Help a newbie buy a bike

[Deleted member 34519]

Hi everyone,

I'm relatively new to this forum and, as it happens, retro mountain bikes. It's taken me to reach the age of 30 to realise it's a hobby I should've taken up when I was younger, but never mind, I'm here now. Regardless of my delayed enlightenment, the few months I've been snooping around this site, looking at this and that, I've learnt a reasonable amount and somewhat familiarised myself with what's what such as brands, components etc.

It's worth noting that my first retro bike was a Orange P7 w/pace forks, which I bought back in May - I think - and I loved it. Unfortunately, as much as I liked the ride I was uncomfortable with the size - it was 19inch - so it had to go.

So I have been bike-less for the past month and been itching to pedal like mad; however, after reading the "how to choose a retro bike" article, I feel like I need a little more help.

What I'm looking for:

I'm fixated on the idea of having rigid forks - the likelihood is it won't go off road, so suspension isn't that necessary. I aim to find good routes around town/cycle paths/villages/woodland and time myself. I also aim to join my local bike club.

A 17inch frame - I'm 5ft 10" with a 32" inseam. From what I gather that's the size frame I should go for.

Brands - I'm not entirely certain. A lot of what appeals to me are the overall aesthetics rather than the brand itself. Ideally, I'd have ago at putting a bike together myself but 1) I'm a newbie and 2) Sadly, I don't have the time or facilities right now to do so.

Anyway, I know it's quite subjective but what do you guys recommend? There are few I have my eye on but I never know whether to pull the trigger or not. I have around £350 to spend.

Any help would be most appreciated, and if anyone has a bike to sell that they might think is suitable, let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Ben

 

[PurpleFrog]

Re:

If you're going to join your local bike club and you're not going to ride off road, then a mountain bike is probably a strange choice. Most people will be riding rather faster road bikes (as in drophandle, Tour De France looking things) when on the road and you'll just drop behind.

You could build an MTB with drops and very fast slicks (which would really irritate the mamil brigade when you overtook them if you're a fast rider, which would be great until they lynched you.) But, really, a standard MTB is not the tool of choice here. I'd look around for a used cyclocross bike to do all those things on. With a tyre like the Schwalbe Almotion a could handle gravel tracks and keeping up with at least the "social" group on a club ride at the same time. The bad news is that crossers are rare and you have to stalk ebay for extra long periods to find them.

Otherwise, an all-rigid MTB is great for the type of riding you've described. The easiest brands of high quality retrobike to find in good condition in the UK usually seems to be GTs and Konas, and you should be able to get something rideable for much less than your budget - I picked up a ready-to-ride Zaskar (which is near the top of the GT tree) last year for about £160. Specialized Stumpjumpers and their relatives are less common but nice and the prices are usually sane, and you already know about Orange.

 

[Minifreak]

I have a lovely 97 Kona Cinder Cone for sale right now see below link:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=304514

It's 18" but Kona's have a sloping top tube and I am 5 11" with a 32" inside leg so this will fit you fine.
I can swap the tyres over for some Continental semi slicks, add bar ends or a pair of riser bars if you prefer. Let me know if interested.

 

[dablk]

I know it's tough but I would try and identify a bike you like or a range you like. As a newbie you can then learn as much as you can about that one area. The hardest part I found when going back to retro was all the different standards. 6/7/8/9 speed,
1 inch , 1inch 1/8th, 1 inch 1/4. Forks with threaded or threadless.
Canti brakes/v brakes. And which levers you can use with which.
Going further back rear wheels are narrower.
Steel rusts and seizes, aluminium cracks.
What size atc fork was any frame deigned for.
Quill stems look the retro part but remind you what it was like to have to remove everything if you wanted to fit a longer or short stem.

It's all good fun. As said pick something you might like then get as much advice as you can. If your an orange fan perhaps something like a 99 anniversaries clockwork with matching rigid fork would be good. I am personally a kona fan. Didn't set out that way and still hate the dog collar with a passion(it's the way kona mount the rear brake cable on pre 1997 konas). Still I stick with them now I know them.

Your budget buys a lot of retro, especially if you stick to the common stuff. I really wouldn't invest that much unless someone who knows what they are doing has helped you. And keep some spare for unforeseen issues. Good luck.

 

[orangeone]

Re:

I was toying with the idea of selling my clockwork it's 17in and im 5ft 9 fit's me perfectly

 

[Deleted member 34519]

Thanks for the replies, they're really helpful.

