bikingshearer 

To me, classic steel frames and more modern components are pretty much the bee's knees. I'm with John E. on wheels, though - nothing less than 32 spokes for this Clydesdale, and 36 is much preferred.

I also strongly believe that you should ride what you like to ride. I love to stare at the restored-to-like-new beauties that folks show off here, especially the late 1960's to early 1980's stuff. If riding that gets you out the door, great. But if what floats your boat is the latest and greatest in all carbon fiber, all the time, inclduing the washers, then by all means, that is what you should ride. If it gets you riding, it's all good.

So what do I ride? Either:

(a) a 1967 Paramount frame, repainted and braze-ons added by Ed Litton, with an 8-speed Shimano-compatable drivetrain, with most of the parts having a distinct Rivendell-ish theme (e.g.,an older Ritchey 110/74 triple crankset, Nitto noodle bars and Nitto stem, with Shimano index-friction switchable barcons); or

(b) an early 1980's Ron Cooper with a Campy 10-speed drivetrain, including a Campy Racing T triple crankset.

Both are very fun bikes to ride, and both are capable of far greater performance than I could ever have mustered in my best days, and I am well past those. But I love them both and plan to keep riding them both. The steel frames feel great and are guaranteed to last under my considerable bulk.

IMHO, many - not all, but many - new components work better than their older counterparts. I, for one, will never sing the praises of toe clips and straps over clipless. Clipless is better because my feet feel far better after two hours in clipless than they ever did in toe clips - and I rode across the country in clips and straps. And yes, I knew how to set them up and how to tighten and loosen them properly.

I do like indexed shifting better than friction, but I could also live quite happily if friction was the only option. And I am a recent convert to believing that brifters are okay, although I still like my barcons, too. I grew up with downtube shifters and could readapt to them easily enough. They also make for a cleaner, less cluttered look. But there are times when having the ability to shift while still having both hands on the bars, either via barcons or brifters is a very real safety advantage and is always a conveneince advantage.

As mentioned above, I prefer old-fashioned wheels to the new, mininally-spoked variety. I simply do not trust 16 or 20 or 24 spokes on a back wheel, but then I am a very big boy.

I also still prefer classic bars and stems a la Nitto over anything carbon fibered. In fact, I still prefer almost anything metal over almost anything carbon fiber pretty much anywhere on a bike. The techie folks can regard me as Luddite and show me whatever techie printouts they want, and I admit that I will have not the slightest idea what any of it means, but "carbon fiber," no matter how sophisticated, is still a form of plastic, and I simply do not trust plastic exposed to ultraviolet radiation not to lose structural integrity over time. I thus do not want it in a mission-critical application on my bike, such as the bar, stem, frame or fork. If those things fail, I get hurt very badly, and I'm allergic to pain.

So buy, build and ride what you like, and don't afraid to mis the old and the new. Just puh-leez do not ever even think about hacksawing off braze-ons or derailleur hangers for a "fixie conversion." That thar is a hangin' offence.