Yeah, you're all about your modern, ultralight, plastic bike aren't you? Well, listen up, bub. There are plenty of things about vintage road bikes that are simply "better" than your modern superbike. Music: FynestLyk - Noir Et Blanc Vie
I bought my 1973 Holdsworth new in 73. It cost 125 us. It has been my only bicycle since. Twice rebuilt, never had a issue that I could not fix myself. The frame is Reynolds 531, a mag- moly tubing. It doesn't rust but oxidises. The BB was without paint for over 30 years. I toured in all weather. 2 more years and we'll be together for 50 years. Wish me luck.
Good luck, Kurt, but I don't think you'll need it! Sounds like you've got a great bike there. I'm a big fan of the 531. I've got a 1963 Frejus built with 531 and I know what you mean when you say it oxidizes but doesn't rust. It gets a really nice patina. May you have many more years on your Holdsworth!
@@bikestrikesrazors Thanks for the good wishes. The reason these old gems are so rare is that we rode the paint right off of them. Boys are hard on there bikes. The only decal on that bike was the Reynolds, all other graphics were painted by hand. Long gone.
Wow, this is the comment new bicycle manufactures definitely dont want people to know. but well, business is business, and they always had to find ways to make the market consume more
Fun video discussion, thank you! I was a pro racer in the 80's, racing on custom built to my specification steel frame/fork bikes Campagnolo Super Record, Suntour Superb Pro, Cinelli, Mavic/DT14g, Continental tubular, Modolo equipped. I am 64yo now, been riding 10,000+ miles a year for 54 years, don't use cars,....instead ride, walk, or paddle to all my destinations. 54 years of serious riding, first mountain bike rider in 1982, pro racer, touring, commuting. 1) Yes, todays bikes are ugly colors, but paint with clearcoat and smooth finish of any material is better than vintage. Now they are using matt finishes which is the ultimate in ugly. If I am paying 6000+ for a bike "I" get to choose whatever color I want! Obviously my custom steel bike was to my color spec also. I also raced on 3Rensho, ugliest bike I ever owned because of horrible paint finish. Todays finishes even on the cheap bikes I ride today are 10x better than vintage. I did buy a lugged Ciocc frame back in the 80's with red paint and chrome fork tips, seat and chain stays, to me this was the most beautiful road bike ever made, too bad the frame/fork was unusable due to its horrible alignment and build. I ride $400 bikes today that are more beautiful than the custom racing bikes I used in the 80's. The finish is just perfect, clear coat adds depth, and they are flaw free. No lugs on Aluminum, but the welds are also perfect (machine welds). 2) My bikes were hand crafted one at a time, store bought were not taken seriously, small manufacturers may have been hand building but they were hurried and not good racing bikes. 3) Not durable, I ride over 10,000 miles a year on my bikes, steel and aluminum have a lifespan, and why I always warn true cyclists to buy new. At about 25,000 miles I will break a frame, metal that flexes, fatigues, and there isn't anyway to delay it except with exceptional brazing and double butted extra heavy (thick walled) tubes. Fixing a broken frame is dangerous for two reasons: 1) finding a good frame brazing expert 2) the first break is a warning that the rest of the bike is weak and will fail soon. Just as one broken spoke indicates the end of life to a wheel. It is not safe to ride a bike for more than 25,000 miles, or after the first break. Carbon and titanium life...I don't know, never owned one, never will. 4) You bet! Racing bikes before indexing (1986) and carbon were far superior, and parts were standard and very easy to find. The ride of a well made steel road racing bike is fantastic, though this is almost entirely due to the steel fork and curved rake. Downtube shifting was faster and simpler for any skilled cyclist, indexing is insane and gets worse every year. Batteries? you got to be kidding, and indexing for 2x front is just stupid. I ride aluminum main frame with steel forks or suspension forks today, the bottom bracket flex in steel was never solved, sprinting, hard acceleration and out of saddle climbing with steel is aggravating, having so much flex the chain rubs on the front derailleur, steel is not fun for very strong cyclists. 5) Absolute stupid prices you are correct. I don't race, so I ride $400 Bikes Direct bikes today. I ride converted mountain bikes on the road today for strength and dependability, weight of a bike when not racing is not important. I modify these cheap bikes with..... flat bars with bar ends and aero-bars for the ultimate in hand and body positions, custom high strength wheels with Schwabe marathon+ tires 26x2 for the ultimate road tire, then add SPD's and close ratio cassette, and I'm done, under $1000.00 for the most dependable road bike I have ever ridden. Comfort comes from forks with lockout option, fat 2 inch high profile tires that roll fast, never flat, and never pinch a tube and flex and roll faster over non-perfect pavement. AND a bottom bracket with near zero flex! 6) Parts, you bet, much better standards in vintage, headsets, bottom brackets, shifters, number of cogs, quill stems, handlebar diameter, brakes, seat post, chains....nearly everything a standard!! When you bought a chain, or shifters, or crankset, or freewheel....never had to specify number of gears!!! all standard, all interchangeable between manufactures. Plus we could build our own gear ratios on freewheels, I was using a custom made 13-14-15-16-17-18 six speed freewheel, could not buy this but could build it....cassettes don't have a freehub or bearings or a pawl, but cost more that a freewheel....how? $100 - $200 for a cassette?? Carbon racing bikes that are 2x (TWO TIMES!!) the cost of a Honda Motocross motorcycle??? RIP OFF!!! $3000.00 for wheels, beyond RIP OFF!!! NOTE: In 1986 my racing mechanic put the first Shimano Dura-Ace index shifting on my race bike, it dropped chains off the front, and skipped gears on the rear under torque. It never functioned. Same for 2000 year Ultegra, never worked. These probably function today. but index shifting was the absolute worse thing to happen to bikes. Now with shortages, I see people not riding, can't get an 11 speed chain. Stupid. Here is the perfect gearing for 99% of all riders over all terrain: 22-32-42 chainrings and 11-12-13-14-16-19-23-28 cogs. A simple cheap 8 speed drivetrain that can go high into mountains and also flats with high speeds, 42x11 gear is as high as our racing gears!! (52x13 was our high) We don't need 1x's the next stupidity. And who on this earth can ride a 52x11 gear on the flats with proper technique and at least a cadence of 90??? answer= just a handful of cyclists on this planet.
Wow, I have never seen this much of useful knowledge in a single comment, not even an article. Thanks a lot for sharing! You gave me a couple of ideas on how to improve the way I ride bicycles.
you can still build and adjust your own freewheel- just start with a suntour new winner freewheel. you can get whatever you need for cogs and spacers at a good bike shop that recycles stuuf. the bodies, cones, washers and locknuts can be a little harder to find, but you won't need to have a shim board.
