In praise of older bikes

[simongt]

Of my three bikes, one is over forty years old, another over thirty and the third is a wee nipper of ten - !

 

[tyred]

My newest bike is my 2006 Brompton.

I ride a 1951 on a reasonable regular basis over the summer.

 

[fossyant]

Best thing about old bikes is they’re ‘bomb proof’. No batteries, no fine tuning, no expensive consumables - they just keep going. And if it dies, it’s economical to replace.
’83 Dawes Galaxy, just done the ‘tour of the moors’ this summer gone.

Not so sure about no expensive consumables. That said the two old expensive ones only really come out in the dry as I've newer and easier to replace bikes.

 

[fossyant]

My newest bike is a 2016 MTB, and even the CX bike I bought this year is 10 years old. You can get some good bargains.

 

[Punkawallah]

Not so sure about no expensive consumables. That said the two old expensive ones only really come out in the dry as I've newer and easier to replace bikes.

According to Halfords an 11 speed chain is about £18, a 5-7 speed is £8.

 

[Ajax Bay]

. . . expensive consumables . . . . According to Halfords an 11 speed chain is about £18, a 5-7 speed is £8.

9sp, 10sp and 11sp chains are all pretty well the same price (entry level) though 6-8sp are a few quid cheaper:
https://www.tredz.co.uk/bike-chains-10-speed/xsrt/priceasc
The more sprockets a cassette has (also consumable but at lower frequency) the more expensive they are ceteris paribus.
It's the non-consumables which are a magnitude greater eg you damage a hydraulic STI cf a simple cable STI.
Let alone Di2 / eTap.

 

[All uphill]

hydraulic STI cf a simple cable STI.
Let alone Di2 / eTap

My newest build has bar end shifters.
£5 the pair.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Pretty much everything is original and works well. The rims are heavily worn and the freehub is wobbly

Freehub?

bar end shifters. £5 the pair.

Linky?

 

[All uphill]

Freehub?

Linky?

£5 from my local bike recycling charity. They had two pairs, I bought both. The second pair were £8.

 

[All uphill]

Here's the latest bike at Uphill Towers. It belonged to a neighbour whose widow asked me to find a good home for it.

A quick safety check and it's off to a refugee who has permission to stay and work. This will be their commuter.
Should be good for years to come.

 

[Chris S]

My everyday transport is a 1989 Raleigh Chiltern. It's still less than half the age of my spare, a 1951 Raleigh Roadster.

 

[Poacher]

Just slightly off-topic; I was watching The Man Who Cycled the Americas - Mark Beaumont on BBC4 last night and was (slightly) shocked when he threw himself on the mercy of the Guatemalan ex national race team mechanic to replace his bottom bracket bearings, totally worn out after ~7500 miles. The mechanic was astonished because the expected life of the bearings was 1800 miles. WTAF? I knew outboard bearings don't have the life expectancy of square taper, but wow, just wow!

My Bob Jackson, frame bought second-hand in 1980, is now on its third bottom bracket after around 40,000 miles.

 

[Lone Wolf]

I have two wonderful 531 frame Pashleys. No modern “rubbish“ or dodgy batteries on them.

 

[Cycleops]

I think you could problem call Mercians the 'cougars' of the bike world.

 

[Punkawallah]

According to Halfords an 11 speed chain is about £18, a 5-7 speed is £8.

Those prices are for their ’loyalty’ customers, or ‘Amazon’, because when you turn up at the shop it’s more expensive.