Kommisar89

I must say I was a bit saddened yesterday. It was a beautiful day, sunny and 60 degrees, and I decided to head out for a ride with the local bike club. About half way through the ride we stopped to let some stragglers catch up and while we were there an older rider, mid 60s perhaps, approached me. I knew already that he was a very strong rider, probably stronger than me, and was on a very new carbon fiber racing bike with Ultegra gear and wearing the kit of a local racing club. I was on my Bottecchia Gran Turismo. "Nice old antique bike" he said as he came over. We started talking and he mentioned that he had just "gotten rid of" his first bike, a 1961 Armstrong. "Yeah", he said, "I rode it in all but 6 states in the US and raced it in Europe, put a lot of miles on that bike. Rode it until 1987 when I bought a Trek with carbon fiber tubes". I suggested he might have hung something like that on the wall if he didn't ride it anymore. "No", he said, "It was beat. I paid $185 for it in 1961 and parted it out for $850". My heart sunk. I wish I had my first bike. He did mention that he still had the Trek though he didn't ride that anymore either. He said he bought a new bike every 3-4 years now. And he marveled at how well the new 10-speed Ultegra shifts - much better, he said, than the old 9-speed.

I guess not all oldtimers are nostalgic.

Ragooch

To some it's more about riding than bikes. Most actual racers I know (whether automobile, motorcycle, or bicycle) have very little sentimental attachment to their old equipment. It was always about getting the latest and greatest and going faster. It's totally understandable.

A lot of the folks that are completely besides themselves over old racing bikes have never really pedaled one in anger, in which case a lot of the shortcomings are not as evident.

thenomad

you feel bad that he had an old bike, used it, and then was able to part it out for $850!? That guy knows the "true value" of the machine as far as I'm concerned. He rode the piss out of it, then knew it was a valuable asset and capitalized on it by selling it off to others who would appreciate it. Better than all these others who don't ride and let their machines rust away on the patio or garage... vowing they'll use it some day and make sure nobody else gets to rescue it.

Hey, he bought the latest and greatest then... why not now.

But I feel you, I'm the only one on steel on my weekend rides and the day I can kick one of these "old guys" butts up the hill I'll know I'm finally in 'good' shape.

triplebutted

I never missed much of any of my racing bikes. I mean, I miss them but I wouldn't go out and re-buy them again: Viner, Somec, Cannondales, Vitus. I can't even remember half of them. I did save my Gios though. Its pre-1980 and belonged to a someone kinda sortof famous so keeping it.

cudak888 

So? He parted it out and sold it. Someone else can appriciate it now. Nothing wrong with that.

Now if he had chucked it in a tip, you'd have a different story to tell.

-Kurt

Chris_in_Miami

Last weekend I met a guy who did the opposite - raced his old DeRosa for years, then moved on to aluminum and carbon. Ultimately he restored the DeRosa, dumped the modern kit, and now all of his and his wife's bikes are steel.

John E

I never graduated past about 1980 with road bikes and 1990 with mountain bikes. Unless you are racing, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a nice mid-to-high-end lugged steel frame with 32- or 36-spoke aluminum rims. I love the look and feel of classic road bikes, either 1960 vintage for comfortable long rides or 1980 vintage for climbs and sprints.

Sirrus Rider

"A fool and his money are soon parted" It's pretty obvious that Old timer bought into roadie elitism of "newer is always better."

Bianchigirll 

did you happen to mention that you Bottecchia was built by a skilled craftsman and was painstakingly and lovingly rebuild by you? as opposed to his carbonfiber thingie which was made by unskilled underpaid communist workers in china? or as the Navy Admiral in Dr Strangelove might say "Commie Stooges" LOL

also there is the mysterious death of Mr Bottecchia to ad a air of mysique about the bike.

