How much do you trust an old bike

[Nabeaquam]

More worried about coming off and not being able to pay the bills these days! Besides, I've not ridden anything newer than a 2001 FSR so I wouldn't know what one of those new fangled things ride like...

The only mountain bike frame I’ve broken was newer (2019). It was made from aluminum. Frame was replaced but down time and a bummer transferring parts. I’ve seen other alloy frames break.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

Steel and ti I have no problem taking out for a rip around the trails. Vintage carbon - not so, and aluminium - nup. I have a Mountain Cycle Moho which is wall art once it had become an exhibition of multiple hairline cracks in the CNCed chain stay yoke.

I also have a Raleigh Technium and after seeing that Dynatech separate, I'm reluctant to ride it enthusiastically. My old Diamond Back WCF (carbon tubes bonded to steel lugs) developed a crack at the BB so likewise got the wall art treatment.

Despite the above, I still use aluminium bars and some of my carbon bars are probably getting on in years.

Grumps

 

[89RingleAddict]

Paramount is what brocklander stated
‘Well maintained’
I would like to add ‘quality of components’ ranks high too

I’m over 50, so I’m not jumping like the old days so after ‘refurbishing’ my 89 chrome moly Schwinn (XT/Ringle)
Working great!

Final thought
Maybe this matters more to me than others.
Pretty good, challenging, well maintained trails near me.
Just recently started riding again after the rebuild project
I found that most every mtb on trails is black……basically all look the same
After being stopped 3 times by trail workers (polite to walk your bike by workers) about my old mtb!
I came to the conclusion…..in car terms….I would rather drive a 1970 Mini than a brand new Clubman
Cheers

 

[al-onestare]

Simple question really, but maybe not that simple.

I picked up a '92 Scott Windriver last year. Pretty much original, one XT shifter pod has been replaced but I think that's pretty much the only change from stock.

Riding it for the first time a couple of months ago brought back lots of memories, and also reminded me how far bikes had come. No longer could I go smashing through a trail, relying on the suspension to deal with the surface underneath. I had to read, and re-read the trail continuously, calculating the best line. The elbows went out, the head went down and slowly my body remembered how to ride a rigid. After my first ride my wife asked 'how was it'. I replied 'terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure'. I now seem to have a perverse pleasure in riding this old bike, favouring it more than my (comparatively modern) Whyte 46. It scampers up hills, the joy of that being tempered by trying to stop my eyeballs falling out on the descents.

I live but 2 minutes from the Swinley trails in Crowthorne so have been bashing round there for a number of years. On Saturday I rode the Scott end-to-end on the red trails. The recent spell of dry weather has had an impact on the trails. They are very dry, dusty and are developing holes and scars where previously none existed. On a couple of occasions the front wheel dropped into a hole and I had to wrestle it out. On another it made a horrible bang, almost metal on flint and for a moment I thought I had taco'd the wheel.

The point to this rambling, is a question. How much do you trust an old bike? The recent joy of this old (steel) Scott has me thinking about upgrading to a better rigid (maybe hardtail) and my eye is drawn to many things. The odd Pace, Klein or even an AMP (which I have owned before) have passed through my watchlist, but I continuously remove them fearing that they would inevitably lead to a trip to A&E when the old alu fails.

So, how much do you trust an old bike, and given the riding I am doing (if any of you know Swinley you will have a better understanding of the environment) is it better to stick to Steel/Ti than Alu/Carbon?

Look forward to your thoughts.

Ade

I know Swinley well and have ridden all my fleet on there at some point. The simple answer is, I trust the bikes I or my trusted pals and mechanics have touched and worked on.

 

[legrandefromage]

When I arrived at swinley for the very first time I did wonder and think oh my gawd what have I let myself in for when I saw all the hardware being unpacked from the cars.

Body armour, full face helmets etc,let alone the huge full sus 29ers, oh shit....

Then we rode out and, er, yes, it turned out that there was a hell of a lot of all the gear no idea that day and I needn't have worried.

 

[clubby]

“Well maintained” keeps coming up here. I’m not so sure it matters. I reckon most failures on bikes this ages that aren’t crash related are due to fatigue. Maintenance won’t prevent this, all it’ll do is find the failure earlier.

 

[greencat]

When I arrived at swinley for the very first time I did wonder and think oh my gawd what have I let myself in for when I saw all the hardware being unpacked from the cars.

Body armour, full face helmets etc,let alone the huge full sus 29ers, oh shit....

Then we rode out and, er, yes, it turned out that there was a hell of a lot of all the gear no idea that day and I needn't have worried.

Conversely, I unpacked my 2015 Whyte hardtail at Dyfi and thought, "I might have bought a knife to a gunfight". That fear was only confirmed on the first black run, and I stayed with the only red run for the remainder of the day. Even that gave the bike a fair old battering. But then I'm no Sam Pilgrim like others on this thread.

 

[ovlov440]

Paramount is what brocklander stated
‘Well maintained’
I would like to add ‘quality of components’ ranks high too

I’m over 50, so I’m not jumping like the old days so after ‘refurbishing’ my 89 chrome moly Schwinn (XT/Ringle)
Working great!

Final thought
Maybe this matters more to me than others.
Pretty good, challenging, well maintained trails near me.
Just recently started riding again after the rebuild project
I found that most every mtb on trails is black……basically all look the same
After being stopped 3 times by trail workers (polite to walk your bike by workers) about my old mtb!
I came to the conclusion…..in car terms….I would rather drive a 1970 Mini than a brand new Clubman
Cheers

s'true this. The Scott is quite bright and the colours haven't really faded so it gets quite a bit of attention (that and the Mint Sauce jersey and Nike Super Pooh-Bahs that are still going strong). The shifting on it (XT/DX) is superb as well - something to be said for not having too many gears packed onto one cassette.

 

[markoc]

My 25 year old retro gets light duties, not least as it's an SS. Not worried about the frame, but stressed aluminium lightweight parts will have a lifetime (ask an aeronautical engineer, btw I'm not one but once had the conversation that scared me...).

Anything more involved and its modern twin gets wheeled out, which pretty much has the ability to fall off a cliff and remain in one piece.

 

[legrandefromage]

I don't do bike parks, I prefer just going for a ride