It's almost inevitable that one of these threads is started (as the year dwindles and sputters to it's end). Did anyone notice any trends in 2017 in the realm of classic and vintage bicycling?

I seemed to have noticed fewer bicycles crisscrossing the bike path as I was out-and-abouting, but that could be said about all bicycles, including C&V stuff. I went to a single bike swap, geared toward vintage cruiser types... and attendance was way down. Most stuff available was still cruiser stuff, but vintage 10-speed type stuff was seriously lacking, both in quantity and quality. Everyone seemed to have an abundance of bikes, bike stuff, and unfinished projects already. So, all in all, I got hardly anything to report myself.

Don't know that I saw any trends in C&V per se. There is a big push here to increase bike commuting and safety, and that's a good thing. Lots of bikes out there. My only connection to the C&V world, if there is such a thing, is when I'm looking for parts of frames for my own bikes. Some prices seem to gone up and some formerly commonplace items seem to have gained in desirability. A few things have disappeared. (Where have the short valve stems gone???) Otherwise, no trends.

I'll disagree with Jim, prices are down. And nostalgia fades further, that trend won't go away. Millennials and Gen Z just don't have the same connection to bicycles. If you are in it for the money, the time is now to get out.

Yep - thinning the herd.

Have noticed that some of the hipsters have moved from fixed-gear to C&V, but too early to call it a trend.

gugie has become a phenomenon.

Bianchi, (prior to 2017 but still there), Masi and Raleigh Brands all have a "heritage" lugged framed model or two.
No idea as to how popular they are, the Bianchi seems to be prices very aggressively, the other two still expensive at about $2k, but there must have been reason enough to offer them.


I think there is a market for a pair of down tube shift levers that ratchet or retroflection and provide capability to gather enough cable for a 10-11 cog set and not have the lever move near 180°.
There is a product for those Chater-Lea guys.

Here’s my .02

-Vintage is spread across FB, Instagram and Pinterest with more added all the time
-130 spacing is a want with many vintage buyers
-80’+ models seem to get more likes (Cinelli, Colnago, etc) than older models. Not sure if this is because the older are seen as unattainable, not well preserved, unknown by younger group or if they just like the newer models
-The gap widened; Hearse, Hetchins, DeRosa, Cinelli etc are held and high priced. Lots of lower end stuff moving around. Clean bikes are a premium as always.
-Neo-Retro builds come up often
-Fancy paint or lots of color and adding panto makes a bike cooler (based on likes)
-Multiple small business for vintage are Euro based, Colnago has tons of bikes out there for sale and they do sell
-Don’t see much mention of CR
-T-Mar still knows more than the internet, Gugie is a phenom, Repechage is a mystery with an amazing stash and Juvela has lived a charmed life. He may be immortal and actually invented the bike.


I’m sure some of this has come and gone prior years, just what I see.

The market in vintage bikes sucks, so am buying more for my personal collection (and enjoying it!) but building fewer bikes to sell. Have added 5 to the collection this year, all of them gorgeous and desireable. At some point I'll have to sell them all off, but that's years away and I'll be too old to care by then.

Have been collecting more high end groupsets (e.g. Dura Ace 740X, NR, SR) and cherry picking the best available components. There's a lot of good stuff out there for the discriminating buyer.

Hungary and Poland are becoming exceptional sources for high quality, low mileage mid-late 80's components.

Regular ol mid range 10 speeds are no longer desirable. Touring bikes and the higher end stuff are holding on, but there's just not that many people that want a basic Japanese road bike.

I think this year is the first time mid to lower end vintage mountain bikes have become truly desirable. Prices are still pretty cheap but my instagram and websites are absolutely flooded with vintage Stumpjumpers, Bridgestones, etc with Compass RTP, tons of Nitto, swift industries bags, etc. Obviously the biggest thing in biking right now is adventure/gravel/touring/bikepacking/bike camping. These bikes are the perfect tools to do that and though prices have only shifted up a bit, they certainly don't stick around on CL.

Also anybody who's anybody has a Wald 137 on the front of their bike. I don't blame em I hopped on the trend too and it's awesome.

