But why a Retro Bike?...

[Augustus]

At what point does a bike become retro and therefore worthy of attention?

That is the million dollar question isn't it?

To me, Retro is a state of mind.

 

[JustKev]

Re: Sorry to chime in so late in the thread but...

I LOVE walking into a bike shop and having the shop rat look give my bike a puzzled look or totally ignore it. I think it highlights the ignorance and lack of knowledge of a lot of shops ........ I use my bike as a gauge of how good the shop is.

How true is that. One of the kids in my LBS looked at me as if i was stupid when i asked if they had any 1" threaded headsets!

you want a 1" threaded headset for a mountain bike? It can't be a very good bike

"It's a Roberts DOGS BOLX" I replied. Kid looked confused, shop owner twatted him round the head and sent him to make me a cup of tea!

I think this is part of my fascination for retro. It's catching too - my LBS now has a poster up, and keep finding me stuff from their dusty cupboard!

 

[tintin40]

Because i can't buy a 2007 Trimble :evil:

 

[ashes_mtb]

Re: WHY

In a single word, WEIGHT (Plus old bikes have: Soul, Character, pretty looks and you need skills to ride them well) or the lack of weight with retro. Even the Trek 69r weighes 25 pounds plus and it's a single speed!! The whole concept of a MOUNTAIN bike is it can be ridden up a very steep hill off road. If it's heavy this is no fun, particularly for light weights like me. I am an x fell runner and CX racer, so carrying a bike is also a desire, (why ride up a hill when you can run up it easier and faster beats me, so I will shoulder my bike and run up steep or rocky inclines and at sub 20 pounds that's easy) try carrying an awkwardly shaped 30 pound plus bike up a cliff wall![/b]

I can understand the weight argument - can't believe whats accepted as a reasonable weight these days for everyday trail bikes (seems that 28-30lb is considered reasonable...).

Having said that, there are some brilliant light weight bikes available these days if thats what you want (and you have the dosh), that rival the old bikes for weight and kill them for reliability, braking and performance IMHO. Can't touch the old bikes for style though.

 

[cchris2lou]

Yep , a friend is france is a Scott dealer , and I was able to try his Scott Spark LTD . It is an incredible machine . It goes like a rocket up and down . but at nearly £5000 , very expensive .

 

[ashes_mtb]

Yep , a friend is france is a Scott dealer , and I was able to try his Scott Spark LTD . It is an incredible machine . It goes like a rocket up and down . but at nearly £5000 , very expensive .

Yeah, the Scott's are brilliant (although I can't afford one of my own). Seen their hard tails built with expensive but sensible kit to 19lb and their FS to 22lb. They handle beautifully and seem rock solid from a reliability perspective too.

 

[cchris2lou]

His Spark was under 9.5kg , the Scale under 9kg and his road bike under 6kg .