IMHO, 20 years distance is an adequate time margin to begin accessing the relative historical merits of a given bike or component: Close enough in time to have direct attachment, long enough to form perspective. By freezing the timeline of this lists focus to pre-1983 I can't help but parallel the notion of a group of the ruling elite in the 1700's thumping down an edict saying all the worlds great art was created before 1650 and anything subsequent was rubbish.
In looking at the normal flow of posts to this list, one could surmise the whole vintage world is between 1963 and (now) 1983. Sure, there is the occasional tangent discussion about bikes from the 1950's. However, meaningful discussions about bikes from the 1910's through the 1940's are far and few between. Why aren't there discussions from this time period? (Aside from the fact that most people who actively rode during this period are either not hooked up to the internet or are now dead.) Why? Because by and large we are all collectively strolling down are own memory lanes from our teenage years. Guess what? We are all going to get older and the next generation of kids will be strolling down their own memory lanes replete with early generation index shifting and carbon fiber epoxy wonder bikes. Don't believe me? Try reading some of the French periodicals from the early 1960's harking back to the more "romantic", "real" cycling times before the war, "before derailleurs."
How about acknowledging the wonderful evolution in the road bike that we have all had the opportunity to witness first hand? Look at how frame materials and nearly every component on the bike has morphed. It seems like every few months there is a new gimmick, sometimes driven by hype, other times by quality design. (Quite similar to the late 1800's/early 1900's) While many may cherish the notion that elegance is wrapped in a fine steel bike from the early 1970's, I dare say this notion will have moved a bit by 2023. I can assure you just as many people presently on this list drooled as teenagers about the new shiny 1970 Colnago, kids today are wetting themselves over the newest latest and greatest wonder ride and will want it NOS 20 years from now.
Cycling is evolving and thank heaven for the evolution and the innovations. Given the short production life of todays bikes and components, just think what hell kids of today are going to have when they decide in 25 years that they want to repurchase the bike of their teenage dreams. Imagine the wild discussions on this list 20 years from now as the kids of today try to sort out what components, tires, saddles, etc were on XX brand bike "back in 2003."
Perhaps keep in mind that its better to have the evolving history preserved, even if the history occurs after you are dead. "Vintage" is a relative term.
Brett Horton
San Francisco, CA