Retro v modern at a modern club ride... what happened

Hello all,

I was interested in joining a MTB club, so I joined a club for a ride to see whether it was for me (I believe this is a pretty standard affair). I'd deliberately joined a 'hard & technical' ride because I'm glutton for punishment. This wasn't a retro club... this was a normal MTB club.

I was riding my 1995 KHS montana comp, with Mozo pro's. (I'd recently rebuilt it and it was in perfect working order).

The people were really nice although they didn't really know what to say to me when I arrived it seemed. I guess from their perspective - here was this new guy coming along on a "hard" ride, and he's turned up on something made of steel, with skinny tubes, and forks with elastomers (they may not have thought this as they may not have known what elastomers are). I think people were a little unsure about me and my bike.

I am a competent rider though. (Sorry if that sounds arrogant! - but I know my own abilities). I've ridden quite a few black routes in South France (which are regularly so technical they are no longer 'enjoyable' in my book...far harder than coed-y-brenin 'Beast' if you're familiar. I've also been commuting 120+ miles a week on the road bike for a number of months so I am pretty reasonably fit. I didn't know what 'hard and technical' meant for this club though... so I was a little nervous. Especially considering the amount of modern beefy looking bikes that surrounded mine.

The reason for my post, is that I wanted to tell everyone here that - I KEPT UP! In fact, I'd say I was in the front 3-4 for most of the ride. Sure, it wasn't a race... but generally speaking the pack orders itself so that people aren't getting in each others way/slowing each other down. I never had anyone sniffing my back tire asking to overtake (on ascents or descents).

A couple of the riders... hat's off to them - they were amazing! Their fitness was matched by their skill... and both were beyond mine.

I enjoyed the ride and the experience. I think the highlight for me (other than the good trails) was when a chap said to me 'that's quick that... is it designed to look retro?'. I replied with... 'no it's actually 20 years old'.

Anyway, I've digressed.. I guess the point I'm trying to make is - what's changed? I think modern mountain bikes ARE more capable than the retros we love, restore and ride. I think you can't argue that. But I think that my humble KHS proved that the gap between it, and its modern day counterparts isn't perhaps as big as the modern day rider appreciates.

I think I would be faster on a modern bike... but perhaps a matter of seconds over a trail. Is that worth the bank roll alone!??

I read somewhere the other day about 'trails that we used to ride back in the day weren't as tough as today's trails'. That's not true for me. I've always ridden stuff that scared me and tested me and my bike to what felt like our limits. But perhaps that's the point. Perhaps my bike was on its limits and therefore my body had to be. Today my wrists and my thumbs are still quite sore. SO perhaps what the modern day bike does is give the rider a bit more pace but with quite a lot more comfort. Perhaps modern mountain biking is a comfortable experience!?

I don't know... but I'm blimmin proud of my bike.

Re:

Good to hear your story !

I go out with a local group regularly on my old bikes, and find I have no trouble keeping up. Unless I'm on a rigid, then the really gnarly stuff forces me to drop back slightly. Not much though, I hasten to add! I may be 30 metres behind on a long section.
On the last monthly ride, a big affair with upwards of 60 riders, I still ended up in the fast group despite sand-bagging to stay in the medium group.
Have to say, I was on my knees towards the end of that one, but mainly as I'd ridden the 10 miles home from work, then ridden to where we met up, another 40-odd minutes off-road. Most people turn up in cars.
Keep up the good work!

Mike

The club I'm in hold several races a year, and I help design/build the course. We have a bit of a standing rule when we build a technical feature. If I can ride it on one of my 20+ year old fully rigid bike then it should be perfectly acceptable to somebody racing on a modern bike.

I get what you are saying and hear you on the sore factor. I feel the same when I ride my retro Mtbs. The new bikes are way better in that respect.

The upper limit on what you can do on the new bikes is just crazy compared to a retro mtb.

I ride almost every day in the summer. I get on my retro bike 1-2 times a week and the rest is my modern ride. I don't think my 1993 Brodie is 10% slower than my 2012 bike when I go for a regular ride and push them equally hard. It's just that the modern bike can take so much more that I just wouldn't toss at my brodie or any retro ride I own.

I'm even making the switch to a full face XC helmet (ordered MET Parachute) ... I see a lot more of that on the trail.

It's not that the trails are harder. It's the same trail I rode when I was 14. It's just that someone has tossed some new crazy obstacles slightly off line and they are sorta fun ... Maybe not for my Mag21s

Modern got to be more comfortable right? Slacker angles, shorter stems, bigger wheels, what's not to like

Experience, skills and fitness counts for a lot - but the right bike also helps. My front suspension, disc brake equipped bike is lying untouched at the moment as I'm mostly riding my v-brake equipped rigid bike - and I'm faster for it. Still nowhere near as fast as my KOM mates on their carbon 29ers, but a good 10-20% faster than I was.

Wrists took a hammering the first time out - but I much prefer the directness of the rigid forks. The v-brakes are lighter and seem to suit my braking style better.

Mind you I did miss having brakes on a particularly boggy patch of Telegraph pass on Saturday - but the pads were near worn out after Llanberis path the previous week.

Come over and check out the double blacks on the North Shore of Vancouver (west coast/Canada) ... those'll wake y'up right quick!

There are some incredibly gnarly sections of terrain that I think only a fully suspended (modern) bike can navigate. Mind you, many years ago I watched some 'kid' ride off a forty-something verticle foot drop onto a very very tricky/tight L/Z, on a hardtail (beside a single-track named "Cop Killer" in the Pemberton area just north of Whistler). He did it succesfully thrice (cameras were rolling, of course).

Unbelievable. Or, perhaps with Justin on the airwaves nowadays ... perhaps one should say 'unbeliebable'.

Re:

That's awesome that you held your own on the ride. Way to represent!

Retro bikes can still be incredibly fast with the right pilot. I was astounded how fast a fellow retro rider was on his Hot with mag 21's. The guy was taking corners faster than I thought possible and I like to think I ride fast. His 2.35 Minions might have helped against my bald Nokians, but still very impressed. He was pulling well away from me on ever corner. I tried to make up some time on the flats and was doing quite well until I hit a wet bridge on a long sweeping turn... it was like hitting a patch of ice, off the bike immediately and rode my calf across. Quite fun although a bit painful.

That being said, I wouldn't touch some trails with my old bikes, I don't want either of us to get hurt.

I ride both modern and retro XC and downhill bikes and it's always my fitness thats the limiting factor, not the age of the bikes!