Walter-

I hope you're right about steel becoming passe...

more cheap classic rides for those of us who enjoy them!

I have always resisted the temptation to buy a really expensive bike at retail. Even in times when I have the cash, it seems grossly self-indulgent, when I have a shed-load of nice bikes already. (not meaning that as a jibe at anyone else, you understand- it's merely an observation about myself).

I think the pleasure is increased when I reclaim and restore a nice frame that someone else has discarded/superceded. This pretty much rules out a lot of the Vitus and Alan alloy frames and the Peugeot carbon fibre stuff from the early 80's. Maybe it's the climate in northern europe, but I've never seen an example of one of these that I wanted to restore...too much corrosion, too many doubts about the jointing of the old CF frames. Maybe one day a really pampered one will present itself, but the sweet bikes that are more than 10 years old tend to be steel- I suppose it's statistically inevitable?