Although I said I'd wouldn't be going off-road that much I am still open to it. If that's what happens when you join a club then I'm all for it. As for the drop handles/road bike, they're not really my thing and find that mountain bikes are much more comfortable to ride. Also, I'm not completely against the idea of suspension either, just at the moment I really want a rigid bike. But maybe front suspension would nice?

I guess Orange is the brand I'm drawn to the most, especially the P7 - orangeone, if you decide to part with your Clockwork, I'd definitely show some interest. I'm not a massive fan of GTs, although I'm sure there are some great ones out there and I'm missing out. Some Konas don't do it for me either - sorry Minifreak, thanks for the offer but I'll have to pass.

Anyway, thanks again. This has given me a better idea of where I'm heading bike wise!

 

[Neil]

Not that I'm one to discourage enthusiasm for all things retro, but I have to say, I'm not entirely getting the draw?

I mean for people who were riding / owning these bikes BITD, I get the nostalgia which tilts the balance, somewhat, on the form vs function scales.

I am curious - what draws somebody to retro bikes, if not from nostalgia and memories of "back then" - is it a price / cost thing, an aesthetic thing, or something else? What would draw you to retro-bikes, specifically, over, say, new bikes (rigid is available, new, as are decent second-hand bikes that don't necessarily fall into the "retro" definition as specified on here).

That's not challenging you on your choices, it's purely curiosity on my part.

 

[orangeone]

Re:

drop me a pm and we might be able to sort something out

 

[PurpleFrog]

Not that I'm one to discourage enthusiasm for all things retro, but I have to say, I'm not entirely getting the draw?

I mean for people who were riding / owning these bikes BITD, I get the nostalgia which tilts the balance, somewhat, on the form vs function scales.

I am curious - what draws somebody to retro bikes, if not from nostalgia and memories of "back then" - is it a price / cost thing, an aesthetic thing, or something else? What would draw you to retro-bikes, specifically, over, say, new bikes (rigid is available, new, as are decent second-hand bikes that don't necessarily fall into the "retro" definition as specified on here).

That's not challenging you on your choices, it's purely curiosity on my part.

I'm not a great sentimentalist and don't seek out the bikes I had then or those that I wanted. I can make a serious, science-based case for the rigid mtbs of the early 90s to be the best general purpose bikes ever built, especially now that wide fast tyres are available. And maybe fitted with drops, depending (although I'm thinking about flippped Mary Bars for the way I use my bike.) Modern "performance" hybrids and even crossers are crippled by limited tyre clearance and the 700c tyre size, which makes for clumsy handling when fitted with a wide tyre. And most modern MTBs are too tilted to serious offroading.

That said, I do keep wondering what a Zaskar would handle like if it a lower trail fork to blend some French randoneur bike in there. Otto, Jacquie Phelan's bike did, and it worked for her. Of course, JP was to mountain biking what Neo was to the Matrix. Only with a banjo. Which was still cool, because she was Jacquie Phelan. Even her name was - is - cool!

 

[Neil]

Not that I'm one to discourage enthusiasm for all things retro, but I have to say, I'm not entirely getting the draw?

I mean for people who were riding / owning these bikes BITD, I get the nostalgia which tilts the balance, somewhat, on the form vs function scales.

I am curious - what draws somebody to retro bikes, if not from nostalgia and memories of "back then" - is it a price / cost thing, an aesthetic thing, or something else? What would draw you to retro-bikes, specifically, over, say, new bikes (rigid is available, new, as are decent second-hand bikes that don't necessarily fall into the "retro" definition as specified on here).

That's not challenging you on your choices, it's purely curiosity on my part.

I'm not a great sentimentalist and don't seek out the bikes I had then or those that I wanted. I can make a serious, science-based case for the rigid mtbs of the early 90s to be the best general purpose bikes ever built, especially now that wide fast tyres are available. And maybe fitted with drops, depending (although I'm thinking about flippped Mary Bars for the way I use my bike.) Modern "performance" hybrids and even crossers are crippled by limited tyre clearance and the 700c tyre size, which makes for clumsy handling when fitted with a wide tyre. And most modern MTBs are too tilted to serious offroading.

I'm not averse to the notion - but I:-

a) wonder if that's an argument being made
b) still don't really get why people would be particularly drawn to bikes from this era, unless they either experienced those times, or had some other sentimental connection (say somebody's dad or older relative / friend rode bikes in that period)

I'm not against the proposition, I just wonder what's the draw, if there's no sentimentality and nostalgia - is it a form thing, a function thing or a price thing - or simply the alignment of the stars. As I said, I'm not challenging it or demanding justification, I'm merely curious - to me, at least, it's about never having moved on from that era in terms of bikes, as opposed to returning to it, or chosing it out of the blue.