Slightspeed

I was going thru my Garmin reports this evening, and found that so far this year I rode my 1973 Raleigh Super Course 54 times, exactly the same as my 2011 Culprit Croz Blade. The Raleigh was recently restored from a bare frame alley find, and the Croz Blade I bought new with 10 Speed Di2, carbon everything and mechanical disc brakes. I rode both bikes 54 times, but the mileage for the Culprit was double the Raleigh mileage for the same number of rides. Lately the Raleigh has become my go to ride, because its just so darn much fun to ride. I do keep up with most of the ride group on their carbon, ultra new bikes. The best thing is when I get dropped on the Raleigh, I have a heavier steel, old bike, not enough gears, blah, blah, blah excuse. With the Culprit my excuse is that I'm just too slow!

Its all good, old or new, just get out there and ride. Love the old ones, love the new ones, love the one you ride with!

gaucho777 

Early 2010 is when I realized. I basically stopped riding around '91, and went all cycling Rip van Winkle for about two decades. Fortunately, I still had some of my old race bikes from back in the day. When I decided to get back in the saddle, I never considered making them modern or replacing them with new bikes. I only wanted what I remembered, and was turned off by the unfamiliar machines of the carbon, brifter era. I'm pretty easy going. Maybe more of a quiet retro-snob than a retro-grouch.

Rollfast

I'm not grouchy about anything, I just have three Rollfasts, a Schwinn and want a Shelby Traveler and Schwinn DX in the end. I'm pretty jazzed about that.

Cute Boy Horse

No, my 80s bikes are much better about this. Nowadays once you step up from Shimano 105 you get no mudguard eyelets at all unless you go for a "Cyclecross" bike, which will be massively more expensive. Over a thousand pounds more, comparing Trek's Crossrip to an Ultra 700AF.

southpier

when I realized the bike companies' goal is to market, and no way I was ever going to "catch up". probably 1974.

The Golden Boy 

For me, it started with guitars- around 30 years ago. I couldn't afford new stuff, so I got the old stuff. When I'd play new guitars, my stuff felt and sounded better.

Then I got to realize that it's not a blanket "old stuff is better," when I figured out that I like news bass amps, but still prefer older guitar amps. (As of like 10 years ago- since then modeling amps are so much better than they were...)

The "vintage" thing isn't about being "old" per se; it's about the characteristics of an object from when it was made. Yeah, some people desire an object because it's it's old, or because it's 32 years old- but I wanted a 1985 Trek 620 because it was THE bike that had the characteristics that I wanted.

Maybe it's because the stuff I like has a certain style- but where an Ultegra 6600 RD looks about as "classic" as an 80s RD- a 6700 does not. I suppose to many, the stuff I like looks "old." Oh well, I dig it and it's mine.

SJX426 

2008 after nearly 3 decades of no serious riding. At that point all I had was a 1972 Le Champion with 13-21 block that I bought used in 1973 and a RockHopper I bought new in 1998 as a 1997 leftover. The latter was bought because I fancied riding off road and because the gearing was much lower.

The people I worked with were riders. The Manager of the group did 3-4K a year on his Jamis. He and another gentleman in the group encouraged me for over a year to start riding to work. I finally did in that year with the goal to get in good enough shape to ride the Le Champion in. For those of you that live in the Portland OR area, I lived near the top of 185th off Farmington Rd in Aloha. To get up that road on a bike requires the newspaper boy route.

Since I was contracting and had a couple of rough years financially, money was not available for investing in bikes. Besides, the Le Champion was the grail bike for me in 1973 and was still that at the time. Didn't need more. I had "upgraded" to Superbe brakes because I drank the kool aid of "Campy side pulls are better." The rear barely reached.

Then I joined BF and started to appreciate C&V since I had one. I decided to convert back to the MOD 61's and found two had full of parts at one of the bicycle recycle shops over on 17th. Like $2 for a caliper and $5 for a pair of levers.

When the accident happened in 2009, BF had already convinced me that Collage was one of the grail bikes I should have. While my arm was still flopping around trying to heal, I found one in Hood River, of all places, and bought it.

Every engagement with BF has sucked me deeper into C&V. My desires is to get something in the early 50's with period correct changers. Don't know how that is going to happen.

Grouch? Well it has more to do with being over 65 and witnessing the degradation of American society (IMHO) during my life time. With moving to Virginia in 2011 and exploring historic sites, both revolutionary and Civil War, along with founding fathers homes and history books of about the period, I have grown to appreciate the history to a greater extent than ever in my life.

