Classic & Vintage - Why does an old beater feel so much freer?

An older bike, in good mechanical shape, that still rides great, but is rather scuffed and well broken-in, no longer shiney, not going to turn any heads for sparkling aesthetics... feels very different to me.

Maybe it feels like it can be abused. Or maybe it's that it's already been through it.

I don't know exactly why or what it is, but I notice a very significant difference in the relationship with the bike. It feels like it can go anywhere, and that riding is the main thing, not looks. It's a lot more enjoyable.

It feels like the opposite of 'walking on eggs.'

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Anyone else experience this? Any ideas on what it's about?

...and any notion of how that attitude can be transferred to other bikes?

Have you read "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margary Williams?

The answer lies within.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

I just built up a cruddy old lugged steel Giant as a fixed gear. Since it is destined to be flipped, I put pretty cheap old parts on it. Steel seatpost. Steel bars. A seat from the top of the junk seat pile.

I have been riding it around for the past few days to make sure the redishing job I did to the wheels will hold up, and I will be darned if that bike does not feel as good as anything else I have ridden recently. It is light and lively and feels like it just wants to jump out and run.

I will admit that repacking all the bearings probably has something to do with it, but still.

No one will look twice at it, but it certainly has a great feel. Its not blingy, so it will not bring big money. But someone is going to be very happy with it.

jim

Although I could not convince my guy to "drop the macho-BS thing and give it a shot" the Reference to The Velveteen Rabit is completely appropriate.

I was reluctant to ride my shiny new mtb hard through mud, gravel, and sand 'cus I was subconsciously worried about getting it messed up.

Now that it is scratched and in need of a decent cleaning, I LOVE to ride it and do so furiously!

It is all in your mind - a new bike keeps your aggressive riding at bay

Yeah that's why this old relic of a Typhoon under the porch waits for me to decide what to do with it.Ven I vas a small boy in the old country(Buck town Chicago) I rode the hell out of a Typhoon.Maybe because it was someone else's bike I rode it so hard but the memory is there.

Yup, I know the feeling. I'm selling off some of the bikes I accumulated this summer. I have a Schwinn Super LeTour that is badly faded and the decals are flaking off, almost gone. I lubed the hubs, head and BB, added a set of Performance 1 1/8, 105 PSI tires, and new bar tape. I took it out for a demo ride before listing on CL. An old double butted main tubes, full chromoly frame can't hide behind faded paint. It felt great, tight and responsive. I hope someone who is into cycling, but needs a beater for commuting buys it. It needs to be ridden.

Although I could not convince my guy to "drop the macho-BS thing and give it a shot" the Reference to The Velveteen Rabit is completely appropriate.

Find a kid and read it to them. :)

When I ride my modern road bike, 17 lbs, STI, aluminum & carbon, etc, I feel like I need to "dress up." With my older bikes I'll ride in whatever I'm wearing; t-shirt & jeans, sweats, my camo hiking pants, etc. Even a baseball cap (don't tell my wife & kids). No speedometer, no heart rate monitor, don't spend the whole ride with my head down.

I know exactly what you mean even though I can't explain it. I've found that I enjoy riding the beaters I've pulled out of the dumpster as much as my 'nice' bikes, maybe more:eek: Although if I've got a hard ride ahead of me I reach for the best I've got.

I think part of the difference may be that I don't care if my beaters have a small hiccup now and then, the main focus is the ride itself. Or maybe you just appreciate the bike's 'personality' as its own instead of wanting it to be 'perfect'. Or maybe I should just read Great Expectations again.

I totally agree. In fact, one of my biggest bicycle related regrets of the last year was getting a nice shiny powder coat and putting some new bits on my Univega fixed gear commuter. It turns heads and gets lots of complimentary attention now, but I hate locking it to the rack, I wash it far more often than a commuter should be washed, and have begun that whole "inspect for scratches" OCD thing, and I longingly stare at beat up Le Tours and Raleighs.

In a way, part of the reason I enjoyed that bike so much is gone. The pursuit of vanity has clouded the purity of the ride.

I flyfish, too, and by and large tie my own flies, but every once in a while I'll buy a few ... for those of you who aren't familiar with these things, they're about $1.75 - $2.50 each.

