Classic & Vintage - Where is C & V heading? What are our demographics?

Just wondering where the C&V population stands. I know a lot of you guys like classic bikes because of nostalgia but some of us were not around when those bikes were new. Do you think C&V appreciation will go on to the next generations or will it be forgotten in the future? You don't have to post your age but I think it would be nice to know who makes up this forum.

Well, let's just say that my 1985 Nishiki Prestige had its serial number assigned when I was about two years old...

I'm eligible for AARP, but not Social Security...

I think, for the most part, people collect what they were exposed to in their youth. There are exceptions of course.

I get way more enthusiastic about a 1980's bicycle than a 1960's bicycle, although I appreciate the 60's bike. A modern bike? Zero interest, they aren't even bicycles in my mind. A plastic bike in my day was a Big Wheel.

I predict the modern bicycle won't stand the test of time. Our current classic and vintage bikes are like the muscle cars of the 60's and 70's, they will always be cool and in demand.

I'm 32. I got my first C&V road bike because I was looking to recapture the feeling riding my dad's then-new Pug in the 80s. Then I got hooked. Now I love riding, wrenching and reading (the "three Rs" of C&V?), in that order.

All my bikes were born around the same time as me, +/- a year or few.

22 and appreciate good quality stuff... and being frugal when buying bikes. Grew up poor and parents always bought stuff used so I naturally gravitate towards used cheap bikes.

My first thought when I read the question was "ever older". It interesting, and pleasing, to see that the demographic is not totally dominated by old farts on a nostalgia trip. To me this says that the appreciation of the older-style bikes goes beyond nostalgia (although in my case it's difficult to separate all the motives). The objects of our youth will always have a certain appeal, but the really classic designs totally transcend specific time periods.

You old farts need to get off my lawn.

I'm 52, but I didn't race or ride much when I was in my teens/early 20s. I've been into vintage lightweights for about 8 years now, and my interest seems to be in the bikes I would of raced or ridden hard back then (70s, 80s).

Just turned 46... bikes range in age from 1951 to 2001.

I was a road cyclist in the 80's and 90's and got into mountain biking in my mid 30's... took up riding a fixed gear at 40 and used to have 6 fixed gear bikes.

I should say that I got into C&V because I got a set of 1973 matching Schwinn Suburbans for me and my wife at a garage sale. I started looking into the history of Schwinn Chicago and now my #1 bike possession is a 1960 Schwinn paramount which is 20 years older than me.

22 and appreciate good quality stuff... and being frugal when buying bikes. Grew up poor and parents always bought stuff used so I naturally gravitate towards used cheap bikes.

I guess economics does have something to do with it too. Unlike cars, there are millions of very good, little-used 30-year old bikes sitting around, that can be had really cheap, and that will give you decades of good service for practically nothing.
When I was young and single I only bought new, top-of-the-line equipment-- it was affordable back then. I was riding on silk tires when I was 17, I can barely even dream of that now.

Every passing year my bikes get another year older. So do I.

I think, for the most part, people collect what they were exposed to in their youth.

I must be a freak, I have no interest in early bike boom gas pipes.

well judging by my experience more of the younger crowd ( STUDENTS) in Toronto prefer an older 10 speed rather than a mountain bike, mtb are very hard to sell but the older 10 speeds fly out the door like no tomorrow, that`s if they`re tuned up and priced right, people ( University students) want to be mobile and don`t want those mtb anchor bikes with thick tires.
When ever I visit TO Thats what I see alot of, C&V bikes chained up all over the place , fixies, single speeds and originals, I drive my wife crazy,
hey look a peugeot.
Hey look a bianchi
Hey look a miele
She generally rolles her eyes LOL

But she still manages to score bikes here and there for me :)
The last one she got was an old CCM ladies bike with a basket of coarse and a Venture road bike.

I'm 44, my wife is 42 and my son is a C&V nut and he's just turned 13.

I also have a very old little 24" wheel Takara road bike that will be getting restored fro my youngest daughter who is now 5.

I'm doing my best to keep it alive.

I think, for the most part, people collect what they were exposed to in their youth. There are exceptions of course.


I must be a freak, I have no interest in early bike boom gas pipes.

Chances are, even by being exposed to gas pipe bikes, you knew there were better bikes available. My first derailleur bike was an unknown model my step-dad pulled out of the trash and gave me to fix up. It was exposure to that bike and trips to the bike shop buying parts that made me want something nicer.

I just turned 63 (three days ago). My solo bikes were made about the time I started having both the income and free time to notice. That happened to be about bike-boom time. It also seems to correlate to a period of technical improvements such as alloy rims and cranks, so I'm not interested in going backwards to older technology. My lack of interest in newer bikes is more because of aesthetics. Hence I'm stuck in the 70's and 80's.

I'm 33. I like bikes older than I am.

The oldest bike in my collection, a ladies Packard (my wife's bike, natch;)), precedes my birth by around 17 years. I *love* old bikes, period.