OH yeah it rides alot better too

Doohickie

I really don't get why people get emotional about an old bike that someone else owns.

steppinthefunk 

I would have been saddened as well. But we can't take it out on the guy, nostalgia is only beat in impracticality by love.

ldmataya 

Cheer up D! Almost every time I ride my Giro d'Italia in a group I get positive comments, often by young people. One young kid was amazed that I was riding it on a hilly century ride. We got to talking and he was pretty convinced he needed to own and ride a bike like it some day. So - I predict - your Bottecchias will soon be all the rage. The new hip bike!

z90

Uh, I think you missed this part of the story?
"It was beat. I paid $185 for it in 1961 and parted it out for $850"

lotek 

I agree 100%. for a racer, at any level, cat5, cat1 or masters, the bike is a tool. Lance had it right it's NOT about the bike.
If I were racing you bet I'd have the most modern, lightweight plastic & Carbon fiber bike I could afford. That said I'm not racing so I ride what I enjoy. I have no problem with modern bikes or components, I'll probably be converting one of my old steel frames to modern 10speed soon.
And if the guy turned his used $185 investment into $850 more power to him.

Marty

Picchio Special

Marty, for the most part I agree with your post. Just want to point out that bikes are frequently compared to tools, yet if you hang around people who are skilled with tools for very long, you find that not all of them consider tools to be as interchangeable and disposable as some people consider bikes these days. Some do - the people who fix cars now probably don't cry too much when replacing a diagnostic machine.

I was at the shop of a guy this past Saturday who makes Pennsylvania longrifles that are spectacular. He mentioned that many folks 200 or 250 years ago used simple yet quite effective weapons. Others whose life sometimes depended on their equipment would seek out a particular gunmaker to have something made that was very elaborate. Yes, it was a tool, but one from which some skilled users apparently derived aesthetic enjoyment. A matter of personal preference of course, but I wanted to make the point that we often draw a distinct line between the aesthetic and the purely functional that other times and other cultures don't feel constrained by. Which is not to say, either, that contemporary bikes aren't aesthetic objects. In fact, given that most high-end bikes don't really differ significantly in terms of performance, I think aesthetics do factor in to many purchasing decisions. It's the rate at which marketing drives obsolesence that creates the idea that last year's tool is no longer suitable.

riva

Good thing too, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford these things!

RFC

Get a grip. Too much sensitivity. It's just an old bike. Really, in the great order of things, that's all it is.

cudak888 

Why does it pain anyone here for someone else not to appriciate these machines?

So long as they don't drew them or chuck 'em in a tip, I'm satisfied.

Let them pass this stuff on to someone who will appriciate it, like C&V. If it weren't for a whole bunch of "unappreciative" Craigslisters and yard sale folk, we wouldn't be able to acquire these machines in the first place.

Let it go, for God's sake, let it go. We've had enough of Whine Central on C&V recently.

-Kurt

Kommisar89

I'm not saying the guy should still be racing the old bike or even riding it. But if it were me it would hanging on the wall in my shop or garage just to remind me of some of the good times I had with it. To each his own I guess. Like cudak888 points out, if people didn't get rid of their old stuff there wouldn't be anything for us to collect

RogerB

If I have a bike gathering dust, then I need to get rid of it. Hopefully it gets re-used, either whole or in part. Much better than going to a landfill.

Here's another thought. My first "real" bike is hanging in my garage right now. I don't really think of it as a classic. It's more like my 20-year-old bike that doesn't quite fit my body or riding style any more. It's a nice bike. I hope my son can use it, if it fits him. If not, it's got to move on. Too much crap in my garage.

RFC

+1 And, with limited supply, the prices would be much higher and you guys might actually have to ride new, lighter, and more efficient bikes.

randyjawa 

Your comment borders on being profound. I will enter this into my ongoing evaluation of life. Thanks.

i-timy

after calculated for inflation, $185 in 1961 = about $1300 in 2010.

noglider 

My riding partners don't understand my love for old bikes, either. Oh well.

Kommisar89

There is something broken with that calculator for bikes - I remember it calculating that $500 in 1972 would be about $2600 today. But $500 in 1972 would buy you a really sweet top of the line racing bike. $2600 today barely gets you into mid-range. You'd have to spend more than 5 times that much to get top of the line bike today. Hence why I don't own a new top of the line racing bike.