I am a younger rider, and it's great to hear your perspective. I assume you mean that we do not need 1x for road riding, and I would agree, but I think it makes a lot of sense for a dedicated mountain bike. Also, now that you point it out, I have to agree that indexed shifting for front derailluers makes no sense. I don't have enough experience with non indexed shifting for the rear to say that I would prefer the easier/less frequent maintenence to the ease of setting cable tension and forgetting about it. Also, like you said for flats, 52x11 makes no sense. That's because it's not for flats, so personally I feel that It works well especially where I live with hardly any elevation change. As far as price is concerned, I believe we need to first consider that inflation makes a dollar from today worth a third of a dollar from 1982, so if you spent 1000 on your mtb then, it would be a little over 3000 today. As for the bikes priced at over $8,000, (my approximation of 2 times a budget honda motocross) you aren't paying for just the materials and labor. You pay for the extensive stress testing, numerous prototypes and simulations, and even wind tunnels used to maximize their performance to make the marginal gains that over a long race inevitably shave a minute off your time. Is that a ridiculous amount of money? Of course it is and I will probably never spend more than 2500 dollars on a bike(not including part swaps), but if you are a pro at the level where every Watt counts, then it makes sense. If you aren't that, then there is another bike out there for you, but I don't think it's that shocking.
I have to agree with most your points. Back then I loved a 54-16 for a lot of the racing. ON the old touring bike (custom Bob Jackson) I used a TA 46-42-28 with 13-32 with Campy Rally in the rear. I now use a Shimano 22-32-42 in the front as you mentioned. Yes 1by's are a gimmick in my mind. I cant' and won't push big gears any more, but can still spin when needed. I had BJ make sure the rear triangle was stiff enough not to flex, as I had that problem on an old Raleigh Pro.
My ‘74 Paramount is as lovely as the day the ladies finished brazing the frame. Handles well, very forgiving. It can commute during the week, and on the weekend the fenders are removed, and the wheels changed-out and it’s ready for a club ride or an ABLA, or a LAW race. Ahhh… the good old days.
My 1983 PEARSON 531 [oldest bike shop still in business in Sutton, London UK] was in the shed for 30 years until i retired and painfully got fit enough to do it justice on a ride now ruined so often by potholes ! The tubular tyres Barum and Vittoria held up for a test ride but have been replaced on Evian gold rims. The 42/52 Galli chain set has roller bearings and a bright adonised finish still as good as new. The Edco competition headset also has roller bearings. I got fed up with 1/4 inch ball bearings ruining the ball races back in the 60s/ 80s. I also have an EDCO compressed air inflator as seen in photos of 1950 T De France, but have never been able to risk storing compressed air in it ! The brakes are beautifully compact 1950s UNIVERSAL, with a side pull parallelogram action opening mech! I am now looking for matching brake levers to replace the Wiennman i have substituted. Pedals are simple alloy rat trap of the campag pattern with Christoph toe clips of course. The bar and stem Cinneli ,the saddle TTT ,the double clamp seat post is aluminium maker unknown. The gears are alloy Campagnolo super record on Regina free wheel 6x 13 /24. Too small a range for the Surrey Hills ! The chain is of the first 3/32 inches width pattern , much lighter than the 1/8 inch Coppi et -al had to use! Curved lever Campagnolo quick release 28 hubs complete the ensemble. I would love to obtain a period jersey like those sported in your valuable video. Thanks a lot.
Hi Jonathan and thanks for your comment! It sounds like you've got a great bicycle there! Glad to hear it's out of the shed and on the road! I hear you, when I'm off the road bike for an extended period of time, it takes a while before I can comfortably ride again. I'm a big fan of the early Universal brakes. They work better than my 80's campy SR brakes. :) Most of my jerseys were purchased from eBay Italy. You can find some interesting jerseys for sale there with a little hunting.
By the way, here's the link to the eBay store I get many of my jerseys from. :) www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_blrs=recall_filtering&_ssn=palmarosa-vintage&store_cat=944857419&store_name=palmarosavintage&_oac=1&fbclid=IwAR1a0WvVjK6BrT_gd9-fgLIfbgzRalf-01CJR-mQsXW5evJpdaG3ndsInIE
another benefit: these can be cheaply found just about anywhere. i live in a tiny country with a small, "enthusiast" only cyclist presence, and the only bikes i seem to find are carbon superbikes with eyewateringly high prices, or heavy, clunkly mountain bikes. but there is a THRIVING used market for these vintage road bikes, with most in great condition or needing a bit of TLC, with excellent prices. they're hardy enough to withstand long term use, yet look and feel sleek and sporty 💪
I am looking for vintage steel touring bikes . Basically, the frame geometry needs to have longer chain stays, room for wider tires and fenders and a kick stand. A built in hub dynamo can be easily done. The lug frames are not easy to find except by Rivendell. Maybe there are other mfg. I bike commute and need Schwalbe marathon touring tires because they are extremely reliable and puncture resistant. I bought a new bike, a floor room model for a discount with XT everything including hub dynamo and Magura hydraulic brakes. I didn't know I didn't need all of the high end stuff and just a reliable comfortable ride. Replacement parts are expensive for xt but luckily I can swap out slowly. The weight savings doesn't mean a lot to me. I am not a racer. I sold my 1983 Trek 531 and sort of regret it. But I couldn't fit the tires that I wanted and I am lucky enough to be living in Germany now and see a lot of vintage steel frames, with good components for around 150 Euro. A lot of people want ebikes which I don't care for unless you have health problems and want to ride long distances and not get tired. But I am happy with my retro looking steel trekking/tourer, brooks, Panniers , Wald basket. And I ride strong 💪.
Yeah, and you didn't even get to the new rear derailleurs with clutches in them. I like old school, also all of the tools needed for the newer bikes is nuts. By the mid 80's they had the geometry dialed in for comfort, had all the braze ons you could think of especially for full loaded touring bikes. Also going from old 6-7 speed rear ends with 10-12 speed rears cause more spoke breakage. And it is horrible on a new touring bike. The chains are narrower causing chain breaks, also cassettes are narrower and wear out faster. I run a garage bike shop and experience this not just by reading but experientially.
The first bikes were made in the early 19th century, marking over 200 years of innovation. If my bike is 30 years old, it still holds >170 years of innovation and has something new bikes don't, the test of time. I like old bikes and I don't care what their weight is.
I kept going further back with earlier bikes, just because I thought they were so cool. I finally reached the 1920's and found out the braking systems back then really started to limit the kind of riding I could do. I think by the late 30's, most innovations were in place to make a bike perfectly ridable.
And most of what retailers call higher quality bikes are made in The PRC anyway. What's the point in spending a lot of money on something that's PRC made? Yet, idiots are doing it. I don't understand these people.
Well done! I have had a “top of the line” carbon 11 speed wonder bike. It was nice but I sold it after a few months and back to my 1987 Eddy Merckx - SLX super butted steel “Cadillac.” Dura Ace 7700 components. It has well over 100,000 miles on it and still looks great, works great, and handles like it’s on rails. It will go as fast as this 62 year old engine can pedal it!
Right, I bought a 1951 Fausto Coppi designed ‘Maino’ w/Campangolo non-indexed gears…for 100€!!! It’s in descent shape and I intend to polish it and bring it back to ‘like new’ condition. I also live here in N.E. Italy 🇮🇹 as an expat-my wife is an Italian who is also a singer~ Love these roads too!!!
