Can Carbon rims be considered Retro?

[Retrorockit]

I just like to try things, and I like my bike to be different than others. At least if it's better for my own purposes.
The bike is a 2004 KHS Team Issue Softtail 26" XC bike. Light weight for an MTB, Sturdier than a road bike. Gravel racing has opened up some possibilities for me. Rene Herse Extralight Gravel slicks were a revelation for me. Light, fa$t, $mooth. I went to Latex tubes with sealant in the same vein.
IDK how long Carbon rims have been around. Can they be considered retro or not? Anyway I think (hope) they have the bugs out by now. I ordered a pair of 24 spoke carbon XC rims from China. 280g. 25mm inside x 25mm deep.
As far as I can tell my Mavic Crossrides are 535mm erd, and these are 531mm erd. My LBS says this is within the range of reusing my bladed spokes, and Mavic straight pull hubs.
I don't just like my bike to be better than it was. If possible I would like it to be better than what's being sold now. Taking weight out of the smaller 26" wheel format seems like a way to do that.
It will be a few more weeks before they get here.
I've also gathered a pair of SRAM 900 24 spoke hubs. Berd told me their rope spokes won't work with my Mavic hubs, so I'm getting ready for that at some point in the future. Nothing retro about them, but rope spokes do look archaic as hell.
https://berdspokes.com/pages/technology

 

[Imlach]

who ******* cares if it is retro, build the bike you want to ride

 

[Retrorockit]

I want to ride my Retro 26" XC bike. And leave overblown overweight overpriced 12s 29ers in the dust. I want it to look obsolete.
There's been a price bump on the Berd spokes. I may buy now before that happens again. If I do that I'll just go all plastic wheels at once.
Having an undisturbed pair of vintage Mavics has it's benefits also.

 

[ishaw]

The answer is simple. The site cut off for retro is 1997, so if made on or before, yes, else no.

I'm sure other timelines are used elsewhere but on here, that's what it is.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Really if its current technology, its not retro.
A carbon rim with alloy brake track, maybe.
All carbon tubeless ready hookless bead definitely not.

String spokes will be retro again soon

 

[Retrorockit]

I'm working an a moving timeline of 20yo. Old enough to be D.C, and new enough to still be relevant. I can't afford to ride stuff that doesn't work in my enviro. US Hotrodding almost killed itself off with a Pre WW2 rule. Partly the participant just died of old age. Sports car club racing did the same thing. Wrote the rules to keep Frogeye Sprite competitive. Vinatge racing actually had newer cars!

 

[bikeworkshop]

I'm working an a moving timeline of 20yo. Old enough to be D.C, and new enough to still be relevant. I can't afford to ride stuff that doesn't work in my enviro. US Hotrodding almost killed itself off with a Pre WW2 rule. Partly the participant just died of old age. Sports car club racing did the same thing. Wrote the rules to keep Frogeye Sprite competitive. Vinatge racing actually had newer cars!

What's retro changes with time for sure - so if the component itself is a couple of decades old, that's a start.

But it needs a design difference to current standards.
Next year I think you could have a 20 year old 1x10 27.5er with shimano hydros and fox forks.

But you're free to define it in your own terms, although shows and races might have different rules

 

[Retrorockit]

I can't find anyone that sells 26" carbon wheels (except fatbike stuff). So Retro/obsolete check there. Rim vendors in many cases have 1 left in stock. Hard to make a pair of wheels that way. 24f/28r was an option, but I'd already ordered my hubs. So retro or not it's now or never. Sometimes it happens that way. The 26" MTB is a thing of the past to a large extent. Rene Herse is keeping it alive in gravel racing. His new stuff is retro as hell.
My bike is a metal XC Softtail. I got a deal on the frame because it was an obsolete format for XC racing. Fork is a Rockshox 28mm SID. those go pretty far back. Not sure how old mine is. BB7 cable brakes. I still run these on my Ebike with some upgrades. Actually I stuck some Spykes on the XC for testing. Not as good as the BB7s, not so bad that they have to go. The hardline cable setup has a lot to do with them still being there.