Pre 1997 date, how did that come about

[Scott-S]

I did search for a satisfactory explanation (probably not well enough), but how did the community arrive at a date of 1997 for retro bike and not a more rounded date for example the year 2000?

Many things are curious to me because when I was cycling in the 90's it was just a bike now Im an old man it's a retro bike..
It's bizarre the tags we apply to things, Im not judging or even condemning them just interested in the thoughts behind it.

Many thanks for your time and education folks
Cheers
Scott

 

[Stressed]

Something to do with disc brakes I reckon (FFS, you're not supposed to be able to stop if you're doing it properly)! I'm not joking

 

[trailstar82]

Must be v-brakes surely

 

[nodding dog]

It was @Enid_Puceflange's Super V that was the catalyst for the '97 cut off date.

There was no 'Pre 98' category when he posted it but because it was full sus with discs and dual crown forks people spat their tea out and choked on their hob nobs.

It turned into a 12 page thread about what features were retro and when they started to disappear...

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/my-cannondale-sv700fr-its-an-outrage-new-pics-page-8.46412/

 

[Betsy]

Like most folks here.. our lives changed irreparably in 1997 when Brian Harvey was thrown out of East-17

Forever to be judged as the watershed moment which would shape our future's and nothing would ever be like it was before..

 

[Stressed]

It's criminal that advocating necking 15 E's of an evening and then suffering the indignity of being run over by your own car should end such a promising career. Such a loss (still blame disk brakes, mind!)

 

[Betsy]

Ikr.. he was simply trying to puke up a jacket potato out of his car door and managed to run over his own head

Could have happend to any one of us..

 

[Stressed]

Ikr.. he was simply trying to puke up a jacket potato out of his car door and managed to run over his own head

Could have happend to any one of us..

Honestly? We've all been there FFS!

 

[bikeworkshop]

I think around 97 full sus started working. This clearly upped the ticket price and brought many equipment changes, and drew in businesspeople and marketing execs from other fields.

this led to the demise of:
Steel
UK manufacture
Decent Rigid forks
MTB designed by cyclists
Wheel sizes that already existed
It was OK to not wear a helmet and just ride how you liked

And the growth of:
Carbon
Full sus
Too many gears on the back,
(&fewer up front)
Disc brakes,
Incompatibility all over the place
Frame geometry specialisation to a specific use.
Fox Pyjamas

So if you're the kind of person that laments the loss of the former and bemoans the proliferation of the latter, then...

Here you are.
Retrobiker.

Other forums will cater better for those who think 95 or 2000 marks the break of course

 

[benjabbi]

'Incompatability all over the place'
Surely this isn't limited to post 98? Fit cantis to a U-brake frame? 27. 2mm post in a 26.8mm seat tube?, 68mm bb in a 73mm shell? 1 1/8" fork in a 1" head tube? HG cassette on a UG hub? 126-130-135 axles? It's never had standards that were actually standards for long, apart from maybe saddle rails and pedal threads and even those have been messed with, it just didn't stick.