Oh and not C&V but it seems like a lot of advocacy and general pro-bike stuff is really being ignored. At least here in Seattle, almost nobody comments on the seattle bike blog anymore, and I wouldn't be surprised if viewing numbers plunged as well. The huge advocacy organization is almost invisible now, due to staff and vision shake ups. It's kinda sad, they were huge just like 3-4 years ago, and i did a lot of work with them but just from casual observation, they've almost disappeared. Barely relevant anymore. Would love to know if anybody's noticed similar trends elsewhere (and from other seattlites, maybe I'm just crazy!)

Excellent question. And excellent answers.

I certainly, as a younger C&V guy, see the C&V exposure a lot online (FB for me as I use it...mostly for bike stuff!). Vintage bikes as sales items are perhaps not strong as in years past, but there are people still out there who want one, and usually want one already built and tuned. Not many people looking for projects, or rather, tall frame projects.

High end Italian/Euro stuff continues to be high priced or even higher priced, bringing some slightly lesser frames with it. I continue to roll my eyes, and then buy high end American and Japanese products and have a blast.

Seeing a trend in bike sales/interest in newer bikes ('80s) rather than '60s-'70s makes sense as larger numbers of younger people enter the C&V market. The 20-25 year value lull picks up again, and perhaps older owners/fans of older bikes are either leaving that arena or have 'mature' collections and aren't looking for any more.

You are welcome for some of the neo-retro builds... Classic and classy look and feel with modern convenience and performance. I/we continue to reap the rewards of bike standards established in the '70s/'80s and continued to the early '00s.

I am seeing a huge surge in e-bikes, which could be cutting into the potential market for C&V commuter/beaters.

I agree with others regarding generational nostalgia. Demand for C&V may be falling off as we boomers go into retirement and beyond, so to speak, but supply is slowly declining, as well, since they don't make this stuff any more.

2nd time today I've seen "CR" mentioned, but what/who is it? Again, there's no FAQ here...

Classic Rendezvous, another forum and user group. They focus on very early stuff.

1983 and earlier, no resto-mods.

I'm about the only dope who likes the very early stuff.

E-bikes do a lot of good for a number of people, as we know, and I think they will continue to become more stealth in their appearance. Meaning it will be harder and harder to tell the difference between a standard (carbon) bike and its e-bike equivalent. That is something I will be a bit deflated about as an e-bike is a different animal than a normal (pure!) road/mountain/etc bike, and I want them to look different. The Pinarello Nytro gets pretty close to full stealth--and from a design and integration standpoint, it is remarkable and well-done--and while it's pretty cool on one hand, its a 'fake' or 'cheating' high performance road bike compared to a Dogma or similar...in my mind. It's not just the rider who can make it fast, but a motor, and that messes with my 'a bike is a elegant, simple, and human-powered machine' mental paradigm.

Companies can do (and are doing) what they want, and that's totally fine. It doesn't affect me, and my thoughts and opinions do not (nor should they) require any sort of "answering to," a sad trait in other people of my generation (and a little younger) who are indignant, arrogant, and entitled in their (often online) ignorance. But I digress...

Back to C&V, apparently some people are seeing this very youngest generation, fully in the digital (experience) world, have some of its members looking outside the digital world for 'real' and 'authentic' things and experiences. A nod or return to human nature (in this respect) if there ever was one. Hello, vintage bicycles! 2017 keeps these old steeds running with same or newer pieces, and we're another year closer to completing that generational bridge that allows some/many newer, younger people to cross back into eras past, with remarkable ease, and keep or bring some of that history forward. Who knows what they will combine it with, having never lived through past cycling 'golden eras'?

This has been my MO as well. Although I don't mind picking up something midrange now and then that is a steal and fun to clean up, I prefer higher and will spend for a sought after clean bike that is fair priced. But sometimes get them dirt cheap just by searching with vigilance and getting lucky.

Good observation as well. I am that guy too, I like road and early (pre 85') MTB and bullmoose. The vintage pre 88' MTB group on FB is a place I frequent.

There is some really nice unique older stuff. I believe sheer lack of volume play a parts as well as geometry and gearing. And they were a tool more than a statement so I believe there was not much concern to preserve. On other hand those that are nice are at a premium that few can or will pay for a bike. I like these as well but finding something is exponentially more difficult and then having to factor in wants and price make it tough. The 80s just produced so many nice modernish bikes. And MTB, and BMX.

One last thing. It seems Alan type bikes have dropped in value which makes me wonder where this will all go once the steel era is gone. As in next gen. Will they be ok with old carbon or will it just be specialty builders of which there are fewer bikes to choose. Will steel 70s-80s-90s continue to be sought after for a couple generations....

