originalschwinn

Vintage is something that has aged ,a bike that is now 25 years old is vintage,a car becomes an antique after thirty,I agree that things prior to 1980 are considered vintage,you must proceed with the times ,as they are a changin!

Skip Magnuson

Ok, vintage is prior to 1980 - what is classic, or classic & vintage?
My 1983 Holdsworth seems more vintage than my 1971 Italvega - hummm.

cyclezen

Or maybe its just old wornout ****, like my stuff...

Classic = The Who - Live at Leeds Album...

Vintage = The turntable you're still playin the platter on...

Olde ****e = The bellbottoms you wore when you went out to buy the album at the local head shop, and still have in your closet...

oldcrank

That's a groovy far-out vibe man, and I'm diggin' it.

P.S. Original reel-to-reel tape collector here.

I think with bikes (and anything, I guess) the term vintage -- in and of itself -- should point more to a specific period of time that can be documented and dated. Classic, just by the very nature of the word, should mean something that has achieved a certain level of achievement and desire in an individual -- since there are times when something becomes an "instant" classic.

Something can be vintage, but not necessarily classic.

Something can be classic (as in instant classic), and not necessarily vintage.

And, of course, both, such as:

"A classic Raleigh Professional, vintage 1974"

I'm not sure if that is the correct way to use both words, but it seems like it should be (to me, anyway).

USAZorro

Vintage is in the eye of the beholder. My personal line falls around 1985 or so. A 23 year old (half my age) could reasonably consider something from about 1995 to be vintage. I don't think we gain anything by trying to make strict definitions.

T-Mar

I agree with USAZorro. The cut off point is arbitrary and personal. Many people use 20 years. Which means that we are to the point where bicycles with indexed shifting, lugless TIG welded frames and clipless pedals are achieving vintage status. However, I suspect a large number of forum members will never consider such bicycles as vintage or classic, regardless of how old they are or who made them.
.

Little Darwin

As soon as you look on eBay and see vintage 8 speed clusters, it challenges almost any definition of vintage bicycles.

My 1979 Suburban, in my mind, fits in as vintage easily. My 1989 Cannondale touring has 27" tires, and a freewheel (not cassette) so I can't get parts in many cases that are not considered vintage... so I call it vintage (although it is very similar to, maybe identical to, the current Cannondale touring frame).

I think (by usage) the definitoin is any bike that is old enough to not be of interest in one of the other forums.

Classic... well, I don't own anything I would consider a classic yet.

powers2b

Now that we are in the 21st century it's going to make the 20th century look like the 19th century did in the 20th century.

Enjoy

lotek 

Personal definitions

My 1974 RIH is both classic and vintage
the 1990 de Reus is classic (lugs, clean shorelines criterium geometry
albeit with a non classic paint job).

Better still is listening to Tommy on an AR turntable wearing
herringbone bellbottoms (do y'all get wistful seeing these younguns
running around in bells?) through a pair of Advent speakers.

Marty

alanbikehouston

Definitions can involve more than years. Methods of building, craftsmanship, materials are important. A bike with a hand-made lugged steel frame and fork, downtube or bar-end shifting, leather saddle and a leather saddle bag IS a "classic", even if you got it from Rivendell just last year.

And, I don't think a bike made with a "cookie-cutter" aluminium frame, cheapo carbon fork, and generic Shimano components will ever be a"classic"...like a 1975 Huffy, the bikes being built by the millions in communist Chinese mega-factories will simply go from being "new" generic bikes to being "old" generic bikes.

top506

I'd pick the old Bose headset myself......
Top
(who just discovered he could put his old vinyl on CD with the computer....)

wildjim

BOSE SUCKS!

No highs, No Lows it must be Bose.

Also Tommy is released on SACD. . .

top506

Ah, but oh so vintage! and classic!
Top

alancw3

in my mind vintage has to do with age and classic has to do with quality. a 1974 huffy is vintage but a 1974 bob jackson is classic!

lotek 

if we are talking phones I'd say stax run
through orpheus headphone amp (tubes of course).

Top, what did you use to get analogue into computer?
new board?
marty

John E

I still have my Tandberg 3000XD and 9200XD.

Little Darwin

The real question here, is which Tommy do you mean?

Both are vintage. But, in my opinion the original by The Who is classic.

John E

That's precisely what I had, along with a Harman-Kardon Citation IV preamp, a Citation V power amp, a Fisher KM-60 FM tuner, and a Uher 10000 tape recorder. You could heat the house with that old tube gear!

When my buddies and I redid the sound system at Wayfarers' Chapel, we couldn't resist installing Advent speakers and pointing this out to the senior pastor.

John E

This is somewhat arbitrary, but to me, a vintage road bike predates 1985, when indexed shifting became popular. For mountain bikes, "old school" reaches into the early 1990s, with evolutionary dead ends such as chainstay-mounted brakes. Everything I ride qualifies, of course.

The Capo is a "classic" because of its craftsmanship and ornate lugwork, and the UO-8 may qualify, simply because a whole generation grew up with Peugeot UO-8s.

top506

Marty;
Card as an imput jack. It's just a matter of patching together the right patch cords to go from my old Kenwood amp into the soundcard.
After that, nero and the software that came with the card takes care of the rest.
Top
(who has a Stanton headset as well)

Skip Magnuson

To me, when you say Tommy I think Tommy Dorsey - now that's both vintage and classic.

Little Darwin

That was before my time, but I have to agree. I love the Big Band sound!

luker

CR says the cutoff is 1982, unless you are referring to the Keepers of the Flame...which they have a very hard time defining. dunno what is the significance of 1982. I think any bike built by the hand of man is classic, and any one built that way is rapidly becoming vintage as well! (not to mention, exhorbitantly expensive, and with a really long waiting list, usually).

wildjim

I am sure the album "Tommy" by The Who is what is meant. The newly released SACD version is really something to hear.

Although it's not my time musically I purchased The Essential Artie Shaw; which I seem to like Swing more than I thought I would. Also many of the Eseential series of recordings are re-mastered by Vic Anesini and I believe he does a great job.

redxj

My table is from the 90's that isn't vintage. My preamp and amp are current, but with vintage technology TUBES BABY!!! The two pairs of speakers I switch between are definately vintage and are older than I am. I have a bunch of other vintage equipment around also.

I don't own a functioning vintage bike. I have one I stripped, but don't know if it will be built because of its BB situation.