Me too..I have a 1970's Legnano. I bought it for second hand and I still have it now. Previous owner used it for tour d'Australia according to him. Morden rider@young rider does not know that my bike is a legend bike
LOL.....I had a1985 Eddy Merckx Professional. Bought it new with Dura Ace 7400 ( 8 speed). Put around 100k on it like you before I sold it. Never one issue with the frameset. Went to lightweight carbon and went through 4 frames in 8 years. All the top names. No accidents, falling over, or over torquing on fasteners. Just normal use like I did on the Merckx. Currently riding Titanium for 5 years with no issues. Do the math. BTW, I'll be 62 early next year also.
I’m 64 and have worked my way “up” to a current TCR that I’ve had for a bit over a year. I just found a ‘87 Schwinn Prologue made by Panasonic for $75. It’s a bit tatty but all original. Rides like a dream and was surprised by the silence of its neglected 600 drivetrain.Lots of possibilities for a restore Thinking tricolor 8 spd. and as light a wheel I can find.
I’m 68 years old and raced on steal frames in the 70’s. These days I use a Carbon frame in my older years to stay competitive on fast group rides. When ever I go back to riding a double butted steal frame, it’s like riding on a cloud. Just a wonderful feeling, my carbon frame just beats me up, it’s so much stiffer. As for components, Shimano Ultegra shifters and caliper brakes are superior to 80’s Campagnolo components. Anyway I learned to work on bikes in the old days. I’m my own mechanic on my newer one. There are plenty of parts for either bike, new or old. Old is not necessary better, it comes down to what you want to ride. Every bike has a purpose. Overall, bike riding is fun. On a huffy, a full vintage, or Carbon race bike. Get out and ride. 😊
Thanks very much for your insights, Andre! Yep, I have a carbon bike also and I love the effectiveness of the newer brakes. I really love having different types of bikes to ride (steel, carbon, vintage, newer) and I can see the benefits to all of them. :)
Hey, Oleg! Your Look 585 is built like my Calfee Tetra Pro. They're both carbon fiber, but they're built using carbon lugs, so I think they're the best of old and new. :)
Yes! Thank you very much! I have a 1981 Daccordi and a 1984 Benotto! I love them! Don’t get me wrong I do have a 2016 Kestrel! But I love my classics! Thank you for this video! 👍🚴🏼♂️💪🙏
Great video! Got in trouble from my mom in 1972 for spending so much money on a new Gitane ($130). Twenty years ago, I put new rims (Araya) and tires on it. Hadn't really rode it since then. Took the wheels in last month to have them trued and bearings done ($65)....and splurged on new handle bar tape. My 50 year old bike is running better than new, and I'm loving every minute of it! As a Senior, I'm feeling like a kid again!
Unless you race, the latest and greatest is just spending more money. Now if you have free spending money then by all means go for it! But at the end of the day, it just doesn’t matter Cheers
Very right, Tom. It doesn't matter. Even as an old racer I had favourites which were the best. A Coble (Ojai, CA) steel custom, fully lugged and filed, for instance.
3 decades ago I bought a lugged Japanese-made steel machine with Ultegra groupset for $500, brand new. That was as costly a bike as I could justify at the time...and now, about 50,000 miles later, I'm still riding it. And it still has the original groupset, except that I changed to clipless pedals and have replaced drivetrain components (such as cassette and chain) due to normal wear. Best $500 I've ever spent in my life. The fit and ride quality are so good that even now, with cost being no object whatsoever, I would never trade it for a new carbon-fiber "wonder bike". No one else has ever worked on the bike, nor does anyone need to...I own every tool I will ever need to maintain it. It is maintained in pristine condition, and performs exactly as it did when brand new. Incidentally, I ride 2x7 gearing, with 12-28 cassette, and I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I can't imagine why so many people are lusting for 12 speeds on the rear, only to end up with thinner drivetrain components that wear out more rapidly and are more temperamental to adjust. I have 2 wheelsets (one original/1990, and the other an aero set from around 2015), and I can swap them without touching any adjustments. My drivetrain is always quiet, shifts very crisply, and I don't have to ratchet through 4 sprockets just to adjust to a moderate change in road gradient.
I learned my lesson the hard way with super light and thin chain rings that wore out FAST! That's something I didn't address in the video; modern bikes make a lot of noise. The old steel bikes can be dead silent except for the sound of the cassette whirring.
It must be a Fuji they are so closely built like the bikes in the UK andFrance rip off the label and you can’t tell Fuji was the oldest bike builder at one time 1896 in Japan building all the frames for the others
Was in the biz 1984 - 2000. Witnessed the big bang from the commercial MTB, and the demise of the drop bar road bike. The birth of index shifting, and everything in between. My parts drawers are replete with 7 and 8 speed components, and my rigs are all steel, including my 1986 Moots. 👍😄
funny how you see many drop-bar bikes ridden on mountain highways. i have a roadie and a colorado mountain bike- depending on my terrain (and sometimes mood).
The trouble here in the UK is these are now expensive to buy. I wonder how many of us can think back and say I really wish I hadn't sold that bike. Great video. Thanks
They seemed to have dried up a bit this side of the pond as well. I'm lucky in that I couldn't really afford a nice bike "back in the day", so I didn't have a nice bike to sell. :) Around here, if you're persistent, you can still turn up a deal.
@@2wheelsrbest327 I'm a Picker! I'm in California and it's what I do for a living. I've found lots of neat stuff over the years, but at least in this part of the country, old, nice bikes and parts are rare.
@@bikestrikesrazors Thank you that's interesting to read. Here in the UK our local refuge collection point have mountains of old bikes but sadly none of any value. Good hunting. 🤞
So right about the value in the 80's machinery. I bought my teenager a Vitus with full first-gen Dura-Ace for $300 and he loves it. Only change we made on it was to switch out the crumbling hoods with some better-feeling modern Shimano levers that hides the cabling for an even better look.
how does 'cabling' not look good? i have really old shimano red-dots that pre-date my bike (1979) by a few years- and i love them. feather-weight, and they utilize built-up clamps, studs, and locknuts (not cheap slotted clamps/screws like weinmann and dia-compe) and i can hang on them as if they were monkey bars. i had to make a plexi scraper to get the sun-baked weinmann hood grips off of them and picked up a new pair of 'cane creek' hood grips- i don't care for routing cables underneath bar tape. first dura-ace stuff was in the mid-70's. i ran a toy store bike shop then and we used to upgrade ten-speed bikes for mom & dad with early 600 and dura-ace parts. of course we laced our own upgraded wheels, too.
@Jeff Hook I think you did pretty well to race juniors on a Vitus, in the 80's I envied the kids who had one. I was lucky to race the mid-80s on a first-gen Specialized Allez with Vittoria sewups but had before that a (much crappier than Vitus) Peugeot with stem shifters and that did not fare very well. I remember another company that could have been a manufacturing precursor to the Vitus called ALAN (ALuminum ANodized?) in the 70's that started this trend. Loved the look of those as well.
@@tommurphy4307 Besides being more aesthetically pleasing (IMO) routing the cabling under the tape helps with aero and practically speaking, provides more hand positioning as one can now rest the palms directly over the hoods without the cable housings obstructing. It can also lessen the risk of items getting caught up from items being passed from teammates at speed and when I need to service the bike by inverting it on the ground, there's no worry about crushing the cabling since it rests nicely as the hoods (sans cables) and the seat that forms a stable tripod from which to make adjustments.
