Rollfast

Worth riding maybe? It's a bike.

noglider 

"Old" is a pejorative word?

wphamilton

Are you saying my Nashbar bike will never make the cut either?

squirtdad

Only is a separate forum for "BSO objects POC (piece o crap) sub-genere with to0 many posts over the years for what it is worth and who got the bananas idea to split the handle bars to put twist shifters on"

bikemig 

You are being a jerk. Why are you doing this? Is this how you plan to recuperate from intensive care? I'll bet there are are better ways for you to get better.

wphamilton

Split bars and twist shifters off, for years now. Also the creaky, hefty bottom bracket. That doesn't degrade the classic appeal I hope.

wphamilton

I've been riding my bikes, running and going to the gym to get better. Why are you attacking me?

wphamilton

Serious question: do some of you feel like it demeans your hobby to suggest that any old bike is a classic?

squirtdad

@wphamilton you should get with @hotbikes and do a design collaboration with you denali and his forward thinking designs, especially fairings...... the man is a coroplast genius this could only improve the appeal..... I have no doubt hotbikes will show some examples

canklecat

Vintage: Jacques Anquetil rode it.

Classic: Same model bike Anquetil rode. I can't afford it.

Cult Classic: Gas pipe knockoff Anquetil I can afford. Will convert to beach bike with swept bars, basket, squeeze bulb horn and bar end tassels.

curbtender

No. Many people come here because of a nostalgic urge to bring their old bike back to life. It doesn't matter if it's collectable or not. Rare maybe, try finding 70's Hawthorne bike. Not much love for those either. I looked at these for a bit on my first road bike...

Andy_K 

I think the biggest problem here is that many of the responders don't know you and so don't know whether you are serious or not.

To answer your question directly and honestly, 12 years old generally isn't enough for the regulars here to consider it vintage. As someone said earlier, 25 years is a common mark when a number is pushed for but generally it's more about the characteristics.

I'd use an analogy to music. Classic rock will never become oldies no matter how old it gets because that's a different style. Similarly new music doesn't become classic rock just by getting old.

There is a certain sense in which your Denali will eventually be regarded as an interesting old bike, but it will be similar to the way Huffy Aerowinds are now viewed by the C&V crowd -- an interesting historic footnote and maybe worth a place in an eccentric collection, but not really worth restoring.

littlevikingca

Re: the Eroica 1987 date:

My understanding is that the 1987 cut-off has to do with the transition from friction to indexed shifting . Since the Eroica event started in Italy, the introduction of the Campagnolo Syncro indexed shifting in 1987 probably takes precedence over the Shimano indexed systems (introduced earlier) as the "benchmark" date.

John E

Yes, I think 25 years is often used as a starting point in discussion of vintage or classic cars and bicycles. All of my bicycles qualify, and if I can successfully replace the fried power window wiring in my 1996 Audi A4, it should qualify, as well, at least in another year or two. (Inaugural year in the U.S., the car that saved Audi from oblivion after the unintended acceleration mess.)

wphamilton

Rats. It will have to become a family heirloom then, and the next generation can enjoy it as a vintage classic.

Not a problem, a Denali should not be "restored" to a less rideable state anyway.

thinktubes 

Andy_K 

Well, that's another can of worms on this board -- whether a vintage bike should be restored to original specs or built in a way that makes it most useful to the current owner. I lean toward the latter, but it's against the usual ethos of C&V. I know you've put a lot of time and care into your Denali and made it into the bike you want it to be. Often a similar treatment can be detected in older bikes (such as finding SunTour components on frames that originally came with *ahem* less functional components). Many purists like to revert these to their original state, but there is a large contingent that respect the authenticity of this being what real owners would have done "back in the day." It will be an interesting discussion with "surviving" Denalis 10-20 years from now. I suspect most that escape the junkyard will have been customized as your has been, but a "like new" survivor with all the original components will be quite a curiosity, particularly since a few of those components (like the shifters) just aren't seen on any other bike.

Wildwood 

i've never said a Denali from 2007 wasn't a very rideable and serviceable bike.
Another above said 'properly set up, a decent bike' - and i agree.
i've often advocated (gently) for an 8\9\10 Forum.
(isn't there a Single Speed or Fixed Forum???)
Owners of those bikes (mechanical brifters with rim brakes) get offended by folks in Road and C&V concurrently.
That's meee, toooo.

Campy 9/10 sneered and smeared by many.
Brakes that never failed me - ridiculed.
Maybe the Recently Obsoleted Forum.
I have CF+Ti+ new steel with 10speed (brifters) and feel they are just out of date at this point; certainly not vintage and classic is too nebulous to be meaningful across the anon interwebs.

Don't jump to conclusions.
Please.
I think you were previously offended by a comment misinterpreted.
Ride On!

Andy_K 

I like it! I'm a bit "recently obsoleted" myself -- not yet vintage but definitely not state-of-the-art.

Wildwood 

Since there are always multiple versions of Truth....

a better question might be:

Do any of you folks with old bikes that started as cheaply manufactured and poorly assembled bikes really care if it is thought of as a rideable old bike instead of C&V?

edit: I own a city bike, beach cruiser and 24" + 20" bmx's - never be C&V, just old and rideable bikes. My expensive custom tandem has a softride beam for the stoker - so not a 'classic' design (no matter the $$$ involved).

time to go ride for me.

KonAaron Snake 

If you want to post your bike - post it...you’ve been around long enough to know the deal. If someone wants to talk about it, they will. If not, they won’t. You know the standard for “vintage” is commonly 25 years, or 1983. You know that very few people will be interested in that bike here. You also know that if you post it, no one will complain..r likely care. We’ve had countless define c/v threads.

Post your bike. Or don’t. I think I speak for most when I say few will care either way.

No one here will complain if you post that, or any other bike, here...but you also don’t get to be upset if no one is interested.

steelbikeguy

holy cow... my first 10 speed, a very humble Montgomery Wards lugged beasty had those stem shifters!

I think I had that bike for a couple of years before I replaced it with a much lighter used Sekine with SunTour derailleurs & down tube shifters and silk sew-ups! The Sekine must have been 8 pounds lighter, and going from 70 psi crappy clinchers to silk sew-ups... it was an enormous change! I don't think I've experienced that big of a difference since then.

Steve in Peoria
(and no, the Montgomery Wards bike might become vintage, but it will never be a classic, IMHO)

wphamilton

for the doubters a pic from a few years back. It looks somewhat different now.

https://www.bikeforums.net/18644067-post15.html

Dannihilator

Ok guys please keep it civil.

nlerner

I think “pejorative” is a pejorative word.