"Too young to be retro, too old to be desirable"

The appeal of retro biking for me is as much about getting a deal as it is the nostalgia. Recently when I've been looking on eBay there seem to be some real bargains in early noughties stuff - none of which I have ridden before. A 1997 Orange C16R is as modern as I get.

I realise I'm looking at budget bikes but wondering whether the frames are worthy of upgrades - I have plenty of suitable parts, wheels and forks not doing anything, and it's a process I enjoy.

A GT aggressor just sold near me for £30ish (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264009214916). And this Kona looks like a nice little bike for the money: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273519270474

Of course I don't really need a new bike but I would be interested to compare a slightly more modern aluminium-framed hard tail to my Orange.

The frames on either of the bikes above look more interesting to me than equivalently priced 90s bikes... I'm not expecting them to be better than what I have already, but do they have the potential to compare favourably? Or just horrible, cheap crap?

I read somewhere that the cheap Kona has the same frame as its more expensive brethren... in which case why not?

Sorry, just thinking out loud really, but welcome your thoughts.

Re: More modern... but getting older... bargains?

bluetomgold":2de6c0ds said:

I read somewhere that the cheap Kona has the same frame as its more expensive brethren... in which case why not?

Sorry, just thinking out loud really, but welcome your thoughts.

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The Kona seems to be a 2004 Lana’i.

These have virtually the same geometry as the rest of the Hardtail X.C. range, regardless of where they each sit in the hierarchy. The Lana’i also shares identical 7005 Aluminium tubing with the Fire Mountain.

The Blast, Cinder Cone and Caldera use the same 7005 quality tubing, but have slightly more sophisticated tubing enhancement.

The Kula and Kula Deluxe are further up the hierarchy, and both share the same Easton Ultralite Race tubing, while the Kula Primo is made from Scandium and is top of the X.C. Aluminium range.

Just to comment on your thoughts; I think that early noughties X.C. Ali frames just became out of vogue with the more enthusiastic / knowledgeable riders. Despite sharing many attributes of older X.C. bikes, they are neither Retro, nor what the market moved onto with the popularity of longer travel Trail and Endro Bikes. I think that something like the Lana’i could be regarded as Entry Level and would be a reasonable bike to upgrade with better components.

Pip

Re: More modern... but getting older... bargains?

Thanks for your comments.

pipmeister":2gdas6v3 said:

I think that early noughties X.C. Ali frames just became out of vogue with the more enthusiastic / knowledgeable riders. Despite sharing many attributes of older X.C. bikes, they are neither Retro, nor what the market moved onto with the popularity of longer travel Trail and Endro Bikes.

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Yes, explains why they are currently cheap, and echoes my thoughts really. This era of MTB might be pretty undesirable, but most of these bikes ought to have "sorted" geometry (at least from a retro/XC perspective), good quality mass produced alloy frames, and reasonable quality/practical basic parts. Main thing that needs upgrading I suppose is wheels/drivetrain/forks.

Again, just thinking out loud, but I guess the low spec of the budget models means that e.g. late 90s LX/STX bits would be a bolt on upgrade.

Re: More modern... but getting older... bargains?

I recently got an early 00s Trek for which I paid nothing for. The guy simply wanted it out of his garage (along with the 90s bear valley I really wanted - also free). Riding it I was shocked at how good it was (especially given it looks a bit tatty). Very smooth shifting, comfortable riding position, pretty speedy and OK suspension. It's become my hack/shopper bike.

Too young to be retro, too old to be desirable (especially given 26 inch wheels).

Re: More modern... but getting older... bargains?

greencat":3bq0e66f said:

I recently got an early 00s Trek for which I paid nothing for. The guy simply wanted it out of his garage (along with the 90s bear valley I really wanted - also free). Riding it I was shocked at how good it was (especially given it looks a bit tatty). Very smooth shifting, comfortable riding position, pretty speedy and OK suspension. It's become my hack/shopper bike.

Too young to be retro, too old to be desirable (especially given 26 inch wheels).

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Nice. What model?

I hope you don't mind I edited the OP to quote you in the title of the thread. You summed it up better than I did.

Re: More modern... but getting older... bargains?

bluetomgold":2wf5lu8a said:

greencat":2wf5lu8a said:

I recently got an early 00s Trek for which I paid nothing for. The guy simply wanted it out of his garage (along with the 90s bear valley I really wanted - also free). Riding it I was shocked at how good it was (especially given it looks a bit tatty). Very smooth shifting, comfortable riding position, pretty speedy and OK suspension. It's become my hack/shopper bike.

Too young to be retro, too old to be desirable (especially given 26 inch wheels).

Click to expand...

Nice. What model?

I hope you don't mind I edited the OP to quote you in the title of the thread. You summed it up better than I did.

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No problem. It's a Trek 4500. Pre-disc brake and 8 speed so assuming early 2000s. Edit: looks like this one:

https://roweroweporady.pl/f/topic/1484- ... laris-2x8/

I just built a Kona Nunu model year 2000

It will be my child seat bike as my modern bikes are either unsuitable or a bit too nice to whack on a Hamax Siesta.

The bike has 3x8 gears (950 xtr and 739 xt mix) LX v-brakes and Marzocchi z3 forks, the parts came from my parts bin and classifieds/ ebay but I set myself a rule that I can't spend more than £20 for any individual component.

OK it is never going to win BOTM but it works, it was dirt cheap, and it is almost retro. If it was a car you'd call it a youngtimer.