I'm also enjoying this topic. After seeing several threads in the past criticizing modern bikes, it's great to see that so many of us actually ride them. It's reassuring to know that we can love old bikes and also enjoy modern equipment. As a senior citizen living in hilly terrain I've been riding a compact wide range drive train on a CF frame for about 10 years. It allows me to do things that would be beyond my ability with a 42 x 24 on my old Italian bikes.
My current inventory includes 14 bikes, 12 steel, 10 vintage or KOF. My primary ride is a CF Trek with Record 10, (50 x 34 crank with a made up 12 - 29 cassette). The back up is an '87 Pinarello Montello with Centaur 10 and gearing similar to the Trek. My vintage stuff is primarily Italian ( Cinelli, Colnago, Masi, Legnano, Basso) but also includes a '73 Raleigh Competition and a '93 RB-1. When I want to ride one of these I head to the flat lands and ride along the Connecticut River Valley. I ride every one of my bikes but the old stuff limits my aggressiveness... It's more like taking an old car out on cruise night than going to a drag strip.
The hills (and age) dictate my choice of equipment. I typically ride about 4600 miles each year with 7,000 ft of climbing per 100 miles. Once a year I do a club century in gently rolling terrain. A few years ago I rode it on a fixed gear, the following year I rode my Basso Loto with C Record friction shifting and the third year I rode the Trek. My on the bike time was the same for each ride. So vintage equipment can be competitive with modern stuff if you don't have to deal with serious climbing or if youth is on your side.
Norm Lafleur
Ashfield, Massachusetts
USA
>
> Great topic and many thanks to the listmeister for indulging us. This
> thread has brought a lot of lurkers out of the woodwork, and I for one
> will gladly forgive the extra mail for a thread like this.
>
> So I lied, the last bike I said I'd give up, my '76 Austro Daimler Vent
> Noir, was a family birthday gift to my brother in law, a much better fit
> for him than for me.
>
> Consolation prize: an A-D Superleicht, my first all-Campy bike and new
> paved road favorite rider, NR rear derailleur modified with long cage for
> old guy gears, Reynolds 531 steel.
> Primary wall hanger and nice day only road rides: hot rodded '66 chrome
> Paramount with full 1st gen. Dura Ace black components.
> Rail trail and C&O touring bike for a weeks self-supported camping: '90s
> Nashbar T6000, fenders, racks, Champion steel. Backup: '92 Cannondale H600
> converted to road bar configuration, on topic steel fork.
> Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway Touring: '85 Schwinn Voyageur SP, all
> Suntour components, Columbus steel.
> Future primitive camping and beach riding: '83 Bianchi Grizzly, REALLY fat
> tire capable, fenders, racks, lugged Ishiwata steel, mostly on topic
> components.
> Rail trail riding with my wife, '48 Schwinn Town and Country Tandem,
> somewhat modernized in road configuration but with mostly on topic
> components.
> Fixed gear: '78 Schwinn Superior with a modified vintage Bendix 2 speed
> hub, nice for getting back up the hills from the local trail.
> Thanks for indulging me, see you on the road or trail when some of this
> snow and ice goes away!
>
> John Wilson
> Greensburg, PA
> USA