Ishamael

It's a combination of things for me. Partially, I just like the look of older bikes more than modern ones. I also just really like the idea of finding something old, fixing it up and giving it new life. I think I've always just liked older technology. I use my Pentax K1000 more than my DSLR, I play my Sega Genesis more than my PS4, and I like older steel framed bikes more than modern ones. I think I'd also struggle to spend more than $500 on a bike. $500 goes a lot further on a vintage bike than a new one.

bruce19

My GURU Sidero is steel but not old. I got it new about 5 yrs ago. I have fit it with SRAM Red 10 sp mechanical, Mavic USTs and Speedplay Zeros so it weighs approx. 17 lbs 10 oz. It is what some would call a "square 55" or 55 frame and 55 TT. It fits me perfectly and the ride is quick steering but very comfortable. I ride it because I love it.

shelbyfv

He'll chime in again in another 9 years. Oh, sorry, I guess not likely ....

drlogik 

Who knows, in 200 years cycling may go full circle.....




or this......



Is the person who invented the Velocipede (old bike above) still alive???




--

Miele Man

I like my 1985 - early 1990's steel frame bikes for their looks and the fact that most of them fit me well and are comfortable. I do have one where the frame is the maximum size I can ride but it's still a great bike = Miyata Seven Ten. I don't see any reason to get rid of those bikes for a newer one as I don't need the performance difference of a new bike.

Cheers

jleeg

Steel 40 years ago and steel today. I ride the newer on much more often because of gearing and ergo shifting.


Built for me by Rodney.

I purchased some stainless steel

DMC707

This has just set my heart aflutter !


But how on earth does it even stop or shift without disc's and with those pesky cables ?

GamblerGORD53

Mine isn't pretty, light or fast, but does a 100 miles with EASE.
Plus it's 100% reliable and absolutely silent and the most comfortable ride I've had.
How the multi use bikes for real people used to be.

Atlas Shrugged

Doing 100 miles on that bike is impressive to say the least.

rsbob 

Why do I ride my old(est) steel bike? One word: nostalgia. We covered 10s of thousands of miles together and getting rid of it would be like being unfaithful. (As it hangs with my other bikes)

ofajen

I was gonna say I ride old steel frame bikes just to be naughty.

But the truth is that they just still work great and I’m too cheap to replace good stuff without need. 😊

Otto

Road Fan

What makes you think my old steel bikes are heavy, non-agile, unreliable, non-responsive, beat-up and unmanly? And as far as breeze between my legs, you can't see that I need to wear thermal cycling shorts under my Lycra ones! I'd say your argument is starting out based on bad assumptions, lol!

Flatforkcrown

I mean, if you’re not racing and you think a good SLX bike is too heavy maybe you just need to ride more. I’m not pro, and until I am my vintage de Rosa isn’t what’s holding me back.

indyfabz

Here is what you wrote about this thread many years ago:
“I like how most dead horses and blatant troll threads end up as galleries of great bikes”

I smell a stinky sock.

Road Fan

The thread was woken up at post #238 out of 264. I didn't wake it up.

I think I'm missing your point. My recent comment does not contradict my earlier one, as I see it. I'm guessing you see a problem of some sort, and I don't see it. I have never appreciated the assumption we are expected to use what is new just because it is new.

And just ti admit, since I'm retired I don't wash my socks as often as I used to. If you live close enough to me to have actually noticed, pm me and introduce yourself, we'll have a beer and I'll have clean socks on!

jamesdak 

So, so true. I realized this years ago after perusing 7 years of my daily bike logs. I found that I wasn't any faster on my two carbon fiber bikes. In fact, on most longer rides I was faster on the steel ones. So I did a bunch of back to back centuries over the same route for a period of time comparing the bikes and how I felt during each ride. I was faster on the various steel bikes and felt fresher with more energy at the end of the rides I did on steel. I surmise this is from how beat up I'd get on the stiff C.F. bikes riding so many miles on our crappy chipseal.

