What would you do? Retro Vs modern.....

[shogun]

I've got retro bikes for a laugh re-living the past, and a modern bike for more regular (and harder) trail riding. Even if it were possible to do the things I do on my modern bike with a retro, it would wreck them.

As for my retro bikes, over a year or so I've thinned it down a lot. I'm now keeping just things that are fun to ride, complete or close to complete. I cleared out a lot of prospective projects and one 'unicorn' that turned out to be a fairly shite ride (tbh). I'm now of the philosophy that I will no longer acquire 'projects' unless they are readily realised, and that though prices do rise, most things can be acquired as needed rather than hoarded.

I do realise there's some Zen-like joy in fettling and tinkering but I think simplicity of maintenance is crucial to getting out and enjoying riding bikes. Some modern bikes seem costly and overly complex, requiring yet more dedicated tools.

I find the opposite really. And as for tools, most of my stuff is 20 or so years old, all I've had to add this century is a crank puller with the ISIS/Octalink 'button' (now a retrobike tool itself!), and a Hollowtech II/GXP cup tool. To be fair, if I pressed my own headset cups I might need a new set of adaptors for 1.5 or taper headsets.

I never stopped updating bikes, so shouldn't I have boxes and boxes of redundant tools knocking about?

My modern bikes in the last 10+ years have all been pretty much fit and forget, apart from a run with some bad GXP bbs right when they first came out (which were efficiently and successfully warrantied, something I don't remember happening much if at all last century).

 

[Gaddmeister]

Re:

What sort of stuff are you doing on a modern bike that you can't do on a retro? My bikes back in the day never got wrecked. I've heard modern stuff is not as well made?

 

[clubby]

Re: Re:

What sort of stuff are you doing on a modern bike that you can't do on a retro? My bikes back in the day never got wrecked. I've heard modern stuff is not as well made?

You can get down the same trails on retrobikes but not at the same speed or flow as you can on modern bikes. On newer bikes you can (if inclined) ride harder, jump higher and broke much harder and later.

Depending on where you live, trails have moved on a lot. E.g. Up at Dunkeld you still have the traditional routes up by the lochs, but also the enduro and dh trails. No way a retrobike would last any time on those.

As always though, it's still down to the rider to get the most out of the bike whatever it is.

 

[Gaddmeister]

Re:

Interesting. Is it the frame and fork that would be stronger then? See, I'm not wanting to ride any harder than I do on me old retro. If the bike can't handle the trail then nor can I. I'm 47 this year with 4 kids and a devoted dog. I can only use logic and science to think the faster you go the worse it would be if it all went wrong? It's not like modern bikes are fitted with air bags? And the scary thing is I see so many riding these things without skid kids!

 

[Rodrigues]

I only ride XC - no air or other crazy stuff and the big thing for me is the 29er wheel format. As a taller rider the proportions are just better and the flow / rolling speed difference is significant. The other major improvement is disc brakes. Just gives you more confidence. I find therefore I ride further, explore more trails. The bike isn't needy either - Salsa El Mar with mid range components all sourced second hand. Everything works great.

When I ride the 26ers against this I'm 15% slower. Not a huge issue but when you have kids, limited time to ride, or commuting like I do (and need to be at work on time) then it helps.

Still keeping my favourite RBs. They're just too awesome and fun for a ride or two each month

...but day in, day out I used the El Mar. And love it.

 

[66 triumph daytona]

Re:

The retros are great for a blast the odd time but for me,out 3 or 4 times a week it has to be modern purely for practicality.My current ride of choice is a modern rigid 1x11 with discs,no front mech or shifter,no suspension,no tubes.Completely trouble free.Its been beaten to hell and needs nothing.

 

[M-Power]

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I keep reading that modern trails will wreck a retro. Bitd i used to jump my FAT with a 1 in Mavic headset around 20/30times a ride. Im talking big air for the time upto 15/20feet distance and hard landings off dropoffs and the headset is still not pitted and smooth as a cashmere 28yrs later. Frame and wheels are perfect. Will these £10k full susser carbon bikes still be rideable in 5yrs let alone 30 ?

 

[Silvergoat]

Re:

Plus one, from me too. Twenty-five years on, got the same rigid steel Clockwork doing trails, stupid stuff, skate parks, high mileage commuting, shopping trips, allotment hack, several big stacks in its lifetime – still out there mixing it up and cutting a dash wherever it goes. It's my one and only bike and it's a way of life for me. Like a Celt or Viking, I'll probably be buried with it.

Although there's plenty of nice modern bikes about that I might like, commitments and responsibilities mean I can't justify the cost of acquiring a collection of bikes for every scenario and anything well over a grand or more seems like a stretch and a liability.

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

Modern stuff isn't stronger on the whole and you can ride retro on any trail. It's not as fast or comfortable though.

 

[M-Power]

Re: Re:

Modern stuff isn't stronger on the whole and you can ride retro on any trail. It's not as fast or comfortable though.

Well said Groovy ^^

With the parts obsolescence issues of modern bikes of incredible complexity, i cant see them being anything other than very expensive disposable sports kit. I could not get spares for love or money for a 16yr old high end full susser and had to let it go as a potential ornament.

I dont have the bottle at 50 to take my retros over huge jumps like they do these days, more through fear of injury to me NOT the bikes!