Is This the Right Place for Me?

[Oldskool13]

Recently I've been wondering if this site is right for me. Thanks to two redundancies and cancer I've had to radically change my lifestyle so I'm always going to be at the bottom end of the bike scale.

I'll admit I'm late to the MB party having started in my early 40's when I wanted to get back into cycling. I bought a Dawes XC 2.2 which had hydraulic discs, Rockshock forks, 6061 frame etc. I had some upgrades done and had a lot of fun. It had to go with other things in the end due to illness and circumstances. But do you know what? I'm now having as much fun with my two £10 bikes if not more because I'm not so worried about leaving them anywhere and I can actually work on them.

The thing is this site, great as it is, seems more geared to the high end stuff. I'm wondering if I should quietly withdraw and look for another site more geared to "my type" of bike, if such a thing exists.

 

[legrandefromage]

I entered Mountain Mayhem on a £5 bicycle with a 'spare' £30 bicycle (in case things went wrong)

so you are in the right place.

 

[mynchiboy]

Re:

I entered Mountain Mayhem on a £5 bicycle with a 'spare' £30 bicycle (in case things went wrong)

so you are in the right place.

This and this! You have exactly the right idea, buying low and investing a little elbow grease is always the best way to go. I have recently been doing a 14 mile commute on a £5 1970's Italian shopper type thing which makes me smile like a loon

There's also no end of parts available on here and plenty of good folk to offer advice/help

Best of luck with the ongoing recovery. I hope that the lifestyle changes still allow consumption of biscuits by the way - v.important on here

 

[greencat]

Most of my retro stable are sub £40 bikes, and most of those were free or very nearly. They are a right mish-mash of parts mostly (which reflects how my bikes back in the day were too). Most of them do only small amounts of off-road and are mostly used as hack/commuting/shopping/wood carrying bikes.

The beauty of this end of the hobby is that you can start anywhere, and do as much or as little as you want restoration wise. Unlike the modern version of MTB, it's not just for dentists!

A friend of mine recently asked me whether I had any problems with my bikes being stolen while parked in the local town. I said that despite running very well, my bikes looked extremely tatty and combined with two decent locks no-one gives them a second look. That said, I usually end up chatting some bloke at least once a month about my 90s Marin as it seems to provoke misty eyed nostalgia in men of certain age.

 

[longun]

Re:

The problem we have is more folk need to show us their bikes, many who've spent loads will show 5hem but not everyone with a barn find 100gs Raleigh will.

 

[Retro Spud]

I own a Kirk - and despite owning parts that cost way more its a keeper

 

[yakboy]

The beauty of this end of the hobby is that you can start anywhere, and do as much or as little as you want restoration wise. Unlike the modern version of MTB, it's not just for dentists!

Be careful with your stereotypes :shock:

 

[Retro Spud]

The beauty of this end of the hobby is that you can start anywhere, and do as much or as little as you want restoration wise. Unlike the modern version of MTB, it's not just for dentists!

Be careful with your stereotypes :shock:

 

[CassidyAce]

Re:

By the time you get to the sort of age that your typical retrobiker is at, you've experienced a lot of the best and worst that life has to offer: births, deaths, loves, losses, etc. How much your bike has cost really doesn't matter that much. IMHO the best bike is the one that's enjoyed most.

As it is, the £10 Falcon looks like a decent ride; some of the pricier bikes just look like backache. I guess that's an age-related point of view too. In general though, I think that the audience here is experienced enough and discerning enough to make judgements about bikes that are based on more than just the price tags.

 

[foz]

There are no "wrong" bikes here (except maybe a few of THM's builds ), the high end stuff gets more attention just as it did back in the day, but I've seen plenty of basic builds that look just as much fun as the mega-expensive ones!