Anyone else get funny looks?

I sometimes get positive comments from older cyclists or bike shop owners, One shop owner came up to me at an XC race and chatted about my Brian Rourke for a bit. He gave me the impression that he misses the olden days when a top end bike would be a hand made masterpiece of art and engineering and the frame would last a lifetime, unlike modern mass produced plastic bikes that have a good chance of falling apart after just a couple of years. Then again, maybe he took pity on me for not having 5K to spend on the latest Trek full susser.

The most interested looks or double takes I get are from teenagers who're too young to remember what bikes were like before 29ers and 650b, and my Marin Mount Vision seemed to get a lot of stares from them, presumably because of the radical frame design, maybe also because Marin is a brand that apparently isn't sold anywhere in Portugal.

The other week I spotted a teenager riding an RTS around a street in a rural backwater inland from Oporto, to which I gave a thumbs up. Hopefully the lad understands what he's got there.

But generally speaking, nobody here cares about bikes that are more than a couple of years old, because Portuguese society places a strong emphasis on status symbols, a psychosis that probably stems from the fact that only a generation or two ago Portugal was a very poor country and a lot of the newly arrived middle class feel they need to prove their wealth as overtly as possible.

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Quite the opposite when i roll on some tasty Ti dripping in matched ano A classic steel does get less attention, unless is parked up in front of a
coffee shop for half an hour. Retro bikes are cool and there seems to be growing appreciation of them amongst the younger generation in the last few years. Im looking forward to finishing off my oldest one later this year and taking it out.

Double-E F":2bxk4y8z said:

I do get looks when out on one of my retro rides, but I wouldn't necessarily refer to those as funny; they're mostly surprised and interested looks, perhaps sometimes with a sense of pity.

26" ain't dead !

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26” ain’t dead!

jonboy":3a9pas27 said:

I got some funny looks in the car park at Gisburn Forest a few years back when getting my '95 Specialized FSR out of the car. It seemed to be the lack of disc brakes that was most eyebrow raising. There was nothing there that I couldn't have ridden on a rigid.

It doesn't bother me.

I am equally baffled at the lack of skill most riders of 150mm travel bikes appear to have!

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Brilliant !!

I usually get shouts of ‘cool bike’ and double takes from non riding hipsters types - also a few riders have started chatting and Admiring it - many double taking - as it’s distinctive - - Both former Dynatech and now especially on the Raleigh RSP with its yellow racelines and Mavic Crossrides. Flur yellow Gloves and Nike Wildwood ACG trainers with a touch of the same yellow (and a Seiko Prospex I wear when cycling - with a dash of the same yellow) seems to give it the 90ies vibe and hipsters seem to love that

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Mountain biking - in fact cycling in general, has always been like this. Hardtail riders sneering at fully rigid guys, downhillers sneering at xc-ers. Bike shop staff are no better, unless you’re wheeling something so exotic and obviously expensive in that even they have to double take.

Any equipment led sport is always full of poseurs - and from 1991, when my Outpost dropped to today, nothing has changed. Still the same muppets rolling their eyes because my take on the incredibly niche hobby that ALL MTBers share, is slightly different from theirs.

My perspective? Some 50-something on a £6k Carbon 29er, with 12 months riding under his wheels wants to make a smart comment on my Bonty OR? Who cares. It’s funny.. the only thing I hear the same guy saying on the start ramp when I roll up behind him on my Trek Session is “Er.. you go first mate.. I’m still warming up..”

People judge the bike, not the rider. It was ever thus.

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BlackCat":35t3fdpc said:

Mountain biking - in fact cycling in general, has always been like this. Hardtail riders sneering at fully rigid guys, downhillers sneering at xc-ers. Bike shop staff are no better, unless you’re wheeling something so exotic and obviously expensive in that even they have to double take.

Any equipment led sport is always full of poseurs - and from 1991, when my Outpost dropped to today, nothing has changed. Still the same muppets rolling their eyes because my take on the incredibly niche hobby that ALL MTBers share, is slightly different from theirs.

My perspective? Some 50-something on a £6k Carbon 29er, with 12 months riding under his wheels wants to make a smart comment on my Bonty OR? Who cares. It’s funny.. the only thing I hear the same guy saying on the start ramp when I roll up behind him on my Trek Session is “Er.. you go first mate.. I’m still warming up..”

People judge the bike, not the rider. It was ever thus.

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I really like reading these stories and anecdotes !

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BlackCat":546yzj3p said:

It’s funny.. the only thing I hear the same guy saying on the start ramp when I roll up behind him on my Trek Session is “Er.. you go first mate.. I’m still warming up..”

People judge the bike, not the rider. It was ever thus.

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That made me laugh.

It is fun hanging on to the 'all the gear' types on a rigid singlespeed either up- or downhill. Of course they have better bikes, what usually is surprising is how little benefit they get from all the tech.

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Like most of us here, I have several retro bikes - plus I also have a modern trail bike and a DH rig. If I’m doing an uplift day, I won’t be bringing my NOS ‘91 Team Marin. If I’m doing conventional xc or I have my little one with me (20 inch ‘dale, before you ask), then who cares what I ride.

Personally I think wheeling a mint, gleaming 25yr old retro bike across the carpark - then being able to actually ride it with some skill - completely and utterly one-ups most me-too modern 27.5ers, in terms of what that bike says about the rider. Price tag is not relevant - I can buy whatever bike I want.

For me, my retro bike, in that situation, should say to the all-the-gear brigade - ‘anyone who is passionate enough about their hobby to spend that much time and effort restoring a bike of that age to that condition.. to source all those parts.. and to make it run sweet.. is perhaps someone I should be aware of as a rider, if they appear on my wheel this afternoon.. Because just maybe, they’ve been riding these trails since that bike was new.”

I think that some of these guys recognise that.. hence all the smart ass comments. That’s all they have.

I mean.. let’s all be honest here, boys, performance-wise that 27.5er will vaporise any retro bike, all things being equal.. in the same way as a 488 Pista would a 250 GT SWB..

However.. Sometimes outright performance isn’t all there is to life..

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At Glentress I once got the comment, your not taking that (Raleigh White Lightnin'), down there (Spooky Wood section of the red trail) with a look of incredulity and horror. Possibly he wondered if he should get Borders Ambulance service on speed dial
Seen him later at the bottom no issues. I did reassure him though that I did ride at a pedestrian pace and most definitely kept my tyres on the ground. Our old bikes are seen in modern terms as town hybrids but we know different and that's the important bit