I got my first bike when I was 5 or so. Rode one daily as means of transportation until I could afford a car and my bike was stolen. Bought a cheap hybrid 10 years ago. Didn't like it. Bought a $ 25 road bike 2 years ago and loved it. Now I got 100+ old road bikes. Not sure where this is going.

I'm older than all my bikes:( I'll be 51 come Jan 5th

I tried to vote, but it tells me I already did. Sheesh, doesn't it know I'm older now?

I like bikes older than me. And younger. Both are good.

At 63 years, plus a wee bit, and from an Ebay Seller's point of view, after selling close to 500 bikes, I would suggest that about half of my customers are past middle age. The balance are the younger crowd, with half of them approaching middle age. Predominately male.

What will we see in the future? Don't know, but my guess is that the really nice vintage road bicycles will become increasingly pricy, someday reaching past the opportunity for average people, like me, to purchase them. That will leave room for the vintage mountain bike crowd, as well as the BMX people, to step up to the plate, in reminiscence or their bicycle years.

Though I cannot appreciate the BMX, I have started keeping my eye open for higher end mounting bikes, from days gone bye. Found a couple that are sort of interesting and I think that they will soon have a following, similar to what we all have enjoyed in the vintage road bicycle scene. Perhaps they do already. Dunno, I am an old road bike kinda guy

At 63 years, plus a wee bit, and from an Ebay Seller's point of view, after selling close to 500 bikes, I would suggest that about half of my customers are past middle age. The balance are the younger crowd, with half of them approaching middle age. Predominately male.

What will we see in the future? Don't know, but my guess is that the really nice vintage road bicycles will become increasingly pricy, someday reaching past the opportunity for average people, like me, to purchase them. That will leave room for the vintage mountain bike crowd, as well as the BMX people, to step up to the plate, in reminiscence or their bicycle years.

Though I cannot appreciate the BMX, I have started keeping my eye open for higher end mounting bikes, from days gone bye. Found a couple that are sort of interesting and I think that they will soon have a following, similar to what we all have enjoyed in the vintage road bicycle scene. Perhaps they do already. Dunno, I am an old road bike kinda guy


Randy you should keep an out for some old school bmx`s especially

Haro master
Redline rl20II
CW Phaze 1
Gt performer PRE 87?
Haro sport, FST
Hutch $$$$$$$

Some of the above can fetch as much as $2000 if all original

I like the 80's bikes, the good bikes from the 70's and 60's are too expensive now. The best bikes of any time will allways be sought after and expensive. Custom makers today will hold there value down the road. Some one is going to start making vintage style parts like VO and offer more options. I would like to see a new NR or SR style RD and FD with engraving or casting.
Forgot I'm 43.

I'm old enough that nostalgia plays a role...this summer I bought an old Raliegh Sport that was rusting away in the yard at the LBS becauase it was the bike I had dreamed of when I was a kid in the '60s. It brings a smile to my face every time I look at it - I know it's gonna feel awesome when I have it all back together and can actually ride it. I rode a high-end Olmo touring bike in the '70s; for my next project I want to build a bike that recaptures the feel of that one.

So aesthetically I'm stuck in a hippie-era time warp, but I have a deep appreciation for modern bike technology too. Bikes made of light weight alloys and composites are feather light. Modern drive trains with indexed shifting just work. Advances in tire casings and tread compounds make for a smoother ride with less rolling resistance. Modern suspensions soak up bumps and potholes yet apply your pedal power to the road efficiently. My K2 Proflex with slicks performs better than my old Olmo did in every way and is a joy to ride, but even after 12 years it still looks more like a moon landing vehicle than a bike to me.

I must be a freak, I have no interest in early bike boom gas pipes.


Tis a shame. Back in the 70's that was all that existed in my world. DT (or stem) friction shifted 10-speed road bikes with 27" wheels. Loved all of 'em. Didnt know anything about cro-moly or Columbus SL, or 700c back in those days, so I will never dis or frown uppety at any gas pipe bike boom road bike, ever. They were great and I had a lot of fun on them. I was never a racer, but I was a road bike hot rodder extaordinaire, and I'll never forget those bikes.

I'm now 55 and can better afford some of the good stuff these days (some, mind you). I love C & V bikes, no matter what they're made out of. They just look 'real' to me, like the way a bike is supposed to look. I'm happy with the bikes I have, and thank the good lord above that the 'biking' part of me when I was a kid never left me.

I'm 56. I got my first "10-speed" in 1972 and I was racing on a Raleigh Pro as a Cat IV in 1977. I club-raced until about 1990 and essentially quit riding in 1992 for 17 years. I suppose my perception of what a fine bicycle should be is still stuck in the hand-brazed lightweight steel frame/pre-index shifting era so I tend to appreciate the classic bikes on C&V. Besides, most contemporary CF bikes just look plain ugly to me!

