Originally Posted by
gomango
Your Ritchey looks great and so practical.
FWIW I gave up on "vintage only" over five years ago. I started riding modern mtb's and it was game over.
So many improvements.
As for modern road bikes, I think through a gravel lens for those.
Out city streets stink here, so I started going wide tires on my road bikes at the same time I got back into mtb's.
My new Fairlight Faran should be here in August and I think I'll have my Bilenky up on the chopping block at that time.
I see no need to keep two tourers.
I opted for the Shimano GRX800 2x 650b model with Chris King components, Hope upgrade and a Son dyno.
I also ordered all new bag sets from Roadrunner.
So, I still have a couple of very nice vintage bikes, but I have less of an issue rough housing with the new bikes.
https://fairlightcycles.com/wp-conte...v=79cba1185463
I hear ya, man, on the vintage only thing. It has a lot to offer, and while an older road bike can still do alright (relatively) given its 'motor,' the advancements in the MTB world have been of immense benefit to effectively tackling more and more types of terrain. Our roads here in and around the city are...not going to be repaved any time soon, and aside from some farther-away bike paths, the closer paths are root infested and I'm firmly on the "Please make it stop!" train as far as effectively muting bumps and gaps and crap without paying a massive weight or aesthetic penalty. Since discovering that 700x48's do that for my size/weight, I am in full 'go mode' in getting some decent-looking, non-disc frameset, that's tall enough. I still want to have a road bike Q-factor, so add that to the unicorn bike criteria. I'm optimistic I'll find something, I hope.