When I fish a bought fly, I fish cautiously, because whenever I pop one off, or hang it up in an inaccessible tree, I can't shake the image of a couple of dollar bills hanging up there.

Even though I have God knows how much money poured into the gear and materials to tie my own flies, in my mind they're FREE. Pop one off? No problem! Plenty more where THAT came from!

The result is that I fish a lot more aggressively with my own flies, and do a lot better.

Same thing: I ride my restored Bob Jackson like it's made out glass. I ride my kinda banged-up Peugeot PKN like ... well, like it it won't be they end of the world if it takes a ding now and again.

I feel the same way about my kabuki fixed gear. I can ride it in conditions that i wouldn't consider on my road bike. It's freedom to bike without worries.

Oh Stacey,I read it and was a little moist around the eyes for just a second.Then I went into the shop and took a ratty old frame and fork and started a bike for the purpose of puttting stickers on like my son .(26) does.Very nice .i will post pics soon under the header of velveteen rabbit bike:D.
The story is amazing to say the least All the elements of classical lit.Life,death and rebirth

That selfish, vain and egotistic side of us is dormant when we're astride our beaters. (well, perhaps not the egotistic side so much since we deem our beater as expendable)
There is nothing shiny, expensive, and valuable as perceived by oneself to cloud and distract you from the riding experience itself.

Before the advent of Rhinoliners, I was picking up a new car from the dealer. At the same time an old rancher was taking delivery on a new $45,000 pick up. When the salesman got through showing him all the bells and whistles, the old man jumped in the bed with his cowboy boots on and began vigorously shuffling his feet. After he had sufficiently scuffed up the paint, he climbed down a said "There, I don't have to worry about that anymore".

You can get much of the same effect by letting your modern road bike get filthy and riding it around that way. An additional benefit is no one will accuse you of being a poseur.

I did a singlespeed build on a beat up old Peugeot UO8 frame. Everything was simple and minimal. I took it out for a ride before looking to give it away. It was beautiful. It has become my favorite ride.

An old beater is like that old pair of jeans or old sneakers that are so beat to hell but you dont toss them out cause they feel soooo comfy! but they are SO beat to hell that you know you SHOULD toss them out! Yup, its the same thing with the old beater bike ;)

Great thread! Loves me my beaters...the whole darn herd.

I'd rather have ten old bikes all a little different than one "good/new" bike...:p

"What if we had a velorution and everybody came?"

That would be a wonderful thing :)

Before the advent of Rhinoliners, I was picking up a new car from the dealer. At the same time an old rancher was taking delivery on a new $45,000 pick up. When the salesman got through showing him all the bells and whistles, the old man jumped in the bed with his cowboy boots on and began vigorously shuffling his feet. After he had sufficiently scuffed up the paint, he climbed down a said "There, I don't have to worry about that anymore".

Yeah, my buddy drove his new truck through brush to "break it in". I never bothered to rush the process that much. It always seems to take care of itself in due time. :)

This thread is making me reconsider powdercoating my Trek. I bought the frame for $50 last fall for the express purpose of hanging spare-part-bin components on it and making it my rain bike. It rode so beautifully that I kept riding it all spring and summer and I'd never hesitate to jump a curb or ride a gravel road.

I took it apart last month in anticipation of a group powdercoat job. We can't agree on a color, the organizer's pulled out, and now it looks like it won't happen at all. I think I'm just going to touch up the surface rust and build it back up.

Anyway, great reference to the Velveteen Rabbit. I read that to my kids every once in a while but I can never get to the end with a clear throat.

I have thought about blasting and painting my Schwinn but I love my faded old bike with a nice patina of rust on it. Plus it is probably bit less likely to get stolen hehe.

Stacey ..Velveteen rabbit bike I guess...The fork was from a ross and had to have two extra washers which needed the guide pins ground down.front tire is a dumpster salvage.falcon derailers,sr goose neck and bars shimano acera 7 speed rear cassette,shimano altus parralax front hub,both qr.

I think lack of expectations helps. When you have it cleaned up you are thinking "this thing is probably going to ride like crap" and then you throw your leg over the top tube and guess what, it you set the bar so low, it's easy to beat your expectations. Also, you don't want to admit to yourself that you wasted 5 hours getting this POS back on the road so you tell yourself it feels great, almost trying to convince yourself it's true!

