But why a Retro Bike?...

none of the above

I dont ride retro bikes, okay a few exceptions but most of them are too pretty to thrown down a mountain side with recklass "hire car" mentality. I love some retro bikes as they're simply gorgeous & beautifully made, but most are too fragile for the way I ride now compared to 20yrs ago.

I didn't ride regularly for nearly 10 years. Got back into doing it a few times a week and found that the whole thing had moved on. Rather than learn all the new stuff I bought up what I lusted after and what I remember best from BITD.

Still umm and arr about getting a new bike but why? It won't make me any faster up hill and it wil make me faster down hill, which is a bad thing as coming off at 20 mph is a lot nicer than coming off at 30!

Besides, it is more environmentally friendly and helps to off set my habit for liking fast old cars!

Stick Legs":3tfketn0 said:

Still umm and arr about getting a new bike but why? It won't make me any faster up hill and it wil make me faster down hill, which is a bad thing as coming off at 20 mph is a lot nicer than coming off at 30!

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depending on where & how you ride it might. I can "clear" uphill trails on XC FS that I never could on fully rigid or hardtails. if FS was just for DH I wouldnt use it!

Thinking skills....

I rode a modern bike on holiday a couple of weeks ago for the first time in 5 or 6 years - in comparison to any of my 'inferior' older models, I found it mushy, heavy, dull, overly-comfortable and ultimately an uninvolving, unexciting ride. Good job the scenery more than made up for it...!

For me the auto comparison is with the venerable Lotus 7 (and a host of modern equivalents that are built back to that concept) - you get a direct communication with the terrain, the sense of control and speed, you are always conscious of your machine's limitations and have to continually work with and around them, and the sensation that you are riding and riding hard to exhusation.

As an all encompassing hobby, you also get a real sense of heritage in engaging with the folk roots of early MTBs and a chance to become conscious of the global cottage design process, and the development of a modern sport.

The ebay hunting and the cellar/shed building process serves to enhance the times when we cannot ride - it keeps the motivation fresh and introduces you to another world of closet retro-freaks you never realised existed...!

The new marketing justifications however, are lost on me. Yes I understand that the moderns are 'better' in every respect, but when did I ever want to be able to ride that much longer or crash that much faster (not that progress asks the focus groups those kind of questions...) - I don't have enough time as it is!

Just check the kinds of injuries riders are having these days in comparison to the early 90's - look at the big air, Black Diamond, skateboard/snowboard-made-for-TV trickery that new riders are encouraged to emulate on these high-tech beasties - I don't get it!

I still maintain if you can't ride an old bike fast and safe then you shouldn't be let loose on a modern FS... the day they bring in a rigid class for World Cup downhill I will raise a glass - maybe there's an idea for a Retrobike race series...???!

Neil

While agreeing with almost everything above this sums it up best:

Stick Legs":1g1cns3h said:

I didn't ride regularly for nearly 10 years. Got back into doing it a few times a week and found that the whole thing had moved on. Rather than learn all the new stuff I bought up what I lusted after and what I remember best from BITD.

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I do think that older bikes 'look' better although acknowledge that the function of new bikes is probably amazing. But as I ride for pleasure and don't enjoy riding fast downhill I'm happy to stick with simplicity and being able to maintain my own bikes. Multiple old bikes that I have to constantly tinker with or a flash new one that works flawlessly but when it goes wrong I'm floundering with? Put me down for ticking the Luddite box, over and over again.

Also, the only modern bikes that I think look good are the ones with a retro flavour (flava?).

1. building your own obviously beats buying new – you end up with a much lighter bike for half the price.
2. for commuting, nothing beats a 90s rigid steel for fun, speed and comfort – my favourite is my 95 Orange C16R, but my 97 Lava Dome isn’t far behind. I know a racer is faster, but a 23lb mtb is more flexible in what terrain you can ride it over
3. if you like steel, there’s more to choose from in retro land, and who wants to pay £600 for a frame anyway?
4. I personally feel that the current preference for 100mm+ travel is ergonomically inefficient over longer xc rides and I prefer older frames with geometry tailored to 80mm
5. I do like my RM Element scandium though, most retro heads have a modern bike as well
6. I do agree though about old-style cantis and heavy forks with no travel – I’m not that retro!

My main ride is a modern bike, well two actually, one being reserved for hooligan days.
My retro bike gets ridden when I want to sit back and enjoy the scenery and pedal away worries on a bike I have known and loved for 15 years. It also allows me to indulge that side in all of us that lusts after shiney (purple...) bits. I can't justify putting them on my modern bike because I know they'll get scuffed in know time and probably don't work as well as a regular stock part.

FEEL- fast isn't necessarily nicest. Computers can produce a formidible carbon fibre package of speed and agility that rides like a pile of poo. Steel is, quite literally, real. I'm riding the handiwork and feeling the craftsmanship of long-dead torch men who were masters of their art. Can't put how that feels into words.

COST-weight weenie race heads must have the latest thing, discarding yesterday's latest thing as old and crap=ebay for bobbins!

For me its just fond memories of the cool gear when my mtb obessions begun (93-98ish) - although I like new stuff too.

My most recent ride is a 97 Giant ATX 980 so I'm kind of stuck in a past era by default. Perhaps not the most retro, but to me it was a cool era in the evolution of mass market mountain bikes (acceptance of full suspension for general trail riding, emergence of v-brakes and decent forks below pro level etc).

Also agree that the chance to acquire gear you always wanted is a factor too, although I wouldn't do a full retro build. Love looking at them, and have heaps of respective for those that put the effort into restoring them, but the chance of improving on the original is too much for me - in the process of building up an old GT STS with new kit now...

Im just getting back on the bike after nearly 10 years off, so i cant justify buying new. funny thing is though i bought a bike mag the other day and nothing appealed to me, all the hard tails looked wayyyyy overbuilt and the full sus bikes just looked far to technical, and whats all this 29er thing :shock:

What i'd really like is a nice simple rigid klein but alas Mrs No is always stood behind me saying...... :cry: