Just me?

[suburbanreuben]

I guess I'm just worried that retro biking will evolve into people buying and selling bikes as a commodity rather than because they want to ride old bikes. I have bought and sold stuff in the past, even making a profit now and then but only to keep bikes out on the trails.

Er, they do already! There's no escaping the fact. Our interest in riding old bikes is making people money, whether it's Mr BBC bikes with his $5000 fats or joe bloggs who finds a salsa at the back of the shed and thinks he might try and sell it rather than take it to the tip.
I hope someone does buy this bike to ride it, but it wouldn't be the only bike on here that only exists to be polished with human seed...

 

[silverclaws]

I guess I'm just worried that retro biking will evolve into people buying and selling bikes as a commodity rather than because they want to ride old bikes. I have bought and sold stuff in the past, even making a profit now and then but only to keep bikes out on the trails.

I agree, as I believe it a sort of insult to the designer for a bike to not be used as a bike, I mean, what was the point of putting all that skill and expertise to make something fit for purpose when it ends up not being used for that purpose.

Everything old I have collected I use and use how it was designed to be used, when that item breaks or wears out, then it has fulfilled it's purpose and may celebrate the ingenuity of the designer and the skills of the manufacturer to have created something that in some cases have lasted nearly a century and are still in constant daily use. Part of the reason I use old stuff is because old stuff lasts, it was largely buit to last, whereas new stuff heads for the bin all too quickly. Now I understand built to last does equal the death of that product manufacture eventually, and perhaps another reason British Industry and American Industry died to be replaced with consumables, cheaply made sometimes and discarded when fashion dictates, we have become a very wasteful creature.

To me things created to be used have to be used, or they serve no purpose except fantasies.

 

[pete_mcc]

Moved to retro mtb chat, think it's an interesting discussion.

Can't help but think you (jamabikes, the OP) are judging value against any other mass produced MTB. This ain't no Kona Cindercone

Absolutely, one of the biggest problems is that we have a distortedly low view of the cost of bikes because we buy old stuff and hark back to a day when Polo mints cost 7p. Look at top end bikes these days:

Specialized Mclaren Venge - £12,000, or $20,000. Does the high price mean it won't get ridden? No, it just means that only a few people can ride them. And remember that that bike is a plasticfantastic, plain-jane, colour-by-numbers bike that will be forgotten by next seasons colourway, the Breezer is something else with a touch of history and a load of rarity.

 

[JeRkY]

The fact that some one is going to buy it and just put it in a museum or collection just makes me feel sad is all. I just can't comprehend someone spending that much cash on a bike they can't even use for it's primary purpose. I feel the same way about cars,motorbikes,books and paintings too.

I didn't want this to get out in this way, but I paid £74million for one of Edvard Munch's old doodles the other day, I thought hanging it in a museum would of been a shame so I cut it into small pieces and used it for roll up paper. You should of seen the look on the face of Sotherbys CEO when I asked for a light.

 

[jamabikes]

I give up. I have never once compared the breezer to a kona or any other mass produced brand. I have even said I thought it would actually sell for more than the asking price. It's the fact that retro biking is moving away from the joy of riding old bikes. Do I know why the bike is being sold? Nope. Do I really care about who buys it and why? Nope. Do I care about cycling? Yes.

 

[pete_mcc]

It's the fact that retro biking is moving away from the joy of riding old bikes.

When was retro-biking about the joy of riding old bikes? Retro-biking is about old bikes period.

I've been here since day one and have never really liked the riding as much as the building, the tech and the bikes themselves and I know loads of people who are the same - many who left this site because it became more obsessed with 'the ride'.

People find joy in unique aspects of a pastime - some in the watching, some in the doing. You need some of the watchers to catalogue and collect so that there is something left after the doers have broken everything else.

Personally I believe that supply and demand will always be the key, so the more you riders go out a wreck parts then the less parts will be available and then the more those parts will cost.

In short your belief is a logical self-fulfilling prophecy - the more you love riding old bikes the more it will cost you to ride old bikes so the less you will be able to ride old bikes.

 

[silverclaws]

Except as we move further into the future there will be other retro bikes and retro parts as time moves on, unless of course retro equals one specific time period and it stops at that. Say ten years from now, will early new millenium bikes be retro and I have heard it mentioned already to describe such machines compared to what is now.

 

[Neil]

It's the fact that retro biking is moving away from the joy of riding old bikes.

When was retro-biking about the joy of riding old bikes? Retro-biking is about old bikes period.

<Boggle>

Um, in a thread, quite recently, you said:-

The grass roots of an obsession is the feeling you got when out riding, not the bike you were using when you did it

and:-

This doesn't mean that I don't get joy out of retro bikes as I obviously do. Bikes are not the cause of the joy, they are just the conduit

Sometimes I'm not sure I get you, Pete - you argue with me quite strongly saying one thing, one minute, then appear to be saying almost the polar opposite another.

When people are talking about "It's all about the bike" and that bike being their first proper mtb - but when that first proper mtb doesn't suit, then it's apparently all about the memories - but when somebody else who doesn't get the stratospheric price tag of some old bike(s) - then it's not about the riding and the memories, it's all about the bike again?

I'm sure there's some elaborate, contrived, or pedantic explanation of it all, but to me, it seems to be all about cake and eating it. Truth be told, what's the point of cake if you can't eat it.

In short your belief is a logical self-fulfilling prophecy - the more you love riding old bikes the more it will cost you to ride old bikes so the less you will be able to ride old bikes.

That assumes all things are equal. My "old" bikes I still expect to be able to ride them in another 20 years time. True, some of the mechanicals and wear and tear parts may well need replacing, but - and I'm not describing Trigger's broom here - I'd expect things like the frame and forks to still be just peachy.

Now I'd prefer to run them with kit that's from the era they hail from - but I'll not mourn the passing of affordability in period correct parts - I'll just move on to whatever works - well that and maybe keep the odd bike pretty low-use and of that time, but have the odd scratch / hack bike that has parts that if budget necessitates, move with the times.

 

[highlandsflyer]

I have a large(ish) record collection.

I have toyed with getting rid of them, but nothing looks quite as right on my shelf.

Rarely play them, but the sleeves are pretty and there are all sorts of interesting details in the design.

Someone might say they are useless if they are not played.

I consider them art.

Art is not for general agreement, it is the feeling you have for something, and how you interpret it.

Many bikes are art, and they have all the elements of great art. A group of pioneers who formed a movement. An evolving style. Clearly delineated 'periods'.

Hanging on my wall would take nothing away from it, nothing at all.

 

[jamabikes]

and that is my point. my belief, which this thread is showing is mainly mine, is that retro bikes are becoming collectables rather than something that gives people joy through the primary purpose. makes me sad. may not make you sad but hey, would rather be in your shoes.