I saw far fewer C&V bikes on the MUPS this year (as compared to the last few years). I'd guess road bicycle popularity... has waned a bit. And with a decreased interest in cycling... the old bikes that were pulled out of storage for use last year (or the year before)... have been rehung in the rafters.

I also noticed far more women on bicycles. Sometimes even riding in groups as if training in a peloton. All modern bikes... of course... some very nice bikes as well.

The use of bikes seem more "sport" orientated than recreational.

I'm a cyclist who enjoys riding: riding for fitness, riding with friends, riding to unwind. Did I mention I'm a cyclist who enjoys riding? I rode 3800 miles this year and would double that if I was retired. I'm a cyclist formost but I also enjoy collecting bicycles. This year I added a Raleigh Roker gravel bike and finished the restoration of a De Rosa Professional. I also purchased a smart trainer which is an improvement over my prior stationary trainer.

My area has hundreds of active sport cyclist. Most are interested in the latest trends. Gravel events and gravel bikes are increasingly popular in Missouri and neighboring states. Gravel bikes do provide access to some scenic rural routes. It's a fun and interesting addition to regular rides that are limited to pavement.

I'm one of a few local cyclist who ride C&V bikes and I do so intermittently. I usually take a my De Rosa or Pinarello on group rides if I know the route includes long sections of rural chip-seal roads. The steel bikes provide a satisfying smooth ride that my carbon bikes can't match. On solo rides I'll take one of my C&V bikes with downtube shifters. Solo rides allow me to unwind and relive my early adulthood. I rode my Schwinn Paramount when I was a teenager.

However, there is a performance disadvantage while using a C&V bike with a group of younger riders who are fit. Most sport cyclist want the latest technology and lack the know-how needed to source and restore a C&V bike. They want the latest performance bike from one of the larger manufacturers.

I've reduced my C&V collecting activities but have no plans to sell any of my complete bikes. I'm satisfied with both the quality and variety of bikes that I own. I limit my C&V hobby to minor upgrades at this point.

I would fify to be just this:
However, there is a performance disadvantage with a group of younger riders who are fit.

Though we all try to stay fit I'm not so young any more. That's universal trend that will never go away!

Yes, being older is a disadvantage that I'm trying to mitigate.

I like the mid-1940s to early 1950s British Lightweights.
If the prices which components are sold for is a guide, my observation is that too much demand for quality items.

Yeah, what's the deal with that? When I'm looking on ebay there's tons of frames and components from Poland.

I've bought a few items recently from ebay sellers in Poland. I've been very happy with the transactions. And our mail carrier who has been a stamp collector for most of his life was delighted to see the stamps and ask for them. Of course we said yes.

[QUOTE=rccardr;20079351]The market in vintage bikes sucks, so am buying more for my personal collection (and enjoying it!) but building fewer bikes to sell. Have added 5 to the collection this year, all of them gorgeous and desireable. At some point I'll have to sell them all off, but that's years away and I'll be too old to care by then. /QUOTE]



I 2nd the Doc. And whoever mentioned = the re-issue of classic steel bikes with classic names & paint; which acknowledges vintage styling and appeal, but possibly hinders the used market.


The 'gravel grinding' growth with new bike sales is likely influencing vintage riders toward wider tires and all-road capability. (Or maybe the roads we share with automobiles are just viewed as less safe).


I've picked up 3 (maybe 4?) 1970's bikes this year for what I think have been generous prices; and only 1 frameset. I just like to ride them, so my standards for 'highly collectible and desirable' are much lower than others, certainly Doc's. My thing is original paint and as close to original spec as possible, but component exceptions are abundant.


My personal trend this year has sorta been away from racing-ish models, but still roadies.
Also, can foresee wider tires for 2 (maybe 3?) of the purchases from this year.
And I stopped looking for A Grail Bike - instead appreciating the 'bit 'o grail' in each of the one's I ride.

Well now I don’t feel so guilty as I have also picked up several really nice bikes this year at very good prices. In fact there has been a really nice one on my local CL (a rarity indeed) that has languished for a few weeks and I’ve been dragging my feet on chasiing it down. I am not hooked into a non-virtual (real?) cycling community so hard for me to note any real trend but I will concur that complete bike prices are way down but it seems that parts have not followed that trend, at least for Campy stuff which I tend to follow.