Do you notice extreme negative views of none retrobikers when you say you are trying to work with an older bike?

[bikeworkshop]

The close ratio doesn't matter much with offroad mtb, although it's led to 11, 12, 13 speed in order to close up the spacing on 11-50 and the like,

but if you're on a 10km road with an engineered gradient those wide steps can feel nasty.

 

[retrobiker273891]

Ultimate 1st gear is always shank's pony

A bit of maths:

It's difficult to balance below 2mph, depends on surface obvs, Bike geometry and loading, and rider skill.

You can't pedal too fast at a super low speed or you'll fall off
(and look like an idiot)

So if we say cadence 60rpm, speed 1m/sec, that's around 30 rpm of the wheel (assuming around c2m circumference)-about 1to2, like 22 front, 44 rear?

Anyone ride a gear this small ?
Is it better than walking?
I mean at least you're sitting down!

It would help if you used gear inches.

 

[Totoro]

Oh please, we all know you are in Buxton. Was it peak ascent or active sports?

You have no idea which bush I live in though

 

[novocaine]

You have no idea which bush I live in though

Haha, true enough. My moneys on the one by the boating lake, other side from the play area. last time I did the park run there was a shady bloke "feeding the pigeons".

 

[IWish]

Mostly I have had positive interactions with people regarding retro building, some people enjoy learning about older stuff and seeing it in the flesh. I've found issues with parts availability though, but shops do seem to want too try and help. Even more staff in the bigger mainstream bike shops are generally positive and enthusiastic about retro bikes that I have personally brought in before or discussed with them.

Ofcourse people want the latest and greatest, myself included (too a point, not sure if I understand some bicycle abs, wireless shifting or ebikes etc..) but everyone is entitled too there own choice and preferences. Cycling generally is a positive enough hobby that most are happy to see others out riding, be it a 80s clunker, 90s fs or a bso. This community seems mostly to be full of acceptance to all things bicycle related and I personally would say this environment and social community is far less toxic than any other communities I am a part of.

 

[corpuschain]

I see this all the time. I don't really get any positive comments or admiring looks at the trail centres, despite having the only bike that isn't black or camo green (maybe my problem is I'm going to trail centres! Haha!), and I get the same attittude with my car. People act shocked when they discover my car is a 2007 vintage, as if it should have dissolved by now, but the reality is that anything can last if you look after it carefully enough. Of course I don't even consider 2007 old: there are 1940s and 50s cars on the road still! And of course, I have no sympathy for my friends who complain about £300 a month car payments for some ugly crossover that looks like it's been through a war already!
But back to bikes, it is indeed a truism that "new" has to sell because otherwise people would stop buying, and we can't have that. I think we just have to accept that we are different in that regard, and should continue to allow our bikes to be powered by our own self-righteousness!

 

[vio_alien]

I don't care what people say, if it brings joy to me that something I fixed is up and running, that is what's important, they might say the new stuff might be better (talking about quality bikes, not some 30y old tech that is made worse than 50y ago), might be more relaiable, but at the same time is new, doesn't need fixing, alot more eye-candy for thievs, alot more expensive and is more fun going down at 20-30mph and you have that nice feeling when you hope your brakes work, you do a small recap of your life and the brakes work...to well....memories. If something brings you joy, people who don't support you don't matter and their opinions even less , also need to mention, to my shame, that I do have a non retro mtb, was an offer I couldn't refuse

 

[retrobiker273891]

I don't care what people say, if it brings joy to me that something I fixed is up and running, that is what's important, they might say the new stuff might be better (talking about quality bikes, not some 30y old tech that is made worse than 50y ago), might be more relaiable, but at the same time is new, doesn't need fixing, alot more eye-candy for thievs, alot more expensive and is more fun going down at 20-30mph and you have that nice feeling when you hope your brakes work, you do a small recap of your life and the brakes work...to well....memories. If something brings you joy, people who don't support you don't matter and their opinions even less , also need to mention, to my shame, that I do have a non retro mtb, was an offer I couldn't refuse

Since I only came back to biking having stopped in the early 00s I can't say I have ever tried the new ones. Only saw chavs riding around on 1xs in cities doing wheelies. Would be interested in riding a 1x to see what it is like but not going to go out of my way to do so.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Would be interested in riding a 1x to see what it is like but not going to go out of my way to do so.

I rode onespeeds exclusively for a year. The way I made myself stick to it was to take all bikes with gears apart, it was my only option. It is surprisingly liberating to never worry about the proper gear. You just bike. I found it really conducive to getting into the flow state on a trail. Leg and lung strength increased a lot as well. However, since I got my geared bike rolling again, I've barely touched it. The gears are just too easy

 

[M_Chavez]

Fwiw, I've put 9x1 on all my bikes (summer roadie, audax/commuter and rando). Was a die-hard triple fan before that.
Also found it very liberating. You don't tend to switch gears that often, but they are there when you need them. 7x1 will work almost as well imho, but I've got some nice hills around me.