Best retro brands

[Abaca]

Hi all

Apologies if been asked before but what are the brand's to keep an eye out for when it comes to retro road bikes.

I'm pretty clued up on MTB brand's but road bikes have me stumped and not sure what's junk and what's not.

Also most of my finds require work of some kind is there any bikes to steer clear of due to absence of parts or being a general nightmare rebuild.

Not looking for anything fancy here, steel preferably. Going to be used for an odd commute and a long ride at the weekend.

Thanks in advance

 

[HansOberlander]

If you want something easy to work on and with cheap spare parts it's best to buy a Shimano equipped bike from the 80s/90s.
Depending on the price you're willing to pay, there are several options, all pretty reliable (of course there are exceptions).
If you're willing to go down that route, I think you cannot really go wrong. For a commute and some rides on the weekend, no issue with going 105/Exage, if you're eager to pay more go 600/Ultegra and if money is no issue to you, Dura Ace is the way to go.

Depending on frames, most of the magic is done by the sizing. I've ridden the cheapest bikes with gaspipe tubing brazed together by a monkey in a cave, if they were a good fit, they were nice to ride. On the other hand, no Columbus SLX hand-built frame for an unholy amount of money will ride nicely if it's too big for you. No need to get someting "fancy" like a Colnago etc., just pick someting that fits your size.

Just my two cents, others here might think differently

 

[NeilM]

Re:

OK, think that question back the other way around, if someone asked you which retro MTB's to steer clear of, how big a question is that to answer.

Now consider that MTB's have only been made from the mid to late 80, and road bikes have been made for over a hundred years. :shock:

I think if you stick to bikes made in or after the 1980's you will cut the choices down, and then for a first bike start to look at 'names'. Look at the quality of construction; pressed steel dropouts and splatter welded tubes are stay away territory and there have been plenty of those from the likes of Raleigh, Peugeot, and many many more.

Take a look around the usual places where bikes are bought and sold, then have search in the build threads for something similar and you'll soon start to get the hang of what's hot and what's not.

One thing that it worth considering is that some Peugeots use pretty unusual seat post sizes, be careful of that one, also be aware of rear wheel spacing, anything 126 or 130mm will be able to utilise modern running gear, narrower spacing means less gears on the cassette, not that that should stop you, as you can get sensible gear ratio's using 5, 6 or 7 speed cassettes

 

[Abaca]

Re:

Hi

Apologies for the vagueness of the initial question.

The bike will most likely be sourced from the local bike recycling centre so I would imagine it would most likely be from the 80's/90's era.

Road bikes are a complete new world for me and just wanted to avoid to forking out for something that turns out to be junk.

Most of their bikes when fixed fall within the £60-85 range so it will be interesting to see what they have,sold as seen bikes can be £5-10 but I run the risk here of picking up something that's going too much to get running.

I'll certainly do my research before making any sort of purchase.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[NeilM]

Re:

Just look for the same signs of quality you would with an MTB, including running gear and wheels. Also, pick it up, if it weighs a ton it will be robust, but thick steel tubes.

Obviously anything made of Reynolds or Columbus tubing will be better, but just like some MTB's there will be tubesets you don't recognise.

You'll soon get the hang of road bikes, I was where you are now about five years ago, I still know next to nothing, but I can spot a quality frame.

Have fun.

 

[Stump28]

Re:

As said above really, if you can spot a mtb that looks like it's going to die you can spot a road bike that will. You can usually see which bikes should be completely avoided. If it feels good and rides ok go for it.

 

[Woz]

Re:

I'm on my third attempt to reply to this massive question, but thankfully NeilM did a Stella job!

In short....a top notch road bike was almost certainly not purchased off the shelf like a MTB in the glory days. It would have been
custom spec'd and custom made from a reputable builder / shop.

So...very little concept of a "brand" existed in reality for complete bikes which
may explain a lack of where to start.

Go down a bit, then you will find reasonable quality (mass) produced complete bikes from the usual suspects. Raleigh made better road bikes than MTBs BITD - some very highly spec'd for production bikes.

In short, if it has Campag dropouts, it's looking promising, if it has a splattering of Campag bits and say Mavic rims it won't be shoddy.

As said, if Shimano 105 then that is more than fine for commuting.

Stay clear of anything with an Italian bottom bracket even if it
ooozes sex appeal.