What state is retro biking in at the moment?

[Neil]

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.

QFT.

I always enjoy your select and wonderful posts.

Simply class.

 

[Elev12k]

When I started buying 'old' 'worthless' bikes there was ...nothing. Look where we are now. Also watch the classic top end auto market. Prices are going through the roof as people seem to realize that modernish cars are not more than a facade. No honest product. It is the same for a majority of the bikes. I expect the bikes are going the same way as the cars. Of course there will be ups and downs, but the trend will be up

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re: Re:

I think you'll find that majority are in the late 30's given that's the time we were all teens riding the new fangled early 90s bikes.

There is all ready the 98+ retro section, use it. It has been there for a while just waiting for people interested in circa 2000 bikes.

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.

 

[Mike Muz]

Re:

I think there must be a constant flow of members selling stuff/bikes as they realise the addiction is getting silly , and new members wanting to buy said tat, er, I mean stuff/bikes .
The weather has , I think , played a big part , as we enjoy riding our creations .
Come the autumn/winter months , we will all be buying stuff to replace the useless/shagged parts from said riding . Or upgrading to components that work better .
This year , I have built up from '93 (x2) , '95 , '98 frames , and my current project is an '02 . So nothing really modern .
Tend to build similar spec bikes , so questions are few and far between from me . Always happy to help others if I know the answers to theirs though

Mike

 

[highlandsflyer]

Re:

I know what you are saying, but...

I am 46, and like a lot of people never really 'started' riding bikes. I was on them practically from birth, albeit in a basket on my mum's shopping bike. As soon as 'ATB's emerged I was there using them.

That was a long time ago, much longer than 97.

As you move towards that year, there are a much larger number of people for whom a mountain bike would have been their first 'proper' bike. Usually in their teens indeed, but possibly as early as 9 or so.

97's 9 year old is today's 27 year old, and of course 97's 19 year old is today's 37 year old.

I think the demographic on this site may be rather skewed due to the nature of the interest.

It is not purely about the riding. The whole process of vacillating, selecting, collecting, building and showing off is entailed. This lends the site to the more procrastinating amongst bikers, and those who perhaps came to cycling a little 'late'.

Hence the number of older users.

The fact mountain bikes were already an established phenomenon by the mid nineties does lend a little less nostalgic frisson to the latter bikes. Unless you were lucky enough to get hold of a really special one.

I do think it would be an idea to move the cut off years on now though. Perhaps vintage might be adopted for pre 92, then classic for all before 99, then modern classic to 2004. So a ten year old bike would be considered as distinct from a brand new one at least.

Just my two shillings.

 

[toaster999]

Re: Re:

I do think it would be an idea to move the cut off years on now though. Perhaps vintage might be adopted for pre 92, then classic for all before 99, then modern classic to 2004.So a ten year old bike would be considered as distinct from a brand new one at least.

+1

 

[toaster999]

Re: Re:

I think you'll find that majority are in the late 30's given that's the time we were all teens riding the new fangled early 90s bikes.

There is all ready the 98+ retro section, use it. It has been there for a while just waiting for people interested in circa 2000 bikes.

Eh? This is the 'Retro' area, hence Retro MTB Chat. Where's the '98+ Retro section'?? There a 98 onwards but don't see the word Retro banded around?

 

[spokes]

Re:

I agree, the cut off needs to move forward each year as it does in the vintage/classic car and motorcycle scene.
This forum is in danger of causing its own demise.
As each year passes things get older and new things are developed so to set a cut off date that never changes is plain silly.
I'm 45 and have ridden ATB/mountain bikes since day one. I own 9 bikes between '94 and '99. I think of them all as retro as do others I ride with on modern bikes, but this site doesn't.
The way I see it, the older stuff will either get rarer and more expensive, pricing it's self out of the market for normal people. Or it will get so old it will hold no relevance to the riders of today. No relevance = no interest.
I love retro bikes and this is a positive post. Move on each year and get more forum members.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Just been pondering where retro biking is in the grand scheme of things. It seems to me the site is not as busy as it used to be and that the for sale section has plenty of posts but many items hang around for ages that would have been snapped up in no time a year or two back.

I must admit I do not spend as much time involved it retro biking as I used to but have also noticed past frequent posters now tending to hang out in the sections + going on the rides but not really posting in general chat.

I know that for myself most of the fun of our hobby was seeing threads of bikes I remembered from bitd and buying + building bikes I was interested in. I think I am less active (apart from my 7 month old boy :roll: ) because I've got my hands on most of what I wanted and seen threads on all the exotica I dreamt of when young. It's rare I see a build thread that really makes me go Oooooooh :shock: as, for me, most have been done.

Due to family commitments I don't get chance to ride enough full stop, let alone retro but from checking out the sections it seems that people are happy with what they've got and ride more, talk less.

Interested to hear retrobikers views.

I don't think the bubble has burst but certainly seems to have deflated a little. There was only so long that people are going to pay increasingly stupid prices for old tat, which much of it was. Perhaps people have finally got fed up with anything that has been used but is still vaguely shiny as being described as NOS. Over the last year the descriptions of some of the stuff on here have lurched from the laughable to the borderline fraudulent, with various shades of honesty in between. The gravy train riders will only get so far, and as the market settles down, establishes itself and increasing history of parts and bike sales.grows then the dodgy/ridiculous sellers will be edge out and were starting to see some equilibrium.

Hopefully.

People are starting to realise that rarity doesn't automatically confer a high value on an item, as Allegro and Marina owners will attest. If was unloved back then it'll probably be unloved today. That it's one of only 3 left is of no consequence if it's beige and no one wants it.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re: Re:

I think you'll find that majority are in the late 30's given that's the time we were all teens riding the new fangled early 90s bikes.

There is all ready the 98+ retro section, use it. It has been there for a while just waiting for people interested in circa 2000 bikes.

Eh? This is the 'Retro' area, hence Retro MTB Chat. Where's the '98+ Retro section'?? There a 98 onwards but don't see the word Retro banded around?

The top of every page.