I like this thread. Today was warm under super clear skies so I went out for a leisurely 43 mile loop to Laguna Beach and back on my 31 year old Ciocc Mockba road bike. It is a fair weather, non-utilitarian machine but remains my first choice for a Sunday morning ride.

I am the original owner and the Ciocc still has some original parts like the brake levers, sidepull calipers, seatpost and front derailleur. The Nuovo Record hubs are from mid 1980s and have been moved several times to be laced onto new rims. The Ciocc still uses a 6 speed freewheel, and although I modified the bike with a triple crank and moustache bars with a bar end shifter for the rear derailleur, everyone who sees it knows that it is an old machine.

I like doing the routine maintenance on my own bikes, especially the old Ciocc. I recently did a ball bearing and grease replacement on the MKS platform pedals that are on Ciocc. Less than a dollar for 24 little ball bearings per pedal with some new grease, and the pedals are good for another 8K or so miles. It's so simple, no special tools and no special parts needed. In contrast, many (most?) new bikes have all different sorts of non-starndardzed cartridge bearings which are pretty expensive to buy as replacement parts. Some people toss out the entire component when it needs routine maintenance because it becomes less expensive than buying the replacement cartridge bearings, if you can even find the correct bearings an an LBS.