Vintage steel bikes are great. Curiously enough, we all belong to a list devoted to their care and preservation and, perhaps for some marques, even worship. The following are a few of my opinions; please note that these are my OPINIONS and may not be FACTS:
I think that we should acknowledge that lugged or fillet brazed steel frames are unlikely to return to rule the peleton once again. The best chance for this to happen is to have components weigh next to nothing and the UCI weight limits to be retained. Would help if the top pros decided that they wanted Hetchinsesque embellishments (or Confente-esque refinement) to their race bikes.
Incremental improvements can matter - that's why they call them incremental improvements and, in bicycle racing, winning by a centimeter is winning.
A strong rider on a heavy bike with conventional non-aerodynamic wheels, friction shifting over a 5 speed cluster or using an indexed hub gear would kick my ass on any course, no matter what modern wonder bike I was riding.
Alright, that last one was fact and not just an opinion.
Ride what you like fellas and let's talk about how wonderful our pre-1983 bikes are using the appropriate pre-1983 metrics. There will be plenty of opportunities to flog other dead horses such as by comparing 80's bikes to 50's bikes.
Charlie Young
Honey Brook, PA
USA
>I starting to really appreciate the meaning of that saying... "There is no
>fool like an old fool!"
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, CA