Rocket-Sauce 

Wearing a team jersey is fine... same as wearing a football/basketball/baseball/hockey/soccer etc jersey from the team you support. I don't think anyone sees me wearing one of my retro team kits and thinks I am pretending to be something I am not. Put another way, no one sees my upper-middle aged butt clad in lycra and says "Does that guy thinks he is Eddy Merckx?".

Our sport needs more fans.

That said... my dad once said to me "No grown man should wear another man's name on his back". So, I bought him a NY Rangers jersey because at the time, one of their captains had the same last name as us...

Rocket-Sauce 

Both of those bikes are viciously cool and absolute stunners. Honestly, they are two of my all time favorites.

BUT....

Both would look so much better with normal setback posts, IMO. Plenty of options out there: Nitto, Ritchey, Deda, Soma, Velo Orange, Paul, Miche.... Loads more

jamesdak 

Right!!

I'm always hunting down kit stuff to match the color schemes on my bike just 'cause. Not trying to be anybody but me but also not caring what anyone thinks, LOL!

steelbikeguy

That's a nice looking bike! Extra points for the cable housing colors (I'm a sucker for that stuff).

I got my vintage jerseys back in the early days of ebay, when things seemed to be either cheaper or easier to find. It's been a while since I've looked, so maybe there is still enough available? I think I paid $40 or so for most of them. My guess is that there's not a lot of skinny guys who still want the stuff.
There are modern reproductions, such as this TI-Raleigh/McGregor jersey from Steel Vintage Bikes. It's more expensive, 130 Euros, but that's not out of line for a lot of modern wool jerseys....
https://steel-vintage.com/ti-raleigh-merino-wool-jersey

It does look like a fairly good copy of a vintage one that I've got....


There were some reproductions of early lycra jerseys too. I thought I had seen someone selling a similar one, but can't dig it up right now. This one was purchased 15(?) years ago, and it's the one I wear most often. The wool blend jerseys are just too much for me when it is 80F or warmer.



Personally... I'm intrigued at the differences between the old wool or wool blend jerseys and the modern merino jerseys. The old jerseys were itchy, like The Creator intended wool to be, but it wears pretty well. The wool/poly blend jerseys are slightly less itchy and less likely to be ravished by moths, and I think these are my favorites. I haven't owned the modern merino jerseys, but I hear they are more comfortable, and perhaps are more fragile?? Maybe someone can comment on this?

Anyway... vintage jerseys are fun, especially the authentic ones. Like the Eroica rides, they remind us of what life was like back then, itchy jerseys and all.

Steve in Peoria

jamesdak 

I've got some "modern" merino wool pieces I bought around 10 years ago. The only issue is the Minus 33 baselayer has a couple of small holes in it that I think are wear from the HR Strap. Everything else is as new. I wear this stuff a lot too. Can't stand old wool but the merino stuff is great.

seypat

That's true. You have to keep it interesting.

Biketiger

Oh NO! Look what I did to my 1990 Ritchey Ultra. Check out the forged derailleur mount - I gave you a close-up.
It's currently set-up with a White Industries eccentric hub and freewheel but I also have another set of White Industry wheels for it with - a fixed gear cog. Of the nine bikes I currently own, this is the one I've held onto the longest. I have no need for the Shimano XT shifters and derailluers and have never missed them.

seypat

What I'm seeing is a frame that might be too small. AND, wait for it............................possibly a bent fork.

browngw 

Au contraire my dear friend! When I see bikes with the saddle jutting into outer space, I assume either the bike is not ridden, or the owner will suffer for the supposed racy look his peers have made him feel compelled to imitate. I think the classic saddle level with the bars represents the "proper" styling and stance of a purposeful bicycle. The good news is this setup will carry you well into retirement years.

Het Volk

When I see a saddle level with the handlebars, I always ask myself why they stick with drop bars at that point. The entire point of drop bars is to allow for multiple positions riding, with two of them on the intent of being aero. But when you are not aero when even riding in the drops, what is the point?

I always look at these bikes and assume they are country tourers by dudes in knickers and a flat cap.


Also - when I see hoods star gazing as those above are, I want to try to understand why anyone thinks that looks correct?

iab

Perhaps. But wouldn't be the weight weenie of Thomson.

hsuBM

I was thinking the same thing for a while, but in being at my LBS far too often the last two or three years, I’m seeing most of the fully modern bikes owned by local racers that all have their “compact drops” less than two inches below saddle and the tape on the drops appears significantly less used than the hoods or tops.

I’ve joked with a couple of them “are the drops just vestigial at this point?” They respond seriously “yeah, pretty much.”

Reynolds 

Some say drop bars are an illusion for most.

