Now, isn't retrobike a real community?

[novekili]

The first time I found retrobike I couldn't believe my eyes: so, I wasn't the only geek lusting after a Fat Chance instead of a scandium superbike, I wasn't the only stupid guy to buy a 1991 Klein Attitude in 2002, and I wasn't the only one who preferred Marinovatives to XTR V's.

Love has grown until then. I've seen bikes whose existence I thought I was the only one to know about. Arctos, Cunningham, Fat (yes, no one knows about Chris's creations where I live).

But, apart from deep envy in seeing a 1990 carbon -steel bike built in 2008 with the original tubeset, what was my relationship with the other retrobikers?

Mates you can trust, basically: educated people in their forties with a Peter Pan syndrome who respect bikes too much to cheat on another guy with the same passion (apart from rare exceptions).

And this seems to be reciprocal... The other day I made a trade with Jens, a nice guy from Denmark. Now... He sent me his Intense, I sent him my titanium handmade hardtail. We sent the bikes on the same day, with no assurance that the other had done the same. Without any type of legal protection, any of us could have kept his frame and got a free one. And we're talking about two 2000 and more Euros frames here. And neither me nor Jens are Jez, that is, people with enormously positive feedbacks.

So, are we a bunch of loonies, or a big group of nice and honest guys? I might be partial but I tend to opt for the second option, and I'm not optimistic by nature.

BTW; Thanx to the guys who created retrobike

 

[orange71]

^^^what he said, except the bit about being in their forties (I'm 37) :roll:

 

[novekili]

I'm 37 too, but the fact we feel very far from our forties clearly demonstrates the Peter Pan Syndrome

 

[CAS]

I find Retrobike a great forum too - it's been very welcoming and supportive to me as a newcomer to the joys of building bikes. I've learned a lot from other members and had a lot of fun as well!

So are we going to see some of you guys in Bergen later this year? I'm dragging my other half along - we're taking our camper to europe for a few weeks to cycle in Switzerland and France then coming back via Holland in time for the Bergen event.

Carol

 

[Andy R]

............educated people in their forties

I wish I could claim to fall into either of these categories........ :cry: :cry:

 

[Crell]

It makes me laugh that the killer point in that post that (at least) 3 of us were compelled to comment on or mutter under our breath on was that we weren't yet 40. Theres a demographic spike on 37 yr old

 

[Andy R]

It makes me laugh that the killer point in that post that (at least) 3 of us were compelled to comment on or mutter under our breath on was that we weren't yet 40.

I was muttering about the fact that I can hardly remember being 40, let alone 37 (since that was 20 years ago, which now seems like half a lifetime).

 

[jez-4-bikes-max]

Slightly geeky I think

 

[jimihendrix]

I think different hobbys and forums attract different groups of people RetroBike and older bikes attract a decent bunch of folk and very much a community or strong community spirit i'd say, manages to be this without being a clique though.

Couldn't beleive it myself when i first found this place, all the bikes i lusted after, forgot about or was ignorant to (was seduced by oversize alloy and suspension when i previously rode bikes in the early - mid 90's :roll: ), discovered what a beautyfull thing a classic steel frame is.

I'm 38 BTW, got two huge, whole, long years to go before i'm 40

 

[reanimation]

Yeah, each community is different, We are all, well most of mature (fresh into my 30's) so theres no teen bitching or 20's cool points grabbing like some. and of course being into the same era of 'stuff' and same hands mucky type passtime. Great vibe really. Some Forums spoil as they get bigger but this one has been consistant for my 2 years

As for chicken or egg... I left my old retro bikes passions in the past labelled under 'replaced by newer bikes' until 'street' sent me over. I had one bike to sell at the time, and now I have 3.5 retro bike projects and more into biking again.

What happens next i dunno! Is it a fad or am i hooked for life on old metal.