70sSanO

While that is true, I always marvel at a bunch of old people talking about how great all the old stuff is.

It’s like they have all completely forgotten how they were when they were young.

John

livedarklions

Interesting.
Blue is a happy color.

70sSanO

I hardly think 10:00am on a Wednesday morning at the Home Depot constitutes “street”.

John

seypat

Not really. I graduated High School in 1983. I had this family friend that let me borrow his restored 1965 Impala SS convertible from time to time. It was way more fun on dates/cruising around than a modern car for reasons we don't need to mention. It only had a 283 and a Powerglide. Not much in performance, but it sure was a fun car. Let me rephrase that. I had a lot of fun times while driving it.

genejockey 

I have 4 red bikes and 4 blue bikes. And a black bike. The black one is the only one that gets NO comments.

rosefarts

I can count on one hand the times someone didn’t talk to me, while filling up, about a Honda Trail 90 I had. Had one, wanted to buy mine, wanted me to ride with their scooter club…

I’ve been on some easier paced club rides on my Spectrum. Nobody notices the carbon super bike next to it.

Trakhak

I've owned a good number of the vintage steel bikes being praised in this thread, although in my case I bought almost all of them when they were new. Yes, I admire old bikes that look well preserved or restored, the way I admire the occasional restored Model T Ford still being driven out on the road. But the people who are drawn to your vintage steel bike rather than a newer bike would also flock around the Model T rather than your modern car.

But I admire those bikes knowing that mine is an acquired taste. There's nothing inherently beautiful about a bunch of gas-pipe-sized steel tubes joined at ungainly angles, built into a bike with exposed cables flapping in the breeze. From the standpoint of modern aesthetics, carbon bikes have much more in common with the Porsches mentioned earlier in the thread.

Ultimately, it's all a question of fashion. What I'd like to see would be those vintage steel bikes being ridden by people dressed in the outfits worn by the people in the original ads for those bikes. Bell bottoms and Earth shoes!

seypat

I know where there's a Trail 70 sitting in a garage/shed. Talk about a fun bike. It hasn't been touched in 15-20 years. In good shape. The owner's had it since he was a kid. He's waiting for one of his kids to restore it. I have to resist the urge when I deliver something to that place.

70sSanO

When I graduated from high school restore didn’t exist. You could fix ‘em up or hop ‘em up, but restore; never heard that word.

John

sloppy12

Yes that is less work. I dont know what any of that has to do with the thread and observations of what bikes get more attention.

tkamd73 

I don’t know about great, but certainly more fun, as most things were when younger.
Tim

70sSanO

I would think that most things today are really more fun.

They are faster, handle better, shift better, stop better. I’d be pressed to find anything older being more fun at what it is supposed to do.

But as a stationary conversation piece…

John

seypat

The owner had 2 grandsons around my age. He went back and found the original cars he bought for his kids when they were in high school and restored them. He couldn't find a correct set of wire spinner hub caps for the car. I had a set my grandfather had given me. I gave him my set and he let me borrow the car when I wanted. He was also a master furniture maker. Because of my gesture, he made and gave to my family a hall tree with the instructions that it pass to me when the time came. It sits in one of my halls. When he died, those kids of his inherited their cars. There were 6 kids. Eventually, the cars passed on to the next generation. Those 2 grandsons ended up with a 1963 Impala SS convertible and the 65 Impala SS convertible I drove, respectively. I don't remember the other kids cars.

70sSanO

I guess I went to the wrong high school.

John

GhostRider62

I did not know that.

Just looked at the bikes currently in the garage. Four blue bikes and two red ones.

tkamd73 

You misunderstood my comment. What I meant was, it would be more fun to ride a new bike back in the seventies, when in your 20s, then riding a new bike now, when in your late 60s. Talking about things you do, not things you buy. More fun when your young.
Tim

Rolla

Older stuff is more "crafted," while newer stuff is more "produced." This is true in almost anything: homes, automobiles, tools, furniture, bikes, etc.

Lots of folks tend to appreciate craftsmanship over production. I do, too.

70sSanO

Yes, I misunderstood. Just about every “activity” was more fun in my 20’s.

Which is kind of my point of this whole thing. When you’re n your 20’s there is none of this old nostalgic crap. You just had fun and enjoyed what you were doing.

And buying older used stuff was cheap and not placed on some altar to bow down to. Or to get some validation.

Although getting back to high school, there were 2 guys and one had a new Boss 429, and the other had a new 440 6-pack ‘Cuda (should have gotten the hemi).

John

Bald Paul

I know this thread has been drifting, so it may be difficult for you to stay with it, but....
I was responding to a comment that inferred that, because it took time, money, and care to restore an old car, it was somehow more attractive or better than a newer model off the showroom floor, and making a comparison to building a "modern" CF bike from, basically, the same pile of parts you would have with an older bike.
And if you believe running internal wiring for Di2, and then setting up the system to work correctly from scratch is somehow easier than "restoring" an old bike (which I have done several times), well, we'll agree to disagree there.

indyfabz

I didn't.

70sSanO

From a cool standpoint.

But from the educational side of things, probably one of the best.

John

seypat

I figured most of the people around my age went to a school and drove cars similar to the ones in Dazed and Confused. Or American Graffiti for the even older crowd. You can probably spot the crowd at your school in those movies. I had a 59 Chevy Apache very similar to the one Parker Posey's character drove.

Back to bikes. I think one of the reasons people gush over the old bikes is because you could work on them and hop them up. It didn't cost you seven toes and an ear to do it, either. You could mix and match components/brands and it would still work. Then all that changed. You have to buy the latest/greatest as a whole group or just buy a whole new bike. That becomes obsolete in a year or 2. At least the companies tell you that.

thehammerdog

1965 mustang will draw a crowd..always.
2021 new Kia Sportage....not so much.

indyfabz

Put that way, same here. Mine was an all boys boarding school not really near anything notable except nice surroundings. We also had things like a planetarium, ski facilities and an indoor hockey rink. Lots of guys thought they were cool. Only a small number of us actually were. The ski facilities and planetarium are gone, but there are girls and a new athletic complex that includes a new indoor hockey rink.

livedarklions

Slow day at the Pointless Nit-Picking Store?