like mstateglfr above, I try to stay away from the grouch but embrace the retro. Not to be "retro" but because there were a lot of old ideas and bikes that were simply excellent.
My bikes, in order of frame manufacture:
A 1973 Raleigh Competition - 531, skinny stays and forks. Comfortable fun and funky. I use it as a winter/'city/rain bike and farmers market light pickup truck.
The 1979 Peter Mooney - conceived of as an all-arounder to be able to ride any of the lower 48 states 12 months of the year as a link to sanity after my head injury. (Peter Mooney was a clubmate and at the annual awards diner of our club when it was announced I was in the hospital in a coma.) We (the bike and I) have been through so much that selling it would be like selling a brother. It is now set up as a Portland hills worthy classic English fix gear; a job for which it is sublime. (Old fashioned and totally passe horizontal dropouts that I insisted on 45 years ago made that transition to fix gear simple.)
A circa 1983 Trek 5 something - my fix gear winter/city/rain bike and workhorse. Best night ride. An entire roll of 3M reflective tape that matches the paint perfectly. (Happy accident.)
1983 Pro Miyata - fun pick up from a BFer. The 1983 version of the 1976 bike I raced and loved. Better bike in all respects. Puts the same grin on my face. Some parts are different, some are newer but little change in concept.
2008 TiCycles custom - inspired by the sport Japanese bikes of the '80s with ti tubing I'd ridden once for 1/2 a mile and loved.
2011 TiCycles custom fix gear - designed by me to be a high end 1980s ride but fix gear inspired by how they raced the Tour de France 110 years ago. Stopping at the foot of mountains and the top and flipping the wheel around. Favorite bike ever. 22,000 miles despite sharing the garage with a bunch of excellent and fun rides. (My avatar photo.)
So two of my bikes do have fairly high end frames but both were inspired by older bikes and eras. All my wheels are old fashioned, spoked, aluminum rims and braked at that rim. Now all but the winter/city/rain bikes wear tubular tires (sewups). Not to be "retro" but to have tires solidly glued onto the rim that will stay on even in a high speed complete blowout. (I did that crash with a clincher going low 20s MPH. Haven't been able to enjoy big descents since; until I went back to the ancient technology I used to race and have blown out at 45. Not a big deal. Just roll to a stop and change tires. Can even using both brakes.)
baj32161, I'm not trying to suggest that I am or my bikes are any better than anyone else's. Yes, my love for them is deep. I've been riding a long time. My injury was from a bike but riding and racing the next season was the piece of my spiritual journey I needed to get back on my feet. The ex-racer in me loves race bikes of all ages. My engineer brain loves to look a the latest tech. Recent years my life has become more comfortable and I've been acquiring bikes. For many years it was just two. My link to sanity; the Mooney and the workhorse I could ride anywhere (and lock anywhere). But if I see someone out there on a bike they love, whatever the tech or type, my heart sings!
Had to look up Burlington. 1973 I rode out to school end of summer. Only night I slept with a roof over my head was at a motel in your Niagra Falls. Next morning I rode probably through Brantford on my way to Windsor where my roommate met me at customs with his car. So I passed not far from your location now. I'm well rooted in Portland, OR so we are unlikely to cross paths but if you come out this way, PM me. (And Seattle or Vancouver are close enough,)