Anyone remember the old days riding a 10 speed for thousands of miles no flats, no broken chains no broken anything. Are the bikes and hardware getting cheaper or are there more worry warts out there now. Between my 2 - 10 speeds I went through and a few Stingrays which I think I pioneered Mountain Biking with in the 70's I never even had a flat. I used to swap out tires for different riding conditions and seasons. Chopped a few bikes. Stripped my bikes down to frame and painted them. Made a few single speed wheelie machines!! Brakeless of course. Riding in water, mud, crashes, this, that, no problems at all. Are the new road bike that fragile? I have a Trek 7100 Hybrid that I have been riding for a few years now and it's a tough bike. Do I need to worry about the fragility of the new road bike I am getting???

Regards T

What road bike are you getting?

Are you getting it on Saturday?

Maxx. Not this Sat, next Sat. Yes. Oh yeah,, Who Runs Bartertown????

T

Masterblaster runs bartertown but Auntie runs masterblaster. Everyone knows that


Two men enter, one man leaves.....

tonphil1960, it depends on what you have in mind for the new bicycle. Keep in mind you probably no longer weigh seventy-five pounds, so that will also have an impact on durability.

It was hard to destroy a 40 pound bike.

The most notable shift (no pun intended) toward fragility is the chain. The narrower chains just don't last as long as their ancestors from the ten speed (five cog) era.

In collage--years and years ago--almost everybody commuted by bike. Some people rode fancy 10 speeds with nice light wheels. I rode a Schwinn Continental which was built like a 40 lb tank. When I got into the inevitable collision with another bike, their bike was usually bent up while mine was still ticking.

Unless you are into racing or maximizing performance at all costs, avoid a feather-light bike. My 10kg Bianchi and 11kg Capos are durable, practical, and light enough for all normal purposes. I don't miss the "good old days" -- I ride them!

Yeah, it just ended a couple of months ago. Only it was my 15 year old Specialized Hard Rock that went thousands of miles without a flat and without needing any other repairs. Then one rainy night it had a flat. Luckily the leak was slow enough that I still made it home.

I remember a couple of flats back in the good old days,1960's as a kid. I learned how to patch a tube by watching the guy at the gas/service station fix the flat on my bike. Remember when car tires had tubes?

My road bike is pretty light and it is 14 years old with thousands of miles. It did get a new rear shifter (plus upgrade to 9 speed) when the old shifter wore out.

As far as I am concerned, many road bikes are just as strong as most mountain and hybrid bikes.

if you're buying a bike new for 600 or more, no I'd guess. Used ???? I'm impressed with most road bikes sold at LBSs. I DO remember the old days. The new days are better,on every level ,the bikes and most certainly the tires that is.

Maxx,

Deal? What Deal ???? I know the law, wasn't it I that wrote it, and the law says ,,
Bust the Deal Face the Wheel !!!!!!!!! Gulag, Gulag, Gulag

T

Oh God....The Old Days?

Over tightend cotters on cranks, impossible to remove freewheels on 5 speeds, ALL STEEL Construction. RUST! (Sorry I live in the Salt Belt in NY State) Yes, I had a lot of fun on my Schwinns, Huffys and god know what brand name import in the early 70's. I think the parts and the control we have on a bicycle today are much much better. I do miss seeing someone that really know how to shift a bike with friction shifters of any sort. There are many things that I miss, but there are many more great things to praise on some of the new technology that has come into cycling in the past 20 years.

Now if I could just pry out those old batteries out of the Tank Horn on that old Schwinn......

Chris

But................."remember, no matter where you go, there you are."

I have only one bike with cottered cranks. Everything else either came with cotterless or got converted by me or by a previous owner. Components have improved over the years, but indexed shifting offers little if any benefit on the rear shifter and a huge penalty on the front, where it removes the ability to feather the cage position. I do concur that freehub/cassette systems are superior to screw-on freewheels, but not enough to make me rush out and replace everything I own. I also refuse to use period brake pads and cables, preferring salmon KoolStops and low-compression housings for safety reasons.

Ah, cottered cranks--sure don't miss those! I disagree though that indexed shifting isn't an improvement for the RD--especially while climbing. Right with you on the FD, though--I'm going to convert my FD to friction one of these days. Don't hate the front indexing enough to make it a top priority, mind you--but it's on the list of "Things To Do To Make Everything Perfect". My dual pivot DA brakes with salmon KoolStops also work better than any other brake I've used.

My friction shifters helped immensely with climbing mountains last week. I was able to remove my Campagnolo rear derailleur and replace it with a Shimano MTB rear derailleur which could handle the 34 tooth cog on my Megarange freewheel. Try that with indexed shifters!

Hmm!

In MY good old days, we rode single speeds, and if you were lucky a Hercules English bike with a 3 speed Sturmey Archer.

Ten speeds were from France, and only a few even knew about them, and lesser rode them.

But then, I am old enough to be your father!

The bikes that stick in my mind are a 5 Speed Ross Stingray style I had, I still have the reciept for it, 39.99. I rode that bike for many, many years, it was chopped, sissy barred, made single speed, made into a dirt bike, back to road. Loved that bike. My Bro had a Raliegh 5 Speed big cushioned squared off Banana style seat, with the 6 inch or so padded Sissy bar. A buddy had an Iverson 3 speed. I then graduated to my Royce Union 10 speed " English Racer" with a Brooks saddle no less. Wish I would have saved that one to this day.

T

Funny you should mention that weight- I have a variety of bikes. The road bike wighs 19lbs. The Bianchi MTB hardtail is 24lbs and the 13 year old Kona Explosif weighs in at 25. I did have a custom rigid MTB that weighed in at 21lbs and that was fast. Forget the Offroad Tandem as that is 58lbs in ride trim but I do not ride that solo too often. All of these bikes ride well and ride light.

I offered to check out a colleague at works bike as he has had it for many years. Bought it home tonight and it is an immaculate Muddy Fox MTB of about 10 years of age. It was a give away with a Ford commercial vehicle- and this colleague bought one. As I rolled it out to the car-I thought I had better check it out and rode it up the road. It felt sluggish., Then I lifted it onto the rack. That bike is heavy. Got the scales out and YEP it is a 40 lb bike. Give me my modern 24lbs Bianchi anyday.

It's not the age of that bike that makes it a 40 lb. piece of crap, it's the 40 lb. piece of crapidness of it. New 40 lb. piece of crap bikes are just as bad as old ones.

You have a way with words, Sir.

I just went from friction shift bar-ends to Sora brifters on my commuter. 11-34T MegaRange 8 speed, DeoreLX rear, Tiagra front, Suntour 28-38-48 crank. Everything functions quite well. So I guess I don't understand your comment about indexing with such a setup.