Why do you 'do' Retrobikes?

[doctor-bond]

My bike was cutting edge when I bought it, it's only retro because I'm old now

That's not far off. I got into mountainbikes as soon as I knew they existed, which happened to be shortly after they were readily available in the uk. So I bought one.

When it got v. tatty I did it up, and a top chap caller bikeshopowner pointed out that a bunch of other people also liked bikes that weren't new, and that many of them could be found being wonderfully geeky here.

I now own a number of bikes that were built over a 40year period, and I continue to get a kick out of riding and tinkering them.

Yet I don't think that the appeal of vintage/retro/classicness is defined by a rolling retrospective window: i.e. it's not about bikes that were built x number of years ago. If in 2061 people are arguing over whether retro began at 2045 or 2046 then I'll tap on the jar in which they keep my suspended head, and frown sternly.

It's more about beginnings and endings. Triangular bike frames made of brazed steel of one sort or another were cutting edge for the best part of a century. The fact that the beginnings of mountainbiking coincided with the end of steel's monopoly as a top bike frame material is what gives flavour to the retroness I understand. I love the lugged creations that were the last of the many, the first of a few.

Turning the timeline on its head, when dinosaurs were roaming the earth no one would have paid any attention to a few scratty mammals sucking teats in their burrows, but in hindsight those early ancestors are way cool: and the first examples of bikes of a defining nature are always going to gain a retro following: aluminium, suspension, carbon, brakes that work, hover cycles, telebikes......

Retroness is interesting because it is inextricably linked to novelty (hence the carbon seatpost )

 

[chaser]

C'mon guys, admit it, we get 'retro' cos we ARE retro [AKA old] well most of us are 40+ I guess

Its really great how we always look back on stuff [life] with nostalgia, and the retro scene is a way to capture that same feeling that we get when we look back on times gone by, and we can turn those memories into a reality again [with the bikes].

I think riding [retro] bikes is also a way to stay young... how many things can you do as an adult that feel the same as when you were a kid?

I think of it the same as how when you go to a rock concert these days, you are a likely to see 60 somethings rocking with the kids... it's fantastic!

Well I recon as long as I am riding my bike, I cannot possibly be 'old'

Ride and smile.

Chaser.

 

[Dr S]

What is all this retrospective talk. Whats Retro? Are you saying my bikes are old fashioned? My bikes are all retro? What year is this? Oh no it's happened again :shock:

Damn time machine, here I am trapped in the year 2009 whilst I should be at home watching Happy Mondays on The Word. Well tell me this future people, did Hufty turn out to be a Lezzer? :? and anybody fancy some cheap White Onza Porcs whilst I'm here?

 

[dyna-ti]

Our bikes lack the Pretentiousness these modern efforts today :?

I remember[f*** sake dont i sound old :shock: ]

I remember seeing the Ti frame/bikes prices in the catalogues and not many 16yrold could afford them less they had money falling out their assholes
Now i can easily afford one bought second hand or just because its old or no longer in favour.
That settles it ,we're all financially astute

or just plain tight and could put Ebenezer Balfour to shame

 

[jonnyboy666]

why do you do retrobikes?

for me lots of reasons, firstly being that i am a bike obssessive.

in the early days the bikes i had were just my bikes. nothing more. as i got further obssessed i got into the bike trade and there was the eternal need to have the new model! :roll:

then in about 2004 i found a 93 clockwork frame with mag 20's on a scrap pile. :shock:

i had it painted and built it with whatever bits i had lying around. i realised that i didn't have to have the latest thing to enjoy the ride!

also the older bikes are faster down here. being mainly flat and not technical.

after rebuilding that clockwork, i found this place after going to mountain mayhem one year and since then it reignited my interest in the older stuff.

now i just pick whichever bike suits what i'm doing that day, which mostly seems to be my 07 clockwork or my 92 explosif. one is retro styled and the other IS retro!

i have to admit i don't ride the others as much, but mainly coz i consider the kona being the "rider" and the others the "lookers" but they have all been christened with proper muddy rides to start with to wet their heads so to speak.

since then i find myself unable to resist some of the for sale section, mainly being orange stuff. i got to know the guys at orange through the trade and also liked the brand and it's image, then i realised i had inadvertantly got myself some quite rare oranges so now i find myself filling the gaps in the range!! hence my 2 recent purchases!!

 

[drystonepaul]

Although I've never been one to let objects or mere 'things' define me, I've had bikes as such a constant and important part of my life for so long that I do let them.
I've always ridden, always have and hopefully always will.

Sentimental I know, but whenever I remember any life event or occurance I can also remember the bike I was riding at the time.

These old bikes help to give my memories, and thus my life, context and perhaps meaning.

Having and riding the bikes that I remember or have owned from new, or otherwise, helps to remind me of who I really am and the memories that hold my life together like glue.

 

[legrandefromage]

As I told you myself, retro came about after upgrading became restoring:

1993 - buy zaskar

1994 - replace worn out broken bits

1995 - bling

1996 - new everything

1997 - get bored of it, sell frame buy something else

1998 - buy frame back, use as hack

1999 - frame stolen

2000 - recover frame, rebuild as hack

2001 - rebuild as commuter

2002 - rebuild as bling commuter

2003 - clean polish restore frame

2004 - start to take interest in finding original parts

2005 - main bike

2006 - restored frame is commuter and main runnabout

2007 - restored frame, now need original parts, discover RetroBIKE

2009 - now near completion, all relavent parts aquired - GT forks, RS Mag 21 or Switchblades....

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

nostalgia...mostly.

 

[thummie]

I guess the main one for me is elegance of design. In the evolution of engineered stuff there seems to be a phase of rapid evolution which ultimately result in a simple designs that do around 95% of everything you would ever want them to do with minimum fuss. After that there is a whole heap of change for change's shape- often resulting in fussy dressing up, backward steps and designed obselence.

Suspension aside, I reckon mtbs reached this point in the early '90s. Geometry had been sorted out and indexing + hyperglide + V brakes did all the stopping and going stuff.

One of my other passions is using '70s and early '80s Citroens as daily drivers...

 

[Bike Hoarder]

Because i can't afford a modern one? Yeah right, like being on Retro Bike is any cheaper. :roll:

I'm here because i'm stuck in that time period, i'm still listening early 90's music on Mini-Disc, and driving an 80's car.