Yes, nice observation and it brings up a very good point. What is the best way to make an older bike more useful/practical for serious riding? What are the concessions we can make that would keep the spirit of the age, but provide better service. I know many would say that the old is great and it shouldn't be changed in any way. But are we willing to trust those 30 year old pedal axles for the stomping we'd like to give them? And how about that nice looking stem? And best of all, how can we best take that racing frame with a 15cm saddle to bars drop and get it to fit our "mellowing" body. At what point are we going too far? Tires, wheels, pedals, bars? I have a couple of bikes I can only use to cruise on would never think of taking on a training ride. But it would be really neat to be able to trust them on a hard ride. I'm interested in what people think. Craig Ryan Noblesville, IN USA
On 9/25/06 8:22 PM, "Bianca Pratorius" <biankita@comcast.net> wrote:
> I was out riding last night when I happened upon another cyclist who
> lives in my neighborhood. He usually is found atop a high end Obrea,
> but he has mentioned a few times his love of old steel, and his
> preference for the feel and ride. On this day he rode up on a
> completely overhauled Raliegh from the late 70's or early 80's I would
> guess. The bike was stripped down for a good DIY garage paintjob and
> painted in that sparkly kind of paint that I usually find a little
> harsh. I'm talking about the paint that has the little metal flake in
> it. This paint job was a deep but not dark blue done without any decals
> and it only retained the Heron headbadge for an instant identification.
> This was obviously an upper level Raliegh as could be told by a quick
> look at the decent lugwork. The brakes were the original non aero
> Weinmann's as was the stem an original too. The specialness of the look
> came together from the ultra modern wheelset in deep v silver
> configuration. The tires were almost the same deep blue as the paint
> and the bar tape was a nice medium blue cotton style. The crank was a
> nice older Stronglight. The overall look was of a unified blue souped
> up version of the original. Stunning was all I could think, even though
> I am usually not fond of altered older bikes. This marriage of old and
> new got me to wondering ....
>
> Garth Libre in Miami Fl. USA