Why Old Bikes ?

The bikes I had as a youngster were largely road bikes, mostly Raleighs, and the occaisional Dawes, racing bike design, with Sachs Huret transmission, they were just bikes, great on road, big wheels and gears, but we always took them off road. Tracks through the woods, trails and even, what we used to call bomb sites, an area with loads of holes and tracks around the holes, ramps and stuff. In fact, places where BMX'ers went and them with none road legal motorbikes. Now, I was tall at age 12, no way would a Bmx be of use to me, I needed the road capabilities, as was then, as it is now, most of the time, it is road conditions.

I broke forksets and frames, wheels, well, I learned how to pull a twisted wheel true quickly, well, enough so it did not rub too much on the centre pull brakes. Now, if others were doing the same as me, perhaps we all yearned for something better, a cross between a BMX and a road bike, something the MTB is

The weirdest road bike I ever had, was something that had simplex gearing, and a key lockable front fork, what it was, I have no idea, but I wrecked it as fast as the others, if I remember rightly, the frame broke behind the steerer tube, an impact with a tree stump I think. All my bikes were painted black, like my MTB's. The road bikes wer wrecked from 1977 onwards,up till about 1988.

Oh, I also had old Raleigh bits pulled off wrecks, things like chainsets with the Raleigh badge cut out of the chainset steel in three places. Raleigh always reminded me of the film; '' Quatermass and the pit ''.
 
It was in the shed and somebody has now made my bike cool again :D



.. saying that I've turned it into a modren bike, I fitted my first threadless headset a few days ago and just yesterday I fitted and setup my first v-brakes. Cannot wait to see what this new modern technology is like out in the trail.
 
Hmmm, a Raleigh Superbe, this does look kind of like it ;

http://sheldonbrown.org/images/superbe54-big.jpeg

If one was to picture it as a frame only, but fitted with some 1970's bits.

Whilst I am waiting to get my Saracen, I am sorting out an old Raleigh Women's MTB style bike, early Shimano thumb shifter, in the lever aspect very XT thumby. But what impresses me about this thing, is the brake cantilevers, the sort that uses a hanger that clips onto the canti bridge wire, using Sheldon Brown's Brake set up guide, boy, they are powerful, impressively powerful.

http://sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html


This Sheldon Brown guy, his site is also impressive.
 
FluffyChicken":2nob4c7s said:
It was in the shed and somebody has now made my bike cool again :D

Me too (c) AOL.

I'm sure I'm not alone, in this, my bike interests became retro, because I've never really moved on from the bikes I first started to use seriously.

Had it not been nicked, I'd quite possibly be still using a 92 DB Apex, but as it stands, it's a 95 DB Apex. And I've no desire to move on.

I always went for mid level bikes, because I had no aspirations for true racing, and didn't see the point in over-egging the machine. And as for this new-fangled suspension thing I keep reading about, that apparently the kids of today are using, well I'm with Sheldon (RIP) on that.

FluffyChicken":2nob4c7s said:
.. saying that I've turned it into a modren bike, I fitted my first threadless headset a few days ago and just yesterday I fitted and setup my first v-brakes. Cannot wait to see what this new modern technology is like out in the trail.

Pah, v-brakes ;-)

I had to run with them for a short time, but as soon as was practical, I went back to cantis. I think I just prefer them on my particular bike, perhaps because I'm most used to sorting them, and it's stock with the original shifter / brake lever combos.

I guess there's all sorts of reasons why what appeals either from our youth, or our halcyon days, or the era that you most enjoyed or first got into cycling. And I suspect my retro alignment is part that, and part not feeling the need to ditch what I've got and am attached to.
 
Back
Top