In the 1970s and 80s lightweight steel bikes reached their apotheosis. Components were simple, interchangeable, owner serviceable and long-lasting. The only consumables were bearings, chains, sprockets, cables, pads and tyres, which were inexpensive and could be bought at any bike shop. Then manufacturers rapidly changed componentry standards and created life limited framesets, making bikes disposable and their accountants happy. My five steel bikes run as well as they ever did.
The funny thing is that steel bike frames are in no way obsolete. The advancements in AHS and SHSS Steels for the auto industry is that steel bikes can be made at UCI minimum weights and can be manufactured with modern automated processes like hydroforming. The main reason that you don’t see mass produced steel bikes on the scale of the past is that though capital cost for manufacturing a steel bike are lower than CF the skilled labor costs are far higher. So in the long run when the capital cost of manufacturing is amortized CF bikes are less costly to produce and since the don’t have the durability that steel bikes have you have planned obsolescence built into CF bikes which forces you to replace them after about three years of hard riding as the epoxy binders degrade. So much of what consumers are told about high end road bikes is just marketing hype.
It is impossible to keep what is great about a steel Schwinn in operation. You have to create/modify your own BB inner bearing cups, the stamped washers available as rebuilds simply blow out if you stand up and pedal hard. Replacing the BB ruins the entire point of having a steel Schwinn. That cast opc can't be beaten, it's the correct feel for a cruiser or knock-around bike. I will have to make my own inner races the next time I have to change it out which is about every 200 miles. It's a shame, that old tech was perfect for what I use the bike for, it felt better and was better in every way. At least my v-brake levers are heavy enough to not flex like an old iron Schwinn.
@@TheFogLakeshore you've got eBay- you can find just about anything for a post-war schwinn on there. if you have to replace an old HEAVY ashtabula crank/BB on your schwinn with a newer, retro, cotterless aluminum crank set you are performing a serious upgrade to your bike. schwinn definitely did not make their own brake levers on anything post-war. could you be referring to calipers? i see very few advantages to owning or riding an old schwinn unless its a paramount.
Respect steel as you describe but don’t miss 23mm tires, toe clips or down tube shifters. Not sure what Trek did with epoxy in the 1996 Trek 5200. Replaced the fork for safety but the frame is like a tank, light but keeps going. 🚂 I had a Centurion Comp TA back in the day. It was heavier.
Nice video! I am 55 now and started cycling in 1983, my first bike was a simple Peugot featuring Simplex derailleurs + Weinmann brakes. It was heavy, the brakes were terrible, but I loved it. From time to time I bought/built a new bike: Raleigh with Shimano 600, Gios compact with DA 7400, some Principias (danish aluminum frames) with DA 7700 an DA 7800. The last years I use my Ridley Damocles (put more than 100.000 km in it, no issues) and a BMC tmr 01...and boy, these are so much better in many aspects. The old steelbikes are nice to look at, and it´s fun to use them once in a while...but for some serious cycling (long trips, riding cols in the alps and so on) I prefer my modern bikes. They just work better. But the good thing about cycling is: you can have so much fun on any bike, may it be old or new, cheap or expensive! It´s cycling what matters, feeling the sun and the wind, breathing fresh air, feeling your body work... enjoy your ride!
I like your philosophy, Ulrich! No matter which bike I'm riding, new or old (and I have both), after a couple of miles I forget about the bike and I'm just "cycling". Enjoy your ride as well!
My current bike is a Chicago Schwinn road bike, Campy/ Mavic. Down tube shifters. Just a dream to ride. City riding, cobblestone and street and occasionally a pothole. Fast and fun. Cost at a local used charity bike shop, $150.
I have a mint condition early 80’s Tomassini Sintisi that I bought new. Last week I took it off the wall and have been cleaning, lubing and getting it ready to ride. Such a work of art and the ride is so vibrant it’s amazing
Bought my Raleigh International in 1976 for $520. This, when I was driving an old Ford F100 I paid $100 for. Still riding it today, although a few of the components have changed. Changed from sew-ups to clinchers but still use original Campy hubs. Lifetime warranty on the Reynolds 531 frame! I'm 67 years old now so it will probably be part of my estate when I die.
Those Raleigh Internationals are beautiful bikes! What happened to the Ford? My 2003 Ford E-350 is at 650,000 miles, but I'm guessing it may not last too much longer. My vintage bikes, however, will certainly outlive me! :)
I recently bought an early 90’s diamond back centurion interval road bike from facebook marketplace for $65. Put new brake cables, new shifter cables and housing, new tires and tubes , and a brooks saddle on it now it’s my favorite bike. Parts and labor costed me $80 so I paid $145 for my bike and I love it so much there’s just a different feel and a nice pleasant aesthetic vibe you get from vintage road bikes. It feels so nice to ride and feels extremely strong and reliable!
Beautiful! I'm always amazed when I rescue a vintage bike from a flea market or garage sale, put in the work to get it ride-ready, and find it's an incredible riding bike. Glad to hear you saved that Diamond Back! Enjoy it!
I love your article. I just retired and decided to rehab my 40-year-old Raleigh Super Grand Prix road bike used in countless Triathlons. The frame size alone is not available these days, and as you pointed out, other than a bit of rust, it is as good as it's ever been. I think I paid a little over $500.00 for it back in 1980 and spent about $400.00 to rehab some parts off another Raleigh I had but hadn't ridden as much. It rides wonderfully well for a 66-year-old and is like being with an old friend when I ride.
Great presentation. The only point to add is geometry. A vintage raked fork displaces much of the road shock (can't say that about a strait carbon fork). The longer vintage chain stays allows for the rider to float between the wheels. The current geometries are more like riding a unicycle with handlebars. I like updating vintage bikes with hollow-tech cranksets, freehubs, and V-brakes. Plus the tires now are greatly improved. All possible on a vintage steel frame. You won't get me to buy or ride disc brakes or carbon anything. I still like friction shifters better than indexing any day. It makes me feels more apart of the bike.
Yes so correct, chrome moly rules never rusts love ❤️ many Italian brands own a gorgeous 😍 Pinarello also new a few builders in northern UK 🇬🇧 in the 80s did superb work, Bob Jackson 👏; of course a top end Colnago is hard to beat 💓 cheers 🍻 from Australia 😊
Isn't it your winter down there now, Paul? Well, take a nice, cool bike ride for me- It's 110 degrees over here in California. I really need a summer place in Australia! :)
You're preaching to the choir. I ride a '93 Bridgestone RB-1 and an '86 Schwinn Paramount. On group rides, I'm usually the only one on a steel bike and the only rider with down-tube shifters when riding the Schwinn. As you point out, old bikes are works of art. I'm a rebel, I think, with a good cause - a contrarian against electronic shifting, disc brakes, internal cabling and carbon everything. Not to mention that prices for modern road bikes are insane.
All very cool and beautiful. I had Peugeot PX10 with fancy lugs. It was wonderful. I generally am put off by the “latest” thing in, well, I guess everything. However, I don’t miss friction shifters. Indexing could be considered “tried and true.” Moving the lever, hearing that snap and feeling your cadence change is always a satisfying tactile sensation.
