I was wondering how many other younguns there are out there. By young, I mean not around for or too young to remember the bike boom.
Nostalgia can be a big reason for loving C&V, but I know for me it isn't. I never knew anything but a Wal Mart bike growing up, and it let me bomb the hill that my childhood crush lived on, trying desperately to get her attention (it never did work, as far as I know...). I didn't know what good bikes were out, I didn't know the names of any of the pros. A bike was something to get me around the neighborhood and the occasional Boy Scout trip. I used it a few times in high school my freshman year to get to cross country practice, but as soon as I made friends who could drive, away the bike went for the next decade. Gasoline and perfume led me to other quests.

It wasn't until I was 26 that I got a bike and started riding again. Two more years passed until I started getting interested in C&V. I'll be 30 next year, and my favorite bikes are all older than I am. I love their aesthetics, the way they ride, the history behind bike companies, things that don't exist so much anymore. Lugs, chromed sleeves, drive trains that just don't quit, frames that outlive their previous owners.

I have just been finding I have a liking for older things I n general. Stuff that people disregard as obselete. I wish I had the bank account to persue vintage cars and motorcycles.