Shp4man

My wife bought me a subscription to Bicycling magazine as a gift. So I was reading it last night and found some recommendations for road bikes of different types, racing, recreational, touring. Anyway, the cheapest one was an aluminum framed Trek recreational one going for $700. It weighed 23.5 pounds.
I'm pretty sure my current favorite ride, a 1983 SR, weights at least 2 pound less than that. I traded a nice pair of black and yellow vintage California license plates for it. They were worth about $100 on ebay.
I guess that makes me a cheapskate, but I'm not a CEO or an investment banker, so...

Giacomo 1 

You can have quite a nice collection of C&V bikes from around the world for the price of one decent new road bike - made in China!

sailorbenjamin

Yeah, totally! I've never paid more than $200 for a bike and I've had some of the best. 531 with shiny paint even. I haven't tried a new bike but I can't imagine they'd be more fun than my Raleigh Competition. Faster maybe but funner? Definitely not prettier.

koolerb

The difference is the drivetrain. I've got older bikes with shifters on the downtube, and bar end shifters. But man, I just got a Giant Defy with 2012 Shimano 105 shifters and it is sweet. I think if I ever got lucky enough to find a good deal on modern shifters and drivetrain, and swapped on to an older good quality frame it would be just as good. Once you go STI it's tough to go back.

Popeyecahn

I remember drooling over an SR catalog back in high school (late 70's), I was riding a green Peugeot AO8 or UO8 I think (which was neat in it's own regard), but the SR bikes looked so fast and shiny. Never did get one. What color is yours, maybe I'll see you around town ;-)

Maybe, maybe not, it really depends on the rider. I had STI on my previous bike and now I'm faced with DT, and so far after 2 weeks solid I'm fine. I'm not a racer nor an aggressive road rider, so the advantages of STI over the simplicity and more thoughtful DT shifting methods are not worth the cost of changing over for me. I do like STI but I can manage without it, kinda like the new CX-5 I bought with a 6 speed manual.

auchencrow

I just did the math for all of my keeper bikes, and the average purchase price was WAY below that of an absolute bottom-of-the-bucket Wally world bike.

Secondly, I consider the appearance of most modern bikes and particularly their brifters as, well, you know...

rootboy 

I'll second that barf emotithingie. New bikes can gain no purchase in this heart.

eschlwc

bikes started getting ugly around '86. i blame bad '80s music (drum machines), valley girls, and miami vice.

rootboy 

Lascauxcaveman 

My Buddy With the Cervelo: "So, how many bikes do have, anyway?"
Me: "Lets see... thirteen that are currently rideable, and three more that are mostly complete, just waiting for parts or paint and time to complete them."
My Buddy With the Cervelo: "Man! And I thought I was nuts, spending $3000 on a bike!"
Me: "That's about twice what I've spent. So far. Total."

Shp4man

This is the SR. It has friction shifting, but is surprisingly easy- not a huge amount of trimming needed to prevent noise.

shoota 

+100 My cannondale is a brand new bike with the 9s Dura-Ace I just installed. Downtube shifters are fine for putting around but I'm not at that point in my life yet so STI it is for me

eschlwc

"putting around"? oh brother.

The Golden Boy 

I'm not above overpaying for what I want.

My next bike is going to be a custom made jobbie. It's going to be obscenely expensive. Just for the frame.

To me, it'll be the epitome of what I like about bicycles.

To the most of the bicycle world- it'll be undistinguishable from the stuff rusting out front of dorms all across the country right now.

Giacomo 1 

My thoughts exactly!

Lascauxcaveman 

My problem is I don't really know what I want. I think it's just "more time to ride." Maybe it's a $3000 carbon Cervelo. Haven't ridden one yet. But the idea of a 14-lb bike is intriguing. Although it sounds a bit like cheating to me.

ijsbrand

I actually prefer the long in the tooth Uniglide to the later Hyperglide -- but then I do not mind friction shifting. Chains last three times as long, the cogs in the rear cassette can simply be turned around once they are finally worn. It is a system made for the ages. Not as much a consumable is I am supposed to regard the drivetain components nowadays.

Sometimes factories happen to make something so good they quickly exchange it for a new model with more functions or supposed convenience, but actually of a lesser quality. To get sales going again.

bradtx

Shp4man, I remember reading the annual bicycle recommendations from various publications. I found it interesting to observe how different they usually were from one publication to another in the same year.

Old bikes are fun for me because, just like old cars, there's the owner's take on how a restoration or hot rodding takes form.

Brad

Gravity Aided

Used bikes are great. For one thing, until recently, I've never been able to find a commuter bike that worked for me. Gone through three or more before I found a Miyata CityRunner that I could finally tinker into submission. Same was true with tourers. Racer was okay right out of the bookstore basement I got it from. You'd never be able to try, let alone own, that many bikes new. Old bikes are a pleasant surprise. New bikes disappoint in some way.

iab

doncha know?

With the vast conspiracies, oligopolies, outright deceit and other shenanigans on ebay, the price of your vintage bike may reach 1/5 the cost of a new bike soon. oh. the horror.

The Golden Boy 

I know what you're saying.

Maybe if I were to ride a fancy pants carbon curvy bike- and I weren't afraid of it or the cost, I would love it and steel bikes would lose interest from me. On the other hand, I like old stuff. Old guitars, amps, stereos, suits... IMO, there's just so much more style involved with a "classic" or "classically inspired" horizontal top tube bike.

Is it actually wise to even consider contracting a build of elements that are on countless used bikes?

Probably not.

jimmuller 

There is one species of curvy carbony fancy-pants bike that appeals to me:
https://www.renovobikes.com/
Don't know that I want to spend for one just yet though, but man, it would be so cool to ride one.

kaliayev

It's funny that you rag on STI levers so much when non aero levers are probably one of the ugliest and uncomfortable components ever put on a bike.

T-Mar

I guess, so, if you want a collection of mediocre bicycles in fair condition. For one of the truly great C&V bicycles in excellent condition, you're going to paying close to the price of a new, good bicycle. Still, it won't perform nearly as well.

I'm as much a fan of C&V as anybody on this forum, but in my opinion there's no comparison to a modern bicycle. The C&V may win on visceral terms but a new bicycle wins, hands down, on performance. You're comparing apples and oranges. They're both fruit but that's about as far as it extends.

jimmuller 

?? With non-aero levers you don't get to match the colors between frame and cable housing! Where's the fun in just picking bar tape alone?