rBOTM September 2011 - The Voting !

Vote now!

CdM's Marastoni >>



Gravy Monster's Raleigh >>



Gordy's Flying Scot >>



Dancingjack's Klein >>



Mark34's Alan Carbonio >>



Dutchie's Gitane >>

Flying Scott and Klein are great, but the Alan got my vote for being just a bit nicer. The dimensions are just really cool!

Flying Scott got my vote. Sooo nice.

The Klein gets my vote simply stunning especially the colour

No votes for that stunning Raleigh?
Has mine, I love it...

Klein for me......but I know nothing re. Roadbikes.

Flying scott for me (although a very tough one as that alan is awesome)

Marastoni for me. After grumpily thinking "don't like turquoise bikes" when I first saw it, it's just grown and grown on me. It's one of those bikes where I'd be happy to just look at all the lovely details for a couple of hours each day.

Honourable mentions for Alan and Gravy Monster's flawless Raleigh. Yum.

I can well appreciate the Klein as a bike and were it to be my size, I would even give serious thought to adding it to my collection, but I personally find it to be absolutely and totally out of place on a Retro-Bike site that is dedicated to retro, vintage and classic bikes. I just don't see how anybody could classify it under any of these headings. Hotrodder or custom of the month sure, but definitely not retro, vintage or classic. In the car world this is like a Lamborghini Gallardo with special wheels, interior, wings and skirts.

Likewise, with the Flying Scott, I see a great interpretation of how to update a classic frame, but I have difficulty getting around the fact that that bike has neither the best and newest components, nor those the bike would have originally been built up with. My view is that you should go full bore with the best modern components or else stick to the original parts. This is like a series I Golf GTI from the 70's where the original interior has been replaced with an 80's interior without thinking about upgrading engine, brakes or other technical components.

The Alan is a harbinger of things to come, with some of the then best components of the old school (Campagnolo C-Record) combined with some of the first examples of the new school: composites like carbon. A bike that lies right on the cusp between old and new. Something like a BMW Z1.

The photos of the Gitane are not sufficiently clear to allow me to make any comments whatsoever.

The Raleigh is the typical everyday race bike that your average person could aspire to without needing to go to the building society, combining an acceptable price and with acceptable performance. It wouldn't draw much attention on the High Street but would not shame its owner on the race course. Something akin to a late 80's Peugeot 205 Rallye.

Lastly there is my Marastoni. If you only look at the single photo posted here or even the two photos posted in the RBoM intro thread, you will never understand what makes this special. Apart from a few wear items, this 58 year-old bike is fully original and has been ridden continuously. When it was new, it was one of the new generation of bikes that came out shortly after the war with "modern" frame geometry, "modern" componentry and the then new Campagnolo derailleurs. A bit like a Citroen DS when it first came out.

Is there any chance you could just get to the point quickly, concisely and without the usual arrogance?

Im heartily sick of your 'up you own arse' interpretations.