ChromeChainstay
Senior Retro Guru
i get what you did there
So many bike sites seem to loathe "retro". Why?
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2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
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…thread revival?…
…I’ve just looked at the Radio 4 age figures - there’s a replenishment from the bottom and the average age seems pretty static - albeit with a big drift to podcast listening …
So what’s happening in retro biking? Is it just a wave of 50-70 somethings and then both the activity and the site will just die off, as this transient population pushes up the daisies?
I’ve wondered why the ‘retro window’ doesn’t slide along - after all, my COTIC Simple 26er is a thing of the past on the trail now, and that’s a frame from the 2000s….retro? Hell yeah.
Could I ride it in anger on most trails?
Yep.
Would I ride it in a modern trail centre? Nope.
Is it fashion? Not entirely. I ride a 2016 mmmbop on singletrack for training, very new COTICs and Stantons for distance, and the latest Transitions in the Alps. Because they work. And I am less likely to hurt myself. That’s the main reason.
The Grom (now 19) and I still have some retro-steeds (for the vibe, because they work, for the conversation etc) but when we are pushing hard we want top performance.
No one should knock a 90s bike since it was likely at the top of its game at the time. Taking the piss out of 90s bikes is like saying Rickie Lee Jones couldn’t write good lyrics.
For sure superficial fashion, the grip of modern consumerism cannot be underestimated.
The DNA of a 90s Orange
is still in a BfE max.
…I’ve just looked at the Radio 4 age figures - there’s a replenishment from the bottom and the average age seems pretty static - albeit with a big drift to podcast listening …
So what’s happening in retro biking? Is it just a wave of 50-70 somethings and then both the activity and the site will just die off, as this transient population pushes up the daisies?
I’ve wondered why the ‘retro window’ doesn’t slide along - after all, my COTIC Simple 26er is a thing of the past on the trail now, and that’s a frame from the 2000s….retro? Hell yeah.
Could I ride it in anger on most trails?
Yep.
Would I ride it in a modern trail centre? Nope.
Is it fashion? Not entirely. I ride a 2016 mmmbop on singletrack for training, very new COTICs and Stantons for distance, and the latest Transitions in the Alps. Because they work. And I am less likely to hurt myself. That’s the main reason.
The Grom (now 19) and I still have some retro-steeds (for the vibe, because they work, for the conversation etc) but when we are pushing hard we want top performance.
No one should knock a 90s bike since it was likely at the top of its game at the time. Taking the piss out of 90s bikes is like saying Rickie Lee Jones couldn’t write good lyrics.
For sure superficial fashion, the grip of modern consumerism cannot be underestimated.
The DNA of a 90s Orange
is still in a BfE max.
Lhatch4
Fat Chance Fan
A couple days ago I crossed paths with a guy on a shiny new ebike. He politely said hi, and said "it's just me" indicating that there's no other bikers behind him. I thought to myself, "of course it's just you, you're on an ebike. Get used to being alone. " If that's the direction of new, I'll stick with retro.
There's no profit for corporations in the private second hand bike trade. Every time someone buys an old bike the bike industry loses out.
That's all it is really. The cycling press and media that suckles at the industries teat is existentially invested in killing old bikes off.
But it won't work.
Even the switch to frames made of Chinese plastic resin with a few carbon fibres woven in, complete with their baked in terror of imminent catastrophic failure which promotes anxious regular as clockwork repurchasing habits, won't kill off the immortal 90s mtb.
You just can't beat quality steel frames and bomb proof 90s kit for everyday cycling duties, whether it's commuting, touring, cruising, gravel™, everything except state of the art cutting edge competitive racing tier was done as well as it can be done 30 odd years ago.
Look at any for sale section on here, you'll see bikes that, if well maintained, will last a lifetime going for less than a pair of plastic - sorry - carbon rims, and they have character, personality, a story to tell. They give you the chance to own a piece of history, to own something truly unusual and often completely unique, they also make it cheap and easy to infuse your own ideas and personality into the build process.
The very existence of consumer models from the lower ranges of some 90s brands openly ridicules much of what Halfords and co have to offer today.
There are some amazing new bikes out there, as mentioned the state of the art stuff, there are craftsmen and visionaries pushing the envelope and turning out absolute art. But when it comes to mass produced machines for the everyman, that market was, is and will be for decades to come, utterly dominated by the rigid steel framed 90s mtb. A genre of bike that was born out of the chaos of a market turned upside down with a sleeping industry being rudely slapped out of its arrogant slumber by the clamour of organic grass roots out of f*cking nowhere consumer demand.
