Found A Carpenter

[grumpyoldgit]

It is like art,food or wine,we dont all like the same.I also ride this,which now has the internal battery conversion,thanks to V for Vengedetta.One is for everyday use,the classics are for occasional rides
.

 

[stevevw]

ah, you see when you say vintage I see "old and heavy" like I used to have, along with " a pain to look after" and "lots of hassle"

Thanks for the education though

You need to ride a proper classic lightweight to see what all the fuss is about. Old yes, Heavy no, Pain to look after and Lots of hassle? Would any half decent bike be a pain or hassle? I think not.


Grumpyoldgit
Great bike, looking forward to seeing it painted and built.

 

[raindog]

Do you know when it was built?
Are they Nervex lugs? I've got Nervex Professional lugs on my Rory and they're similar, but not quite the same, but Nervex produced a whole range of different lugs.

 

[Lee_M]

You need to ride a proper classic lightweight to see what all the fuss is about. Old yes, Heavy no, Pain to look after and Lots of hassle? Would any half decent bike be a pain or hassle? I think not.

You're probably right.
My old bikes were old, cheap, but all I could afford at the time, and they've probably coloured my view, but when people talk about classic and retro (not just in cycling, but elsewhere too), I just think "that's what I used to have and it was rubbish"

I suppose it comes from being 50+ and working in geekery, new stuff is generally better than old stuff.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

You're probably right.
My old bikes were old, cheap, but all I could afford at the time, and they've probably coloured my view, but when people talk about classic and retro (not just in cycling, but elsewhere too), I just think "that's what I used to have and it was rubbish"

I suppose it comes from being 50+ and working in geekery, new stuff is generally better than old stuff.

I have a 1964 car,2.4 litre,no turbo etc,will do 0-60 in 6.1 seconds,& much more fun to drive than the sanitised jelly moulds available today.

 

[Lee_M]

I have a 1964 car,2.4 litre,no turbo etc,will do 0-60 in 6.1 seconds,& much more fun to drive than the sanitised jelly moulds available today.

I have a 2008 fibreglass car, 1.6L, no turbo, will do 0-60 in about 5 seconds, & much more fun to drive than an old 1964 car

Doesn't mean you should get rid of yours though - If you like old stuff that's great, and there are some iconic cars and bikes (probably) out there, but old doesn't automatically mean better.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

That would be debatable.My point is that old dont mean slow

 

[thegravestoneman]

Still riding my hand built, made to measure 1983 531c framed Saracen (while they were owned and made by one bloke) road bike I have been back on it for about 10 weeks I still find it a very good looking bike I have only had to give it minimal attention since putting it back on the road after a 25 year lay-up. It is more than reliable enough to cope with the ever increasing mileage I am doing on it (currently about 150-200 miles a week). It is now slower than it has ever been due to my increased years and lack of real bike [or any] fitness but I still have only been passed by one other cyclist but have passed countless others, so I think it is fast enough. I also find myself a regular top ten in strava if that counts for anything? I do find the look of new bikes a bit cumbersome or bulky but except that the better of them are lighter and possibly easier to maintain than mine. The more I am looking at new bikes the more I am accepting that there are some that look quite nice but a lot of that is down to the paint job. I haven't paid any heed to bikes for the last 25 years so I might take a while to adjust. I will be trying out a new bike on holiday this year and will consider buying one if it impresses me, as I cannot live with only one decent bike at a time for much longer, then I shall see if I move up with the times through my own choice. Looks are and always will be a matter of personal opinion and I guess if older bikes were faster then they still would be the professional choice but if we are talking fractions then really who cares? Each to their own. The main thing is we all appreciate some kind of bike and cycling and hopefully other kinds too.

KEEP CYCLING AND ENJOY!

Oh and by the way that should be a nice looking bike when you finish it.

Gaz

 

[Lee_M]

Each to their own. The main thing is we all appreciate some kind of bike and cycling and hopefully other kinds too.

KEEP CYCLING AND ENJOY!

Oh I agree, hence why my original question was to educate me on what was so special about it, It certainly wasn't trolling to have a go at people, I was genuinely interested in what was so special about it.

I do think my taste is coloured by remembering how crap my old bikes were, but at the age of 15 buying your own bike in Yorkshire in the mid 70's you had a choice of buying some cheapo from the local shop or not getting anything.

I shudder when I remember what I used to ride, but there are probably some people that would now see it as a classic. Its the same with guitars, 70's fenders are now classics, but in the 70's they were considered crap and not a patch on the pre-CBS versions

I hope you have a lot of fun with it

 

[thegravestoneman]

Yes, i didn't mean to go on a bit of an essay and reading it back I still missed what I was trying to say anyways. There certainly was a lot of nasty bikes out there in the 70's my first new bike was a Raleigh arena which I believe cost £69.95 and was about £60.00 over priced the rest being it's weigh in value at the scrapyard it was dreadful and at the age of 11 I could tell instantly. How I progressed from that in about 1976 onto the good stuff is still beyond my understanding? before that I had a hand me down chopper and RSW11 both dreadful. I was lucky in getting a job and working all the hours to buy increasingly good stuff until I wrecked my knee and packed in. Up until then I was really enthusiastic about the quality stuff from all periods of cycling and never enjoyed the bottom end of the range stuff. I do find it hard to get enthused about some of the low rent stuff that is now called old school and think land fill would be a better use for it.

There is a significant difference between the good stuff and the bad stuff, the good stuff being made by craftsmen in the best materials available at the time and to see these and the skill it takes to make them against an old steel Universal or whatever is like comparing Chippendale to MFI. This will be the same now between the good and bad. I am stuck in the past at present due to my lay off from cycling and the fact I cannot afford to try the modern stuff at the moment, I do look forward to trying the new stuff and have my eyes on a Bianchi. I will be posting my thoughts once I have given the hired bike a thorough testing in July and I might well consign my Saracen to the History pages as at the time it was near enough the most up to date bike available and I constantly went with the new and never meant to get stuck in the past. There are places for both and I will hopefully fully appreciate the modern in the very near future.

Oops another essay

Gaz.

P.S the guitar was a good analogy

 

[Cycleops]

It is like art,food or wine,we dont all like the same.I also ride this,which now has the internal battery conversion

It's an electric bike? Wow its very slim.

 

[biggs682]

Exactly that,the craftsmanship that went into hand forming all those joints,from a time when the union flag on a product stood for quality.

looks superb to me so well done

 

[asterix]

ah, you see when you say vintage I see "old and heavy" like I used to have, along with " a pain to look after" and "lots of hassle"

Thanks for the education though

Recently rode my Roberts for the first time in 6 months. I guess it's heavy to some but it's a dream to ride. Some of the road was top-dressed last year so is a bit like magnified coarse sandpaper. It was a joy to feel the way the steel frame soaked up the vibration. Like riding a spring.

 

[Spokesmann]

Superb buy.

Looks like Nervex lugs too. Could well be 531 tubes...

This will look stunning once painted and built up. 10 times better than pretty much all modern rubbish.

 

[biggs682]

Superb buy.

Looks like Nervex lugs too. Could well be 531 tubes...

This will look stunning once painted and built up. 10 times better than pretty much all modern rubbish.

spokesman i could not agree more