Why vintage bikes are better than new bikes

[Blue Hills]

A certain truth in that.

I definitely think tubes should be round - good simple engineering, form and function, and makes fastening stuff to them simple.

Top bars can be sloping (I like) but definitely not curved at all.

 

[raleighnut]

The most obvious difference is that almost all vintage bikes are attractive to look at, irrespective of whether they are intended for utility riding, off-road exploring, touring, or racing. The frames aren't made of weird shaped, ugly, oversized tubes, and the forks are elegant and don't look like someone has sawn a couple of legs off their kitchen table and jammed a wheel in between them, which is what modern carbon forks resemble.

Hear, hear even old rusty ones are gorgeous ,

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Top bars can be sloping (I like) but definitely not curved at all.

I prefer a TT that's parallel with the ground myself, although a sloping tube can still look OK so long as the angle is only slight and not too extreme. What I don't like are small-sized heavily-sloped frames fitted with absurdly long seatposts in order to get enough saddle height. My aesthetic rule of thumb is that if you take the vertical distance from the BB to the top of the saddle, three quarters of it should be within the frame and only a quarter on the seatpost sticking out. Any more than that and the frame is really too small.

 

[mikeymustard]

The most obvious difference is that almost all vintage bikes are attractive to look at, irrespective of whether they are intended for utility riding, off-road exploring, touring, or racing. The frames aren't made of weird shaped, ugly, oversized tubes, and the forks are elegant and don't look like someone has sawn a couple of legs off their kitchen table and jammed a wheel in between them, which is what modern carbon forks resemble.

the slabby forks are defo fugly!
Mind you I don't think all modern bikes look ugly, the ones designed to look "retro" or "classic" can be quite nice

(I will shoehorn a pic of my bike into any discussion)[/QUOTE]

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

the slabby forks are defo fugly!
Mind you I don't think all modern bikes look ugly, the ones designed to look "retro" or "classic" can be quite nice

There's still some nice-looking stuff being made, but only really for the niche touring & racing market. You can't go into a high street bike retailer and walk out with a handsome looking machine off the shelf like you could up until the end of the 90's. The cheaper mass-produced stuff is almost universally ugly, whether it be steel, ali, or carbon. It's a sad state of affairs when the best-looking budget modern bikes are generally the real low-end borderline BSO MTB's, as these are about the only thing left being made today with simple rigid steel frames having a traditional silhouette.