Ultimate 80's- Nominations please.
- Thread starter Dr S
- Start date
doctor-bond
Feature Bike
The Pace is a real contender but almost too advanced for the 1980's. In a simillar vein, this early 80's fillet brazed, bull moosed, TA cranked, mafac braked icon almost speaks of the previous decade. Still, it needs to be included.
one-eyed_jim
Old School Grand Master
Maybe I misunderstood the question, but I thought we were judging from the point of view of New Year's Eve 1989.
At that moment, the Repack racers, early Ritcheys, and especially that Saracen look dated beyond belief, even if they were at the cutting edge just a few years previously. The historical importance they have in founding a movement is only really clear with an extra twenty years of perspective.
So if the question is: name some important bikes of the eighties from the perspective of 2010, the Ritcheys and the Saracen (maybe) fit right in. If we're actually sticking to what Dr S asked:
"So here we are. Ten minutes to midnight on the 31st of December 1989 ... we have to pick the best mountain bike ... Let's look at innovation, desirability, craftsmanship, the real icons of the era"
... I think we end up with a different set of nominations. A Ritchey may get points for craftsmanship, but would anyone really pick that Saracen over an RC100 in 1989?
At that moment, the Repack racers, early Ritcheys, and especially that Saracen look dated beyond belief, even if they were at the cutting edge just a few years previously. The historical importance they have in founding a movement is only really clear with an extra twenty years of perspective.
So if the question is: name some important bikes of the eighties from the perspective of 2010, the Ritcheys and the Saracen (maybe) fit right in. If we're actually sticking to what Dr S asked:
"So here we are. Ten minutes to midnight on the 31st of December 1989 ... we have to pick the best mountain bike ... Let's look at innovation, desirability, craftsmanship, the real icons of the era"
... I think we end up with a different set of nominations. A Ritchey may get points for craftsmanship, but would anyone really pick that Saracen over an RC100 in 1989?
Good points and well made. But what I think we should include are the bikes with wow factor- the habitants of another planet would not know if there was better to be had on Earth, so we can send up something that makes the heart flutter rather than something that represented the cutting edge.
That's why I nominated the Cunningham. It was so advanced and still looked modern and inovative in 1989.
The Pace does look like it came from another planet though and will be a strong contender, even though they ride like a concrete pig.
That's why I nominated the Cunningham. It was so advanced and still looked modern and inovative in 1989.
The Pace does look like it came from another planet though and will be a strong contender, even though they ride like a concrete pig.
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