Hey, Mark! Those PX10's were/are beautiful bikes. Every time I attend Eroica, California, there are a few riders on black and white PX10's sporting the original Peugeot checkered jerseys. Cool stuff. The best shifting bike I ever rode had indexed downtube shifters. Better than downtube friction shifting and better than indexed "brifter" shifting. Shockingly crisp! :)
@@bikestrikesrazors I have a vintage touring bike with friction bar end shifters. Indexed shifting is OK but friction is easier to maintain maintenance wise.
Ironically, the precision required for indexed shifting made friction shifts much easier. If anything breaks just de-click the derailleur and be on your way. Try that with integrated shifters.
i had a fuji with the early SLS? shifters. with a turn of a screw it could be changed from friction to index. i found myself preferring the friction-shift mode
@@Liofa73 If you don't overtighten the toe straps you won't get stuck - you'll get your feet off the pedals like greased lightning in an emergency, but there'll still be enough grip to stop them slipping off the pedals in normal use. I've been riding for about 65 years, and a young fellow in a bike shop told me that toe clips and straps were dangerous - but set up properly, they're not. Believe me, I know!
Bought an 80s Bianchi ten years ago and ride it a few times a week, usually on rides 10ish miles in length around the neighborhood area. She’s a beauty, so fun to ride, and I wouldn’t trade it for any new bike
Im from the Middle of nowhere village Eastern europe And we used to ride old soviet Era bikes that we inherited from our fathers the durability on those heavy pieces of shit Is incredible we as boys literally Always competed who could throw their bike the furthest the worst thing that ever hapenned was the chain fell out or it got a little dent in it Glory to the historic bike Brand Ukrajina, And favorit
@@bikestrikesrazors They indeed Are i still Ride on the racing 1973 made Favorit bike it will likely survive fór my children to learn to Ride on, as you Said parts Are basically just lying on the streets And it reálly Is a pieces of art to Ride on OH i Always love the nice clicking of the chain Its like an orchestra on vintage bikes
I can't yet afford expensive Vintage European bikes, but my bike stable does take advantage of the mid-level Japanese & Taiwanese offerings from the mid 80s and early 90s. My Schwinn 86 Prelude (w/Columbus tubing) has to be my favorite bike of all time. I switched it from 27" rims to 700c and it has shimanos Tricolor Groupo! I wish big companies like Shimano and Columbus re-released older groupsets for those of us reusing these classic bikes!
Those sound like some nice bikes, Cajala! There should be enough new old stock parts to keep these bikes going for decades to come. Thanks for watching!
That video reminded me of something only semi related. A few years back I had an old dryer with a problem beyond my capabilities to fix. I had a discussion with the repair person on whether I should have replaced the unit. He told me not to - as the newer appliances are not built as well. A few months back I repaired my refrigerator after a lightning storm seemed to zap a relay. My fridge is a simple model. The man at the parts place discussed more complex models. He told me that even 5 years after the initial sale that parts will not be available. Yet I remember my parents running an old fridge from the depression era until maybe a decade ago. (It outlived them) So in watching the video about the quality, ease of use and longevity of the older bikes, I saw it fitting the pattern of modern manufacturing and planned obsolescence. Thanks for the video.
I think you’re correct, Daniel, in that quality of manufacturing has declined across the board on almost everything. Unfortunately, it looks like companies are more concerned these days with profit than pride in their products and, like you said, we can’t ignore the planned obsolescence motive. A shame we live in a time when the majority of companies care more about keeping share holders happy than producing a quality product.
Logic often ,if not always, favors retro…….Whether its cars, electronics etc…..Newness is usually about aesthetics as opposed to worthy functionality improvements….majority of so called “youtube bikers” are all about showing off latest overpriced equipment……More passionate about presentation than biking itself….Funny world.
Nice SanRensho wish I had a road bike like that. My fixed gear bike is similar but I need a geared bike like that for rainy days, tired of my hybrid in the rain.
Thanks, Bebo! I was lucky to find that 3Rensho at a garage sale for way under what it should’ve cost. The seller was the original owner who told me that he had paid a lot for it new back in the day but was no longer riding it. He (and I) were glad it went to a good home (me). :) Thanks for watching!
Dude, I agree 100%. I ride my 1981 schwinn traveler . Bought it new in 81 and is all original except for the tires. I love my bike , 10 speed and just a pleasure to ride. I tought my self how to tune it up , from chain to gears. I should add I am 68 years old. I took care of the bike from when it was new. Goes to show how long things can last. Happy riding !
I completely agree. I've had my 1989 Paramount OS (built in Waterford) since I bought it new with a custom blue smoke paint job, and outfitted it with mix of Suntour Superbe Pro, Mavic, and Specialized components. I'll never sell it.
Good points here. The most important is you can get a GREAT used bike at the same or less cost as a just “okay” new one. The point on craftsmanship is also very true. There is nothing wrong with the function of friction shifters. I greatly prefer disc brakes on mountain bikes. I have never had a mountain bike with rim brakes or a road bike, so I can’t comment on those situations.
I was fortunate enough to recieve a 1980s Bridgestone Radac 530. Beautiful piece of art even though it has some issues because it has been unused for a long time, but it still rides fine and goes real fast. Fortunately there are parts available online and in physical stores as well so fixing it would be a breeze. Happy to have something that has a history and will be talked and I will always take pride in my bike♥
@@bikestrikesrazors Hi from England ! Your right older bikes are better ! I have a few modern Carbon bikes but they feel " HOLLOW " ???? Strange ride and feel weird to me , a very hollow feeling I do not get from Alloy or even a 100 year old framed bikes they have a great feel to them and not a weird hollow feel ????
Hey, Curtis! Hello from California. :) Yep, the lighter they make the modern carbon bikes, the more "hollow" they feel. It's nice to feel a little something substantial under your legs while riding. I ride a 1920's bike and it does have a very nice feel to it!@@curtisducati
I'll agree completely, David. More than likely, in fifty years, most carbon fiber bikes will be in a garbage can. Now I just made myself sad. :( Who knows, maybe some will survive. :)
In 1975 I bought a Motobecane Grand Record, Reynolds 531 silver with black and gold pin striping and had a Campy Record groupset with pedals and bars put on it a few years later. Large frame so it's a bit flexy but that makes it comfortable. Going to be fifty years old in a couple of years. Cost $350 for the bike and just under $1000 for the Campy upgrade. It's been used as just a road bike. It has a Blackburn rack on it to carry shoes and beer.
I had the chance to buy a 70's Motobecane a few years back. It was a beautiful bike (but not a Grand Record) but the frame was way too big for me. Still think about that bike!
I just picked up one ‘grande record’ for free from my neighbour ‘cleaning up the basement’. Full campagnolo/shimano/ cinelli running gear . Tires were flat, that’s all. But I need new rubber, sort of deteriorated.
Carbon bikes are not only ugly, but they are all just future landfill, we are literally making "disposable" bikes. A well maintained bike should last a lifetime. I can't believe in this era of environmental awareness, and focus on sustainability that carbon is so popular. Sure, maybe the top racers should use it, but regular cyclists? no need. I hope the industry can get a little wiser. Things like the Made show this year (2024) gives me hope, with so many independent makers using steel.