I'm 59, and have been riding bikes for more than 50 of them. Got into c & v while trying to id a bike I bought. I continue with it because I like/need to be able to buy a high quality bike for very little money. No nostalgia for me. No need to have a bright, shiny, show bike. I just like to ride.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/782328-Where-is-C-amp-V-heading-What-are-our-demographics/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Velognome http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/782328-Where-is-C-amp-V-heading-What-are-our-demographics/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/782328-Where-is-C-amp-V-heading-What-are-our-demographics/showthread.php?p=13508888#post13508888)
I must be a freak, I have no interest in early bike boom gas pipes.

Wino Ryder (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/782328-Where-is-C-amp-V-heading-What-are-our-demographics/member.php/31225-Wino-Ryder)
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Tis a shame.

Mmmmmm, not really. Gas pipe is just the gateway drug, ya need to score some Columbus, 531 or maybe some choice A&P if ya got the $

I'm 52, and just got back to riding 2 years ago.

I thought about buying a new "plastic" road bike, but they are pretty darn ugly, not to mention way to expensive, and they are all made-in-China! No matter the brand on the tubes, they are all made in China. Souless. Stumbled on C&V, the bikes of my youth, and I've been hooked ever since....

I'm always on the search for good gaspipe bike boom bikes. I've ridden all kinds of bikes but actually prefer the 25-30 lb, 27"wheeled, center-pull brake bikes. Heck I even like Simplex derailleurs and cottered cranks. Getting an old gaspipe bike to ride really nice, better than when it was new, is the challenge. I say better than new because so many were put together by teenage hippy potheads. I know what I speak of because I'm a prime example.

big chainring

Getting an old gaspipe bike to ride really nice, better than when it was new, is the challenge. I say better than new because so many were put together by teenage hippy potheads. I know what I speak of because I'm a prime example.

Who knew not to install forks backwards....which makes ya kinda wonder....what are they huffin' over at the Wally Mart?

34. Started hanging out in bike shops in the late '80s before a lot of major changes to bike technology hit. Learned to wrench on my parents' Atalas (I should get back into campy!). Rode them on MS 150s when I was 12 in 1990.

Being a teacher in a high cost of living area... well, old bikes are pretty much where I can get the most rewarding experience for my money and time.

I'm also a luddite in general. No TV. No Cell Phone. Trying to add "no car" to the list. Part of my whole gestalt, I guess.

i recently turned 26 and hve a very strong preference to mid 80s to late 90s road bikes. (basically from the start of c-record till the end of threaded forks)

edit: i should mention my favorite is 80s and 90s frames updated with modern components (but i dream of a mint gen 1 c-record group)

I'm just old, and I like certain things.
I can't really remember much else.

When I grow up, I wanna be like Scooper.

I was lured into C and V by the bikes of my youth (80s). But, since then, I've shifted to really loving the bikes of the 60s and 70s. What era will be hot in 10 years?

I'm 41; apart from the MTBs, my bikes have just gotten C&V with me...

Only older than one of my bikes. The rest are multiple times older than me, one being a century older than me!

Only older than one of my bikes. The rest are multiple times older than me, one being a century older than me!

Way to go man! The bikes in my collection that I really enjoy riding are the ones that are simple and they are usually the older ones in my collection. The derailleurs I have are going the way of the dodo in my collection as I start converting them go IGH drivetrains. Have 5 or 6 3-speed hubs waiting to get build into wheels. I'm thinking that one day I may try my hand at a penny farthing. You've got more guts than I wrt those machines! :)

The bicycles of my youth were either new and crummy or old and scabbed-together. I've gotten slightly better at building bikes and now at 52 I have more of the learning curve behind me than in front of me. I have a lot more patience also, but less time to spend.
The bicycles that I like best are Raleigh Sports, and mine were built in the '60s, but the design of them is a spiritual holdover from the '30s, so there's no conclusion to be drawn that I can see.

Looking at the poll results, quite the cliff event at age 65! :eek:

Looking at the poll results, quite the cliff event at age 65! :eek:

i think that represents the age of forum users more than it does cyclists.

It might be interesting to see this poll with narrower ranges. I will turn 51 in January, but for now, I'm in the 36-50 category.

I got seriously into cycling when I got my first 10 speed in 1975.

I was born old.

Turning 21 in december :)

There is just something about late 80's-early 90's bikes that do it for me. Maybe the wacky paintjobs or the great value?
One thing is for sure, I love the looks I get from others as I pass by on my vintage rides!

Looking at the poll results, quite the cliff event at age 65! :eek:


i think that is represents the age of forum users more than it does cyclists.

Three more years!:eek:

I'm guessing that by the time I hit 65, I won't be able to
tolerate the bull**** here either. Already on the edge:D

three more years!

I'm guessing that by the time i hit 65, i won't be able to
tolerate the bull**** here either. Already on the edge

lol