alan s 

Good for you, but I doubt the average bike commuter wants to find parts for an 81 year old bike. That is in the realm of pure hobbyist, and such a bike would surely be considered obsolete by 99.9% of the population in the U.S. Lots of old stuff works perfectly fine, but you wouldn't buy such a bike for everyday commuting.

alan s 

I think you made a good decision. The Kestrel is a smokin' deal. Looking forward to seeing pics and ride impressions.

kickstart

Its true the 1935 Raleigh wouldn't be a good choice as period correct parts are hard to come by, but the 1974 Schwinn and 1984 Ross MTB would be ideal for almost anybody, with inexpensive parts available everywhere including the local hardware store.....if one even needs parts, as they were built take such abuse.

tjspiel

I think if someone is asking the question whether or not to fix up a 30 year old decent but nothing special road bike or get a fancy new CF road bike, you kinda know what it is they really want. They like the old bike but they really want a new ride.

There are plenty of people buying and commuting on bikes like his old Panasonic so while I understand what Alan means by obsolete, it's still very serviceable. At the same time, it's not at all comparable to a modern CF road bike with 105 components.

One could spend a lot of time arguing want vs need but modern brifters have clear advantages over bar ends or downtube shifters even though those old technologies still have their fans and uses. Dual pivot brakes are much better than what he's likely got on that Panasonic and though I'm sure people will disagree, Carbon Fiber represents a genuine advance in frame material that give designers more flexibility in creating the ride characteristics they want to provide. Before too long we'll start to see CF appear in cheaper and more utility oriented bikes

Even with more traditional materials, air and hydro forming provides some of the same benefits that CF has over just using straight tubes.

Then there's disc brakes, electronic shifting, sophisticated suspension systems. All things that have already found their way to commuting bikes or will in the next decade. I'm very excited about the possibilities that wireless electronic shifting will bring. You can get rid of the cables AND the wires and have finger tip shifting no matter where your hands are on the bars.

At the same time, I'm still quite happy with my nearly 30 year old steel fixed gear.

kickstart

I have nothing against these advancements as they do have their place. Now of course for many folks like myself, much of it is already way past the point of having any real practical value for the added expense and complication.
Seeing how things have changed in the past few decades, I'm not so sure the allegedly "obsolete" are such a bad thing compared to the never ending cycle of advancements for ever diminishing returns.
It will be interesting to see what advancements, and obsolete technologies stand the test of time outside narrow spectrum of the sport cycling enthusiast.

tjspiel

That's always a question. LED lighting systems have made a welcome impact amongst utility cyclists and commuters, yet I think the lights on the market today will be seen as outdated before long. They won't stand the test of time, but they still represent a vast improvement over what was available in the past.

Tundra_Man 

Received the new bike last week, but then went out of town before I had a chance to do anything with it. Yesterday I finally got chance to assemble it, install my accessories and adjust everything. The frame tubing isn't as round as it looks in the pictures; it's got some contour similar to a Trek Madone. I really like the look. I didn't have time yesterday to go for a ride much more than up and down the street to dial in my adjustments.



This morning I had to take my wife's car to the shop. Rather than sitting in the waiting room I brought the bike on my rack and went out for a ride while the shop worked on the car. Rode about 34 miles in two hours. This bike seems a little faster than my Panasonic. Maybe not quite as cushy over the bumps as the steel frame, but pretty close. The shifting was worlds apart. Shifts happen at least twice as fast as they do on the Panny, and having twice the number of gears available was very nice. Brakes stop with less effort and much quieter. The Kestrel corners and climbs very well, which I assume can mostly be attributed to weighing half what the old bike does.

Yesterday I was still feeling some apprehension about giving up the Panasonic. What surprised me was by the time I returned to the shop from this morning's ride, I no longer have any qualms about my decision. While the Panasonic was pretty nice for an entry-level bike 35 years ago, there is no comparison to the newer technology.

Still have to tweak the fit a little. I think I want to swap the stem for a 100mm (came with a 120mm) and then pull the seat back about 5mm or so. But even without these adjustments I'd say the bike is nearly as comfortable as my Panasonic.

Thanks again to everyone for giving me the chance to talk through my decision. I think I made the right choice.

alan s 

Sweet looking ride. I like the white cable housing, but the stem? You know what they say...flip it.

RubeRad

Flip or don't flip, but I agree that stem looks quite long.

I'm glad you enjoy the bike; tech has really advanced!

Tundra_Man 

Yeah, the stem is huge. The specs on the BD site said 110mm (which is still pretty long), but when I unpacked the box it was a 120mm. Surprisingly it doesn't feel as big of a stretch as I expected, but a couple cm shorter would be about right.

And I'm too old to flip it. If I need to get aero that's what the drops are for.

Tundra_Man 

Just checking in. This morning on my way to work I rolled the Kestrel past the 500 mile mark. Not too bad for my first month of riding this bike.

I wound up changing the stem to a 90mm which is about perfect. This allowed me to scoot my seat back about 5 mm and rotate my bars downward. The fit now feels great.

No mechanical issues at all. I made a couple small adjustments to the brakes and rear derailleur just to tweak things as the cables stretched out. Haven't touched the spokes as the rims are still dead straight.

Absolutely no regrets for purchasing this bike. While originally I thought it would be hard to give the Panasonic up, now I don't miss it at all. The Panasonic rode great and I loved it, but the Kestrel is like riding a dream. A couple days ago I thought, "I should take the Panasonic out for a spin just for 'old times' sake," but then I realized I had no desire to ride it any longer. So I think that solidifies my decision: it's time to find a new owner for the Panny.

Thanks again everyone for your help!

RubeRad

Fantastic! That's the kind of happy story we want to hear! (Just don't tell the C&V guys...)