Modern bike features that've spoiled old bikes for you..

[wafter]

Cheers folks!

It isn't "What modern things do you not like?"

It is "What modern things are there that you DO like, but can't be fitted to a vintage bike?"

Ta - that's certainly what I was getting at

first question is, is my 1988 bike vintage ?

I like the concept of disc brakes, but what are they like for maintenance for someone who rides all winter
I dislike my rim brakes on dirty winters days when they grind the rims away, just hate that noise, but would I be better off with discs, or do they come with their own set of problems?

Shades of grey; but at that age it would certainly be problematic from the perspective of the modern luxuries I've come to appreciate.

I've not run a disc-braked bike for utility, however my CdF has covered about 4.5k miles and the only work the hydro discs have required is a bit of a scrub to address some squeal / chattering (which has mostly gone). I suspect they'd be largely unaffected by the rigors of winter / wet weather since they're well away from the filth and grit flung up from the road.

I'm certainly sick of the wear, variable / reduced performance and grot that accompanies running rim brakes through all seasons.

Matt’s Audax bike, note the routesheet / map holder GPS mount

View attachment 759198

FTFY

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Aheadsets.

 

[Marchrider]

Shades of grey; but at that age it would certainly be problematic from the perspective of the modern luxuries I've come to appreciate.

I've not run a disc-braked bike for utility, however my CdF has covered about 4.5k miles and the only work the hydro discs have required is a bit of a scrub to address some squeal / chattering (which has mostly gone). I suspect they'd be largely unaffected by the rigors of winter / wet weather since they're well away from the filth and grit flung up from the road.
I'm certainly sick of the wear, variable / reduced performance and grot that accompanies running rim brakes through all seasons.

I have no intention of altering my bike, and I'm not too bothered about the rims, I build my own and have enjoyed doing so, but do hate that gritty grinding noise
have always wondered how maintance free they are

only ever ridden a bike once with disc brakes, got lent one in germany and went over the handle bars at the first junction (I didn't know they changed the sides). But wow they were powerful, loved the braking ability

 

[Rhythm Thief]

There isn't anything I can think of that I want that I can't fit to my older bikes. Yeah, yeah, electronic gears and disc brakes, but to be quite honest I've tried both these things and didn't really feel that either added anything to my riding: in fact, I prefer the feel and serviceability of mechanical gears and I genuinely didn't feel disc brakes were much of an advantage for the sort of riding I do. Everything else I like - modern LED dynamo lighting, 9 or 10 speed integrated shifting - can be retro-fitted to an older frame without too much trouble.

 

[Jody]

Hyrdraulics, dropper post, tubeless tyres, better compounds and advancements in suspension.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Hyrdraulics, dropper post, tubeless tyres, better compounds and advancements in suspension.

Just shows what a broad church cycling is... I don't use any of the things on your list - in fact, I don't even know what a dropper post is for - and wouldn't miss them if they'd never been invented at all!

 

[Jody]

Just shows what a broad church cycling is... I don't use any of the things on your list - in fact, I don't even know what a dropper post is for - and wouldn't miss them if they'd never been invented at all!

Very much a broad church, although CC is mainly road orientated.

Dropper is generally for those of us riding fat knobbly tyres. Press a button and the saddle drops down to the top tube to give extra celarance. Press it again and it raises back up to where it should be so saves getting off the bike to adjust.

 

[PaulSB]

In my case everything. I can admire vintage bikes for their beauty but ride one on a regular basis? No, thank you.

For the riding I do a modern bike is, I feel, superior in every way.

 

[Punkawallah]

Nothing, TBH.
I ride an ‘83 Galaxy (which is about one and a half times the weight of a modern ‘gravel bike’) with 14 - 34 on the back and 34/48 on the front. I run 27” wheels with Michelin World Tour tyres, MTB blocks on rim brakes and down tube shifters. Are there times when I wish it was 1/3 lighter? Yes. But if I can’t pedal it up the hill, I can always get off and push. No problems pedalling the 60-odd miles to York, or the 200-odd miles around the North Yorks Park.
Deep rims, ‘tubeless tyres’, disc brakes, dti, etc would not improve my experience.

 

[Profpointy]

Brakes that actually work in the wet. To be honest this might mostly be down to superior pad materials

Lots of gears, particularly at the low end. Not bothered about sti or even indexing

Lights that actually work

Decent pannier racks that don't wibble wobble

 

[kingrollo]

A Vintage bike can't be this year's model and therefore dead to me.

 

[simongt]

No longer run out of gears on steep stuff, unlike my youth.

Ahh, but 'back in't day' 'when men were men', touring on single speeds & three gear derailleurs were the norm - !

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good evening,

The one thing that I could be persuaded is a loss is a frame tube large enough to take a down tube battery so that I could have an X35 (or similar) ebike.

Imagine this as an ebike, the hub motor would almost be hidden by the large sprocket... and then ........ imagine it again with a proper fork and head tube.

I went Di2 (10 speed with lots of wires) on my new old stlye 753 frame and as most new electronic gears are wireless (to a greater or less degree ) it is even easier if buying new.

Although I don't have the desire (or the nerve ) to try it,


you may be able to glue some disc brake mounts to a steel frame.
(
I think steel is implied by old,
Old bamboo will have rotted away.
Oh no it won't, m' mate has one he made in Vietnam in the early 70s
)
I am only semi joking;

That way you get the pleasure of a really annoying shriek for about 1 wheel rev every time the pads get wet and you get to pay the LBS £54 3 times a year for 4 new pads and these are just Tiagra level (okay about £35 on line)! Gotta love this progress thingie.

But I do like the feel of hydraulic brakes, if only they made hydraulic rim brakes (but isn't a rim a disc without a hole, a-la Polo mints?) as I am not sold on thru axles. Actually I do remember talking about them in 1970s and we all felt stupid, why would anyone do that? I was too young for it to be pub talk but......

Bye

Ian

 

[tyred]

Ahh, but 'back in't day' 'when men were men', touring on single speeds & three gear derailleurs were the norm - !

I've often turned on a three speed Brompton and once or twice on a three speed sports roadster. Gear it low in the first place and it works well enough most of the time. You have the 24" emergency low gear available when needed.

 

[chriswoody]

For 25 years I rode a 93 Dawes Super Galaxy, I then went straight onto a 2016 Kona Sutra LTD gravel bike. So alike in many ways, steel frame, similar geometry numbers and the Sutra LTD being based on a touring bike.

They couldn't have been further apart in ride experience though. The Sutra was light years ahead in every department, Hydraulic discs, 1 x drivetrain, Sealed cartridge bearing hubs that require no maintenance, tubeless tires, comfier thicker, wider handlebars, threadless headset, SRAM double tap shifters. I think that about covers it. Oh and Thru-Axles, brilliant things that guarantee perfect wheel alignment every time.