Yippeee! I'm old school! ;)

Amen!

Older school scholars know that bicycles are for riding, not looking at or collecting, and don't give a darn about old school vs. new school, or vintage vs. New Age artsty-fartsy aesthetics as it applies to bicycles.

So what your saying is that you ride carbon?

so....1988-ish?

I'm glad I don't live in world that values function exclusively over form. How terribly dull that would be.

Is that why bicycle helmets have such big holes in them?

As for "Old School" my first bike that I bought with my own money earned from a paper route was a C.Itoth
ten speed (that's 2 x 5 for you kiddies) with downtube levers and chrome steel rims. For those who have never
ridden on steel rims what that meant was when it rained, as it often does, it took half a block for the brakes to
grab on the wet rims, unless there were deep puddles when you would have to look for soft spots to crash on for
"stopping power".

Rim brakes have something like 1% braking power when the rim is wet. Sometimes it feels like I'm going to snap the brake cable because I'm squeezing the brake lever so hard.

Are you riding steel rims? I remember my Schwinn Varsity having no braking power when wet, but when I got a new bike with aluminum rims, wet braking power improved drastically.

It might be worth creating a new thread to gather ideas about how to improve braking on wet rims. I don't know why one bike might be OK and another not, but the experts might have some ideas to share.

I'm old school, but I will tip my hat to modernity in some cases, one of which is alloy rims.

Truth.

I was replying to Waxbytes. He was talking about how steel rim's braking capabilities were lacking, and I was sharing my experience in agreement.

Also, I don't think alloy rims would be considered "modern". They've been around since the 80's. Maybe I'm wrong.

Old school is when bikes were all rounder roadsters and steel was real.
Before race toys and butt ugly MTB toys.
Rims don't matter with the best brakes ever invented ... SA drum brakes since the 1930's.
Old school is timeless function/ style, built to last and to ride with a dab of lube a few times a year.
But yah, cotter cranks, galvanized spokes and rod brakes totally sucked.
My new bike is a 1973 CCM with 1PC and a new wheel SA 3 spd drum. It's done 1470 miles on a nylon ?40 year old front tire. Better than 1990's Conti tires that fell apart in 3 years/ 2800 miles. Pffft

Apparently a preference for 10 speed mechanical groupsets now makes me "old school".

Ah, understood.

... and, 80s is "modern." ;)

Only if you mean 2x5.

Common on European sport bikes at least since the 60s, but used for racing and sport bikes much earlier.

https://i.imgur.com/7j8qB98.jpg

Yes. You missed a letter.

"Old's chool"

Old school is a single light strapped to your ankle. Powered by 2 C batteries, it might last for an hour.

Lighting is one function where modernity really triumphs.

:roflmao2: Those stickers are such an understatement!

LOL, old school is solving a problem by solving it. New school is solving a problem by putting a warning sticker on it. ;)

New school, is going full weight weenie, waiting for it to break and then a full recall. LOL

"Old School" is another tool for people who want to compete, and be superior to many others, without ever admitting that's what they want.

It's just another way for people to say, "I am better than you, and my way is better than your way" for people who realize how they would sound if they came right out and said it.

The funniest part is watching the '60s Old Schoolers, the '70s Old Schoolers, and the '80s Old Schoolers trying to one-up each other without undermining the whole concept of "My way is better."

We might say "We are all here because we enjoy cycling, and whether you ride a Mattel Big Wheel or a diamond-encrusted Emonda, around ther block or to the store or in competition, we are all together in our love of cycling" the fact is we are constantly trying to put each other down for the slightest "deviation" from what we think is "The Right Way."

Like this post is doing. :D

I have a friend who is old school in the truest sense of the word. And I say that not as a compliment, or as an insult. It is a bit of a stubbornness. And, a combination of inertia, fear, and cheapness. He actually wants to change, but something is holding him back. And what is holding him back is a constellation of things. Fear of trying something new when his old bike with friction shifters and toe clips has worked for him for decades. Fear of looking ridiculous wearing modern kit, worn properly. (that said, his wife prevailed upon him to wear a helmet even though he hates wearing a helmet because he thinks they look ridiculous). And finally, cheapness. Knowing what he spent on his bike in the mid 1970s, it hurts him to spend the kind of money to get the sort of performance he is looking for.

Edit:
And, given the years of experience he has, suprisingly, impatience. I made the mistake of trying to help him pick a new bike, and two years, and many visits to bike shops, and discussions and email exchanges later, I have given up. You would think that a person who has been riding the same bike for 40 plus years would know exactly what he wants in a new bike. But he doesn't. And really doesn't want to learn, either.

Edit:
each trip to the bike shop ends in frustration. Because he doesn't really know what he wants. So he throws his hands up and says he is just sticking with what he knows rather than taking a leap and trying something new.

70GI HIIT fixed gear acceleration work today >120 RPM >25 MPH: Old School.

-Bandera