You ever get the feeling that some bikes just want to be build up more than others? Is it carma or something left over from the past like good vibrations(so beachboys)? It has hapened on a couple builds for me, the bike just wants to be. I had a schwinn worldsport that was dirty and in bad shape but it realy wanted to be a race bike. It got downtube shifter, single pull lever, side pull brakes, no chain guards and 14 speeds.No reason to pick that bike but it just seemed right. I have a tall schwinn continental that wants to be a getto thug. Single speed off a kids bike, One chainring off the original crank, strait bars, old school pistal grips, 2 finger brake levers, the fatest tire I can find to fit the steel wheels, and a grim reaper on the down tube. All salvaged parts but for the tires.

Most recent a motobicane . old cottered cranks, center pull brakes, lazy levers, stem shifters. Came from california , a shop callled "the bike trip" Has a girls name engraved on the bottum bracked. I just get a happy feeling redoing this bike, like its just a farout and groovy thing to do. I am just sure this was a hippy bike back in the day. It wants to be an everyday mutt. Simplex derailers, cotterless cranks, keeping the stem shifter and brake levers. Fat diamiter handle bars and an ugly stem.

You ever get the feeling that some bikes just want to be build up more than others? Is it carma or something left over from the past like good vibrations(so beachboys)? It has hapened on a couple builds for me, the bike just wants to be. I had a schwinn worldsport that was dirty and in bad shape but it realy wanted to be a race bike. It got downtube shifter, single pull lever, side pull brakes, no chain guards and 14 speeds.No reason to pick that bike but it just seemed right. I have a tall schwinn continental that wants to be a getto thug. Single speed off a kids bike, One chainring off the original crank, strait bars, old school pistal grips, 2 finger brake levers, the fatest tire I can find to fit the steel wheels, and a grim reaper on the down tube. All salvaged parts but for the tires.

Most recent a motobicane . old cottered cranks center pull brakes. Came from california , a shop callled "the bike trip" Has a girls name engraved on the bottum bracked. I just get a happy feeling redoing this bike, like its just a farout and groovy thing to do. I am just sure this was a hippy bike back in the day.

Yah. Some bikes are just more fun to build than others. I've always liked the model that's just a bit off from the top, so you can play with it... I built up a Follis with Half-step gearing, and it was a blast. But it sat around for a couple years waiting for me to come up with something.

I've got a chrome Jeunet that UPS dinged the seat tube on, and I'm beginning to ruminate on a porteur style bike build... I like thinking about it. Porteur rack, bell, sprung brooks, single speed flip flop hub....

I love several aspects of my UO-8:
1) I do not worry about leaving it locked up while I do some shopping or other errand.
2) It is a blast to be able to keep up with the rest of my club, with their new expensive carbon fiber machines.
3) I do not feel bad about putting a rear rack, lights, reflectors, and a handlebar bag on it.
4) The wide tires (I have clearance for at least 35mm) give me confidence in wet weather.
5) When I worked at a Peugeot dealership, I built this bike myself from a bare frame, originally as a gift to my wife. When she began to prefer offroad cycling and mountain bikes, I converted it into my general purpose beater, commuter, and cyclecrosser.
6) Lots of my friends, upon noticing the distinctive decals, tell me, "I had one of those in college."

I thought I sent a reply with pics of a bike but must have sent it wrong.I put a bike together and am getting better all the time."used to be cruel to my ..."" No Beatles.. Sorry.Hey I didn't inhale...:beer::beer:

wow I have to get used to this forum

When I first got my Univega I immediately started making plans for a nice new paintjob. But the more I ride it and stare at it, the more I like it the way it is. The dull, scratched paint kind of makes it look like some old touring bike from the 40s (until you get close enough to see the totally '80s Univega script) and it allows me to enjoy the ride instead of worrying about the paint. Today I rode it quite a bit through rain, mud, and all other kinds of nastiness and I never worried once. Plus it performed beautifully.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/lamplightsg/Univega/IMG_9931small.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/lamplightsg/Univega/IMG_9916small.jpg