Modern stuff on retro bikes
- Thread starter kaiser
- Start date
I really really like USE bars (the ones that are drilled for bar ends), and Onza porcipaws. They are just right, what I'm used to. I also insist on Flite saddles too.
Can still buy flites so no problems there, have a stash of USE barends and one spare handlebar. If I see them at the right price I'll buy. Got one pair of NOS porcipaws in the lift, fingers crossed for a reissue of these little beauties.
Prefer XTR 95* series as the latest incarnation of XTR is just plain fugly. 96* series looks right but rear mech is only rapid rise.
Can still buy flites so no problems there, have a stash of USE barends and one spare handlebar. If I see them at the right price I'll buy. Got one pair of NOS porcipaws in the lift, fingers crossed for a reissue of these little beauties.
Prefer XTR 95* series as the latest incarnation of XTR is just plain fugly. 96* series looks right but rear mech is only rapid rise.
Kneedowndean
Retro Guru
I'm a fan of the german company Tune. Their cranks in particular still have a retro feel about them but built to modern standards. The same with Thomson components, real nic ageless looking kit.
Agreed about new XTR. My favorite is the M950 series.
Agreed about new XTR. My favorite is the M950 series.
LongboardSi
Senior Retro Guru
one of my favourite modern items is Titecs Flat tracker bar. It's got the width and sweep of a modern riser, but without the rise. I like wide bars, and these are ace, as well as defintitely having retro appeal to me.
I'm running one on my modern DH bike too, to help keep the bars low....
I'm running one on my modern DH bike too, to help keep the bars low....
one-eyed_jim
Old School Grand Master
I'm not a purist - my bikes are for riding, and parts that are used wear out and get replaced. I am cheap though, so often the replacement parts are already old when they come to me. My '56 Mercian is built with mostly '70s Campag Pista.
That said, I like 9-speed drivetrains now that HG50 cassettes are 13 euros each, and I wouldn't have any hesitation about putting modern rapidfires on an older bike that's getting used. The current XTR 970s look lovely, and if they weren't outside my current budget I'd buy a pair just to have in the spares box. Shifters aside, the XTR 960 group was quite a looker.
Thomson parts in silver are lovely, and the family name is another reason to buy them.
Race Face make some very nice kit. I'm actually tempted by a silver Thomson X2 and Race Face Deus XC combination for my '94 Kilauea, miserliness permitting.
Flite SLR saddles do it for me.
Surly sell a lot of modern kit that's functional.
I actually prefer the newer Magura HS33 levers to the older ones.
When Mavic stopped making the X618 I bought two boxes. For my money it's the best all-round rim they ever made. Discontinued, but not really old enough to be retro.
My '94 Kilauea came to me second hand. It had been bought from Avon Valley cycles and was replaced under warranty with a cracked dropout. The dropouts were replaced with track ends, and it became the AVC Rohloff demonstrator until I bought it as a bare frame.
'94 Kilauea frame
Threadless P2 TB
Record/Dia Compe mongrel A-headset
LOOK Ergostem
Modolo Navajo Ceramic 26.0mm flat bar
XT M739 brake levers
XTR 960 front, XT 750 rear V-brakes
Schmidt dynohub 32h, Mavic X618, DT Competition
TA Alize Piste 172.5 cranks, WTB greaseguard BB
Mavic 631 chainring 42t
Some slotted Sachs chain that was lying around
Thomson Elite silver seatpost, SLR XP saddle
XT M732 rear hub 32h, Bontrager Mustang ASYM rim
Shimano Uniglide sprocket
One DMR chain tug
Those are parts from about 1990 (sprocket, chainring, rear hub) through about 2005 (front brake) on a '94 frame. It's not going to win bike of the month, but in my book they're all fine together.
That said, I like 9-speed drivetrains now that HG50 cassettes are 13 euros each, and I wouldn't have any hesitation about putting modern rapidfires on an older bike that's getting used. The current XTR 970s look lovely, and if they weren't outside my current budget I'd buy a pair just to have in the spares box. Shifters aside, the XTR 960 group was quite a looker.
Thomson parts in silver are lovely, and the family name is another reason to buy them.
Race Face make some very nice kit. I'm actually tempted by a silver Thomson X2 and Race Face Deus XC combination for my '94 Kilauea, miserliness permitting.
Flite SLR saddles do it for me.
Surly sell a lot of modern kit that's functional.
I actually prefer the newer Magura HS33 levers to the older ones.
When Mavic stopped making the X618 I bought two boxes. For my money it's the best all-round rim they ever made. Discontinued, but not really old enough to be retro.