So I guess my attraction to C&V Bikes and "stuff" is more associated with what I thought was reality for that time in my life. Quality was a driver, represented by effective, efficient and adaptable designs. Much of those attributes exist in todays product offerings but they are not cost effective for the higher end stuff, not that $2000 custom bikes were in 1972.

As was implied above, the consumer has asked for what is available to day at the prices that exist, otherwise they wouldn't be there. We, as a niche market, are unique. Hurray for the culture of freedom our founding fathers were able to create, to help us question everything.

Andy_K 

I live about a mile from there (just off of 170th, south of Farmington) and have never ridden up that hill. Kudos to you for getting re-started with cycling while living there.

musicdiver

I was born in the mid 80's, so I've ended up with an 'at least about as old as me or older' bike preference not out of nostalgia but just an inclination towards the aesthetic found in a lot of 'old' workmanship. I may also be afflicted with a bit of hipsteritis (woe us millennials.) I'm not totally a retro-grouch though. I like the look of some newer bikes and if the comfort or functionality is really superior, well... I recently swapped for TRP RRL aero levers on my tourer.

But I suppose I do suffer from a kind of romantic notion about things that predate me. I like antique furniture and vintage clothes too - they often combine affordability and functional workmanship with flourishes no one bothers with for today's made-in-China products designed to fall apart. I'm not into speed as much as distance. I like photography too - capturing pretty lugs in the golden hour light (even if they're connecting heavier tube sets ) wins out over lumpy modern welds.

johnnyace 

It was when CDs, and later, digital music, replaced vinyl records.

OH WAIT, wrong forum!

I guess it was about when index shifting, aluminum/carpet fiber became commonplace. And back then (the 80s), I was still in my 20s. I don't believe the term "retro-grouch" was coined yet, so perhaps it was just "curmudgeon." But I think in your 20s, you're still too young to be a proper curmudgeon, so perhaps this necessitated the coining of the term "retro-grouch," haha.

Anyway, I digress.

Any future bikes for me will most likely be classic, but not vintage (other than the 1983 Trek 720 on the way). My newly acquired VO Polyvalent frameset will be built using new gear, in classic style, and no vintage/used parts. The first acquisition I have is the SunXCD rear derailleur. I have ideas about the rest of the build, but nothing set in stone yet. It will feature an 8-speed cassette, and no more.

mstateglfr 

Reasons why I retrogrouch

- I like the look of steel tubes.
- I like the look of lugs, even though I own a couple tig'd bikes.
- I enjoy working on my bikes and the simplicity of BSA bottom brackets, QR dropouts, straight head tubes, steel tubes, etc makes it easier and requires less overall tool inventory.
- I dont personally find value in the new expensive bikes.
- I LOVE the history of bicycle design, bicycle marketing, history of globalization of manufacturing, and all that basically stops in varying years of the 90s when so many brands are sold to holding companies(Raleigh, Nishiki, Centurion/Diamondback, Univega, Mongoose, Fuji, Schwinn, etc). Since thats 25 years ago, give or take, I tend to gravitate to bikes made up to about the mid-90s.

All my frames but 1 are steel. The 1 non-steel is a quality aluminum Mongoose MTB frame from the early 90s.


With all that said, I do like some (relative) new tech as it allows me to ride more.

- compact crank- I have 2 old school Sakae cranks that I turned into compact doubles for 80s road bikes. These allow me to use the bikes A LOT more since I dont need to pass over them when going on challenging rides..
- STIs- I have some 9sp Ultegras on an '87 Miyata and love them. STIs arent new tech, obviously, but they arent retrogrouch.
- Gevenalle shifters- I have them on a gravel bike and love them. Old tech meets new tech. simplicity of bar end shifters and friction front derailleur mixed with 11sp rear.


No interest in disc brakes on road bikes.
No interest in a full carbon road bike.
No interest in Di2.

I ride a couple times a week with a diverse mix of people- I am the only person out of 15-20 on a steel frame. I am the only person with shifters from the last century. I am the only person with derailleurs from the 80s.
Its interesting to see the vibration dampening systems that Specialized, Trek, etc are using in their frames and handlebars. Its interesting to see the Di2 set up. But I dont lust for any of it. That stuff is completely academic to me. Learned, understood, and now stored for me to most likely never use.

FrenchFit 

I actually gave away my $3300 (msrp) Spesh Roubaix 'cause I hated it. I am happier riding one of my old steel bikes, or even my '72 ten speed.

Yes, total retro-grouch and not a bit ashamed. I have a couple of Win 10, i5, 360 machines but I prefer working on XP Pro and the 2003 version of MS Office...for good reason.

