All of life is a trade off. I too am over 50, took a long time off from cycling, and got back in to it about a year ago. I made a few upgrades to my old Mercian steel frame and got back in to riding. I wanted something a little more modern so I picked up a used Al 2004 Colnago Dream. What a great frame. The set up is heavy by today’s standards, 20 lbs fully loaded, but it’s 4 pounds lighter than the Mercian and a whole lot quicker.

The nice thing about being over 50 is I do not have to worry about all the stuff that worries 30 year olds. If my bike suits me that’s all I need to worry about. I went with Colnago because they are a world class builder. My frame is a couple of generations back so I didn’t have to pay a whole lot of money for it. I also went with a two year old Campy Chorus set up, not a lot of carbon, but it too is perfect for me.

My one concession to old school was my saddle choice, I have a Brooks swift, it adds 1/2 pound to the bike but it is so nice on this old butt.

I have a down payment on a carbon frame that a group of us is buying from Pedal Force. With the current components I have on hand for it the bike should weigh in at 17.5 pounds. I’ll ride it for a while and see if I want to sell either it or the Colnago. It doesn’t worry me one way or the other.

Cycling over 50 is great! I can go fast when I want, I can cruise when I want.