raria

I get what everyone is doing here (buying and restoring classic bikes). But help me understand why for my own benefit. If it helps I restore vintage cars.

Is it that:

a) Its a nostalgia thing. Many of us car lovers buy cars we loved as 18 year olds but couldn't afford!
b) The bikes back then were very different than they are now. For example, the styling and space of some muscle cars have not been produced since.
c) The rarity of the bikes make them prize worthy? 1967 Shelby Gt500 routinely sell over $1M.
d) The joy of getting something to work? I restored an old Mustang and it was the closest thing a man can get to giving birth!
e) Something else?

3alarmer 

e) There are a lot of very odd people in the world.

agmetal

I like the look and serviceability of older bikes. I have a particular thing for old 3-speeds. I love that Sturmey-Archer has been making essentially the same design with only minor changes, almost uninterrupted, for over 80 years. A lot of early examples are still quite usable, too!

sloar 

bikemig 

I think they're cool; others may differ. The differences between vintage and modern bikes is not that great. And I love working on them and restoring them. I like drinking a beer or two, listening to music, and working on an old bike.

ryansu

For me its combination of things; I enjoy making something that was being neglected useful again. And I have never considered myself particularly mechanical but with old bikes the mechanics are straightforward enough that even I can figure them out (mostly). Finally when a bike fits and works right (and you made that happen) and your sailing down the road with the wind in your face that is a pretty good feeling.

RobbieTunes

Yes, and then some.

seedsbelize 

All of the above. Modern plastic bikes are just butt ugly, expensive, I don't have the tools or knowledge to work on them. A 30-50 year old road bike is a thing of beauty, to look at, to ride, and to work on.

Giacomo 1 

This^^^^

I can actually sit in my garage and admire my bikes for their beauty and symmetry. My guess is most roadies that ride the latest CF bikes don't really do that. Its more or less a tool for them and maybe I'm wrong, but beautiful they are not.

Oh, one more thing, this is a very nice community to be a part of. Vintage guys are just nice people to be around.

RobbieTunes

1-Good therapy, and a lot cheaper.
2-Legal. Shooting people just causes so much hassle.
3-Fun. Eye-hand coordination, measurably declines while drinking, though.
4-Creative. We make junk look like clean and pretty junk.
5-Conversation. We are nerds on this subject.
6-Honesty. You can lie about your riding, but the bike is what it is.
7-Humility. Someone else's bike is always better.
8-Pride. Someone else's bike is always worse.
9-Magic. Sometimes, we accidentally create a really nice bike.
10-Aphrodesiac. Buy an Ironman and find out.

bikemig 

cheaper than a little blue pill?

squirtdad

it will be wildly different for each person.

not everyone is buying and restoring old bikes, some are working on bikes they got new, others are taking old frames and putting new components on the, while others it is friction only

there really are not many shelby gt type bikes when it gets to valuations....no one is making big bucks on bikes as an investment

for me personally it is a mix

Aesthetics, I like how the classic frame looks, with a classic stem and handle bars. For me brook leather saddles work. That said my latest build has very modern components...not everyone likes or will do that but I get the best of both worlds

Steel frames are durable, ride great, and have a soul.

classic 32 spoke wheels work and I am getting more into tubulars

the people here are good people, i have met several IRL and hope to meet more.

I do like fiddling and learning new things like wheel building

top506

Pretty much everything RobbieTunes said.
And for the record, we each own more that one Ironman. I don't know what that means, but there it is.

Top

oddjob2

I used to tinker with department store bikes as a kid, then bought a LeJeune a year before getting my drivers license. However, neither suburban NJ or Ithaca NY are good places to ride; too much traffic, narrow streets, and big hills.

In Ann Arbor, I rode a fair amount, particularly to UM football, campus, my office, Gallup Park, Dexter, etc. Also, there was a steady market of college students and faculty/staff in need of transit bikes.

Towards the end of the Great Recession, I found a renewed passion for bicycles and greatly increased my collection, all funded by acquiring, refurbishing, and selling bikes. I have about 30 bike hooks in my garage and want to limit my road bike collection to about that many, plus a tandem and a few MTBs. In the eastern suburbs of Detroit, bike riding is preferred to auto transit. The streets are wide, the traffic moves slow, it's flat, and the architecture is stupendous. Whether working out at the gym, taking in a movie, going yachting, visiting my mom in assisted living, chores, it's more fun with a ride.

rhm

I like to treat an old bike as a platform on which to build the bike I want, which will usually have a lot of old parts, some new parts that are indistinguishable from the old ones, and a bunch of new and modern stuff.

