I like this thread. I mean, I really like it. Why? Because I feel that these old bikes are forgotten, as department store "mountain" bikes and "hybrid" bikes have tainted their public reputation among all but the more enthusiastic riders. When you see a guy riding through an alley with a flashlight duct taped to his handlebars and bags of bottles and cans where his panniers should be, it doesn't paint a pretty picture. I see more cheap suspension MTB and hybrid bikes abandoned than any other style, maybe because of their relatively low price and quality, but probably in part due to the stigma.
Now here we are with our fancy vintage bikes that have survived through whatever miracle to afford us with the ride geometry we are looking for, as well as their historical value. As progenitors of the fully sprung carbon species adorning the hitch racks and truck beds of serious off road riders, they are invaluable. As owners and riders, we give them new life each day as we enjoy ours with them. It doesn't matter what we do to them as long as they are RIDDEN and loved.
That spirit of simple enjoyment and discovery is what this is about to me. The popularity of hybrids and cyclocross began with the mods we are doing to our own rigs now, maybe from road bikes and mountain bikes equally, but from the early MTB boom days without question. We are rediscovering history, and riding it. Stop badgering each other about frame mods and just enjoy the show, as much as the ride.
Because ultimately, though we rant and rave and argue about them out of real love and respect, to the rest of the public, we may still in fact look like a bunch of tweekers on our crazily cobbled-together old junk.