Optimization is not my thing, simple & good is good enough. More complex, more trouble...and please get off my lawn.

Dfrost 

I'm pretty sure it was May 21, 2000...



+1's to many of the excellent commentaries in this thread.

I'd returned to cycling several years earlier after divorce in 1992, and the discovery of the thriving bicycling community in the PNW. Got a lovely Klein that I'd lusted over in my earlier cycling years following a brief exposure to racing in the 70's, while the Miyata that I bought after the racing bug died (and the Masi sold) languished in dust and cobwebs.

My retro-ish revelation came as I was getting an old and even more odd-ball then usual Counterpoint tandem up and running to share with my adolescent daughter so we could tour with wife and teenage son (on singles). I discovered: Sheldon Brown and his website; Recycled Cycles and their many bins of used parts, particularly the cassettes; and the adaptability of steel frames.

Those factors coalesced to reveal that the bike and component manufacturers were increasingly working toward shorter life spans and systems designed for racer-like aspiring riders, of which I clearly was no longer a member. In particular, Sheldon revealed that perfectly fine cassettes could be assembled from loose cogs that had the gearing that worked for my pedaling style.

With the evolution of my Klein over a decade including long and faster group rides as well as a few European credit-card tours, I'd developed a great appreciation for the versatility of sports touring-type bikes, the precision and adaptability of Sachs Ergo brifters, and the benefits of dual-pivot brakes with the comfort and power of hidden cables. So I'm not fully embedded in true retro.

When my wife presented me with the fabulous gift of a replacement Masi, fine lugged steel thoroughly cemented my retro-ness, albeit with those 8-spd Ergo brifters. It's no longer in the fleet, having given way to a Rivendell Rambouillet, which in turn caused me to dig out and rebuild that old Miyata for the third time. The Riv is also gone, my son enjoys the Klein (but says he'd love a classic lugged steel sports tourer bike some day). My two lugged steel and Ergo'd bikes are thoroughly used and loved.

Thank goodness for the various sources, new and used, out there that still support all our varied levels of retro-ness!

due ruote 

When I was a youth, my mother, a Depression baby, taught me this one:
Mend it, fix it, wear it out;
Make it do or do without.
I enjoy working with my hands, and I prefer items that were made to last, albeit with an occasional repair and responsible maintenance.

Mechanicjay

I'm a retro guy, not only Bikes, but cars, computers, pretty much anything.

I'm a software developer by trade. When I leave my office, I'm not interested in existing in a world of high-technology, but one a little more grounded in reality.

Also, as others have mentioned, durability is really important to me. I'll be able to rebuild/refurbish the old SunTour components on my bike, probably for the rest of my natural life. This gives me satisfaction at a deep level.

gugie 

And I have been to @Andy_K's house a few times. Once we started a ride from there after I drove over. We got off and walked up the hill back to his house. That's some steep stuff!

gugie 

This.

As compared to chucking a part and buying a new one because, you know, it's newer, so it's gotta be better.

philbob57

Maybe 1952, when I started to become aware that people were lying about all sorts of things to get me to buy their crap, either literally or figuratively. November n*** political content avoided ***.

jj1091

I'm certainly into retro, but not grouchy about it. I worked in the telecom industry for 30+ years as a fiber-optic systems designer and project manager. My cellphone is an LG flip-phone via TracFone which I've had for over 5 years. Costs me $7.00 a month. In 1986 I got my home-office desk phone which is a 1940's Western Electric bakelite rotary-dial phone, which I refused to quit using when my telco quit supporting rotary service. I just built a little separate box with a touchtone pad and guts from a junk princess phone and wired it in-line to my rotary. I still maintain a regular home phone. Of course, it has wireless handsets. I'm not That retro.

All my bikes are Peugeots, a '71, a '74, and a '75. This says I'm retro, but you'd know I'm not grouchy about it or all my bikes wouldn't be Peugeots, would they?

My toaster is a Sunbeam model T-35 from the late 50's, rounded chrome with the bakelite handles. I like it because it has that advanced feature that allows you to put the bread in and then it automatically goes down by itself without me having to push down on anything. I guess I'm grouchy because I don't like to push down on things. Now that I think about it, that's the second thing I'm attached to that's made of bakelite. Maybe it's the bakelite I'm after. Maybe that's why I only own Peugeots, it's that Delrin stuff, sorta like bakelite, but crumbly. Maybe when I was a kid I chewed on some bakelite, and liked it. I don't know. I know I'm not grouchy.

