old vs new

[andymuza]

I ride an early 80's Raleigh Criterium Triathlon and it is completely standard. It does everything I want it to, or at least I thought it did.

My son has a 97 Cannondale CAAD3 R600 with a few none standard parts such as Miche RX5 wheels.

Well I rode the Cannondale myself for the first time last weekend and I was very shocked at just how much easier it was to ride.
Extremely easy and smooth to get up to high speed. I found my self doing 29.5MPH without really trying. The best I have done on the old Raleigh and been Just over 26MPH and that was pushing it.

That got me thinking, if a bike which is around 15 years younger is that much easier to ride how easy would one of today's good bike be to ride?

My son barely uses the canonndale now and it is a little too small for me to be comfortable on for any distance so I decided to switch the wheels over to my old Raleigh.

I was surprised that the Miche rear wheel went straight on the Raleigh and the old Raleigh Rear mech worked a treat on the 8 speed block with some minor adjustment. I was also shocked that the chain wasn't jumping any teeth.

Any way, I went out today on the old Raleigh with the Miche wheels on I couldn't believe how much difference it made. Everything felt much smoother and so much easier to ride.

So I find myself thinking of swapping more bits over such as the brakes and mechs and the aero shifters. Doing this lets me keep the character of an old retro bike with the upgraded ease of riding a newer bike.

I know the purists won't like it and I was determined to keep the Raleigh as standard as possible but having tasted the ease of riding I feel it will be beneficial.

Has anyone else done this sort of thing with their retro bike and what were your finding?

Also how do todays offerings compare with yesteryears? Is the difference huge and are they worth the expense?

 

[Chapeau! Velo]

I'll be honest, the difference can be marginal or epic depending on the eras that you are comparing between - early 80s to now is a bit epic! I have a 96 Klein Quantum Pro that is much quicker than my comparable (in quality) 2009 carbon Deda I also have. My early 90s steel bikes are (relatively) heavy but they do spin up quick. You might want to look out for a mid 90s steel ride with STI / Ergos - best of both worlds then

 

[Deleted member 24574]

New stuff is better in most ways but old stuff is different.

I do 90% of my miles on new kit but still enjoy the other 10%. I'd say keep your old bike old and get a new bike too ... trying to make your old bike ride like new through upgrades is a waste of time and money.

 

[Jonny69]

It would surprise me if I could ride much faster on a new bike than on any of mine (90's 531 Raleigh, 80's Russian track bike, late 70's Bob Jackson as a fixed gear). The only difference in my eye would be aero improvements on the wheels and whether new ceramic bearings are any better, but I'd only see that in race conditions. Every thing else is down to the rider and how well the bike fits, in my opinion. Stick me on a bike I'm not comfortable on and I won't be able to ride it fast.

 

[cce]

i've got an early 90s 653 frame built up with campag 10 speed. Best of both worlds.

 

[328isport]

I think with older bikes it really depends on how much you like to ride them, imo it's fine to do the original thing if you rarely use it and is more of a showpiece, but if you like to get the mileage in I don't see a problem with sensible upgrades, for example on my 80's 'Pinarello' I have Conti GP4000s tyres, cartridge type pads, Ashima cables, Thomson seat post, and Carbon Campagnolo Record brake levers, I've not touched the Super Record drivetrain/DT shifters or the Cinelli stem/bars, but these upgrades make the bike faster, more comfortable, more enjoyable and most importantly safer to ride, I've no interest on riding on 30 year old brake pads and tyres!

 

[tonyf39]

No disrespect but the wheels on a Raleigh Criterium were low end when new, there are wheels from the 60s that would roll better and were lighter so the differential compared to even a modest modern wheel is going to be quite big.

As for the ride/frame, I ride an aluminium framed commuter with huge carbon stays/forks and a carbon flat bar, the difference between that and a 531ST bike was astonishing, the 531 felt squite harsh & a fair bit slower (Made by a good name & not much heavier than the commuter).
Even with good 28mm contis on it was so noticeable (commuter has 25/32mm F&R). Then going onto a Principia Rex (2001/2 vintage) the step up in how fast/forward progress is made, is again noticeable. Yes the Prinny was at the top of the pile as aluminium racing bikes go but it was incredible how much more responsive it was/is even compared to a late 90s titanium racing frame.

No doubt there is another leap from the Prinny to a top end carbon frame
I still like my 531 Carlton to potter around on though

 

[andymuza]

Some great comments guys and tonyf39, you probably hit the nail on the head regarding the wheels. I found the difference was huge.

328isport, I like your thinking. I like the old style frame as the newer ones look odd when I am on them as I am 6'5" with a 37" inside leg. You can imagine how the sloping top tube makes the bike look tiny with me on it and then the seat post sticking up for what seems forever LOL, Looks odd.

 

[NeilM]

All of my bikes, road and mtb, run a combination of new and original parts, I do this because the newer kit is easier to get and is less of an issue if you break or damage it (especially on mtb's). I also like the convenience and flexibility that a nine or ten speed drive train gives me, and see no reason why I should not enjoy this on my lovely hand made steel frames.

As for weight, I recently picked up my son's Boardman Procarbon bike. :shock: I don't think I could ever build a steel framed bike that light, so I'll take the weight penalty and fool myself into thinking that his super light bike is the reason he is so much faster than me.

 

[David B]

Even with good 28mm contis on it was so noticeable (commuter has 25/32mm F&R). Then going onto a Principia Rex (2001/2 vintage) the step up in how fast/forward progress is made, is again noticeable. Yes the Prinny was at the top of the pile as aluminium racing bikes go but it was incredible how much more responsive it was/is even compared to a late 90s titanium racing frame.

I was always under the impression that Ti's strengths were weight, comfort and durability - from reviews I've read of Ti road bikes they aren't always especially quick out of the blocks as the material can be a bit whippy under sudden efforts (less so with 6/4 aluminium-vanadium alloys of Ti, but it is very difficult for the builders to work with).

I'm currently on an early Raleigh 853 steel frame from the 90s as far as my summer/TTing bike goes - so far I haven't experienced the harshness that's sometimes claimed for TIG-welded 853, whilst it seems very responsive for short uphill bursts etc. Also not much of a weight penalty (if any) over my old road bike (lugged 653 + Time carbon fork), which is nice, even though it has a straight-bladed steel fork, as per the ones in some of the old RSP brochures in the archives on RB.

David