Do you upgrade your Retro Bikes?
- Thread starter rudymexico
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Period correct, but upgraded.
BITD, I bought a bike, upgraded the small bits then the big bits, then the frame, then the small bits again etc.
I've only ever owned one bike (until now) but it was always being 'upgraded' as and when I could afford/fashion dictated.
So my bikes always had a mix of ages of stuff, but never by more than a few years.
BITD, I bought a bike, upgraded the small bits then the big bits, then the frame, then the small bits again etc.
I've only ever owned one bike (until now) but it was always being 'upgraded' as and when I could afford/fashion dictated.
So my bikes always had a mix of ages of stuff, but never by more than a few years.
Up-DATE rather than up-GRADE. For example, while the original LX mechs on my '93 (?) TuffTrax worked OK, a new top pull (rather than bottom with a pulley as originally "designed by availability") SLX front and a rapid rise LX rear (so much mechanically better suited to friction thumbies - kept so that I can run either original 7 speed or newer 9 speed wheels) function much better.
A bike's a bike....
A bike's a bike....
in my opinion, factory spec builds are a good thing, a very good condition factory spec build is always nice to see 15+ years down the line.
nobody i knew in the 90's kept their bikes factory spec. virtually everyone would change / upgrade pedals, saddle, bars etc to their own choice to make the bike fit them better & if their wallet dictated, groupsets & wheelsets also got the treatment.
The trend with my group of friends was the richer kids bought a new bike... orange, cannondale, GT etc. and swapped out the xt /xtr from their last bike onto it to replace the lx / stx they came with. The rest of us bought the lx level components from them & stuck it on our low end giants, raleighs etc. along with whatever club roost / salmon or similar finishing kit we could afford.
My own preference is a good, solid retro frame with slightly more modern parts to make them as functional as possible without making them look daft. Modern shimano kit looks slightly out of place on anything other than ali tubed modern frames but the turn of the century stuff can look very good on the right frame with the right finishing kit.
nobody i knew in the 90's kept their bikes factory spec. virtually everyone would change / upgrade pedals, saddle, bars etc to their own choice to make the bike fit them better & if their wallet dictated, groupsets & wheelsets also got the treatment.
The trend with my group of friends was the richer kids bought a new bike... orange, cannondale, GT etc. and swapped out the xt /xtr from their last bike onto it to replace the lx / stx they came with. The rest of us bought the lx level components from them & stuck it on our low end giants, raleighs etc. along with whatever club roost / salmon or similar finishing kit we could afford.
My own preference is a good, solid retro frame with slightly more modern parts to make them as functional as possible without making them look daft. Modern shimano kit looks slightly out of place on anything other than ali tubed modern frames but the turn of the century stuff can look very good on the right frame with the right finishing kit.
The bike am building up at the moment is my first build I had a old giant when I was a kid then a British eagle shadow,531 tubing and the new in 93ish black deore lx groupo.
Loved it,wasn't the lightest but I was 14/15 so It didn't matter.
I always wanted a rts1 I have one now and am building it the components I would have always wanted,cooks,contoltech,bullseye etc.
This site is great because it didn't matter what bike you have we can all appreciate them all wether it's a really early Raleigh or a yeti.
For me it's about nostalgia and now I am fortunate to be able to build what I wanted all that time ago and get out and ride it as best I can!!
Loved it,wasn't the lightest but I was 14/15 so It didn't matter.
I always wanted a rts1 I have one now and am building it the components I would have always wanted,cooks,contoltech,bullseye etc.
This site is great because it didn't matter what bike you have we can all appreciate them all wether it's a really early Raleigh or a yeti.
For me it's about nostalgia and now I am fortunate to be able to build what I wanted all that time ago and get out and ride it as best I can!!
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I used to follow the upgrade path on my bikes, but nowadays, and especially since I found Retrobike I prefer to keep things period correct and more or less factory spec.
That said I haven't bought a complete bike since 1992, always preferring to buy a frame and build up to my own spec.
But, for example, I wouldn't build up a mid range frame with XTR and boutique components. Nor would I slap 200GS on a high end piece of titanium exotica. (if I had any)
I like building up bikes around groupsets though.
I currently have appropriate bikes built up with 200GS, Deore LX M550, DX M650, XT M732/5, XT M739, XT M750, STX, STX-RC etc. I'm also working on 400LX, Deore II, LX M563, LX 565/7 builds and a few other various bikes.
Hubs and rims have to be period correct, although I also seem to have duplicates built with modern rims too for winter riding.
There is clearly a touch of OCD in all this, but I justify it by riding them all and getting to compare component performance and bikes.
This approach has spilt over into my modern bikes too with XT, X-9 and Deore based bikes.
I've also tended to upgrade to XT level and then stop. I've had XTR stuff, but generally can't justify the cost to performance ratio, so XT is perfectly adequate.
I guess I'm ultimately working towards a bike for each Shimano groupset from the late eighties and nineties.
God help me when I move onto Suntour, Campagnolo, Sachs and Mavic, or indeed road stuff.
That said I haven't bought a complete bike since 1992, always preferring to buy a frame and build up to my own spec.
But, for example, I wouldn't build up a mid range frame with XTR and boutique components. Nor would I slap 200GS on a high end piece of titanium exotica. (if I had any)
I like building up bikes around groupsets though.
I currently have appropriate bikes built up with 200GS, Deore LX M550, DX M650, XT M732/5, XT M739, XT M750, STX, STX-RC etc. I'm also working on 400LX, Deore II, LX M563, LX 565/7 builds and a few other various bikes.
Hubs and rims have to be period correct, although I also seem to have duplicates built with modern rims too for winter riding.
There is clearly a touch of OCD in all this, but I justify it by riding them all and getting to compare component performance and bikes.
This approach has spilt over into my modern bikes too with XT, X-9 and Deore based bikes.
I've also tended to upgrade to XT level and then stop. I've had XTR stuff, but generally can't justify the cost to performance ratio, so XT is perfectly adequate.
I guess I'm ultimately working towards a bike for each Shimano groupset from the late eighties and nineties.
God help me when I move onto Suntour, Campagnolo, Sachs and Mavic, or indeed road stuff.
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