I have a friend that loves those Dave Scott Centurions above all others! I'm still looking for a "modern" bike that feels as good as some of my older ones. :)
Great video and I agree with you on every point. I have a 46 year old Paramount that I bought for $140 back in 2012 and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Great bike and rides like a dream. I just love it and will never sell it. I did have to get new tires, tubes, and brake pads. Also I had the spokes replaced with stainless steel units. The bike shop owner had a hard time finding spokes that would fit the wide flange hubs, but eventually he found some in Oregon. He also trued the wheels, it has Araya wheels. It has a nice double-butted lugged frame in 4120 Chromoly steel. Anyway this bike is so nice and still looks nearly new with original paint and decals.
upmarket spokes are getting harder to find. i guess people return ordered spokes more often than any other bike part. when i finally found some dtswiss spokes for my roadie- they made sure to tell me they weren't returnable. i said 'understood'- i've laced many, many wheels and definitely won't be returning them. BTW, i found the spokes at 'the colorado cyclist'- good folks who offered to help me determine what i needed.
I kind like the three pound frame Cannonade’s that were made in 1994 road bike and the three pound hard tail mountain bike frames of 1994&1995 still a beautiful frame and very smooth ride.😊
You had me at "are my derailleur batteries charged"! I had a suburban-kid Puch 10-speed that, 10 years on, my parents, as a holiday present, paid our local bike shop to upgrade. Guy was a friend as well as a businessperson reallly hooked us up with full Campy set-up. Dave removed all the old components. I had the frame sandblasted and repainted it myself (with many many light coats of a beautiful cordovan auto paint with clear finish on top). Dave installed all the new components. Damn this thing was beautiful. Rode it all over trails and roads in New York, Scotland, Boston, Philly, and Seattle before it gave its life saving me in a crash. RIP. Thanks for the video!
Sounds like a great bike! I've lost a bike like that as well. The new tech is crazy. SRAM has derailleurs that require software updates. Can't wrap my head around that.
In 1985 I spent $1650 for a De Rosa with the best Campagnolo Record component group. At the time, it was hard to spend more on a steel frame bike. I still ride it among other bikes I have. Longer wheelbase and it's steel....steel is pretty sweet.
And those were '85 dollars...today 1650 buy decent aluminium bicycle but nowhere top of the line. Practical yes, but not beautiful.
2 года назад
This maybe works for special collector's items, but my ordinary old steel bike is no work of art. The frame might be from 1984, but it's rusted, the paint is chipped and was probably ugly even when new. The components are from all over, the saddle is new from China, the derailleurs are 1989 Tourney. I don't care about components being era-appropriate, or company-specific. If it works, or especially if it's cheaper, modern tech isn't inherently worse. The bike rides very well, and despite having put no thought into weight when building it, it's "only" 12 kg. It's a good bike. Great for around the city and showing off for vintage street cred. But on long tours? I'll take my carbon frame and Shimano 105 any day. For what it's worth though, I completely agree with your closing thoughts. The 1984 frame I mentioned was literally thrown away by the previous owner. I pulled it out of the bin and many components, dollars and, man-hours later, I built myself perhaps one of the slickest city bikes out there. One that I wouldn't be afraid of taking on a gran fondo -- Just, I'd prefer to take my carbon frame while I have the choice ;)
It's true, not every old bike is a beauty. :) I go back and forth between my carbon frames and steel, and while one of my carbon bikes is slightly lighter than all the others, I don't really notice a performance and comfort difference on long rides with the similar aged steel. I do start feeling the drag of all the extra weight once I get back to 1960's bikes. Thanks for watching and commenting, Jari!
Other than pricing, I cant agree that vintage is better than new. And I’ve owned bikes from the 80’s. Aesthetics are debatable since beauty is a subjective thing. In my humble opinion, new is better, smarter, and more efficiently built.
I still have my Raleigh Carleton i bought used in 1985! I recently replaced a few parts and was very pleased to see how easy they were to find. Thanks for this video.
@@bikestrikesrazors Thanks! My son (same size as me...) was given a beautiful Motobecane Grand Record this week which he has no interest in- so now I have new project- which is what had me searching vintage road bikes on youtube. Thanks again for your channel!
I'm greedy, just own both! Oh, and a skip built 1983 Falcon pro bmx with 81 5 spoke grey mag wheels and large chrome motox style handlebars (no brakes at all coz cables suck lol) My standing on the back tyre slows me down enough lol I built this at 10 years old, never parted with the hearty savage! Just for kicks ;)
I bought a 20 year old racing bike last year during lockdown. I tried modern bikes with a similar fit out but they just didn't compare. That ultegra 6000 series is just so much better than the plastic replacements on bikes now. I thought it was a steel bike because the welds were so beautiful but it is a well made aluminum beauty.
Sounds like a beautiful bike, Amanda! Yep, a well designed aluminum bike can ride just as well and look just as beautiful as steel! Glad you found a keeper!
This an old post, but more true than ever. Only now they care less than before. Carbon is just for racing nothing more. I have just a nice model Schwinn World Sport from the best year that I just restored and upgraded that is smooth and solid and moves! Haven't had the oportunity yet to go up against a CF, but looking forward to hopefully humiliating them. Trying to sell this honey for more than 100 with all new shit gleaming and sparkling and forget it. All they want is an electric rental that they've littered the streets with and scooters. It's a sad day for the beautiful bikes of yore. .
Its extremely helpful to buy a vintage ENGLISH bicycle, since the english / UK standards ALL became the ISO standards : 27.2 seatposts, ISO headsets, ISO bottom brackets, ISO freewheels, it's why I collect Raleigh/Carlton bikes, to a great extent ... The only thing that is NOT fully compatible is the modorn Shimano SIS (1984+) derailleur hanger, they are FARTHER from the rear axle than traditional campagnolo derailleur hangers. This means that if you mount a modern Shimano Indexing derailleur on a vintage campagnolo (or Huret or Simplex or Suntour) derailleur hanger, you may encounter cases where the jockey wheels hit the freewheel in the lowest gear.
27.2 is a seatpost standard, however the reaming process after allowing for slight distortion from brazing heat, could vary slightly. A good custom builder would supply an exact seat post without pinching or stretching the seat clamp, and lots of post sizes were available.
I still have my red Suteki Japanese racing bike that I bought at Sears. I think I paid somewhere between $400 and $500 for it at the time. It may not be as well known as a Fuji but I bet it rides at least just as good with its super smooth Shimano shifters. I take great care of it and its still near mint condition. I started riding it again this past summer and I am looking forward to warmer weather again.
I have a 1993 Schwinn Paramount with original components. Lots of miles on it so I a few years back I replaced them with used Dura Ace 7800 and 32 Spoke DT Swiss Wheel set. I use it as my commuter/touring bike. I also have a modern 2011 Raleigh International Frame set constructed of Reynolds 853 steel with handcrafted chrome plated lugs and a chrome plated dual crown fork. I equipped it with Campy Athena with and polished aluminum cockpit components and topped it off with a Brooks B-17 saddle and Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheel set. Almost every time I ride either bike someone compliments them. Since I no longer race the advantages of a CF bike are very minimal and the disadvantages, including price, are substantial. The really weird thing about CF road bikes I learned from an Industry insider is that they sell more CF bikes if they charge crazy prices for them than if the charge moderate prices.
