why do you prefer a retro bike to a modern bike?
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MikeD
Senior Retro Guru
A 1992 Marin had a 67.5 degree head angle?
This is true, though -- £300 would get you either a brand new entry-level bike with a boat-anchor fork and various rather cheesy parts or a really quite fine old bike. At least, I assume it would, I've not really looked recently, but plenty of people seem to have scored slightly faded high-end bikes for two-digit sums
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MikeD":mgh4ndev said:
A 1992 Marin had a 67.5 degree head angle?
This is true, though -- £300 would get you either a brand new entry-level bike with a boat-anchor fork and various rather cheesy parts or a really quite fine old bike. At least, I assume it would, I've not really looked recently, but plenty of people seem to have scored slightly faded high-end bikes for two-digit sums
I'll get a photo next time they're together
many bikes up to £500+ still have a Suntour fork.
MikeD
Senior Retro Guru
10mm of sag would be mental on a 120mm fork. Assume 30mm (25%). That'll be about a degree steeper, so 68.5deg loaded. Way slacker than a 1992 Marin. It'd be about the same with the fork bottomed out.
I'm pretty sure I've already agreed with you about the fairly ropy forks on entry-level bikes
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For me I'm not sure I actually prefer older bikes to new ones but both have their pros and cons.
I do like the fact that I can afford to collect and maintain a wide selection and variety of bikes from the late 80's and early to mid 90's without having to earn a fortune to do so. There are so many great bikes to be had at such reasonable prices and lots of character about them too.
Added to this, you can have great fun riding them on terrain that current magazines would have you believe is well beyond them.
I've also met some great people and made some great friends through meeting up and riding with Retrobike. The shared passion and knowledge makes for very sociable rides and great fun.
I've found my old bikes to be very reliable and very easy to maintain due to their inherent simplicity, just as I remember.
All these factors mean that 'retrobikes' are often the best choice for a ride out.
On the other hand I have two modern hardtails to choose too. I like the fact that all the parts for these bikes are still easy to source, and that I'm not so precious about wearing parts out on them. Replacement parts nowadays are more expensive than ever, but the hours I've put into searching for period correct retro parts has also been utilised when searching for bargains on modern parts too.
Although my moderns are about 5 years old now they have, in my opinion, the best of what modern bikes can offer . That is firstly powerful and predictable disc brakes that last a good few winters give or take a few simple pad changes and an annual bleed. And secondly nice, well damped and torsionally stiff suspension forks mean that I can ride faster but still pick the good lines learned from riding fully rigid machines.
In general I also prefer the slightly more upright position afforded by these bikes.
I think that riding both modern and retro complement one another pretty well in that respect, transferring skills from riding older bikes and applying them to riding newer ones better.
I also ride with some fairly new mountain bikers and I've managed to persuade a few of them that the should learn to ride on a hardtail rather than climb aboard a skill compensating full susser and smash into everything hoping the bike will save them.
Finally I do lament how expensive modern bikes have become. I really don't see too much value for money with many of them.
I do like the fact that I can afford to collect and maintain a wide selection and variety of bikes from the late 80's and early to mid 90's without having to earn a fortune to do so. There are so many great bikes to be had at such reasonable prices and lots of character about them too.
Added to this, you can have great fun riding them on terrain that current magazines would have you believe is well beyond them.
I've also met some great people and made some great friends through meeting up and riding with Retrobike. The shared passion and knowledge makes for very sociable rides and great fun.
I've found my old bikes to be very reliable and very easy to maintain due to their inherent simplicity, just as I remember.
All these factors mean that 'retrobikes' are often the best choice for a ride out.
On the other hand I have two modern hardtails to choose too. I like the fact that all the parts for these bikes are still easy to source, and that I'm not so precious about wearing parts out on them. Replacement parts nowadays are more expensive than ever, but the hours I've put into searching for period correct retro parts has also been utilised when searching for bargains on modern parts too.
Although my moderns are about 5 years old now they have, in my opinion, the best of what modern bikes can offer . That is firstly powerful and predictable disc brakes that last a good few winters give or take a few simple pad changes and an annual bleed. And secondly nice, well damped and torsionally stiff suspension forks mean that I can ride faster but still pick the good lines learned from riding fully rigid machines.
In general I also prefer the slightly more upright position afforded by these bikes.
I think that riding both modern and retro complement one another pretty well in that respect, transferring skills from riding older bikes and applying them to riding newer ones better.
I also ride with some fairly new mountain bikers and I've managed to persuade a few of them that the should learn to ride on a hardtail rather than climb aboard a skill compensating full susser and smash into everything hoping the bike will save them.
Finally I do lament how expensive modern bikes have become. I really don't see too much value for money with many of them.
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MikeD":2yvvktgt said:I'm pretty sure I've already agreed with you about the fairly ropy forks on entry-level bikes
oh, agree totally. Yesterday I had to PDI an £1100 Specialized with a Suntour fork...
I quite like the Orange Five but next year I think its starting at around £3k
same as many, nostaligia, good times as a kid, the discovery of mtb for me in the late eighties early nineties, the technology at the time coupled with colourful and adventurous design flair, the challenge of thinking about lines and technique instead of just hitting or railing everything. lycra, i love tight lycra and hate baggies and back packs and camel backs, mint sauce, mbuk, mtb action and its endless handcrafted cnc goodness, johhny t and missy g, burly welds, beautiful fillet brazing, grundig world cup, the worlds in cairns in 96, thumbshifters and seven speed. thick chains and chunky shift gaps, its so easy to set up a derailluer on 7 or 8 speed as opposed to 9 or 10. chains actually last longer than a month, brakes dont stop you on a dime so you have to think. thomas frischcnet and henrik djernis battling it out. dh runs at kuranda on a rigid bike and mega mega arm pump. racing the dh, uphill, trials and xc all in the one weekend, and all on the one bike. just slam the seat for dh day. the thrill of spotting panaracer smoke tyre tracks on a trail you thought no one else had ridden...
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