Het Volk

I think some of more aggressive race positions make the drops less comfortable for casual riding, but when doing a long, extended effort over flat and descending, I am most comfortable in the drops. When climbing, I prefer the hoods and tops.

browngw 

I own and wear plenty of flat caps but only occasionally wear knickers. "Country Tourer" is an apt description although I tend to refer to myself and my mostly senior citizen cohorts as "Adventure Riders". Its really hard to take life too seriously

riding a three speed "Robin Hood"

Dfrost 

Guess another thing that bugs me is people critical of others’ positions on their bikes that are clearly ridden often and long!

I’d love to be around when those of you critical of drop bars close to saddle height reach the age when: 1) you are no longer as flexible, and 2) you’ve lost considerable height. But at 71, I’ll just continue to enjoy my riding any way that is comfortable.

FWIW, I definitely use all the available positions on my drop bars, including the drops when riding into the wind and down long descents, same as I always have.

This was comfortable at 42YO (about 3” drop from saddle to bar) when I was 6’ 1.5” tall:


This is comfortable now (2cm drop) at 6’ 0”, and thankfully I don’t suffer from back problems, unlike several who enjoy this forum. BTW, that comfort includes about 2° of nose up on leather saddles, determined through extensive experimentation.

BFisher

Any time one feels compelled to critique bike fit over the internet aimed at a person you not only have never met, but have actually never seen, consider what it sounds like on the receiving end.

"Hi. I don't know you and have never seen you before, but your bicycle setup doesn't look like it would be comfortable for me. I mean, that's not even close to how I see them set up in pictures online, or in the pro racing peloton. From what I think I know about you, I'd say your bike is too big/small, and you are using the wrong handlebars/saddle/cranks. I know you didn't ask, but I just had to say something."

Totally rational, right?

eja_ bottecchia

Well done.

eja_ bottecchia

Not superior at all asere.

i am short, old, slightly overweight and slow.

I have seven coronary stents, calcified coronary arteries, diabetes and asthma.

I am far, far from superior. But I can still ride my bikes,up and down the local hills, under my own power; I will be darned if I start riding a battery-powered bike thing.

If that makes me superior, then maybe I am.

Gracias compadre.

jackbombay

The tops of my bars are about 2" below my saddle, I've tinkered with lower, but it just doesn't work for me, nothing goes wrong in particular, its just not what I want. I'm sure as I age the bars will come up more too.

I did recently have my first proper bike fit, buy a PT that is a bike geek himself, as he was checking me out on the bike he assumed I had gotten a bike fit previously, but I just went with what felt good to me. He commented that my bars were up a bit compared to what he expected, but that given the longer distances I like to ride, they were right where he though they should be. He also told me about one of his co workers, a young kid with slammed bars, WAY below his seat, he talked the kid into raising his bars some, and despite the kid now being less aero, he was actually faster with the higher bars. I feel that with my bars dropped too far the lower half of my lungs can't work to their full capacity, maybe thats what was happening with this kid as well...

notthe1freeman

The tire size debate in mtb'ing. I still ride 26's. Perhaps I am behind the times.

RobbieTunes

I know people in worse shape than you who ride e-bikes so they can be with the people they care about while they are riding. Perhaps they should ride 10 paces behind with their head hung low, or wear a scarlet “e.”

I was born 2 lbs 11oz, I have had a heart attack, a stroke, been shot twice, stabbed once, was told I’d never run. I fell off a roof in April. I don’t get into belt buckle contests, but you win if you want to. If it comes to riding an e-bike up hills next to my ex-pro racing friend (on his), I will.

Climbing Thunder Ridge, we were comparing HR monitor readings. Mine was averaging 204, so I told the other riders, should I die on the climb, turn the damn thing off and fix my face into a smile, do it will show I was enjoying my life. People were climbing past me on e-bikes. Good for them. At least they are out there,and since they ride e-bikes, they tend to obey traffic laws and actually might convince motorists that some cyclists actually do.

C9H13N 

Look at this lot. Country tourers, all. They must have left their knickers in the team car.



thanks to https://classiclightweights.net for the picture

eja_ bottecchia

Fine, you win. You had a horrible, horrible life. You are superior in every possible way. You win asere, pat yourself on the back and give yourself a pretty, shiny gold star.

One of my New Year’s resolution is not to engage in endless, useless and pointless diatribes with people like you.

Enjoy your superior life.

Classtime 

It appears that the act of expressing what bike stuff one is bugged by -- that doesn't bother others -- is pissing others off. Weird. Stop pissing. Save it for a sister thread: "What about your cycling bothers others and you wish others would just Bug off?