What state is retro biking in at the moment?
- Thread starter brocklanders023
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Yorkshiremike
Dirt Disciple
I was at the Pace service centre on wednesday sorting out my Evo 2's that are blowing through their travel. The service guy sorted out my forks for the princely sum of £5.00 and then we had a chat about some of the forks on his bench that where in the process of being repaired/ serviced.
He had a really early set of manitou's on the bench and told me that in the last year they've seen a big increase in the number of early/ retro forks that are coming in for service.
The manitou's where having the elastomer stack/s re built with pace parts/elastomers to get them working again. The stanchions where in mint condition.
He had a really early set of manitou's on the bench and told me that in the last year they've seen a big increase in the number of early/ retro forks that are coming in for service.
The manitou's where having the elastomer stack/s re built with pace parts/elastomers to get them working again. The stanchions where in mint condition.
Stick Legs
Gold Trader
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I was very active in here early on. Really enjoyed it but drifted away.
Partly it was work & family, then the fact that the hobby was getting expensive.
The final nail was the diagnosis of torn cartilage in one knee, and the subsequent damage to a adjoining tendon caused by bone abrasion.
Packed up bikes and concentrated on work & home.
Now I am able to cycle again I am struggling to find the retro love.
Considered doing a nice Peugeot 653 build or something similar but in the end bought a modern Wilier. Why? £70 a month in return for a rather nice bike I can ride today. The Peugeot would have cost me less but would have spent 6 months pratting around building it.
I still have one retro steed, the original survivor I kept from BITD and will probably build another retro bike.
Just my $0.02
Partly it was work & family, then the fact that the hobby was getting expensive.
The final nail was the diagnosis of torn cartilage in one knee, and the subsequent damage to a adjoining tendon caused by bone abrasion.
Packed up bikes and concentrated on work & home.
Now I am able to cycle again I am struggling to find the retro love.
Considered doing a nice Peugeot 653 build or something similar but in the end bought a modern Wilier. Why? £70 a month in return for a rather nice bike I can ride today. The Peugeot would have cost me less but would have spent 6 months pratting around building it.
I still have one retro steed, the original survivor I kept from BITD and will probably build another retro bike.
Just my $0.02
mrkawasaki
Retrobike Rider
Is 'retrobiking' for life??! My perspective is that the first few generations of retrobikers never had it so good and defined the pastime as we recognise it now. As well as the website development (hats off JV) lots of good things came about easily (such as the rides and the Mountain Mayhem jamboree) but a few negatives inevitably gatecrashed the party.
I've long campaigned that, for all the good that is inherent in BoTM, the competitive element did/does harm and that the 'award' only served a capable few. There emerged some sort of unwritten universal 'standard' by which builds should be done and the threat of a public haranguing was only a misrouted cable away - the Achilles Heel to the much-vaunted 'character' of this forum. Competition between mountainbikers should take place on the XC/DH course, not the computer IMHO.
Paradoxically a lot of the early self-styled standard bearers of 'how-to-do-retrobiking' do not seem to lasted - some have perhaps gone to the dark net underground where outdoing your fellow builder/investor is the raison d'etre and others burnt themselves out chasing and perhaps achieving their nostalgic goals in too short an order.
Forums were equally new to us all and have their own corrosive aspects, somehow pouring fuel onto mere whisps of opinion. Again, damage was easily done and good people who do not care for keyboard one-upmanship prefer to move on rather than fall into the tedious traps set. Moderation became a chore and your new hobby could soon be tarnished if you were unlucky enough to want to build the wrong bike the wrong way and dare to show it off (without a chain)...
Ebay was the facilitator 14 years ago - new access to bikes and parts that had been stored expectantly since the mid-nineties flooded into view and at reasonable cost. We filled our boots - buying way more than we initially planned for, caught on a wave of accessible nostalgia. A simple first rebuild suddenly became a collection! Now, the wisened Ebay generation have of course upped the price for pretty much anything that can be called 'retro' and those halcyon days long gone.
