tugrul

Are you an old man if you own a bicycle older than yourself?

Binxsy

I technical do not really have one either, I have a 89 Peugeot triathlon (non lugged 501 steel) but most of the components are new or where new within the last 10 years. Fork is a vitus 979, but from a distance the bike looks like it could be a late 90s or so.



My 79 U08 I made into a freewheeled single speed, and my Sekai 2500 I made into a fixie.

frantik

except the paint job is pure late 80s bliss

frantik

i think it's more the opposite.. young people are more likely to own bikes that were produced before they were born.. simply because the younger you are, the more "old" bikes exist

auchencrow

+1
IAWTC
What he says ^

rootboy 

you're dating yourself Auchen,

abarth

I like to think vintage bikes are pre-87. Classic can be any time.

iab

1920s.

After that they started with those fancy-cut lugs. Harumph. Anything past square-cut lugs just screams modern and should be in the road forums.

Tio

I would like to assert that it can be relative, especially if one is to reduce a bike to its elements. For example, in the recent past I owned an early 80s Colnago that felt less vintage than my '98 Serotta does to me today. For me, it mattered that Ernesto had been fabricating bikes similar to mine for just short of 30 years when my bike was new stock. Conversely, my Serotta was fabricated in the heyday of the ti movement (given Litespeed brought ti to the masses in the 80s, and it was only in 1974 when Teledyne was the first to mass produce ti frames).

Of course, this feeling neglects that my Serotta is equipped with 2004 components.

Binxsy

Have you seen some of the fixies and other bikes they are coming out with now?!?! Some looked like the 80's puked then dry heaved for 6 hours on top of them....

frantik

lol... i have a whole thread documenting one local flippers fugly conversions https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...an-conversions

Velognome 

Every bicycle will qualify as vintage at some point in time but not all will aspire to the realm of the classic.

There, now everyone can play.

Peter_B

October 1947

The UK Earl's Court bike show was held in November, and the various manufacturer's new models for next calendar year were introduced at that show.

nfmisso

Thank you for the clarification.

I have a friend with a collection that extends back to a replica of a pre-1800s bike, and with a fair number of high wheelers. All are ride-able and ridden.

My World Tourist has the original frame, forks, front freewheel, front derailleur and front shifter. Everything else has been changed over the years. The stem is from an Austrian Free Spirit ten speed, ca. 1973; the pedals were purchased in England in 1974. The wheels are 27" Suze/Araya 36/40H sealed bearing freewheel (mid '80's) that I acquired last fall. Everything else is recent.

The Sierra Sport is also getting new components. It will have ISO 590 Sun CR18 rims. I am too heavy for the 571 (650c) stuff available, 559 is too small to match the brakes, and 622 (700c) is too large. The 584 (650b) is expensive, and too low a tire pressure for me.

The Trek T50 Tandem has a wonderfully rigid Cro-Mo frame, 1 1/8" threadless headset. It is mostly original, except the handle bars, levers and the middle and large chainrings. Even has the original rims - lot of brake rash on the rear, none on the front. I suspect very few miles, base on the rims, and lack of wear on the sprockets.

Amesja

I think that 25 years is a good year of thumb. But the more complex answer has to do with when a particular type was introduced. If we are talking about Roadsters something made in the 1970's barely qualifies. But if we are talking about Mountain Bikes if we used the same date there wouldn't BE any of them so we have to fast forward a decade to find any examples. Suspended MTB's? Add a few more years. If we are talking classic aluminum-framed bikes we'll have to change the date yet again. CF? keep adding years. Pretty soon we get "vintage X" items that were made in the mid/late 00's.

At least bikes have been around for a while. What defines a classic/vintage cell phone? What defines a classic/vintage smart phone? I've got a vintage iPhone...

Give me a break. Anything made past 1980-85 isn't really a vintage anything. It's just nouveau scrap.

Picchio Special

And not only that, in the 20's those darned Bastide designs took over and ruined everything. Blasted post-WWI hipsters.

rhm

How about this:

If it's older than you, it's old.

If you bought it new, it's new.

repechage

Then what if you bought them new 35 years ago?

iab

Changed my mind. Now it is anything before electronic shifting.

LVRider

I consider my mid-90s Fondriest Mega Chrome (steel Dedacchi tubing) C&V, but others would disagree.

Amesja

The 90's were just yesterday. I could have nearly held my breath that long.

Velognome 

Is a 2011 Hetchins with 531 tubes, curly stays and Credo lugs not a Classic?

frantik

the best (imo) lugged steel bikes were produced in the late 80s.. hardly scrap

rhm

No, that's what they call "retro" (at best) or "pseudo"*.

*I think we can use both "retro" and "pseudo" as an adjectives in their own right. If you consider them prefixes that have to be attached to another word, whether adjective, noun, adverb, or whatever, please feel free to supply one for whatever you think Hetchins is. Your choice.

randyjawa 

Correct, it is not a classic.

To earn the honor of being classic the thing must have an enduring and defining quality. The Volkswagon beetle is a classic, by definition. It defined a class and endured for a heck of a long time. A Ten Speed is a classic example of a bicycle gender. The fine work in the Hetchins would be an example of classic bicycle craftsmanship, something high end bikes are know for, but the bike itself is not a classic. It is only built in a classic style.

So, to be both classic and vintage, the item must be old (how old is up in the air at the moment?) and have an enduring and/or a defining quality...

How many bicycles can lay claim to that honor? The roadster can. The Ten Speed can. The mountain bike can. And even the hybrid can. There are all in classes of their own, and the older ones have a chance to achieve classic status, because what they brought to the table endured.

I think.