What's the attraction of Retro Bikes?

[ewanm77]

anyone can walk into a shop throw down a couple of thousand and get a shiney new bike just like everyone else if you have a retro bike and you goto a mountain bike place you get more intrest from other riders than you do on a brand spanking new one.

its also fun restoring them and taking them out i could of never afforded my bike when it was new it cost more than my first car

i started riding in about 1989 first bike was a raleigh mustang then got a saracen eiger loved that bike had cut down bars as was the fashion had 21 gears wish i kept hold of it

 

[sinnerman]

The thrill of the chase, the Voyage of discovery, the deciphering of marketeers from the racketeers through the Ages.
Meeting new friends, hooking up with old friends long since lost in annals of time.
Remembering the cool times, and taking old Tat and making it useful.
There is no greater satisfaction than taking one persons rubbish and refinishing, rebuilding, restoring and then riding that once long forgotten Legend.

This is the definition what "RETROBIKE" means to me.

And Long may it continue...

 

[davemev]

The thrill of the chase, the Voyage of discovery, the deciphering of marketeers from the racketeers through the Ages.
Meeting new friends, hooking up with old friends long since lost in annals of time.
Remembering the cool times, and taking old Tat and making it useful.
There is no greater satisfaction than taking one persons rubbish and refinishing, rebuilding, restoring and then riding that once long forgotten Legend.

This is the definition what "RETROBIKE" means to me.

And Long may it continue...

Great answer!

There have been some great responses to this post and mine is a mixture of them all.

When I was 12 years old my Parents bought me my first Mountain Bike. We weren't especially well off but I was over the moon with my brand new Townsend Smokey Bear!
I took it everywhere and rode it in to the ground. When I was 14 I had completely ruined my Townsend and I bought myself a Raleigh Gritstone from Halfords. I worked in a car sales in Portsmouth every Saturday from 0800-18:00 washing and waxing every car in the show room. At the end of the day I was handed £15. I saved and saved and only spent money once a month to buy MBUK. My Dad matched my savings and I loved that bike so much because I worked so hard to get it. I continued to save my money and spend it on my bike.

For me back then it was upgrades like the DCD and the Go- Fast bars from Club Roost. I used to drool over Rock Shox but could only ever afford Ballistic forks. I knew that when I grew up and had more money, I would buy all the bikes I ever wanted. So that's what I've been doing and will continue to do so!

 

[misteroo]

...because of all you guys....





Oh, and the thrill of riding a 23 year old Marin faster than a kid on a modern full suss!!!!


:twisted:

 

[miles0385]

For me I remember buying the magazines, MBA, MBUK etc and looking longingly at the stuff I was too young to have, bitd Yeti, cook bros, ringle, manitou were on the front pages and it reminds me of being 13-15 years old, you jut don't get that excited over stuff when you're older, a £300,000 Lamborghini doesn't excite me like a $1000.00 Yeti used to!

 

[feetabix]

Some very good points there........life does take the romance away as you get older!......I have not found anything that excites me like a new copy of mbuk did bitd, or recreates the struggle of concentrating on work on a Monday, knowing the following Saturday I was to collect my first pair of 737 spuds and mag 21 forks......wonderful memories!.......

 

[lebuski]

I guess I'm an "old fashion sort of guy" at heart.
I love my old bike... my old car... my old wife!
And in case you're reading this dear, not necessarily in that order

 

[chefmiguel]

Reasons I give for being into the retro aspect range from these were the bikes I worked on as a shop mechanic. My collection is that of the ones I owned at the time or that I worked on for customers. Maybe they don't have souls as Unkle pointed out but they were visions of their designers. Those guys poured themselves into these frames and that sense of soul is there to me.
Oh and because my Klein Palomino sucked and made me dig out a pair of XT thumb shifters out of a box so I could shift that awful front derailleur. I realized how much I miss the simpler nature of these great rides.

 

[merckx]

because its nice to tune out from the sales and marketing bullshit that pervades the scene these days, that tells you if you don't have the latest bike then you are somehow missing out. (cue shortly 29ers becoming obsolete and 27.5 the must have).

modern bikes also make riding very easy. they take the roughness and unpredictability out of the trail. witness now, everyone needs bigger and more dangerous trail, just to get a kick.

for me, like many, its also a way to keep that flame burning, that was first sparked in the early 90s (for me anyway) by not only the sport itself, but the then very radical and desirable high end machinery

 

[PurpleFrog]

"Is it like vinyl vs digital music?"

Lousy analogy, given that only about 5% of people will understand the actual differences, but a lot of people will have strong (and opposing) junk opinions...

The older bikes I like are good all-rounders - pretty much what I get in a Cotic Roadrat, but cheaper and perhaps with more character.