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

[RockiMtn]

i don't know how to ride, tune or service modern stuff.

 

[Yog Sothoth]

The colours man! The colours!

 

[MikeD]

modern discs and suspension turn you into a faster rider

Or exactly the same rider but going a bit faster

 

[Neil G]

i walk into a bike shop and im bored to death.....everything is the same thesedays, and theres nothing stands out, bar custom bikes to me anymore.

i cant get exicted over new bike models now, hence i rarely go on modern websites and never read the magazines anymore.

as for retro......the looks, memories and details get me every time. im not saying they are nicer ride, some older bikes kill my body but they are definetly the more interesting bikes.

modern discs and suspension turn you into a faster rider, but more lazy at the same time, hence even my most modern bike (2010) has rigid forks and V brakes!

its just what i prefer and need for 99% of my riding.......i dont get these folk that ride full suspension bikes everywhere.

Agree, going into bike shops now really is no where near as exciting as it used to be but that's probably just me getting old!

There does seem to be a lack of interesting stuff in shops though nowadays, what ever happpened to the glass cabinet that was always filled with bike jewellery (Bullseye & XTR stuff)

 

[theredchili]

These bikes are what I rode,raced,crashed 20 plus years ago, back when mountain biking was fairly new, but more so exciting-remember when the anodizing came out ? how cool was that and how much are we paying for it now !Looking back at the Malvern hills classic before there was even a separate downhill course, no suspension, stupid Bula hats, MUBK was king, and Klien, Fat Chance, Yeti were the ultimate, titanium was rare and exotic,racing was done on natural terrain and not man made courses

For me its the memories and the beauty of the bikes where life was less corporate and more fun

I ride a modern bike too, its technically brilliant, in years to come it will be a retrobike and there will be a different generation of people here on RB with their own memories

Its funny how many people you meet though and just dont get the retrobike thing !

 

[Charlieboy28]

just to echo the sentiments of the majority here. I went into Halfrauds on Saturday with my boy, and i could not tell the difference between the carreras, the boardmans and the voodoos, each one was soulless, each one had the same hayes brakes and deore shifters and non descript paint jobs, higher spec models only distinguishable by a very light spattering of either STX or XT. The head badge on the voodoo was the only thing i can remember or that caught my interest even momentarily. i cant remember the name of even one model, well apart from the voodoos and my thoughts then were how a one time high end and desirable bike could be now dressed in such mediocre poo poo.

it makes me a bit sad in a way :cry: :cry:

I have a relatively modern steel cove, and i enjoy looking at that in the same way i look at my retrobikes, so modern bikes can be beautiful but they seem to have given up trying to my mind anyway

 

[gtRTSdh]

Put simply, the old bikes are what I always wanted, and high end kit made by craftsmen will always be that, it's just like antique furniture, the best will always have a value.

Sure I could go out and buy a new Ti bike and it would work perfectly, but it's much more fun buying a 20 year old Xizang, fixing what needs fixing and enjoying the fact that they got it right back then, 90% rider 10% bike after all!

 

[reanimation]

I don't think I do, but the nostalgia is out there and it has whet my appetite to really get enthusiastic about bikes again. I started out selling a marin retro and buying a BSX bike and now I have a bunch of retro builds and several moderns its ace. lots of great products and firms out there.

Building with old parts the nostalgia is brilliant, and the feeling of going riding on a retro brings back exact feelings of the good old days!
Riding basic and retro has allowed me to understand what modern genre I should belong in, or that it doesn't matter too much.

I like how riding retro you are out of the rat race and back to basics so whatever you do is an achievement, nothing to prove, though you do end up in a retro cult!

I mentioned moderns, it's different, you're in with the nu skool and also whatever hardcore genre your bike puts you in, but my moderns are bikes that have tedious retro links, and in a world of swoopy wierd looking alloy sus frames and cone headtubes, even my 2011 bikes are fairly retro by looks.

"Ride and find where the freedom has gone"