My '94 Kilauea came to me second hand. It had been bought from Avon Valley cycles and was replaced under warranty with a cracked dropout. The dropouts were replaced with track ends, and it became the AVC Rohloff demonstrator until I bought it as a bare frame.
'94 Kilauea frame
Threadless P2 TB
Record/Dia Compe mongrel A-headset
LOOK Ergostem
Modolo Navajo Ceramic 26.0mm flat bar
XT M739 brake levers
XTR 960 front, XT 750 rear V-brakes
Schmidt dynohub 32h, Mavic X618, DT Competition
TA Alize Piste 172.5 cranks, WTB greaseguard BB
Mavic 631 chainring 42t
Some slotted Sachs chain that was lying around
Thomson Elite silver seatpost, SLR XP saddle
XT M732 rear hub 32h, Bontrager Mustang ASYM rim
Shimano Uniglide sprocket
One DMR chain tug
Those are parts from about 1990 (sprocket, chainring, rear hub) through about 2005 (front brake) on a '94 frame. It's not going to win bike of the month, but in my book they're all fine together.
one-eyed_jim
Old School Grand Master
I've only got an old snap of a previous build. One of these days I'll borrow a camera and photograph the fleet.kaiser":rcipib0u said:
The previous build had an On-One flip-flop hub (fixed/fixed) and a Titec Malone drop bar with Magura HS66 brakes. The picture's not flattering, but I still like it better the way it is now.
In the past it had an RC30 fork and 1x9 derailleur gears. Oh yeah, there was a Rohloff in there for a while too.
Attachments
Just bought a 97 Diamondback frame from here and intend building it up with newer parts than it came with.
Going to be M750 Rapidfires,2001 Judy SL's and HT1 Cranks with Octalink BB,M950 Rear Mech along with some nice Blue rim Mavic X222's on M750 Hubs.
Arch Rivals and SD7 Levers will provide the braking,RF System Stem, but not sure on Seatpost and Bars yet. Rsiers of some sort and a nice seatpost if I can find what I want in 27.0
Hopefully a combination of new and not as new which will look and more importantly ride well
Going to be M750 Rapidfires,2001 Judy SL's and HT1 Cranks with Octalink BB,M950 Rear Mech along with some nice Blue rim Mavic X222's on M750 Hubs.
Arch Rivals and SD7 Levers will provide the braking,RF System Stem, but not sure on Seatpost and Bars yet. Rsiers of some sort and a nice seatpost if I can find what I want in 27.0
Hopefully a combination of new and not as new which will look and more importantly ride well
richardf
Retro Guru
another vote for Tune right here - just got a gorgeous set of anodised red MIG/MAG hubs laced up for my road bike . I think Tune will stuff will always retain value like Pauls Components, Machine Tech etc. Their "Geiles Teil" CNC-machined stem is also amazing and possibly next on the shopping list...
KCNC seems to be making a bit of a name for itself too, although it hasn't been around that long, so durability could be an issue. Their Cook Brothers-like new quick releases are quite retro and available in the same anodised colours that Tune do.
Some pics of both...
KCNC seems to be making a bit of a name for itself too, although it hasn't been around that long, so durability could be an issue. Their Cook Brothers-like new quick releases are quite retro and available in the same anodised colours that Tune do.
Some pics of both...
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Perhaps slightly off-topic, but I stirred up an mtbr vcr discussion the other day in which two things struck me in particular as being notable differences from the thinking of the Retrobike community:
1. in their view 'retro' means something newly-designed that imitates the style of something from a bygone time - i.e., by their definition, there are no retro bikes on Retrobike
2. in discussion of a pair of wheels, 217s on parallax XTs, it was said that 'only a Brit' would be interested in wheels with parallax hubs (when challenged, it was asserted that this was 'only joking')
Not wishing to criticise them in any way, as these are plausible points of view even if I disagree with them, but getting back onto this thread, the general view seemed to be that Retrobike was a far more laid-back place where anything goes and members were generally supportive of other members' efforts, and that this was a bad thing as it led to lax standards.
1. in their view 'retro' means something newly-designed that imitates the style of something from a bygone time - i.e., by their definition, there are no retro bikes on Retrobike
2. in discussion of a pair of wheels, 217s on parallax XTs, it was said that 'only a Brit' would be interested in wheels with parallax hubs (when challenged, it was asserted that this was 'only joking')
Not wishing to criticise them in any way, as these are plausible points of view even if I disagree with them, but getting back onto this thread, the general view seemed to be that Retrobike was a far more laid-back place where anything goes and members were generally supportive of other members' efforts, and that this was a bad thing as it led to lax standards.
