BFisher

The best thing about this hobby for a "non-boomer" is that all of those "boomers" bought all of those bikes way back when, rode them around the block five times, and then abandoned them in favor of the next fad.

What a score when you clean up a 45 year-old bike and realize there isn't even brake rub on the rims! Brand new vintage bike for a fraction of the cost of a brand new modern bike.



Actually that's kind of sad.

nlerner

I think I've missed the primary lament here; is it that things eventually change? Uh, yup.

RiddleOfSteel

I will, politely of course, request the opportunity to purchase said bikes--in the 63-65cm range--from various loving owners, at that inevitable point in the future, to ride and preserve them...just as soon as my Gen-Y self can afford a house and thus a place to store them on premises. Or just get a public storage unit...that'll work.

Russ Roth

I get some some of the nostalgia but not most of it. I'd love a 60s-70s campy equipped DeRosa to tool around on for charity rides and fun days meandering the bike path. I really like a lot of the 90s paint jobs, think Colnago Mapai and the like but modern bikes really are some of the best. You can have dead feeling carbon but you can also have it instill confidence. I've got a custom Rock Lobster on order, if that fits the way I really want it to, built with a set of Kings to add that buzz, wide carbon rims with a tubeless setup, 2x11 GRX 800 level for crisp shifting and disc for braking it will feel as alive and responsive as anything you could want. Old can be nice but modern can be sooo much better in every way.
I don't consider myself a MTBer but my couple year old 29er mtb with air fork, aluminum frame and 1x11 lets me rider courses harder and faster then anything I rode in the 90s on a equvalent level MTB. Back then I weighted 40lbs less and averaged 3-4mph faster on the road but still couldn't ride a MTB better if I'd wanted to. Just newer stuff on the whole is better.

jackbombay

Heh, in ten years the massive majority of bikes sold will be E bikes, and NONE of them will still be on the road 50 years from the time of purchase, hell, most of them won't be on the road 10 years after they are purchased.

Uhhh, comparing mountain bike technology from 25 years ago to today and trying to get us to believe that the same advancement have been made in the road bike world is pretty funny. Road bikes are simple, and old bikes rip. Sure, carbon bikes with no soul that nobody will care about 10 years from now are a bit faster, but NOBODY HERE is actually fast enough for that miniscule difference to actually matter.

SurferRosa

Huh? Why meander when you can rip it up?!

Meander on a bike-share bike or a Schwinn Stingray. Go balls out hard on the vintage lightweight until your heart gives out. Then you can die happy.

repechage

"Comfort" brake levers, and stem shifters will be the friction shift lifetime winners.
I admire the Cambio Corsa shifter type as in "how did they conceive of that" Would never own one, as I am just not that flexible even for the "sport" version.
Never tried to use a Vittoria Margherita, interesting concept, but none around here to try.
When I was young, I admired the clever control Simplex front changers- I thought those were cool in their direct approach. I would have a hard time using one today.

3alarmer 

...
...if I were in it for the money, I'd still have just one bicycle.

Kabuki12

I ride steel because I like it not because it is any better than aluminum or carbon. Steel bikes are what I ride and remembering the era they are from( most of my bikes are from the seventies) is part of the experience. Fads come and go. Right now the resale is down but if it becomes cool for another generation of riders, who knows. The value of my collection is huge to me and I don’t plan on selling any of my bikes. I get a lot of people asking about my vintage racers when I stop for juice or coffee and it is kind of interesting how they respond when I tell them how available they are on Craigslist or thrift stores. If they become too valuable then that gets harder! I like the idea of still finding deals on parts and bikes and that happens more when value is down.

Chr0m0ly 

Oh I’m TOTALLY in it for the money!

crank_addict

Actually, yes in regards to a bro-in-law. A few he was gifted from my father that was my grandfather's. One being a Studebaker made in Chicago before making automobiles. Quite sure he's exceeded more than a few dozen in his current collection, occasionally will hitch them up and enjoy. Some are very ornate, various configurations with early curved glass (non-safety, had yet been developed so they are fragile but he uses them!). I'm glad he among his small group of peers enjoy them.

As for the market- its been down for years but the really unique and rare will demand strong numbers but 20-30 years ownership does not keep with the rate of inflation.

The entire car collecting is another subject though its so vast and wide with categories, it will never cease - regardless the advent of the electric car.

Back to the OP and collectively we're on this forum to enjoy our hobby. Like those in the 1950s whom saved and rode penney farthings, they preserved a slice of the bicycle. Its a very small group today but yet exist! Thank goodness.

So here we are babbling about what may survive or not. I wouldn't concern of it, long as YOU enjoy it today.

Bad Lag

I'm still riding that old bike I bought in 1975, a Bob Jackson. I guess I am old but riding helps my pursuit of immortality.

