Problem is that many new "BOB" types are rejecting the new stuff in favour of the old stuff without ever having tried the new stuff ...
I appreciate the vintage stuff from an aesthetic standpoint. But when it comes down to it, the newer stuff works better, is lighter, and is often less expensive (unless all you're buying is dumpster-reject thrift-store gaspipe crap).
-------- On Fri, 6 Sep 2002 15:56:18 -0800 J.Dunn wrote:
Tom Dalton wrote: "What I really don't get is "BOB" types, some of whom are just getting into riding, but who long to buy and use retro gear that they never even knew about when it was current. I don't accept the whole servicability/durabilty/versatility thing. Why pay more, and spend all that time searching for stuff that doesn't work as well as the new stuff. Yeah It's not all interchangable, but the old stuff had its limitations, it's just that expectations were lower. "
Why restore a '32 Ford when a Toyota Camry works so much better, parts never have to be searched for and it's oh, so much cheaper? You don't have to have owned and driven a '32 Ford, when they were "current", to have a longing to buy, appreciate and drive one.
John Dunn in Boise
>
> It's sad but true Greg. I actually believe that my new 9-spped STI
equipped bike is more enjoyable to ride than my 6-speed friction equipped
bikes. The gears are both more closely spaced and of wider range. I can
select any one of them while seated or standing and never miss a shift. The
clincher wheels are not as sweet riding as hand made sliks, but they are
about as nice as the budget tubulars I used to ride, and much more reliable.
My Time pedals and shoes are far more comfortable on my feet than my Duegi
or Addidas with SLs. I consider myself to be conservative when it comes to
bike equipment, I didn't make the clipless or the index change until 1992.
I just went to STI. But the stuff simply works better, at least with the
maniacal level care I give my bikes.
> ...then would you want to be a CR list member?
>
> Because I like old bikes. I like the stuff that I used to ride. I think
the racing gear that's older than late 70's is really interesting, but
things like pre-war track bikes don't resonate with me, at least not enough
to bring me to collect them. What I really don't get is "BOB" types, some
of whom are just getting into riding, but who long to buy and use retro gear
that they never even knew about when it was current. I don't accept the
whole servicability/durabilty/versatility thing. Why pay more, and spend
all that time searching for stuff that doesn't work as well as the new
stuff. Yeah It's not all interchangable, but the old stuff had its
limitations, it's just that expectations were lower.
>
> "....let folks work their way up to the higher-performance
pedals-with-toeclips setup..."
>
> Yeah still the choice among some track sprinters, but fewer and fewer all
the time. For road riding, which is what I do, clipless is the better
performer.
>
> I take pride in knowing how to set up cleated shoes and pedals, friction
drivetrains and tubulars, and I take pride in knowing how to correctly
operate that old stuff, but not to the degree that drives me display it to
the larger cycling world. It would be largely lost on them anyway. As for
personal satisfaction, it's enough for me to know that I could deal with
that stuff if I needed to.
>
> Tom Dalton
>
> Bethlehem, PA
>
>
> GPVB1@cs.com wrote:
> In a message dated 9/6/02 10:11:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Tom Dalton
wrote
> (in part):
>
>
> > Personally, I don't feel much desire to ride my older bikes. I should
drag
> > them out and tool around once in a while, but I don't. I own only two
> > "vintage" bikes and neither is old enough yet to really be a novelty on
the
> > road. In another couple of decades, it might become more of an "event"
to
> > ride them. Right now I just think of them as cool old bikes that don't
> > work as well as my new bikes. Someday though, six-speed friction and
> > toeclips will be more than out-dated, it will be interesting. For
serious
> > riding though, the newer stuff will probably always be my choice.
> > Tom Dalton
> > Bethlehem, PA
> >
>
> Yikes! Are you sure that's what you wanted to say?
>
> If the above is true, why then would you want to be a CR list member?
>
> Cheers and it's not all that bad, really,
>
> Greg "chief retrogrouch" Parker
> A2 MI USA
>
> Where six-speed friction and toeclips still work just fine on "serious"
> rides, and
>
> where the new (Detroit-area) velodrome requires only "familiarity with
> clipless pedals" because they "let folks work their way up to the
> higher-performance pedals-with-toeclips setup...."
>
>
>
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Steven L. Sheffield stevens at veloworks dot com veloworks at mac dot com aitch tea tee pea colon double-slash double-ewe double-you double-yew dot veloworks dot com