My current car is a '90 Olds Cutlass Ciera, 4-door, 3.3L V-6. The one before that was a '91 Buick Century, 4-door, 3.3L V-6, which is the same car as the Ciera, just a different badging. The one before that was a 1996 Olds Cutlass Ciera, 4-door, 3.1L V-6. And guess what? The one before that was a 1995 Buick Century, 4-door, 3.1L V-6. So, I've had 4 cars in a row since 2005, and they were all the same basic car. I'd say they were highly dependable, but then why have I had Four of them, in 12 years? In cars, having had what I've had years before certainly makes me retro, but I'm not grouchy about it. The most I paid for one was $1200. I've tried to analyze what attracts me to this particular car, and pondering this, I realize I have a fondness for the coil assembly these cars have in their motors. There's 3 separate dual-coil-packs for the 6 cylinders. It's an interesting concept. The 3 coil-pack assemblies are made of a sort of plastic-like material that, oh wait, looks like bakelite.

It must be the bakelite. Apparently that's what keeps me from being grouchy. Doesn't keep me from being nuts, though.

DMC707

When the shop who sponsored my race team early on sold Cannondales, but I rode a DeBErnardi ---- honorable mention would be when I dismantled my first ergopower brifter set to take out the shifter mechanism , so I could run ergo style brake levers - (comfy) - and I went back to downtube shifting
-- I was the "steel is real" guy - way back when (95ish 96ish )

RiddleOfSteel

I heartily agree. I am a total hot-rodder. I like the look and ride of the old stuff, but give me faster, more easily reliable shifting and better overall performance and I'm a majorly happy camper. In car land, this is basically like a Pro Tour version of a '60s/'70s car. All the cool look of old with much better performance all around.

And to your new bikes, ride everything point (more so), there is a 2016 Trek Emonda ALR6 (bought as a frameset last year) in my fleet, originally bought for a weight weenie build, built it to 16.25 lbs with a bunch of 7800 Dura-Ace components and cheap+light Vuelta wheels. Didn't connect with it ride-wise, stripped it, and put it up for sale. No one was interested in a 62cm frame for a great price, even as light as it is (the Emonda is Trek's ultra light bike line). Built it up just the other day with mid-school 7700 Dura-Ace parts, some 7800 parts, 6500 Ultegra brake calipers, and wheel take-offs of a 2016 Raleigh Record Ace (wider 23mm rims) with a Campy freehub (Shimano 9s shifts it perfectly). Some nice used tires for super cheap and the thing is dynamite! Totally transformed. No wonder it won the awards it did. Looks good, rides good, flippin' MOVES when you get on it.

grayEZrider

I am most certainly. After a lifetime working on and coping with computerization of motorcycles, building automation systems and office systems I'm now retired and absolutely love the beautiful simplicity and blending of art and science that bicycles are. Learning new things every day while working and riding C&V (in my man-cave known as the "Gone Fishing Bike Shop", with no open sign!) is a joy and I'm keeping it that way by the KISS method. High tech is not the answer to everything.

ollo_ollo

Not sure when regarding bicycles, but at an early age I appreciated retro.

Don't think I'm a grouch yet, but not tolerant of fools, either. I've always appreciated quality tools and machinery and have a workshop full of power tools from the 30's, 40's and 50's plus some 19th and early 20th Century hand tools. I also make my toast in one of those Sunbeam elevator models we've had forever, so there you go.

I'm still in shock, suffering a bit of retro withdrawal after agreeing with Mrs. ollo that I had too many cars. I put my two, old, Mercedes up for sale a few weeks ago.

Each sold at my asking price in less than a day! Guy who bought the diesel didn't even test drive it, just looked it over, started it up, then said I'll take it. There are more of us retro types out there than I thought. This is worse than when I sold my tractor. Now I need another C&V bike to ease the pain, or I may become a grouch. Don

texaspandj

My retroness begins and ends with a vintage steel frame.
My grouchiness started when I got old.
To the OP question of when? I'd have to say once I realized I could still get Dura Ace 7400 after 1999 (thanks ebay).

fietsbob

When I had no desire to keep up with buying the latest whiz-bang gizmos the Industry was pushing on consumers.

Looked, then, at The IGH designs like Rohloff, fully engineered at the beginning and left be.

S-A 3 speeds have been reliable, repairable , for all 70 years of my life..

Recently noted ; the NIG in the BSR.. is better,
and their plastic shifter, Brompton over the bar,
so much better, lighter action,

than steel trigger and 94 era AW3. in shifting ease..
especially down to 1st.










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