Chris Chicago

that's really cool. I'm trying to picture it riding down the hill in the background.

non-fixie 

If I had that kind of money and had to spend it on a new bike, I would much rather have one of these than any carbon bike. I've always been impressed with the Miyata build quality. Come to think of it, I have a nice metallic red Koga-Miyata frame from the early 80's, and a nearly complete Dura-Ace 7400 group with brifters, so for a € 100 and some elbow grease I should be able to come pretty close.

Howard

The Mercian in the opening post is great - it'll be a classic for years to come. Thanks for posting it.


In a maybe-someday, possibly sort of way, I've been liking the Fluid Druid.
From Shamrock's site:

The Golden Boy 

That is spiffy.

noglider 

That Kvale is pretty special.

Aaron, the Marnati reminds me: have you been able to ride much lately? That Marnati must be calling your name.

mkeller234

Ah, very cool! Part of me wants to order one... but i'm not sure if I want to remove the decal and drill rivet holes. Either way, it's cool that they offer them!

As far as my trailer and bicycle matching, that was 100% pure dumb luck. I had the red bar tape long before I bought a red trailer. My jersey is the same color of red, again bought WAY before any of it. I just kept buying red things and eventually it looked like I had a plan all along!

JesusBananas

OP's Mercian wins this thread.


Those are quite the chainstays. It looks almost like an optical illusion.

Bianchigirll 

That is caused by the Guiness

1987

What about Japanese?
Araya Excella Sportif
Araya Swallow randonneur
https://www.araya-kk.co.jp/bicycle/

And as you know most Italian brands (both small and large) have classic frames in their line up. They tend to lean more to the golden steel era 70s - early 90s, than pure vintage old style.
The challange is to find a sport/race bike with classic or vintage look, that is mass produced by a larger company today (affordable) and also satisfies your demands. The other way around is very easy, contact a bike builder and make your custom dream bike.

And if you are looking for utility bikes with a vintage look, the choices are so many that it's hard to overview.

Catnap 

Catnap 

Catnap 

1987

Nice ones Catnap! Crazy stem one the last one, how about a another frame.

Fred B

Here are some more Japanese models:





https://www.cherubim.jp/product/r-2.html




https://www.cherubim.jp/product/v_sportif.html



https://www.cherubim.jp/product/tm_touring.html



Review - https://m.bikeradar.com/gear/category...im-piuma-45240

Catnap 

Here's a good post on custom builders in Japan: https://cyclemumbreeze.blogspot.com/2...-of-japan.html

also, that Panasonic I posted is a "demontable" which means the frame can be disassembled for travel like a Ritchey Breakaway frame. Yellow Jersey sells them for $1000 for a frame, fork, racks, and fenders.

Catnap 

I've been a fan of Ravanello for a while:





and Watanabe also makes gorgeous bikes:

gaucho777 

^That Ravanello is pretty. Hadn't heard of the brand before. I just wish the fork didn't look so inspired by the unicrown design.

noglider 

Wow, I like this stuff!

JesusBananas

Ah! How did I not notice! I like the bike even more now.

Chrome Molly

Did you just wheel that out of Nick's restaurant?

huckleberry1234

I am an author of older children's fiction and have been looking for a bike to match the personality of my 12 year old hero - a boy in a modern world living in a Mayberry esque town with a "vintage" mindset for action, adventure, and mystery - think a modern day Hardy Boy. I don't know ANYTHING about bikes but when I hit the web and came across this photo, it was an INSTANT match for what I had in mind for my hero. This bike is AWESOME. Can you tell me any more about it? I'd like to include a lot of detail in my manuscript. Although an inanimate object, this kid's bike will be his "sidekick" so I want to develop it almost as a character on its own. Any insight would be great. I want to see my protagonist on this bike on the big screen one day soon!

KonAaron Snake 

That boy better have rich parents.

I would suggest checking out the drop bar conversion thread for bikes that might be more realistic for an enterprising, young, relate-able hero. Stuff that looks more like a bike the kid inherited, or found, and, using his creativity and intellect, modernized/updated/tinkered with into becoming a suitable companion for the young rapscallion.

The bike above is one for a serious rider, experienced and versed in what he wants, willing to spend a lot of money to create his perfect ride. Many of the bikes on this thread have several thousand dollars and a life time of experience in them. Not exactly what I would think a young hero would ride.

jr59

In the land of super heroes, anything can be real. If you think it fits the bill. Then by all means make it fit the storyline.

Me I would use an old Schwinn continental, a yellow one at that, that he somehow made into a uber-lightweight rocket of a bike, by his own will power and wits!

But thats just me.

bikemig 

I'm not sure if this qualifies but I really like the way the bike rides. It's an Orbea made of columbus zona tubing, carbon fork, and campy chorus gruppo:

KonAaron Snake 

That's more along the lines of what I was thinking. Most kids don't have access to much money, and can't just have really nice stuff. They can be creative with what they do access. I think that model is more relateable and makes more sense to the narrative described above.

A kid who fixed his brother's old bike, or found something no one else wanted at the junk yard, and made it into a classic neo-modern bike using ingenuity and a DIY ethos makes more sense to me.