The bike I've been riding lately, for example, has new 10 speed drive train except for the front derailleur and the crank, which are from the 70's. It has new brakes and new brakes levers, new (modern) hubs, and new (modern) pedals, but the rims are from the 80's. The effect is off a classic or vintage bike, but it's really mostly new. The frame is new too, but could have been made many years ago.

I understand there is an analogy between classic cars and classic bikes, but it is weak. Cars have really changed pretty fundamentally, and they really have got better. It is difficult and expensive to maintain a vintage car, and relatively dangerous to drive one. In contrast, vintage bikes are cheaper, easier and cheaper to maintain, and functionally equivalent.

and then there's the engine. A strong rider on an old bike is still a strong rider.

The Golden Boy 

Yes.

My own thing is kind of more of the letter "B" in your list.

I wasn't into bikes when I was a kid- I only took up bike riding as an aerobic activity so I wouldn't get fat after I quit smoking. It evolved into a bunch of other things. One of the things I was into was old guitars. I enjoyed being dorky about what made the guitars and amps that I liked "cool" to me. You know how the 66 and 67 GTO look really similar- but that tripower 389 is just so much cooler than a 4 barrel 400. Even if just because it is a tripower 389. And the wing windows. It's the same thing with bikes- the elegance of level top tubes, gracile frame tubes, and shiny components- maybe it's because I'm "that age" but those things on a bike look better to me than flat black bulbous carbon.

A new 6 cylinder Camry will outperform a 66 GTO in nearly ever metric possible- but it's not just about that.

There's bikes and parts that are rare or unique or for whatever reason they're "cool" to me, some are worth collectible prices, but it really comes down to what trips your trigger.

Narhay

Aesthetics. They appeal to me.

You can own the best of the best without mortgaging the house...it just happens to be 40 years old.

Satisfying to restore.

I like riding my bike.

My money wasn't disappearing fast enough between the drugs, alcohol, and houses of ill repute.

bikemig 

All the bikes I thought were cool when I was in high school and college but couldn't afford are now on deep sale.

jon c. 

I'm not the collector many here are, although if I had some extra space there would be a few more bikes around. But I ride vintage largely out of nostalgia. I didn't ride at all for many years and when I started again I wanted something I wouldn't have been able to afford as a kid. I'd been on a few newer bikes and really preferred the feel of downtube shifters. Maybe it was long ingrained muscle memory, but vintage rides just felt more comfortable to me. And I really prefer the style of older bikes. So even though I don't collect, I love to read this forum and covet the beautiful steeds owned by many correspondents.

jeirvine 

+1.

speedevil 

It's just fun. Half of the fun, for me anyway, is tracking down that almost-unobtanium part that will cap a build and take it from good to great. The little details that most others (except for these forum denizens) won't even notice are worth the effort.

Rob and I rode with Steve (steelbikeguy) and a few others a couple of weeks ago to get a donut, and one of the guys was on a titanium something-or-other. I have no idea what group, wheels, tires, or anything else on that bike - just didn't notice. But we noticed Brian's Trek, Rob's Raleigh, my Lemond, Julian's paramount, and Steve's bike, but my memory failed on his - sorry Steve. Not intentional.

I have a modern carbon bike, but the components are being moved to a steel Fondriest. So my stable will soon be mostly steel (one C'dale ST), and the newest one is a 2001, the oldest one is a 1983. They're just fun.

Fahrenheit531 

If you have to ask, you won't get it.

raria

I never appreciated the cost angle, but its a good point. Bicycles haven't changed that much so a great bike 30 years ago is still a great bike but just a lot cheaper.

stardognine

I plead insanity, your honor. 😁
I was into bicycles up to around age 8, when my neighbor got a mini-bike. By 9, I had pestered the parents into getting me a good used one. 😎
Many years later, I lived in Seattle & Portland. It really is a whole nother culture out there, both of them. 😉 Then when I quit smoking, I really dove into bicycles. Mostly for a rider, and the learning along the way. 🙂

Slightspeed

Old bikes are fun.
New bikes are fun.
I can afford and ride both modern and vintage, 3 steel vintage, 1 aluminum, and 2 modern Carbon.
Don't over think it. 🤔