became vintage over time as well.

The kitchen background pics are 5 year old photos. I have since "corrected" the Pro by putting the original bone crusher Brooks Team Pro saddle back on and by getting real Campy brake hoods. And then I "de-corrected" by getting some 1978 Super Record parts like changers, brake levers, pedals, seat post, etc.as in the outdoor photo. Otherwise the Pro is just as when purchased, except for the tires of course. I still have the original Sakae bars for the Shogun too, but she likes those triathlon bars.

So I guess we grew into the vintage bike phenomenon. Modern bikes do Nothing for me.

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That's really cool Phil. Do you run a bike store? how do you store them all?

Neither could I, but over the same time I had 4 bikes, I had 12 Cadillacs!

with what I've forked over for my bikes, i could have probably bought a corvette! had a '93 deville (loved it.. pre-NorthStar), and a '96 deville. that one nickel and 100 dollar billed me to death!

Ooh that Raleigh is nice, Mike, reminds me of mine, whose Campag parts ensemble came from the rusty Windsor Pro that I pulled from Goodwill's dumpster back in 2001 I think.

I'm not sure when C&V got started, but for me, I worked in a shop in 1978-79 while attending college, and after getting my Super Course stolen on campus I assembled a Fuji S-12S from shop discards, even built my wheels from parts.
I later got caught behind the times while I was slow to upgrade to SIS, so I found myself in the Suntour world in the early 90's, always tinkering with my Command-shifted Cannondale and my newer Epic. I became "without home" after the Northridge earthquake ruined my place so I rented a room from an older road bike coach who taught me a lot of bike history and often kept me busy working on his and his friend's mostly-older bikes.

The C&V bug bit hard after I had moved up to Silicon Valley and and day found an old PX10 sticking out of a dumpster! I rebuilt it of course and put my first pair of STI levers on it as it was my goal to build a bike using these RX100 8s levers that I had sourced at the bike swap.

One thing led to another and suddenly I had almost a dozen road bikes! Then I started racing them, especially the 1893 Pedersen replica that turned up while I was searching flea markets for the contents of my burgled L.A. garage (luckily they took tools, not bikes).
Then I found the CR list, what a huge amount of info that one can gain there, especially the appreciation of bikes left in their original state versus (resto-mod builds).

Around 2010 I found C&V here, and it's been a double-dose of old-bike musings ever since.

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Nice bikes, especially the Pro.

You had a Super Course stolen too? That's the model bike that I had stolen from me in the 70s as well. Mine was the Emerald Green with White inserts.

Your Pro, a MK IV - yes? But it has small flange hubs.

What is the CR list?

My entry into C&V was facilitated by an enabler, in particular the guy that started this thread. That's right DD, j'cuse sir, :50: January 2016 to be precise, was the beginning of my adict......er, passion for the C&V cycling world, all thanks to Drillium Dude .:thumb:

DD sent me a PM asking if I was still looking for a nice vintage frame set to build up. He had two he had selected to thin out the herd, and I very happily asked for the Medici Pro Strada he had posted here when he built it up to take to Diego Garcia. He also had a few select Campag bits that he graciously sold me at bargain basement prices, so I could get started the right way. The other regulars here encouraged my habit, happily I might add.

Now I am considering seeking professional help for substance abuse, but they only want know where I keep my parts stash hidden, vultures all I tell you:D

Bill

Count me in as another person who bought a new bike way back when and then it (and I) turned vintage with the passing of the years. The newer bikes just never appealed to me, though I did acquire an aluminum Trek with brifters, index shifting, etc for a while. I got rid of it because it was uncomfortable and didn't handle as well as my older bikes. Also, I have received a couple of freebies (including my Cinelli) from folks who knew that I rode an old bike.

I often give the repaired bike to someone who needs a bike. Sometimes I sell them on Craigslist. Sometimes I strip them and donate the frame/fork and parts to the local bike cooperative. I've tried to keep my volume of bikes to "a manageable figure" (to quote the courtroom banter in True Grit).

When I quit smoking I got back on the bike- the bike I had was my 1987 Schwinn High Sierra- I always thought it was cool, but didn’t know exactly what was cool about it. If that makes sense. I thought the black chrome was cool- but after doing some reading about old mountain bikes, and then looking at the appointments on my bike- I realized what I liked about my bike was all the little touring appointments- which was kind of what I was shooting for to begin with- Diving deeper into the rabbit hole, I started realizing what kind of touring bikes interested me and what made them so cool and beautiful and graceful to me. And also realizing that they didn’t make bikes like I liked.

As for online, it was dial-up pokey baud, Netscape browser to some bike chat and parts exchange. No pics posted. Before Google, PayPal (or any online money transfer).

The name escapes me but I suppose the 'Way back Machine' may have it.

there was 15 years ago a ‘68 Black on Black Eldorado parked for sale in the town shopping district. No vinyl roof- looked perfect.
so good that one could have made the case it had the body tuned- block sanded- the reflections were great- no GM panel offsets.
68k miles... $10k.

I took 10 minutes at least checking it out.
when I returned to our car my wife said
” maybe your next wife would like it”

so much for that.
i should have bought it anyway and stored it offsite. Would have been a good investment.