My other bike is a 1985 Stump Jumper, but it's relatively recent acquisition. It has only been with me about 10 years, having purchased it from a fellow BF member.

Merry Christmas to all !

Slightspeed

I was out one Sunday feeling all smug and superior on my over restored and polished '73 Super Course, and caught up and passed this guy on a 1890s Columbia. I don't think he's too worried about the vintage bike market prices, neither am I. He said he was on his way to church. Just ride.

scarlson 

**My 18lb 60cm $500 Vitus 979 has entered the chat**

tashi

If you think that the manufacturers have left practical bikes made from steel behind for race-focused carbon, I suggest checking out the gravel and CX options. Many companies offer these bikes in steel, aluminum, carbon and some even have ti bikes on offer. Also tire clearance, wide gearing, fast and comfy tires, disc brakes, STI, mounts for fenders, racks and bags...

Russ Roth

How has the same advancement not been made? Thru axle, 22speeds, carbon handlebars, stems, seatposts, disc brakes, hydraulic braking, hydraulic or electronic shifting that works well, thru axles, more gearing options, safer carbon forks, frames, comfortable aluminum frames, better steels, compact geometry, wider tires, tubeless, the rise of gravel bikes and the list goes on. My current race bike is a Columbus Genius lugged steel Carrera from 2008 with 2x10 sram, and typical open pro. It is far better then my early 90s Giant lugged steel with 8sp shimano 600 with 1st gen Brifters which was significantly better then the Raleigh Grand Prix from the early 80s I was given to get into road riding with. Heck, my 4 year old Tiagra equipped, aluminum framed, carbon forked, wider rimmed, fatter tire gravel bike is a much more enjoyable ride over the Giant and even though the bike has been serviced annually with a new BB in the last year the gravel bike is ever so slightly faster over the same courses. The racing bike is now old enough that in the next year or two I'll be looking for a newer road bike, either carbon or Ti and I suspect it will have a number of technological improvements and will ride beautifully.

Old bikes are nice and I enjoy the ones I have but that has more to do with the memories they evoke than the ride compared to new ones. And there are a few I would like to buy, like a stock Serotta built 7-11 team bike or a trek 7700 Y foil, or a 70s DeRosa all of which would be appreciated and ridden but I still like newer.

jackbombay

Well, a 25 year old mountain bike is somewhat useless compared to a new mountain bike because suspension plays such a huge role in mountain biking and suspension has gotten really really good over the last 25 years, you can run over so much stuff now that you used to have to steer around, or bunny hop over.

But, a 25 year old road bike is still VERY capable compared to a new road bike.

A long list of farkles that the bike industry offers for sale is not proof that "advancements" have been made, its only proof that they are good at continually inventing "new" stuff to sell you to keep their profit margins up.

Whats really funny is that wider tires is in now way new or an advancement, 27x 1 1/4" is the original 32c tire, why did people quit using them? Because the bike industry steered people away from them, and now they're steering people back to them, but in 700c form.

As for thru axles being new, every solid axle bike I've ever owned had thru axles, I have a 1970s Campy track hub with a thru axle at home too!

Here's my recent experience, I've owned a middle of the road specialized Roubaix for a bit over a year, it cost $3000 new, but I got it for $900 barely used, I have 3000 miles or so on it, I don't care much about "the correct way to train" as I don't race, I essentially have 2 settings when I ride my bike, "almost pinned", and "pinned". So, I can look at my strava results and know pretty easily how much of a difference different bikes make, and I ride all sorts of odd bikes on long rides and bikes that should be slower on Strava are always slower on Strava, but that just changed. I recently picked up a 1972 Raleigh Super Course and have been hammering on it the last 4 days, and somehow this bike has taken some notable bites out of several of my PRs that I set on my carbon road bike, PRs that I set when I was in better shape than I am now, I'm pretty puzzled by this actually, but Strava doesn't lie, I' mnot going to be bummed that I'm faster on a sweet old steel bike than my carbon bike, but it does make me more skeptical of the latest "advancements" the bike industry is trying to sell me... I consider the Super Course to be a middle of the road road bike for its time just as my Roubaix is a middle of the road road bike for when it was new, so this is, IMO an apples to apples comparison, and the Super Course is not measurably slower than my fairly new carbon bike (2015).

In summary, it's my belief that with 2 riders of the same age a slightly more fit rider on a top of the line road bike from 25 years ago will walk away from a slightly less fit rider on a top of the line carbon bike from today. Or, if you take 2 riders that are at say %90 percentile for their age and one is 4 or 5 years younger, and you put the younger rider on a sweet steel road bike that is 25 years old and the slightly older rider on a sweet new carbon road bike, the older rider will get dropped.


How much faster are you on the same segments on the Carrera compared to the Giant?

