Birthday Boy/Girl/Thing!
Happy Birthday 'Retrobike'!
For what its worth, here's what I take from the site (aka: lunchtime waffle):
I love the random illustrations of diversity from a common root - it's a safe bet the majority of contributors are well over their 35th birthday, happy to agitate and share memories of the good times, when our lives and lusts were simpler... As many have said, now we have varying amounts of disposable income and are able to magically purchase (or re-purchase!) that period, it's as if we take insult in subsequent bike design 'progress' and the tastes of the new people they are aimed at.
I guess it's all about the pieces of our identity - wanting to restate the fact that our values were somehow right then and are still right today - grudgingly, perhaps, in the face of some admirable technological advances. Let's face it, the old school bits and bobs we love to 're-find' now were all part of the dawning of the technological age way back when. That's why we love those flawed designs that were always bound to go CRACK! Hence, we are all therefore guilty of starting today's full suspension, 20" travel, hyperspace tubed, behemoths - just by dribbling over the local bike shop window!
Where to now for 'Retrobike' - I think it's already has iconic brand status, albeit in a cult or niche way. It's exactly at this point that it could go horribly 'wrong' or fantastically 'right' - depending on whether you prefer to hide under a little stone or like to spread the word and share with more folk. Neither is wrong.
It would be great though, to be able to make younger riders more aware of the heritage we all cherish - I really like looking at the US MTB Hall of Fame and First Flight stuff and wonder, since we in the UK are supposed to have all the history and heritage, why we cannot do something similar? With the knowledge displayed regularly by the group, it wouldn't be hard to compile an archive or the seminal UK moments: races, bikes, importers etc.
How positive would it be to define and state what the Retrobike is about for people yet to hear about it - perhaps to build logical activities (other than the web-based - it seems such a contradiction to be passionate about this outdoor pursuit, yet spend so much time staring into a radioactive screen thinking about it! Is that what computers are all about - big Gameboys invisibily replacing your desire to do the real thing with a surrogate - called EBAY!) that reach out to the next generation of old school riders.
Lastly, inspired by your great merchandise and the BOTM competition - how about publishing an annual set of readers' Top Trumps cards for each year's entries???
Neil