What Retrobike "feature" do you avoid when looking for bikes?

[Ren Rawbor]

Or photos taken of the item, whilst the photographer is on another planet....you know where its a bit like "spot the bike" in a sea of rubbish.

Ffs...if you can't even be arsed to get close to the item to sell it, why bother!

Just triggered a memory of another pet peeve. Photos taken last year/decade/century showing the bike in a condition appropriate to description/price only to arrive to view and find it's been used/abused as a winter hack and lived outside locked to a lamp post in the firing line of every gritter in the county for the entire time since said photos were taken.

 

[bikeworkshop]

This thread is leaning towards:

What "Retrobike Seller" do you avoid when looking for bikes?

Understandably so.

The poor bike is the innocent party in this relationship.
It didn't get to choose its page in the catalogue, its position on the pricelist.
It definitely didn't choose To be "owned/modernised/upgraded" by some victim of the "Dunning-Kruger Effect".

Sometimes though you do get a buzz from liberating a bike from their sticky clutches.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Lazy adverts, one grainy photo taken from inside the house etc.

Ironically, these sometimes turn out to be incredible deals.

 

[novocaine]

Ahem, have I not already volunteered to rehome all the snowflake wheels (for the sake of the community of course)?

All yours mate. Sorry for the error.

 

[Ren Rawbor]

Always willing to help out

 

[bikeworkshop]

Where are my spoke cutters

 

[Ren Rawbor]

Where are my spoke cutters

I know where they will be if you even dare!

 

[Cloverleaf]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, and some of the stuff here is hilarious. Bar ends? Even though we spent years fitting them and then slagging off risers, wide bars etc etc, and Maguras, which worked ten times better than V-brakes or cantis ever did? I'm guessing my dad's bike that I'm currently rebuilding would only be fit for the scrap pile on the basis of this; it's got bar ends, Maguras and up until a few years ago had a gel saddle too! All period correct from the nineties though

The warning signs to me are anything that's been suspiciously well cleaned but clearly heavily worn, and asking a high price. Usually jokers wanting money for old rope in the hope that someone will be desperate enough to need that particular part to 'complete' their build.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Gel saddles, ah.
To me it's the gel strap ons that are a no go, but easy to just take off.
These usually are not retrobike 'features', more bought the cover from Lidl or whoever 10 to 15 years back.


All the old gel saddles of old, used now, that I've used have been useless. For example a Flite Gel generally all the gel is hardened/lost it gel-ness so is uncomfy compared to a normal Flite.
Again an easy replacement retrobike 'feature' so wouldn't put me off buying the bike, it would put me of buying anything for the saddle itself.

 

[7Speed]

Out of interest, what's so bad about e-stays? I'd certainly not turn one down, in fact I'd like to build one. Only had one, it arrived all banged up with a squashed and broken seat tube. Had problems getting my money back on that despite it not being described or pictured as damaged. Allegedly in transit, but it was clearly not.

I am going to get some flack for this one - but I never felt e-stay solved any problems. They typically ended up heavier and more flexy at the BB than diamond frames all to avoid chain suck and add some mud clearance. There were better ways to solve these problems.

How many folks won on e-stays? Kloser did a bit and I think Clarke did too - think they were a bit of an exception though. Happy to be wrong here.

There are definitely some pretty e-stay bikes out there and definitely a moment in MTB design. If an Ultimate were going for the change in my pocket I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it.