In fact I'm sort of in the process right now of proving that it's more about the rider than the bike. I've set a goal of riding each of my twenty some road bike over the same basic roads for at least my shortest 24 mile route while maintaining a better than 19 mph avg. That means the old man has to go all out for the ride to keep that pace. So far I've got 10 bikes I've done it on for distances from 24 to 42 miles. The bikes range from a 1985 steel Fuji Opus III to a 1996 aluminum Klein Quantum II to a 1999 carbon fiber Trek Y-Foil. The Opus has a 53/42 7 speed DT shifting setup, the Klein is a mix of Campagnolo 53/39 10 speed Ergolever setup, and the Y-77 is 50/34 Shimano STI setup. Old tubulars on the Opus, Kyserium SLs on the Klein, and Reynolds 46 carbon fiber clinchers on the Y-Foil. The other 7 bikes to meet the goal so far are various steel bikes of various ages. Unless you are a pro riding at the very edge of the best in performance and power the bike is not the limiting factor.

So I ride steel because it doesn't hold me back, and I can buy so many wonderful old bikes for price of one modern C.F. bike, and because it's so fun to blast by the youngsters on their C.F. "wonder bikes" as they work a paceline. This old man can still string together four or 5 miles at a 24-25 mph avg effort which is usually good enough to drop any group of riders around here. Good fun and makes for a harder workout, LOL! Extra fun when I'm on my pink steel bike all decked out in hot pink. Imagine a fat old man, in pink, on an old pink steel bike, blowing by and dropping your group. Great fun!

chaadster

Strava or it didn’t happen.

jamesdak 

No problem, all my rides from the past 3 or 4 years are on Strava. You just have to find them, LOL!!!

I just pulled down my lightest steel bike and retaped the tapping valvestems that are so annoying. This is the one I'll make the attempt on today. I better pull it off too since this is one of the few bikes I got a little crazy on the parts with.


Proof that even 90's steel can be light. 17 lbs 15 ozs as in this picture. Lighter wheels, C.F. fork and handlebars and I bet it would be in the 16 lb range. I could easily drop 3 or 4 ozs getting rid of the Kurve saddle but it's too comfortable for that silliness.

unterhausen

Steel frames are back in style. If a bike model comes in steel and aluminum versions, the steel version is usually more expensive. Kona does this, just as one example

Atlas Shrugged

For it to be a race both parties have to be aware that it is one.

genejockey 

So all the times I've crushed my unknowing competition don't count? How disappointing!

jamesdak 

Well,, duh.... LOL!!

Of course one of the funniest moments was after I caught up to a couple of guys working together. One older like me and a youngter. Talked with the older guy for a minute or two when I went up alongside and he was cool. Said they had been trying to keep in front of me since he had seen me coming a couple of miles earlier. Then as I took off again I heard the younger guy say something I couldn't make out. I clearly heard the older guy say, "shut up, he caught your ass on that pink bike". LOL! I will admit about a mile after leaving them behind I had the chain jam in my RD and found a rare cracked pulley. This was an old Dura Ace 6 speed setup. Had to back off and ease the bike home the rest of that ride.

Or even this year on a ride about a month ago. Four team guys turned in behind me just as I was starting back up from stopping a second to grab a snack. They asked to tag along and I said sure but that I was about to do a speed segment until the Chevron, right about 4.5 miles. I took off, they took off, dropped the first two 1/2 mile later and the remaining guys dropped about another mile.

Of course, I really don't care if they "know it's a race" or not. That's not the real point for me. The real point is just me finding an excuse to push my pace for a few miles. Still I can give you plenty of instances where I'm knowingly playing with others and dropping them. I can also give you plenty of instances where others are dropping me. Including the little pony tailed blonde lady that leaves me behind in the mountains all the time no matter what bike I'm on.

chaadster

Strava or it didn’t happen.

jamesdak 

LOL, well at least your responses are sooooooo original.

chaadster

• You’re the one who claimed to be “proving” something, so why not ditch the cheap braggadocio and post some data so we can see how much faster and fresher you are on vintage steel than modern carbon fiber?