And the commercial cycling world of today hates it, because they can't compete with it, they can't replicate it, they can't take the credit for it and they can't argue with the basic undeniable reality of it.
That's all it is really. The cycling press and media that suckles at the industries teat is existentially invested in killing old bikes off.
But it won't work.
Even the switch to frames made of Chinese plastic resin with a few carbon fibres woven in, complete with their baked in terror of imminent catastrophic failure which promotes anxious regular as clockwork repurchasing habits, won't kill off the immortal 90s mtb.
You just can't beat quality steel frames and bomb proof 90s kit for everyday cycling duties, whether it's commuting, touring, cruising, gravel™, everything except state of the art cutting edge competitive racing tier was done as well as it can be done 30 odd years ago.
Look at any for sale section on here, you'll see bikes that, if well maintained, will last a lifetime going for less than a pair of plastic - sorry - carbon rims, and they have character, personality, a story to tell. They give you the chance to own a piece of history, to own something truly unusual and often completely unique, they also make it cheap and easy to infuse your own ideas and personality into the build process.
The very existence of consumer models from the lower ranges of some 90s brands openly ridicules much of what Halfords and co have to offer today.
There are some amazing new bikes out there, as mentioned the state of the art stuff, there are craftsmen and visionaries pushing the envelope and turning out absolute art. But when it comes to mass produced machines for the everyman, that market was, is and will be for decades to come, utterly dominated by the rigid steel framed 90s mtb. A genre of bike that was born out of the chaos of a market turned upside down with a sleeping industry being rudely slapped out of its arrogant slumber by the clamour of organic grass roots out of f*cking nowhere consumer demand.
And the commercial cycling world of today hates it, because they can't compete with it, they can't replicate it, they can't take the credit for it and they can't argue with the basic undeniable reality of it.
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MattiThundrrr
Kona Fan
Go up to a fellow cyclist on a carbon bike and offer them the "Steel is Real" challenge. You hit their carbon top tube with a chromo tube as hard as you can, and let them do the same to your bike with a carbon tube.
rentedmule
Retro Guru
I see a lot of similarities between retro vs. modern bikes and retro vs. modern cars. I race a modern sports car with piles of HP, independent suspension, and lots of electronic nannies to prevent my untimely death. I love it. Last week I drove my 30 year old 'muscle car' with a solid rear axle, no nannies, and that's down 200 HP on the modern car. It was a totally different experience but I loved it just as much. Like 2manyoranges said - modern is good for top performance, but that doesn't mean classic isn't good.
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When I joined the site some of my bikes were almost brand new, they reach their 20th birthday soon
What was considered retro at the time was barely 10 to 15 years old, some of those bikes now reaching well beyond their 30th birthdays
Looking back over the now long decades from when I started out 'Maaantin' biking in 1986, the riding I've done hasn't really changed. It's been trail riding for 40 plus years with hills and lumpy bits and flat bits. What has changed is the cycling world beyond. it all feels carefully stage managed.
I don't like the associated arms race between the social media, marketing and trail centres, let alone ebikes
I'm happy just challenging myself, without guidance or the insistence that I'm not doing it 'right' because I'm not using product X, Y or Z and I must be stupid for not doing so.
I'm an irritant to those that want to sell me sssstufff. I already have plenty of sssstufff. I'm enjoying that stuff and if that pisses people off, it's not my problem
What was considered retro at the time was barely 10 to 15 years old, some of those bikes now reaching well beyond their 30th birthdays
Looking back over the now long decades from when I started out 'Maaantin' biking in 1986, the riding I've done hasn't really changed. It's been trail riding for 40 plus years with hills and lumpy bits and flat bits. What has changed is the cycling world beyond. it all feels carefully stage managed.
I don't like the associated arms race between the social media, marketing and trail centres, let alone ebikes
I'm happy just challenging myself, without guidance or the insistence that I'm not doing it 'right' because I'm not using product X, Y or Z and I must be stupid for not doing so.
I'm an irritant to those that want to sell me sssstufff. I already have plenty of sssstufff. I'm enjoying that stuff and if that pisses people off, it's not my problem
ChromeChainstay
Senior Retro Guru
in the 90's we had a trek oclv tube and a hammer on the countertop. never a problem hitting it with a hammer.
not so much with a ultralite steel tube though¿
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