Originally Posted by
okiride
Hi all,
I have been looking around for a road bike. I have been keeping a close watch on the second hand options. I often come across vintage bikes e.g. vintage Peugeot like them one attached. What does the community think about these vintage bikes?
Most of my bikes are what my work colleagues would call vintage. And I commute to work every day. And I have an old Gitane (French) commuter bike.
I would avoid vintage bikes for commuting. Here are some problems:
- Steel wheels- these are heavy and susceptible to dings, and you will die if it rains
- 27" wheels - these were obsolete 30 years ago. I know of one shop in our 3 million population metro area that carries replacement tires.
- Vintage brakes. The worst, such as the flexy steel models are hopelessly dangerous. Ditto for anything that is labelled: Dia-Compe. The very best of the vintage brakes, such as Campagnolo Record sidepulls.. They still sucked.
- The old French bikes had non-standard BB and headset threading. Good luck finding replacements.
- Maybe 1 of 20 'vintage' bikes on our local Craigslist is not an overpriced gas-pipe POS. Every bike for sale will need a new chain, and more than half of them need a new freewheel and chainrings.
- You don't want downtube shifters. I used these for 40 years.. Trust me. For safety and shifting performance you want brifters.
Unless you know exactly what you're doing, and luck onto a decent used bike, then buy new. Such as bikesdirect.com.