I miss my 1961 Rotrax. When I got bar-end shifters, changing gear was almost as easy as with modern shifters. I only had 2x5 gears, whereas now I have 2x11, but I only use 7 of them. That old steel bike felt like it was a part of my body.
@Paul Whitcomb They're like hens' teeth, this side of the pond. I've just built a new road bike; the CF frame and parts were all sourced from AliExpress, (except the cassette), and it's a 1x. The cassette is 14 to 32, which is quite workable on a 50T chainring. It's a pleasure to ride. But I'm gonna get a narrow/wide 52T chainring and a chain retainer to (hopefully) stop from dropping the chain. The gear range will be 44" to 100, which should be fine for me.
I still have my early 1970's era Peugeot.. It had been wrecked before I bought it for $15 in 1974 when I was 15 years old!! A good friend helped me fix it up and we rode them everywhere back in the day!! The bike went everywhere with me back when I was in the Navy and I have a lifetime of memories with it!! My old friend passed away a number of years ago, and he's always on my mind whenever I ride the old Peugeot. I have several lighter bikes now, but the old Peugeot is my hands down sentimental favorite bike to ride!! Over the years I've acquired several other old Peugeot's.... They just seem to follow me home.. plus an old Schwinn Paramount I picked up at a yard sale for $25!! They're all waiting for me to get around to bringing them back to life..... I almost wish I HADN'T seen this video!!! I was planning to sell off all the vintage bikes next Spring, keeping only my original Peugeot.... But after watching this video, I want to keep and ride them ALL!!! :)
@@bikestrikesrazors I'm so glad that I kept it over the last 47 years, and that I still ride it!! I plan to tear it down and overhaul it this Winter. I've thought about repainting it, but I kind of like the old scratches and scrapes on it!! My wife recently asked me if I thought I had too many bikes.... I didn't understand the question!! :)
Great video, thanks! The biggest downside to vintage bikes for me are the rim brakes, since I've become spoiled with disc brakes. Otherwise I couldn't agree more.
Thanks for watching, Richard! I still haven't gone over to disc brakes on the road bikes, but I never ride in the rain (except today, when I got caught in the rain!).
O, yes I do love disc brakes. When you come down a twisty mountain road on a fully loaded touring bike and it is snowing and raining ,that is when you wish for disc brakes and not the Campy Record side pull brakes!
I paid 600 for my Bianchi with Campagnolo Victory components back in the early 80s, but I ended up bolting on upgrades for years afterwards. I made the mistake of leaving it behind at an ex GF's house and she got rid of it. Man, I still wish I had that bike.
That bike's still out there somewhere, Robert! Maybe you'll find it again someday! I found a nice Serotta at a flea market. Woman selling it said she had just gotten divorced and it belonged to her husband so she just wanted to get rid of it. Poor guy. :)
women absolutely adore throwing away our treasures. chalk it up to their unending jealousies!!! I feel your pain but encourage you to get dirty fixing up another wonderful Bianchi! 👍
I agree 100% with you... I not long ago set out a goal to ride 50 miles in a day, I rode 16 on my beach cruiser before it broke down, so I walked down the street to find a 1970's era Gitane Grand Sport Deluxe for sale for 60 dollars, plus it was a California bike so basically 0 rust... I ended up riding the last 34 miles on it without even touching a thing, it needs some TLC but either way I am keeping it forever.
While I agree with most of what you said, I do believe that there is a sweet-spot (call it retro :)) ) between classic and modern that I personally prefer. Case in point, my 2011 Pinarello FP Uno. Aluminum frame with carbon forks, simple, older mechanical 105 line, bulletproof and light...ish build. It's both as robust as an old bike but also fast and practical, almost like a new one. The one issue I do have is parts availability but, as mentioned, the used market is a great place for those.
@@tommurphy4307 It used to be. I had a Honda Civic hatchback for 20 years. Got a newer car and it lasted 8 yrs before I concluded it was costing me too much in maintenance. Traded it for a 2015 Acura with 6MT and last year of the pull up emergency brake - the engine should last 300K. Hopefully my last car (I"m 66).
I have a 1986 steel Nishiki and a 2021 carbon Orbea (both used), I love both for the purposes they serve and I have literally never had any of the problems with modern bikes you speak of. Both have their strengths and limitations. The best bike out there is the bike you're on and the bike you love. I have both because I love both, both are a joy to service and both have a place in my day to day use. Its easy enough to make a video shooting holes in investment one over the other, regardless of which you're partial to.
Hi Aram, Yes, for the sake of the video, I was pointing out the advantages of vintage bikes, mainly because they are dismissed by so many. I have a few "modern" bikes and enjoy riding them often!
Hi Aram, I still have my Nishiki Prestige I purchased in the 80s. Love it. I rode it in the Eroica California, a bike tour exclusively for vintage steel frame bikes.
Great video. Like others here, I also rode a Gitane back in the 1970s. Regrettably, long since gone. While I like the points made in the video, riders should not overlook that some carbon bikes are now also "vintage." A few days ago I picked up a 1995 Trek OCLV 5000 (the only year this model was painted green, as far as I know) for about $200. The previous owner had taken great care of it. This bike rides great and is a blast. Very simple components, relatively speaking. For my purposes, this purchase was money well spent over high-priced "modern" bikes. My next purchase will be a vintage steel bike. Everyone, please enjoy your riding, whatever your preferences.
As an old guy age 69 I wish I still had in my possession the bikes I owned in the 60’s-80’s instead of discarding them for either a pittance or just tossed them aside. Also I miss the great cars( didn’t know it at the time) like the old classy Pontiacs , Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Chevys that my dad traded in for a few hundred bucks when he bought a new car. The ‘65 Bonneville convertible, Olds 442, fishtail Buick Riviera. Man would I love to own those now!
