Why are old bike parts so sucky?
12-05-17, 02:55 PM
#1
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Why are old bike parts so sucky?
Why do we bother with these finicky downtube levers, brake calipers with questionable *********** qualities, and of course those derailleurs activated by persnickety wire cables? I feel like I'm stuck in the Stone Age!
Discuss.
EDIT: R e t a r d a t i o n is a bad word?
DD
Discuss.
EDIT: R e t a r d a t i o n is a bad word?
DD
Last edited by Drillium Dude; 12-05-17 at 03:23 PM.
12-05-17, 02:59 PM
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Thag say: Old lugged steel frames good; Campy 10-speed triple and dual-pivot brakes good; combination of both gooder.
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12-05-17, 03:05 PM
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One of the biggest problems with many old bike parts that I come across is that folks would drill holes into them 
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12-05-17, 03:06 PM
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Because I was a broke college student/recent grad when these things were popular the first time around and I could not afford them and now I want all the old stuff because I can afford it now.
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12-05-17, 03:08 PM
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Yes send me all those crappy old out of date bikes and I will dispose of them for you.
Stopped at a nearby LBS to see if they had any take off parts. Guy asked me the age of my bike. I told him it was a 1987 model. He informed me any bike over five years old is obsolete and not worth repairing... guy was about my age (60+).
Stopped at a nearby LBS to see if they had any take off parts. Guy asked me the age of my bike. I told him it was a 1987 model. He informed me any bike over five years old is obsolete and not worth repairing... guy was about my age (60+).
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12-05-17, 03:13 PM
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I'm also a car guy , so to make an analogy -- I would say
There's a time and a place to drive the new EFI, 4 wheel disc brake, super-aerodynamic awesome mobile
And then ........ There's a time and a place to break out the 45 year old machine with grim brakes, evil handling , skinny tires, but a big block engine that makes lesser men cower in fear
There's a time and a place to drive the new EFI, 4 wheel disc brake, super-aerodynamic awesome mobile
And then ........ There's a time and a place to break out the 45 year old machine with grim brakes, evil handling , skinny tires, but a big block engine that makes lesser men cower in fear
12-05-17, 03:29 PM
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What with all the attempted trolling on this forum lately, you gave me a good laugh. Some well-placed mockery rarely goes awry.
As to the question, unless you're competing for money you'd have to be apocalyptically stupid to intentionally choose the reliability disadvantage of indexing shifters. The real problem is the proliferation of weak, fad-following minds who insist upon dressing up like Power Rangers and pretending that spending money makes them good at something which nobody cares about.
Am I doing it right?
As to the question, unless you're competing for money you'd have to be apocalyptically stupid to intentionally choose the reliability disadvantage of indexing shifters. The real problem is the proliferation of weak, fad-following minds who insist upon dressing up like Power Rangers and pretending that spending money makes them good at something which nobody cares about.
Am I doing it right?
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12-05-17, 03:32 PM
#8
No one cares
I forget, is "sucky" a good quality or a bad one?
I had an old girlfriend that was really sucky, and ever since then i've been confused.
I had an old girlfriend that was really sucky, and ever since then i've been confused.
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12-05-17, 03:43 PM
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12-05-17, 04:03 PM
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Why do we bother with these finicky downtube levers, brake calipers with questionable *********** qualities, and of course those derailleurs activated by persnickety wire cables? I feel like I'm stuck in the Stone Age!
Discuss.
EDIT: R e t a r d a t i o n is a bad word?
DD
Discuss.
EDIT: R e t a r d a t i o n is a bad word?
DD
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/s-...=240052-134294
12-05-17, 04:14 PM
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You forgot to include people who drill holes in perfectly good parts as part of the problem 
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Life is too short not to ride the best bike you have, as much as you can
(looking for Torpado Super light frame/fork or for Raleigh International frame fork 58cm)
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12-05-17, 04:16 PM
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This^^
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12-05-17, 04:20 PM
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I'm also a car guy , so to make an analogy -- I would say
There's a time and a place to drive the new EFI, 4 wheel disc brake, super-aerodynamic awesome mobile
And then ........ There's a time and a place to break out the 45 year old machine with grim brakes, evil handling , skinny tires, but a big block engine that makes lesser men cower in fear
There's a time and a place to drive the new EFI, 4 wheel disc brake, super-aerodynamic awesome mobile
And then ........ There's a time and a place to break out the 45 year old machine with grim brakes, evil handling , skinny tires, but a big block engine that makes lesser men cower in fear
12-05-17, 04:21 PM
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It's a maintenance issue. Poorly maintained old bike parts are sucky, and poorly maintained new ones are also sucky.
There's also a quality issue. Most old bike parts, just like most new bike parts, are sucky because they are low quality.
And some of them are just worn out. They weren't sucky when they were new, but they can't be old and new at the same time.
There's also a quality issue. Most old bike parts, just like most new bike parts, are sucky because they are low quality.
And some of them are just worn out. They weren't sucky when they were new, but they can't be old and new at the same time.
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12-05-17, 04:39 PM
#16
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My bike has the same complaint about me. "When am I gonna get a rider who can actually do something with me?"
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12-05-17, 04:49 PM
#17
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my parts are old, in spite of them being new, when I got them
that is what NOS, new, old stock, is .
.....
but they can't be old and new at the same time.
.....
Last edited by fietsbob; 12-05-17 at 04:55 PM.
12-05-17, 05:01 PM
#19
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There was a time when I thought that 6-cylinder, 3-on-the-tree, bench seat, drum brake, four-door cars were sucky.
I've changed.
ByronTr2.jpg
I've changed.
ByronTr2.jpg
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Last edited by Hudson308; 12-05-17 at 05:04 PM.
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12-05-17, 05:22 PM
#20
~>~
If threads on new hardware that is not C&V were moved to the 41 where they belong we could get on with discussions of the properly obsolescent and obsolete.
When 'lectric brakes and hydraulic shifting become relevant topics in 2030-40 feel free to weigh the relative merits of battery types and fluids. Until then.....
-Bandera
When 'lectric brakes and hydraulic shifting become relevant topics in 2030-40 feel free to weigh the relative merits of battery types and fluids. Until then.....
-Bandera
12-05-17, 05:36 PM
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How can you make a Huret Allvit not sucky? Or those gawdey wing nuts? Turkey levers and stem shifters that weigh in heavy??
12-05-17, 05:38 PM
#23
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The main reason old bike parts are sucky is that they aren't fat enough to fit giant advertising logos. Modern parts are much better in that regard. A clear improvement. 
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12-05-17, 05:39 PM
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The development curve getting ever higher means that average old stuff is somewhat suckier than new average stuff.
12-05-17, 06:20 PM
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As it happens, Issue #60 of Bicycle Quarterly has an article by J.P. Weigle about a recent trip to Japan, where among other things, he visited the Japanese constructeur C.S. Hirose and was shown a Huret Allvit derailleur modified for desmodromic actuation:
Last edited by JohnDThompson; 12-05-17 at 06:26 PM.