why do you prefer a retro bike to a modern bike?

[racefaceec90]

would genuinely like to hear your reasons.i definitely love classic bikes (from my 1988 dawes ascent that was my first mtb) to superbikes such as kleins/merlins/trimbles e.t.c. is it that you feel more connected when you ride one.just love that time period of mountain biking,all the great cnc'd components from specialist bike engineers (i.e grafton/cook bros racing e.t.c). being honest i can totally relate to people's passion on this forum for classic bikes,but must admit to loving modern bikes/technology also (i'm talking about hydraulic disc brakes for starters over to you

 

[feetabix]

For me the 89 to 94 period stands for a magical time when the sport was spreading it's wings and it takes me back to my late teens when life was uncomplicated........the bikes drip with character and I love mixing them with my modern kit......I sit in the camp of liking modern too though, suspension forks get better all the time and disc brakes have to be the biggest step forward in enjoying getting a bike muddy in 20 years!.....

 

[brocklanders023]

I don't prefer them as I like both modern and retro. To be honest I ride my Orange 5 more then any other bike I have.
Retro means more to me then just riding. I don't spend hours thinking about what bits to get for the 5, I don't find myself gazing at it, I don't spend far too much time on a website devoted to it. It's a tool for a job and does it's job very well.

 

[hamster]

Because the area I ride in suits a rigid singlespeed, and a retro machine does that job better than a modern...

 

[feetabix]

There is no better two wheeled conversation starter than my Klein sat outside a brew stop during a ride though......relatively few of us babble on about them here but plenty of people of all ages remember them in the villages of south west Leicestershire.....

 

[feetabix]

I don't prefer them as I like both modern and retro. To be honest I ride my Orange 5 more then any other bike I have.
Retro means more to me then just riding. I don't spend hours thinking about what bits to get for the 5, I don't find myself gazing at it, I don't spend far too much time on a website devoted to it. It's a tool for a job and does it's job very well.

Keep the '5' mint brockers.......I have slung a leg over one or two and they will be a future classic.....

 

[FluffyChicken]

The apparently 'retro' bikes where in my shed, they cost me little to get going again.

A modern bike would cost me lots of £££ to get something I would like.


Hence why I like my retro bikes.

I now have a 'modern bike', it didn't cost much really but this site seems to think 1997 is still retro :?

 

[velomaniac]

Nostalgia, rose tinted view of the past, unable to comprehend the modern world, technophobe..........these are my reasons and I'm sticking to them

 

[petitpal]

I've spent some of the happiest years of my life on bikes; ever since when I was a kid and had that first real taste of freedom and being able to go places. I could ride to my nan's 10 miles away with no parents or car journeys. My Saracen and then Zaskar were simply extensions of that sense of freedom; I can remember spending well over a year with a picture of a Zaskar LE (full XT) stuck to my bedroom wall and trying desperatly to save enough cash to buy a frame from my LBS. When I actually got it and built it I was in love and still am. I still expect people to look at that frame and go 'wow' now even though it's as old as it is and, I dare say, a bit dated in other people's eyes. That's why I still ride my bike - it'll never be retro to me. And yes, I'm sure that all sounds a bit mad

 

[Andy B]

Fun (technically this applies to all bikes)

Value for money (try building a sub 22lb geared modern hardtail bike for under £600)

I guess nostalgia comes into it, but I was not aware of nor did I aspire to any of the retro bikes currently in my collection (I'm talking about the exact models, not the brands)

The look of some retro bikes is far superior to some modern bikes