Which brings us to the here-and-now - the forthcoming Icon-O-Classic show might be arriving in the nick of time to take stock of the state of this pastime and chart its next phase. If nothing else it will be an interesting 'audit' on the enthusiasm and energy of current stakeholders and activists.
I've long campaigned that, for all the good that is inherent in BoTM, the competitive element did/does harm and that the 'award' only served a capable few. There emerged some sort of unwritten universal 'standard' by which builds should be done and the threat of a public haranguing was only a misrouted cable away - the Achilles Heel to the much-vaunted 'character' of this forum. Competition between mountainbikers should take place on the XC/DH course, not the computer IMHO.
Paradoxically a lot of the early self-styled standard bearers of 'how-to-do-retrobiking' do not seem to lasted - some have perhaps gone to the dark net underground where outdoing your fellow builder/investor is the raison d'etre and others burnt themselves out chasing and perhaps achieving their nostalgic goals in too short an order.
Forums were equally new to us all and have their own corrosive aspects, somehow pouring fuel onto mere whisps of opinion. Again, damage was easily done and good people who do not care for keyboard one-upmanship prefer to move on rather than fall into the tedious traps set. Moderation became a chore and your new hobby could soon be tarnished if you were unlucky enough to want to build the wrong bike the wrong way and dare to show it off (without a chain)...
Ebay was the facilitator 14 years ago - new access to bikes and parts that had been stored expectantly since the mid-nineties flooded into view and at reasonable cost. We filled our boots - buying way more than we initially planned for, caught on a wave of accessible nostalgia. A simple first rebuild suddenly became a collection! Now, the wisened Ebay generation have of course upped the price for pretty much anything that can be called 'retro' and those halcyon days long gone.
Which brings us to the here-and-now - the forthcoming Icon-O-Classic show might be arriving in the nick of time to take stock of the state of this pastime and chart its next phase. If nothing else it will be an interesting 'audit' on the enthusiasm and energy of current stakeholders and activists.
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Thanks for the replies all, keep em coming.
Thanks for the replies all, keep em coming.
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I am thoroughly grateful that I am not injured nor suffering from impairment (mental doesnt count) so I can carry on cycling.
Having bought shit loads of cheap and cheerful bikes plus some expensive, the novelty hasnt worn off yet but careful selection has taken over.
The late 90' into the mid 00's saw me still buying brand new and being disappointed by the purchases hence the stumbling into this site when trying to find bits for a battered Zaskar.
I am very grateful to John and many members who have put up with me for so long and still turn up for rides.
Even if its just me and an old Saracen left, I'll still be here.
Having bought shit loads of cheap and cheerful bikes plus some expensive, the novelty hasnt worn off yet but careful selection has taken over.
The late 90' into the mid 00's saw me still buying brand new and being disappointed by the purchases hence the stumbling into this site when trying to find bits for a battered Zaskar.
I am very grateful to John and many members who have put up with me for so long and still turn up for rides.
Even if its just me and an old Saracen left, I'll still be here.
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Don't forget our long suffering partners. Mine just puts the many parcels to one side without comment these days. Allows me the time and space to fettle, build and ride.
Stick Legs
Gold Trader
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legrandefromage":39xjf5af said:
This for me too, the only reason I am ModernBiking (TM) is because the new stuff is to me as interesting as the old stuff was. I am genuinely interested in what is in my LBS, and it has been a long time since that was the case.
toaster999
Senior Retro Guru
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People have to be at least 40 for this site to have any relevance given the definition of Retro 1997 and that clock is ticking. Each year that goes by will only mean the target market reduces together with that reducing market having less cash, not great.
The site needs to find sub 40's to keep it alive or it will risk terminal decline.
People have to be at least 40 for this site to have any relevance given the definition of Retro 1997 and that clock is ticking. Each year that goes by will only mean the target market reduces together with that reducing market having less cash, not great.
The site needs to find sub 40's to keep it alive or it will risk terminal decline.
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