What's the attraction of Retro Bikes?

For me it's not about having things I couldn't have when younger.

There may be something about reliving it - but in general, I had a bike from the retro era (a 95 bike when I joined) and would have still have had a 91 model, had it not been nicked in 95 - so I just evolved or happened into it, really.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, so things that had longevity were things I was brought up to appreciate - so the bikes I've got from that era, are the ones I want to continue with, mainly because that was, I suppose, my cycling "happy time".

Because these newfangled V brakes are amazing!

fluroforks":1yd4gsec said:

Having all the things you wanted when you were younger but couldn't afford.

Click to expand...

+1 and a bit of its easier/simpler to work on than more modern bikes....

For me the boutique parts we all want have a perceived feeling of integrity that the 2013 £1000 Cannondale just doesn't have.

I'm into skinny steel frames and it is cheaper to refurbish a nineties frame than to buy new
I sold off all my trigger shifters and bought a few pairs of thumbies, which I prefer because of their simplicity, function and looks.
I also like the look and feel of a well set up cantilever brake - they just look kinda "slung".

for me its the character. Ive got an old apollo which to me, even though cheap, is a nice bike. if I even looked at a new apollo I would hang my head in shame. riding the equivalent spec bike from 1991 has so much more appeal to me than riding the same spec modern bike. it just feels 'different' in some way. Im not sure what it is but its like you bond with old bikes.

It harks back to an era, when human beings designed bikes and parts, and they weren't all poured in to the same jelly moulds by the same computer CAD programmes, they used real metal not plastic in everything, I liked the days when you could tell the bike from the dustbin you had leaned it against :facepalm:

1) Again, the 'things you couldn't afford when young'*

2) Interesting bikes, and bikes which WILL do anything, simply because that's what they were designed to do!

3) Bikes which were often (not always...) built to be the best they could be, or to push the boundaries, rather than 'nice' bikes designed to turn a profit.

*4) 1) But with a 'hot-rodding' theme.. i.e RETRO, not classic... The FUN of seeing what you can fit 9-sp, Disc brakes, V-brakes, fat tyres, Aheadsets etc to, and exploring the differences. I'm not much of a concours / catalogue-spec lover, but to see an old MTB being used properly, and perhaps that means having been upgraded and (most of the time!) improved upon - that's fun.
[I prefer the Eagle E-type to the Jaguar E-Type, and the AC Cobra to the AC Ace]

I like tinkering with old tat.

I like the frankenbike thing too.....mixing stuff to suit a bike to your own specific needs.....

.....I have a dyna tech at home, it's fitted with skinny slicks.....single speed and geared for the road, mud guards etc......it's the bike I get a bit of stick over keeping, but its actually one of my faves, it fits like a glove, and feels like an old friend. It goes a bit further into my soul than a new bike could..... Ticks the 'hippy' box if you know what I mean!........only retro could do that......