Breaking news: Embarrassingly outdated bike ‘works just fine’, ‘still shreds’

[scott43]

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/09/bre...y-outdated-bike-works-just-fine-still-shreds/

 

[cantunamunch]

"What if we lived in a world where you could have un-ironic fun on a bike built most of a decade ago, without experiencing a thick vein of self-loathing, consumerist anxiety, and the disdain of fellow riders?"

BWAHAHAAHA

 

[LiquidFeet]

"What if we lived in a world where you could have un-ironic fun on a bike built most of a decade ago, without experiencing a thick vein of self-loathing, consumerist anxiety, and the disdain of fellow riders?"

BWAHAHAAHA

Shall this question be asked of skis too?

 

[UGASkiDawg]

Shall this question be asked of skis too?

Pfft don't be silly

 

[scott43]

Skiis are different...

 

[AmyPJ]

“Anyway. All that time working on fussy bikes without actually riding them meant I needed a bike ride to calm down, and this piece of crap was the only gravel-adjacent thing I had in a rideable condition.”

Shall this question be asked of skis too?

I was thinking the same thing!

Funny thing, I swapped skis with a friend last season so she could test out my new Santa Ana 88s. She has a pair of hmmm 2014 Black Pearls. Pre-carbon. Man those things were fun! No wonder I liked them so much when I owned the 2011 version. I almost want to hunt down a pair to have as my early season skis!

 

[martyg]

People spend waaaaay too much time agonizing about equipment. As a retired product developer we, and the brands that we designed for, preyed on that insecurity.

 

[Ski&ride]

People spend waaaaay too much time agonizing about equipment. As a retired product developer we, and the brands that we designed for, preyed on that insecurity.

Not everyone is insecure.

Or rather, insecurity is only a “product” of other insecure...people?

Quite by coincidence, I had to “bike sweep” a trail running course yesterday. I had to make a guess on which bike to use, without ever ridden the course (on hiking trails not normally open for bikes).

I thought a full suspension bike would be an overkill, but the terrain might be a tad too challenging for a gravel bike (after all, I’m the “safety” of the runners, it doesn’t do if I needed rescuing!). So I opted for my long retired hard tail that’s now my commute bike. It’s only got 1.5” knobby but I thought that should be sufficient for a trail running course.

It’s 25 years old!

But I rode it often enough I knew it still work, on streets at least.

My sweep partner, riding a fully rigid, not much better than Kmart special, commented “you’ve got a serious looking bike there!”

That’s when I remembered: “It was top of line 20 years ago!”

Yep, DuraAce and that. You see, I used to race xc, albeit just a weekend worrier.

Long story short. The bike worked flawlessly, took the edge off the rocks and roots as it was designed to do 20 years ago!

At the end of the sweep, I was much fresher than my full rigid riding partner. Thanks to my long trusted “partner in crime” from 20 year ago.

 

[Dakine]

My ancient Fisher AL-1 works as good as my now dated Kastle FX-94's.
I just suffer through.

 

[Philpug]

Two more words. Golf clubs.

 

[graham418]

Two more words. Golf clubs.

No, No. Golf Clubs are waaaay different!

 

[Decreed_It]

this is GOLD

“Look, it’s not my place to discourage people from dropping their hard-earned on a 2020-season gravel bike, but this thing worked just fine. Maybe we’re all getting it wrong. What if it’s just about getting out there?” said our source with a faint quiver, before unravelling further into an existential funk.

So, so good. Want to buy that writer a couple of beers.

 

[Lauren]

I get a gentle reminder of this every year working at a local bike swap. The large variety of what people bring in, and what people will buy that are looking for "a bike".

"What if old bikes are more capable than anyone gives them credit for? What if the journey is more important than the machine? What if we lived in a world where you could have un-ironic fun on a bike built most of a decade ago, without experiencing a thick vein of self-loathing, consumerist anxiety, and the disdain of fellow riders? And what if any ride, on any bike, makes the world a slightly better place?”

 

[Josh Matta]

old road bike sure, and old mountain bikes should be put out to pasture or turned into a bar crawler.....

shred on your old bike if you can, but the reality is you really cant and a noob buying it is silly, the vast majority of noobs would be far better of a new bike with newer geometry and components not from 2008 .

posting like this make me laugh.

https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/17801847/

quite frankly a used 2 year old bottom of the line full suspension would ride better than that 10 year old carbon trance. Its not worth 5500 dollars any more.

 

[cantunamunch]

Hey Josh, would you mind writing some of your commentary on our Craigslist, so I can grab some of that stuff for cheaper?

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/bik/d/fort-washington-klein-attitude-comp/6974553509.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/d/alexandria-santa-cruz-bullit/6990044725.html

 

[Josh Matta]

why would you even want either of those?..... Klein is stupid has the flex of a diamond.

Bullit weighs 45 lb and doesnt go down hill better than a modern hardtail.

 

[cantunamunch]

It doesn't help if you do it here

 

[Decreed_It]

old mountain bikes should be put out to pasture or turned into a bar crawler.....

Like this; before and after. Converted the 1997 Stumpy Comp M2 to a single speed rigid. Still an awesome bike and can do most local trails with the kid just fine. Got a set of street wheels and a set of dirt wheels. For bar cruisin, of course!

 

[Josh Matta]

I cant comment on the craigslist at all.....

 

[Erik Timmerman]

"Flex of a diamond" LOL