MacRetro chat and rides thread

[kaiser]

There does exist a certain snobbery of the 'ride' culture and folks find it hard to admit they are bike geeks. Don't get me wrong some people couldn't care less about the craftsmanship or design and see bikes as only tools. Some are not keen to admit they are bike junkies and the cool thing to say is that the ride is all important. I would say though predominantly on this site at least that most are geeks/junkies, but not at the expense of enjoying riding(you can do both). Apologies if this is a bit of a ramble

 

[big.eck]

i'm guilty of not washing my bikes the only bike that gets washed/polished after every ride is my mint raleigh massif :shock: bloody love that bike

 

[velomaniac]

I do like a good looking bike but prefer function over form, most of the junk I own no one on here would touch with a barge pole. Planning a major frame clearance to the bike station as nowt worth selling but as bike stations a charity then its a good karma contribution. Need to think carefully about future purchases as I now have essentially the same bike by three different manufacturers. I do not have sufficient attention to detail to pick up good stuff and restore to high spec but thats where others come in. Some of Kaisers stuff has been masterworks that leave me in awe but Gaz and ZZ are getting good too and Jimi and Ecks aproach of if it is not what you want then engineer it to your requirements is impressive too :shock:

I think I represent the before restoration portion of MacRetro and most others the after stage

 

[Dr S]

I have a few that I won't ride but that's probably more to do with the ride quality than anything else. I like my bikes to be really mint but I do use them for meets. If it's local riding I'll use a modern (why not? To be honest they are better- especially in winter).
A garage queen can have it's wheels and tyres swapped out for a set of 'user wheels' in minutes and be enjoyed out on the trail. Gives you a good excuse to take it all apart and clean everything up again

I would say I fall into the Geek catagory of Kaisers post.

 

[clockworkgazz]

hand in air- I'm a geek too :?

 

[The Ken]

I'm a total geek - especially for very early 90's brit tech, but I like to ride most of what I buy, the stuff I don't ride is either not built up yet or for specific occasions that I never quite get round to swaping stuff out for, my daily ride just suits most of what I like to ride.

My stuff is only dirty because I am a lazy bugger when it comes to cleaning.

 

[zigzag]

I've got to say, if there is one thing I really appreciate, it's enthusiasm and deep knowledge of anything outside of what our culture currently defines as mainstream and/or cool. I don't care if it's old bikes, steam trains or Singer sewing machines 1900-1910.

However that also applies to what the retrobike community consider acceptable too. Variety is the spice of life. Subvert the dominant paradigm as Rage Against the Machine probably said in one of their songs. It makes things much more interesting, and everyone needs to thumb their nose at the establishment more.

Leading on from all that, I'm a big fan of the home brew 'guy in a shed' solutions as well as doing something purely for the sake of doing it - I don't care if it's ugly, pointless or if it's some beautiful CNC'd wonder you've programmed up yourself and run off - again it's an appreciation of the knowledge and skill that it takes to knock something up that is either interesting and/or will do a job for you.

Of course all of this is also tied in with my frustration with what I do for a living - an IT geek (and I do mean geek) that at the end of the day almost never has anything physical to show for his efforts.

Apologies for the ramble - it made sense in my head.

 

[Jamiedyer]

Evening

Gaz - I'm still up for the weekend providing the weather lets me get through. We had a day of snow today and apparently the road to Inverness was closed this evening near Golspie. I will throw the sleeping bag in this time Really cant wait for my van to be back on the road, just ride my little frames through the door, sit and make a coffee
As for the discussion of art or riders :?
I certainly appreciate the build quality/craftsmanship going into some of these builds and also the rarity of certain individual bikes such as Dr S's Santa Cruz Stumpy.
I build them for myself as they are generally a certain model I have wanted but couldnt afford,just thought was cool or fits with the stable. I do it for myself, and all are built to ride. Bearing in mind mine are all Stumpjumpers, S Works or Rockhoppers so to most people they are run of the mill, but they mean something to me.
I have a couple of really nice condition rides and a couple of 'well used' rides, such as my 94 and 95 but I try to keep them as good as I can. Even my modern bike has a good lot of riding in it but like them all they are washed, lubed, checked and put away ready to go again. I do this with all of my stuff, keep it as good and well cared for, for as long as I can.

Jamie

 

[clockworkgazz]

I get you, "Geeks are cool", that's what your saying.............. right?

And the great thing about here is you get to be a Geek and ride a mountain bike aswell Geektastic!

 

[clockworkgazz]

Re: Evening

Gaz - I'm still up for the weekend providing the weather lets me get through. We had a day of snow today and apparently the road to Inverness was closed this evening near Golspie. I will throw the sleeping bag in this time Really cant wait for my van to be back on the road, just ride my little frames through the door, sit and make a coffee
As for the discussion of art or riders :?
I certainly appreciate the build quality/craftsmanship going into some of these builds and also the rarity of certain individual bikes such as Dr S's Santa Cruz Stumpy.
I build them for myself as they are generally a certain model I have wanted but couldnt afford,just thought was cool or fits with the stable. I do it for myself, and all are built to ride. Bearing in mind mine are all Stumpjumpers, S Works or Rockhoppers so to most people they are run of the mill, but they mean something to me.
I have a couple of really nice condition rides and a couple of 'well used' rides, such as my 94 and 95 but I try to keep them as good as I can. Even my modern bike has a good lot of riding in it but like them all they are washed, lubed, checked and put away ready to go again. I do this with all of my stuff, keep it as good and well cared for, for as long as I can.

Jamie

cool let me know your number and when you expect to arrive on sat. as I will be dropping off and then picking up son #2 at a birthday party.