I think people have misunderstood and taken it as "riding period correct bikes in the way they were intended is wrong" which is not what I gathered at all.. To me it was just a question of, how do you feel about altering your bike to be more comfortable? How many of you have done it? Etc. People should ride what makes them happy, and comfort doesn't have to take the front seat either. My rockhopper which was my main rider for a long time has a super long syncros stem, narrow flat bars and I think its a thing of beauty. I still ride it like that though to get more use of it I'll probably add risers. High rise, as its small. I personally have come to love the look of what some refer to as frankenbike, which is a strange word because truly you can put whatever component you want on a bike and there's nobody to tell you not to. Except for the inner voice, but that is soon drowned out as you take another swig and install your 12 inch rise bars and memory foam tube seat.
No but in seriousness the classic Norba geometry has a lot to offer and it looks slimline and wonderful, but the great thing about those frames is that they're equally rideable as a much more upright cruiser, the versatility is what got me into retro biking in the first place.
I suppose this thread is merely saying: if you want to ride your aggressive, racy bikes more but you can't because you don't find it comfortable, there is nothing wrong with making chances to allow you to ride it. And as I said in a previous post, a bike is a bike. Those light steel frames of the past do wonders as bikepacking machines as well, provided the frames aren't too small (which is course is another trait of the old classic racer MTBs)
Also, to add to the point it doesn't have to be because of your old creaking bones you make the adjustment. I, as an example, am young and graceful, but just plain fat and therefor the racy geometry makes my back feel like crap.
So in other words don't throw out yer collections, just invite me around to replace stems and bars with a bmx or mx equivalent while I intoxicate you to the point of acceptance