So when does a Bike become a Retro Classic ?
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alright, since it started i'll chuck in my 2 p's worth.
some people think a charge duster is retro, wrong. it's retro style. like my 07 clockwork, retro style but not retro.
before 95 is defo retro to me, this predates v brakes which most people consider not retro.
there are always exceptions to the "rules" of retro though, the mountain cycle being a big one, full suss, upside down forks and disc brakes and big aluminium frame.
but bearing in mind the referred to "10year rule" this sort of rings true aswel because what i consider retro someonelse considers old but not retro or on the other hand too new, it basically means that retro is what period YOU think it is relevant to your life growing up, your first bikeetc. for example i don't think v brakes are retro but someonelse started with them and has moved on to discs so they think v's are retro, and the list goes on. so retro is constantly changing.
does that make any sense to anyone?
some people think a charge duster is retro, wrong. it's retro style. like my 07 clockwork, retro style but not retro.
before 95 is defo retro to me, this predates v brakes which most people consider not retro.
there are always exceptions to the "rules" of retro though, the mountain cycle being a big one, full suss, upside down forks and disc brakes and big aluminium frame.
but bearing in mind the referred to "10year rule" this sort of rings true aswel because what i consider retro someonelse considers old but not retro or on the other hand too new, it basically means that retro is what period YOU think it is relevant to your life growing up, your first bikeetc. for example i don't think v brakes are retro but someonelse started with them and has moved on to discs so they think v's are retro, and the list goes on. so retro is constantly changing.
does that make any sense to anyone?
That's exactly how I think too (pre v era).
Consoles and computers are different because the technology moves at a far higher pace than the cycling world. These days PCs older than 2 years are considered horribly dated by some people (usually those who like to be at the bleeding edge, as the saying goes).
Consoles and computers are different because the technology moves at a far higher pace than the cycling world. These days PCs older than 2 years are considered horribly dated by some people (usually those who like to be at the bleeding edge, as the saying goes).
purplewicked
Retro Guru
adi-66":32pj5z9l said:
it must begin as a high end bike. built by cyclists in a small shop.
it means Konas, GT avalanches, Breezers et al made in taiwan are not classic.
GoldenEraMTB
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adi-66":poc6itq7 said:
Hmmmm
My definition, formed from much reading and discussion in my own mind...suppose that would be a soliloquy on what constitutes VRC MTBs
Vintage mountainbikes can only be from the 1980's, with some exceptions made for 90-92 models, and have had some serious value at the time of its creation...still carrying great value today...in other words, usually pricey. IMO, the GoldenEra of MTBs
Retro mountainbikes are from the 90's, and can include some lesser, entry level stuff that has 90's appeal/significance, does not need to be valuable or desirable.
Classic only applies to highend MTB's that are rare, epitomize a style, are vintage or retro, but again, top of the food chain stuff, hand built in small numbers by a true craftsman or artisan.
SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum
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purplewicked":37eci6tu said:
Watch it there...most all of those early year Prestige steel framed GT Avalanches were built in the same mid size Toyo production factory that built so many of the beloved Ritchey's that are raved about...don't go throughing them in with all the 7005 Taiwan tubed aluminum Avalanches that were built from 1993 through now. Those steel Kona's, Breezer's, Jamis and for that matter late eighties Fisher's that were Taiwan built..I agree with you on those being just another Taiwan production bike
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Of course 'classic' is as defined by the media BiTD, coupled with one's own interpretation spun in with peer pressure today
Tomac's Raleigh DT with a disc drive in my opinion is a classic, because it's a pure icon of the era.
Media coverage everywhere, ridden by Tomac and you're unlikely to have one. Are the 'replicas' classic nowadays or are they still just copies of a classic, that is open to debate imho.
at the other end of the scale .. Orange Clockworks, ridden by the general masses often the first step into a real mountain biking for many a Brit or at least soeen as such. Though is it the clockwork that is the classic or just the orange/white banding of orange bikes ?
Are top end frames classics ?
For example my 1991 RM Altitude.
It's the first year of their race coloured bike riding the altitude name, shown in many interviews and by the teams at events. Stamped with a RM frame number..
But it's just a steel frame made by decent builders from high end prestige tubing like many others of that era.
But I know what is retro and what is vintage to me, I know what is a classic to me.
MTB
Retro, circa 1992
Vinatage, the stuff before I was really into MTB
Classics, just the bikes to me that stood out as iconic for the era, or brings out fond memories of the era. (ignoring peer pressure preferably)
Though one's memories are different, we where much more isolated from one another to spread opinions, kult status of equipment or even what bike where available to you (BiTD of circa 1992)
Tomac's Raleigh DT with a disc drive in my opinion is a classic, because it's a pure icon of the era.
Media coverage everywhere, ridden by Tomac and you're unlikely to have one. Are the 'replicas' classic nowadays or are they still just copies of a classic, that is open to debate imho.
at the other end of the scale .. Orange Clockworks, ridden by the general masses often the first step into a real mountain biking for many a Brit or at least soeen as such. Though is it the clockwork that is the classic or just the orange/white banding of orange bikes ?
Are top end frames classics ?
For example my 1991 RM Altitude.
It's the first year of their race coloured bike riding the altitude name, shown in many interviews and by the teams at events. Stamped with a RM frame number..
But it's just a steel frame made by decent builders from high end prestige tubing like many others of that era.
But I know what is retro and what is vintage to me, I know what is a classic to me.
MTB
Retro, circa 1992
Vinatage, the stuff before I was really into MTB
Classics, just the bikes to me that stood out as iconic for the era, or brings out fond memories of the era. (ignoring peer pressure preferably)
Though one's memories are different, we where much more isolated from one another to spread opinions, kult status of equipment or even what bike where available to you (BiTD of circa 1992)
Pause
Can we pause for a minute so I can get another coffee?
I dont want to miss out on the reply by someone who takes it all too seriously
I can see the fan spinning faster and the poo getting higher
Jamie
(I'll only be away for a minute, so dont talk about me while I'm gone)
Can we pause for a minute so I can get another coffee?
I dont want to miss out on the reply by someone who takes it all too seriously
I can see the fan spinning faster and the poo getting higher
Jamie
(I'll only be away for a minute, so dont talk about me while I'm gone)
Almost everything is retro to someone. Depends where you were when it came out, and how you felt about it at the time.
I remember my GT Karakoram as being impossibly high end as a kid. I remember there was a boy at school who had one. What an amazing bike. Of course, I look at it now, and I realise it's really only an ordinary, mass produced mountain bike. Well designed and well made, but nevertheless just ordinary.
The point is, though, at the time, I thought it was something special.
I remember my GT Karakoram as being impossibly high end as a kid. I remember there was a boy at school who had one. What an amazing bike. Of course, I look at it now, and I realise it's really only an ordinary, mass produced mountain bike. Well designed and well made, but nevertheless just ordinary.
The point is, though, at the time, I thought it was something special.
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