What are people's thoughts on 'retro modding' a steel frame?

[LikeClockwork]

Specifically the Breezer.....

I have a modern crank set, but I was thinking more about the bars and stems that are available, in shorter lengths (stem) and wider widths (bars) plus the better choices of colours - but will fat oversize bars/stem look wrong on the front end of a skinny steel frame with spindly rigid steel forks....??

Apart from the inevitable outcry of doing this to a classic :facepalm:

It's just I'm a short arse woman, and the modern stuff does suit my short reach better.....

 

[munkey_bwy]

What ever floats your boat & is fun to ride. That's my viewpoint.

 

[hamster]

Sod the purists, they spend all their time licking their bikes, not riding them.

If it's comfortable and makes you ride more, do it. I'm somewhat averse to irreversible changes like grinding off braze-ons, but most frames are mass-produced things with all the rarity of a Ford Focus so the rarity needs to be kept in proportion.

 

[k-rod]

Re:

imo - build your bike to suit your specs, tastes, and pleasure. if that means to be a working/rider/keeper ... build to your personal ergonomics. if it means profit/resale or period correct specs only (the purist path) ... then those are your options.

what kind of finished bike is your goal.

 

[legrandefromage]

I've not licked a bicycle in a while. The Ritchey Classic stuff is very nice:

http://www.goodbikegear.com/ritchey-cla ... AsVI8P8HAQ

https://www.bikebug.com/ritchey-classic ... 28174.html

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ritc ... lsrc=aw.ds

 

[Cavalier]

Sod the purists, they spend all their time licking their bikes, not riding them.

That made me laugh.
Seriously though, there is absolutely no problem at all putting modern parts on an old frame. Some of the most successful small companies out there today (Paul Components for one) are almost admired as a way of mixing old and new.
I was going to say that the line for me would be actualy modding the frame itself but then just the other day I was admiring a titanium bike that had been sent to Steve Potts to have the canti mounts removed and new disc tabs beautifully welded on.

 

[tintin40]

Sod the purists, they spend all their time licking their bikes, not riding them.

tend to agree. But their is something speacial about a top notch period build. And mtb's should be ridden

 

[LikeClockwork]

Re:

Thanks for the input chaps

Funnily enough, it was the Ritchey Classic stuff I had been looking at, as Ritchey was what was on the Breezer BITD. Definitely nothing will be done that can't easily be reversed!

This will be a rider, along with the Kona, so usability is paramount.

 

[legrandefromage]

Its got to be silver though.

Its the law.

 

[LikeClockwork]

Re:

Yep, silver for deffo. Mostly, anyway.....