Yea, any new bike will ride beautifully, it just probably won't be measurably faster in real world settings..

What cracks me up about the bike industry is all the effort they put into making carbon frames have compliance in all the right spots while being stiff in other places all in an attempt to create a more comfortable ride, but that more comfortable ride is actually so cheap and easy to aquire, just let some air out of your tires, with 27 x 1 1/4" 55 PSI up front make the bike ride like its floating on clouds, and the tire is big enough that I still have plenty of rim protection, why did bikes get uncomfortable? Because the bike industry pushed everything to 23c tires and 110 PSI, and now its all coming full circle back to larger volume tires and lower pressures.

Its crazy how many things the bike industry is currently touting as "new" that are present on my Super Course, narrower drop bars? Check. Larger volume tires? Check. Hookless rims? Check. A self trimming front derailleur ala Di2? Yea, yesterday I ordered a set of suntour Symetric shifters off ebay which auto trims the front derailleur. And I'll probably put a solid "thru" axle in the back of the bike too as the current QR axle is bent and I'm fine carrying a cut off 15mm wrench for rear flat changing capacity. This bike should really be called "Nostradamus"!

I understand that for sure, my carbon road bike does ride really nice, but if I can't drop someone when I ride my super course I wouldn't be able to drop them on my carbon bike either, but it will be so much more fun to drop people on my Super Course :-)

jackbombay

Apart from the disc brakes and STI, I think you just described a 3 decades old Miyata 1000 touring bike :-)

katsup

I'd agree in regards to riding them on single track. However, they do make excellent everyday, commuters, gravel, etc... bikes, especially the non suspension ones. I'd say that most of the mountain bikes sold are not used on actual single track anyway.

repechage

There are often Marginal Gains touted by the industry.
there is a recent podcast about the placebo effect- in the marginal gains podcast- what else,

there are some fallacies that stick and some are very hard to double blind test.

15 years ago I was riding an early Ritchey mtb. Everywhere- I was in shape and caught and dropped pair of local cat 2 riders- what ticked them off more than a guy with grey hair Dropping then was that he (me) was on a mtb. ( I was on Avocet 1.75" slicks )

today- there are measurable gains with aero wheels ( Zipp 404's do feel fast)
and an aero roadbike- but to get the full 50-60 watt savings you need aero clothing and be on level ground.
when the road tilts and the speed drops the inverse of aero savings helps level the playing field- its fitness and total rider weight.

In any one gear an older bike is as effecient. It is easier when there are 11 or 12 in back to find the right gear.

how many are racing ? Not many.

Last ride 76 

As a guy who rode and raced the early to mid seventies... Then came back after a long time away. I think the earlier high end bikes may have had more "character". If one rode a lot, the feel of ones bicycle became very personal, I'm guessing due too small variations, both when built, and after some thousands of miles, unexpected interactions with the tarmac, etc. Probably as Japanese parts, and especially.the high quality Japanese and American frames made deeper inroads, It became obvious to Europe's big players that in order to remain financially viable, their efficiency had to improve, and quickly. I think there was leap forward in the accuracy and cost of machine tools around the same period. Innovators like Rossin developed methods that depended less on "master craftsmen", forming bottom brackets and other connective points with greater control and accuracy, thus assuring more consistent results, also taking advantage of better jigs, machine mitered tubes, etc.


I don't see my great modernish bikes as souless. I had a Daccordi, from the eighties that was so smooth But hardly soulless. I think that you may have a point in the sense that it is harder to differentiate between certain framesm simply because there are less variations from one bike to another. I would however, disagree with the statement that they feel less lively. My seven speed Serotta Legend CR has be become one one of my favorite bikes to take out for pure rideability. And an "02 Lemond I was planning to sell, (until I took it out for a ride) with oversize 853 tubes the same. The seventies bikes, are great too and if you want mine, you will have to pry them out from between my cold, dead, thighs.

riva

Yes agree with your assessment, and I'm not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing.

Its kind of a bummer when things are so rare that they are priced out of reach of the people who want to enjoy them. Also its quite a shame when they are viewed as not worth a little effort to keep out of the scrap pile.

TXsailor

My 22 year old granddaughter's aluminum bike won't fatigue cause it sits while she rides her steel bike. The youngsters aren't all clamoring for the new stuff.

scarlson 

Need I mention again? Vitus 979. Or if we wanna go further back, how bout Barra and Caminade?

Vélocio. The poly de Chanteloup. Herse and Singer were children when this stuff was new.

Everything's a remix. This stuff's just been outta style for a while so we're meant to think it's new. Don't buy into the capitalist propaganda! Read Frank, Sheldon, Jan, Jobst, and Grant, in addition to Bicycling and GCN, and free your mind to make your own decisions.

tashi

exactly! The practical road bike has returned, with the benefit of 30 years of progress.