Chrome Molly

Carbon bikes have been out there so long that it's really not a marque of a strong rider nor a huge investment. I'd rather group up with the strong riders anyway.

Chombi

By coincidence, I beat a much younger couple (in serious athletic gear) than me yesterday going up the steep big hill to my house in my office clothes.........but I was fast walking.

nlerner

Back when I was in my 20s, I rode this Columbia middleweight with 26" wheels and rear coaster brake everywhere, including lots of hilly rides in the foothills above Palo Alto, CA. I would often pass riders on modern bikes (though this was the 1980s, so those bikes are C&V now!) when climbing but they usually passed me on the downhills. Now that I'm 55, the only passing I do is after a high-fiber breakfast.

brokenpedal

I got dropped by a girl on my ride today. On a mountain bike​.

...might have bruised my ego, but the view improved considerably! That's me looking on the bright side.

Velognome 

while smoking a Lucky Strike

gomango

Who needs carbon when you have this c&v rocketship?

[IMG]DSCN3046 by gomango1849, on Flickr[/IMG]

ezln64

more naysayers than i expected. I think there's something special about an old bike passing a new bike. like seeing a classic car on the freeway keeping up with 70mph+ modern traffic. just a cool thing to see.i dont condone gloating, mostly, I just might dt shift on some snobby sap... but when someone passes me, no matter what my circumstance and no matter what their bike/age/ability/gender/etc, I try not to be a sore loser.

Lazyass

I'm scratching my head as to how that thought entered your mind. I have a newer bike and am not any faster on it. Look at it this way. It's like a '92 GSXR600 passing a '15 GSXR600 on the track. It's kind of cool. No more, no less. Do we get the point now?

rootboy 

I don't. But that's not unusual.

hairnet

It opens the lungs before the climb.

jimmuller 

On the return of our CCRT ride last Saturday we had trouble keeping up with two of our co-riders on CF. One of them swims/rides/runs triathlons.



When we returned to the start she ran for 10 minutes. Just part of her training.

cale

Rode the pedals right off it, huh? That's impressive!

Sedgemop 

This, exactly.

Chombi

Unless the laws of physics changed overnight on us, all of us should at least be a bit faster on most modern, expensive CF bikes. Especially if the fit is good.
The lower weight increased stiffness in some areas and more gearing ratios to pick from should count for something.
Otherwise Contador and the Schleck brothers would all insist on riding on steel bikes in the TDF if this is not the case....

cale

Oh the bikes ARE getting faster, I was counting on that, but I'm still getting slower!

Lascauxcaveman 

[h=2]Do you enjoy dropping riders on expensive modern bikes?[/h]
Up until a couple of months ago, every bike I passed was more expensive and more modern than mine. Ridden by people who are older or a lot fatter than me.

They're all still more modern. Not much of vintage bike scene in my town. For the record, I've never been passed on the local bike paths, except once when I stopped to take a phone call. The hardcore roadies are all out on the highway, or passing me on the road up to Hurricane Ridge. Almost everybody passes me there.

Ed.

According to Strava I'm the most bad-ass 67 year old riding my usual routes. That's good enough for me. (of course it could have something to do with old farts not knowing about Strava, but I'm still bad-ass).

Ed.

Oh, I forgot to mention Geraldine - she's bad-ass and all steel. Since I've only seen one other steel bike roadbike in these parts these last few years, it pretty well lays it out that we're a bad-ass duo, and faster than a lot of those 'wunder bikes'.

gaucho777 

I commute on a loaded 43-year-old bike with all period parts, stuffed panniers and hauling a Burly Picollo (trail-a-bike for picking up my daughter after work). I don't make a game of catching riders and just ride at my own pace since the other rider could be on mile 1 or 200, on a rest day, ill, whatever. That said, I do like getting some double-takes when my long, heavy train of a bike passes.



But the OP was talking about group rides, and I'd still say no. Mainly because I don't believe there is a significant speed penalty between a quality vintage bike and a typical modern road bike. (Though I like to keep that information that to myself. )

kroozer 

These days, I gloat when I pass anyone.

crank_addict

Do you enjoy dropping riders on expensive modern bikes?

That's a question for the owner of a bike shop.

crank_addict

no can do

jyl

On my last group ride, I dropped two girls. One was on a titanium Lynskey and the other had a very nice, although not carbon, bike. I was on a carbon, albeit semi-vintage, bike with all Campagnolo bits. The girls were riding side by side and gossiping. That is the last droppage I recall inflicting on anyone. It wasn't glorious but it is all I have. Five minutes later my riding buddy dropped me.

Fahrenheit531 

I'm pretty much indifferent to dropping, but I don't enjoy getting dropped and will almost always pick up the pace if someone shoots by me. That way I get dropped a bit more slowly.

That said, I too am in the gratuitous DT shifting club.

Citoyen du Monde

When I ride with a group, it is generally meant to be a social ride for me, so I do not try to drop anybody. That being said I do enjoy it when other riders say to me during the ride or afterwards that they are glad to see the vintage bikes out on the ride. Occasionally some young rider will say incredulously "How can you keep up on such an old bike?" To which I say, try and keep up with me on the next downhill... Gravitational enhancement is great!

In all honesty, many of my bikes are better maintained than most modern bikes out on these rides, with better tires and a much more experienced rider. That usually makes up for any minor loss in efficiency.