originality or customisation you decide

heres a can of worms what do you think keep original or deck your frame as a rolling retro parts showcase :?:
and why, justify it, if you can :!:

I like to try and keep a bike original so it looks like it's just come off the shop floor, stick to one groupset and finishing kit or as the manufacturers inted the frame to be kitted out.

I do however have a certain amount of red anno stuff hiding away for that one special frame ............. someday maybe I will break my mould :!:

i am with you all the way, original bikes maintain their soul, it is how they were meant to be at that moment in time.
That is not to say that a restored or blinged up ride has not got soul, its just not the one it was concieved with :!:

Good question. Personally I kind of like it when they tell a story.

I do like original paint, even if battered. just as well really as mine would probably be screaming for a respray in someone elses hands, admittedly slightly fewer chips/less cable rub would be nice

Im not really into immaculate bikes. Like concors cars, or kids toys that have been kept in a packet by some collector, i always feel a bit sorry for them.

Each to there own though. and im glad of that.

Custom, yeah baby!

Of the 8 proper bikes I have had (i.e. bought as a bike not as a toy) only 3 were bought complete, and then they were upgraded as components wore out / I had a birthday / christmas / pocket money!

The remaining 5 were bought as frames and built up, talk about soul! In love the fact that every bike I have ever owned refelcts ME and not Raleigh / Shogun / Orange / Kona or whoever's idea of the ideal spec.

Oh, and most of my bikes have a custom (but still period and in keeping) paint job, Check out my Kona in the gallery...

thats a really hard question to answer...

i like full on out of the showroom retro... but...

im also a fan of evolution... if something breaks, or is superceeded then upgrade, my shockabilly is a good example... frame is almost perfect... but the old 7 speed XTR is a little poor... as are rubber filled judys... as things wear out the bike ended up wearing full 9 speed XTR and air carts in the judys... if these parts were available when the frame was made, this is how it would have been... and in my eyes it is now perfect...

to me it seems a shame to cherish a bike... something which had so much effort and soul injected into it as it was built need to be ridden, the idea of pristine retro showbike breaks my heart, yes beautiful to look at but will never fulfill its destiny...

a little waffly and only just on topic! but feeling all warm and fuzzy today!!!

Custom every time..

Everytime I saw Tomac, Herbold, Furtado, Juarez [or any of the TopGuns] in a race pic in a mag, their bikes would be tricked out to the max.. Either with R&D stuff or Ringle/Zooka anodised jewellery, it always inspired me to trick out my own ride..

There was always a partnership of brands I thought though, certain frame manufacturers looked balanced with certain tricknology.. Pace with USE & Hope, FAT with Ringle & Zooka or Rocky Mountain with Syncros for example.. This might just have been me tho

Totally agree with the brand partnership thing...

Oranges with rock shocks look wrong, as would a pace with manitous! :shock:

I have a few dream bike specs in my head (Klein Adroit Linear gator fade with XTR rigid, Xizang with XCpro disc drive and Mag 21 slti's, American in grey ano with Manitous XT & purple ringle and of course White and black DOGS BOLX with green ano bits and bolts, RC30's and Mavic )

Swap the forks or the group sets over and any of these bikes would be wrong, as they are I think they are perfect and wish I could own them all!