Hey, Mark! I know just how you feel. It’s hard to believe that design has gone so backwards. Everything from bicycles to automobiles (which now all look the same) to motorcycles (Oh man, those beautiful old motorcycles) to architecture. It seems that beauty has taken a back seat to efficiency. Makes for a rather boring world. :)
Wow, what goes around comes back! Starting to hear fond remembrances of friction down tube shifters and lugged steel frames. I got into cycle in mid life crisis 40 years ago. The best could be had for around $1500. In '83 or '84, Gita started importing DeRosa, one frame model, the Professional, to address the booming criterium market in the US. It was the last bike Eddy Merckx rode and copied with his own brand, so, yeah, good enough for me! It's Columbus SL, SLX seat tube on mine, chromed flat fork crown, chromed right chain stay and dropouts, steep angles, 74-75 degrees. Riding it is Italian opera. It does everything you ask faithfully, so well, I've crashed it several times, fortunately at slow speeds under 10 mph! I think they call it over steer, or in Italian operas, "flighty." It was geared 53-42, 13-21, meant to ride hard. The harder you rode the more solid it felt. I'll never forget how stabile it was descending Mt. Wilson, CA, at 48 mph, despite the steep head angle. Its full Campy Super Record, maintainable with simple tools in a home work stand. Sprayed some lube inside the frame tubes when overhauling the threaded cup and cone BB, and no rust over 70.000 miles. Threaded BBs are coming back after press fits too often came loose. There's nothing stronger than a copper brazed investment cast steel lug, so in a crash steel bends along the tubes away from the joints. Most of the time, a steel frame builder can bend chromium molybdenum tubing back into shape. Crashed the commuter once, bent the fork, and dimpled the top tube and down tube. The frame builder bent it all back into proper geometry and I'm still depending on it 30 years later. The tubing is extremely dense and amazingly strong. Has anyone tried to bend a CRMO tube? You'll see how strong! Reynolds 531 used manganese molybdenum. Manganese was touted to be more "resilient" and more comfortable for long distance "touring" bikes. I've worked in 4 bikes shops in the last 30 years and had many opportunities to snag the latest tech, but declined every time. What I had was better in every way riding in the real world. It was "overbuilt," worked superbly well, and lasted forever. Have been riding the commuter bike with investment cast lugs, Columbus SLX seat and down tube, SP chain stays, SP being a little stouter than SL, and SL seat stays. I put fenders and rack on it, ridden it at least 75,000 miles over 35 years, and the Campy Record chromed steel headset and BB and "butter knife" Campy down tube shifters might last another 75,000 miles. Re-spoked aluminum rims a couple of times onto the tried and true Campy cup and cone hubs on both bikes and wheels are good for another 40,000 miles. Well tensioned 36 spoke wheels climb like bandits, survive the occasional spill and stay true forever. DT stainless steel spokes are still available but haven't had to replace any of them. Italian shoe maker Marresi makes an old fashioned leather shoe that fits neatly into toe clips and doesn't rub the right chain stay, but on the commuter I can ride on errands with narrow walking shoes. Slotted cleats now available with Look drillings, are simple to clean up: just take a key and scrape the dirt out of the slot. When Look introduced their clipless system, racers balked at how it took away the feeling of being firmly connected to the cranks, especially sprinting. So makers stiffened up the shoes and put velcro straps around the uppers, but they still felt "soft," so makers then widened the platform back to the width of the old gossamer "rat trap" cages. Some Keirin racers still use toe clips and straps. Toe straps don't come loose. The shoes don't have to be especially stiff because the feet push down on the expansive pedal cage centered over the axle. The clip and strap hold the foot on the pedal when unweighting the upstroke. So if you ride outside of highly competitive club rides or racing, steel is real. The old stuff works great. Simplicity has its rewards. To me, that's what cycling is all about. Finally, these latest tech gravel bikes weigh a pound or two more than the old 22 and 24 pound steel bikes above, and clearance for 28 mm tires is where its at on paved roads. Keep it up, man! Fascinating subject! Disk brakes, anyone? Electronic shifting on 12 cog clusters and one chain ring? Gimme a break.
I agree completely with everything you said, Paul! I suspect that most of what passes for innovations in the cycling world are just ways to try and convince riders to dump their old bikes and buy a new one. It works for the bike shops and manufacturers, but when you step back from it, it just looks silly, and even worse, if riders are actually giving up objectively better bikes to buy the next new thing, it's actually kind of tragic. Man, I always wanted a vintage DeRosa! Some day! :)
@@bikestrikesrazors You're so right about bike marketing! Great steel bikes don't wear out like cars. Good ones last forever. Steel still maintains market share through all the aluminum and carbon transformations. DeRosa didn't catch on all that well in the '80s in the US. I never saw them on group rides or crits around DC, TX, or LA. Riders would half wheel on their Colnago, Ciocc, Pinarello, Bianchi, and they'd always ask, "DeRosa? Wuzzat?" They looked down on naming a bike after a flower, the only thing I figured. As the years passed, club riders would mock, "Steel is real!" The Ford mechanic, a tall, lanky guy who always rode up front, sure enough bought a Masi. Geometries vary, but I'd guess you're riding a superb example of the art of Italian frame builders. Thanks for the history!
@@paulmcknight4137 DeRosa had/has such huge palmares in the European racing community but I'm guessing there just wasn't that much of an effort on their part to export/market to America back in the day. I have a 1981 Olmo that constantly gets the comment "What's an Olmo"? They only imported to the American market for a few years then gave up on it, so very few folks in these parts know what an Olmo is.
@@bikestrikesrazors Olmo was up there with the best! I guess in the early '80s, most small "boutique" Italian builders hadn't tapped into the American market yet. Bianchi was a big deal with the snobs before Colnago took the mantle, deservedly so, I might add! Knew a guy who rode an Olmo. He was deeply in love! There just aren't all that many bikes that inspire such love! Tommasini used to appear frequently. Masi is another brand that grabbed a US following. From under the bleachers at Vigorelli race track to LA, California! Don't know how long it lasted, a few years anyway. A friend inherited a Masi from his dad. It's a beaut. 3Rensho I read originally built bikes for famous keirin racers, the toughest riders in the sport. They had legendary handling heard tell. The one pictured is a beaut! Appreciate the pictures! Nice stuff.
@@paulmcknight4137 Thanks, Paul! Here in the Sacramento suburbs in the early 1980's you never saw anything close to a nice bike in the local shops. I distinctly remember when a local bike shop got in a single lower line Bianchi, but it was still Celeste and had a Campy drive train. They placed it up on top of a counter like it was on an alter and everyone would stand around and "ooh" and "aww". No one around these parts ever would've bought it, but it sure was inspiring to look at. :)
I was in the bike business from the fall of '72 to the early 1980s and agree 100%. To me, the main artistic attraction of bicycles is the fact that the entire structure and all mechanical components are exposed to view, and the classic builders like Colnago, Masi, Frejus, Holdsworth, Jack Taylor and others took full advantage of this fact. Comparing classic machines to modern CF CAD designed bikes is like comparing steam locomotives to diesels. EDIT: Life in Black and White is the perfect music for this video.
Great minds think alike! :) Wow, the 70's to early eighties was a great time to be working in a bike shop. Some beautiful stuff must have come through there!
The Yellow Jersey, in Madison, Wisconsin, had an 56cm Albert Eisentrout with a white pearlescent paint and a Campy Super Record gruppo in 1984. I had just bought my Bianchi Specialissima when the Trout arrived. To this day, I wish I would've waited a month before I made my purchase. 😂
Still been riding my 2000 steel 853 Lemond Buenos Aires... just in 2007 I stripped it to the frame...and put a new carbon Easton EC90 fork and Dura Ace components... a titanium Colnago seat post...with a new seat...a carbon handle bar...a carbon stem .. left the original wheels Rolf Vector I love it.... Lemond frame is great 👍
Yep, those Lemond Buenos Aires are great bikes! Enjoy it! Watch the hubs on the Rolf Vector wheels- I had a hub crack on my while riding. Trek honored the warrantee on the wheel even though I had purchased it ten years earlier.
@@bikestrikesrazorsthose Rolf Vector wheels are still working good but I am planning to buy a carbon wheelset in springtime...Compy Bora 35 my one of the choices
