TiHabanero

My son said to me the other day that I spent close to 40 years in the bike industry, but only ride vintage bikes. It occurred to me that the bikes I have are not vintage, but simply normal bikes to me. Sure I display a few as I really think they are beautiful in an artistic way, but I don't mentally think of them as vintage. They are just good, solid, long-lasting bikes. Then I realized that he thinks of me as vintage!

Am I vintage or just pops? I look in the mirror and simply see a fat old man, the same one that has been staring back at me for 62 years. Suppose I ask him this weekend. Son, don't let me down with your answer!!

gearbasher

Ten ways to tell if you're vintage:

1: Your doctor is younger than you.
2: The cop that pulled you over is younger than you.
3: You put a new roof on your house and tell yourself: "That's the last time I'll have to do that,"
4: Your watching reruns of "The Partridge Family" and you're checking out Shirley Jones and not Susan Dey.
5: You're watching a movie you love with the kids and they never heard of any of the actors.
6: You overhear someone say: "I didn't know Paul McCartney was in a band before "Wings".
7: A kid asks you the time. You say: "It's a quarter to 10". and he doesn't understand you. Then you say: "It's 9:45" and he gets you.
8: You're driving a classic car that's a year younger than you and someone asks if you bought it new,
9: Someone you think is older than you calls you "Sir".
10: AARP letters are coming in the mail.

easyupbug 

Now in my 70's I know I am vintage. Witness I just responded to HillRider in Bike Mechanics who said he just did not like sloped TTs that "As an engineer I have no sound reasoning for this but I agree fully with your TT comment."

repechage

Archaic

But I ride old bikes almost exclusively, only one with index.
Simple, straightforward maintenance.
In any one gear I am just as effective. When climbing it upsets the carbon bike guy next to me that my bike spots him 8-10 pounds and I am keeping up.
And my wheels are lighter by a big margin.
If I was racing, I would probably have 12 in back, aero rims and disc brakes, at least in front.
Locally, it really is a bike of the month club.

iab

4. I'd say if you know of the Partridge Family, let alone who's who, you are a geezer.
6. Same thing as above. Kids barely know the Beatles, let alone Wings.

Keep it simple. I trust no one over 30. Most certainly includes myself.

squirtdad

Remember it it Classic and Vintage.

I like to think of myself as classic with vintage being more of an attitude than a time measure

I also like to think that i am not getting older, I am getting less young.

I also am getting blonder, no grayer

davester

All of the above, and then some!

11. Sitting with a group of people talking about the most exciting events that you can remember and having everybody look at you with astonishment when you say "The moon landings of course!"

nlerner

Nah, you’re just old.

genejockey 

The other day, on this very website, someone told me how amazed he was I held onto my first serious road bike longer than he'd been alive. I've had it for 26 years now. But I bought it when I was 38 years old already.

tkamd73 

Vintage is way better then decrepit, the next phase.
Tim

gearbasher

12: The Ginger / Maryanne, Samantha / Jeanie discussion still comes up.
13: When a new TV show or movie is released these days, you've seen the original.
14: The oldies station plays the music you grew up with
15: You tell your neighbor's kid to turn the music down.

BTW: The moon landing was a hoax.

bikingshearer 

Our bikes are vintage. We are old.

bikemig 

I just figure that all the bikes I thought were way cool BITD but too expensive since I was in college are now on deep, deep sale.

bikingshearer 

fify

delbiker1 

If vintage relates to being older and taking more time, effort and money to replace something, I am surely vintage. During my ride today, I was thinking about 2021 nearing it's end, I realized, when it rolls over to 2022, I will be in the 71st year in which I have lived. When I was in my teens and 20's, when someone was in the 70's, that was really old. Then I thought about how fortunate I am in so many ways. In regards to bikes, I love vintage and classic looking road bikes, but to ride them, I prefer more modern components. I have a Fuji Ace that has DT levers and I hardly ever ride it. The shifters are a definite factor in that. Until last year, using DT levers did not bother me.

CliffordK

A lot depends on when you bought your bike.

I bought my old Colnago Super in 1982 while I was still in High School (and it was at least a dozen years old at that time). I've put a lot of miles on the bike over the years.

The bike didn't turn "Vintage" until I joined Bike Forums.

Drillium Dude 

20,949 days and counting over here; that puts me over 40 and into the "vintage" category according to my limited online research. Still a long way off from assuming the "antique" label, tho, so that's something

DD

Wildwood

Vintage is good if:

the patina is only surface (minimal cosmetic procedures, if any)
the bones are excellent (good frame alignment, no tubes replaced)
the drivetrain works (even with an older engine.

gearbasher

Remember, no matter how vintage, it works better if you lube the chain every now and then.

P!N20

Sheesh, even the conspiracies are vintage.

nomadmax 

If Campanolo Delta brakes are "new fangled", you're old.

randyjawa 

I have never owned a vintage bicycle as old as I am. But that just makes me old, not vintage. Vintage = something of age not someone of age. That's my two cents worth and since two cents is now rounded down to zero cents I can only say that my opinion makes no sense.

davester

ftfy

genejockey 

Not to put too fine a point on it, but "vintage" refers to things that are not only old, but also desirable. The latter is key.

SurferRosa

Let's be clear, there's a difference between being older and having bad taste.