Pigs in Lipstick thread.

Pleb.

Could be due to all sorts of tiny details in the frame design though, plus there is a question of how well steel lasts - I've heard it said that Ultimate Ultralight loses it's 'zing' fairly rapidly, so that by now a Kila is a livelier ride than an Explosif, for example.

Plus your Voodoo is prettier colours and we know that's what you like

What determines quality though, sometimes the "best" tubing in a line is not the best for you or what your preferences in a ride are.

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Indeed. Many years ago I had two road bikes, one was fairly inexpensive, with 531 main tubes and plain high tensile steel forks and rear triangle; it weighed about 24lbs. The other was a more expensive bike, 531c throughout with better components and tubular tyres; it weighed about 21lbs. The bikes were both the same size and similar geometry and the position of the bars and saddle were pretty much identical, but I prefered the ride of the cheaper, heavier bike, somehow the lighter, "better" bike never felt quite right.

I was lucky enough to find a Peugeot MTB frame in Columbus Nuron or Brain or Brian or whatever it was. It was the highest 'quality' tubing available at the time but I hated the ride - I was simply too heavy to appreciate what the designer had envisaged so I sold the frame.

I then find a mid range Saracen at the tip and it was like God (not the Raleigh GoD) had built a bicycle just for me! I could have tarted it up with all sorts of shiny things but it wouldnt have ridden any better.

Tart up what you like! It was always the way 'back in the day'.

legrandefromage":3t62weau said:

I was lucky enough to find a Peugeot MTB frame in Columbus Nuron or Brain or Brian or whatever it was. It was the highest 'quality' tubing available at the time but I hated the ride - I was simply too heavy to appreciate what the designer had envisaged so I sold the frame.

I then find a mid range Saracen at the tip and it was like God (not the Raleigh GoD) had built a bicycle just for me! I could have tarted it up with all sorts of shiny things but it wouldnt have ridden any better.

Tart up what you like! It was always the way 'back in the day'.

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Are you calling me fat. And it has been scientifically proven that ano makes a bike faster and the rider more rad, yes rad, and pull more birds or blokes or whatever tickles his tomatos.

shut it fatty fat fat fat

Somebody on here once contacted me to say he had just bought a Kona Hahanna frame for £26 and wanting to know whether I thought he should buy a (new) Chris King headset for it. I said if you were going to spend £126 on a frame and a headset, you would have achieved a much better outcome if you had spent it the other way round.

On the other hand, if your girlfriend isn't pretty and nobody else fancies her, that's no reason not to buy here things. If you like her and she's nice to you, who cares what anybody else thinks about whether she deserves the presents you buy her?

Anthony":srinj7g7 said:

if your girlfriend isn't pretty and nobody else fancies her, that's no reason not to buy her things.

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I want this on a T shirt

Anthony you are a funny man

Going back to what Pedro said, my Bontrager Privateer eventually went"off"and lost its zing completely. Unfortunately it became a complete liability. Such a shame. Good to hear it's not the only steel bike it's happened to, in a perverse kind of way

Getting a bit more on-topic (although it's not retro), my '08 Kona Lanai has Fox, Easton, XTR, etc. Plenty of decent parts that are much better than the frame. However, due in no small part to Retrobike, I'm gonna keep an eye out for a late 90's Explosif or Kilauea. Modern frames seem to be designed for more fork travel than the 80mm mine have, so looking at any of them seems somewhat pointless.

Regards

Marge

My 'Kili Wot' is 531 throughout and feels much more 'expensive...' than I imagined it would!

I have two Explosifs, a Scandium-framed Y2K and an 853, but I think I wish I still had my '97 Kilauea

What do the Scandium and 853 ride like out of interest?