Mid range retro vs budget new

[My_Teenage_Self]

Neither.

Build one from hand picked 3-8 year old parts.

honestly, I built this for a shade over £600, weighed about 27lb.

 

[dyna-ti]

All that glitters...


A clocky with STX or STXrc groupset would give her a bike capable of everything....... runs off to find catalogue for neat quote.....

" An ideal platform whether you want to campaign it on the race circuit or go fully equipped to explore the furthest reaches of the globe. The Clockwork was, still is and always will be the ultimate all round performer"

 

[secret_squirrel]

Neither.

Build one from hand picked 3-8 year old parts.

honestly, I built this for a shade over £600, weighed about 27lb.

Don't have the time unfortunately otherwise this would be an option. Still have a frame backlog for myself

 

[legrandefromage]

So monkey metal bikes are better then.

Hmmm...

 

[Ollie]

Could possibly build up a retro frame with modern components.
Something like a mid to late 90's Kona would do nicely.
This is near me but other projects take over:
http://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/kona- ... 1103984274 .

 

[legrandefromage]

If it's for your missus, how much riding does she do?

If I were buying a bike for my missus, occasional use, I'd go for a budget modern bike, suspension forks, disc brakes, modern geometry, looks the part. She'd be happy with that.

And weigh a ton - have a look at the pics above. Very heavy forks./ chainset/ tyres/ rims

How heavy are we talking? Just over 30lbs? For a modern budget bike that's in the ballpark, these aren't your lightweight 90's xc machines.
My modern bike weighs 31lbs, and I've retro bikes around that same weight.
In all honesty I doubt my partner would notice say a 5lb difference in bike weight, I hardly do!.
I like my retro bikes, but for someone who perhaps has no interest in retro then a budget modern bike is maybe a better bet, and it will be just as capable as a retro.

Interesting link, reviews of sub-£500 bikes... http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/b ... 500-29451/

Some are 36lbs+ and women DO notice these things and complain more openly about it. Forget the term 'retro' - that invokes too much of the wrong impression these days. Two of the new bikes I pictured are really bad and I would never recommend them to anyone.

Your 'modern' bike is very heavy btw, many full sussers come in at old XC weights.

My old GT comes in at a healthy 24lbs. Even my full sus Marin sits at around 27lb without any thoughts towards weight loss. Just parts that are not made of pressed steel or monkey metal.

 

[The History Man]

You could buy a handbuilt steel frame such as a an Overburys Pioneer and build it with XT for less than £400 and it wouldn't depreciate.

 

[jimo746]

Your 'modern' bike is very heavy btw, many full sussers come in at old XC weights.

In that case I had better buy a more moderner modern bike :facepalm:

 

[legrandefromage]

More modernerer it is please.

 

[secret_squirrel]

You could buy a handbuilt steel frame such as a an Overburys Pioneer and build it with XT for less than £400 and it wouldn't depreciate.

Not a bad idea but hand-built bikes in women's sizes are quite rare and I don't really have time to build it up right now. Otherwise there's a nice 15" Ti frame in the 1998 section that I'd go for.

Besides handbuilt would make it better than 90% of my fleet

One of the guys on here has a gorgeous Kona KU for his missus that's had a trip Argos for a lavender paint job that looks amazing.