Originally Posted by
AdventureManCO
We make the assumption that if only everyone tried some of the higher grade, more uncommon bikes, they would undoubtedly choose that over something else, and we just don't know.
I have a theory that at least half of what we perceive as superior about the higher grade bikes is the components. I’m not quite sure how to quantify this, but low end components, especially bike boom era low end components, just feel clunky. A crappy plastic seat, poorly surfaced bearing races, flexy brakes and levers...it all adds up to a bad riding experience and I bet we misattribute the fault to the frame more often than we realize.
The presence of the UO-8 on this list, I think, supports this to a certain extent. The UO-8 and the PX-10 tended to have the same brakes and derailleurs. Replace the wheels and saddle and there’s no reason a UO-8 shouldn’t be a fun bike to ride.
I have an experiment in mind that I think may prove or disprove my theory. (@nlerner will like this.) I have a Huffy Aerowind frame that I bought for $10 with the intention of using it in a future Clunker 100 challenge, but it has enough oddball features (Ashtabula bottom bracket, 21.1mm stem, etc,, that with no parts on hand I’d be hard-pressed to meet the $100 budget without buying a cheap Schwinn donor bike, and I don’t want to buy a cheap Schwinn. So I thought, why not go the other direction? Why not build it up with the sort of components I’d use on one of my high grade builds. I can always take the components off again when I’m done, and this would give me a fair assessment of how truly good or bad the Aerowind frame itself is.
Tying this back to the current topic, the last two bikes I’ve built for Clunker 100 challenges have had pretty nice components — Cyclone derailleurs, Sugino cranks, decent Dia Compe brakes — but fairly mundane frames — a Takara and a mid-grade Centurion (see, on topic!). Both of those bikes were pretty pleasant to ride. Now maybe those frames were just better than I’m giving them credit for, but also maybe they just didn’t have the bad components dragging them down.
Now imagine you’re comparing an 80’s Trek with nice SunTour components to a 70’s De Rosa with Campy Nuovo Record components. With all due respect to the Italiophiles among us, the De Rosa is going to have a tough time proving a dramatically better overall riding experience.