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This is a new guitar:
Link to shop where you can buy it.
This is fairly common amongst very high end guitars. They're brand new, but made to look like they've been beaten up and played hard.
Now, there's loads of debate on guitar forums about whether this is a good or a bad thing and I don't really intend to discuss guitars. However, what's certain is that a lot of people love them and a lot of heavy relic guitars are sold.
Meanwhile, in the world of bikes, only shiny is desirable. No one ever scratches their bike and feels good about it. But why not? Why is our culture so different to guitars? At the end of the day, bikes are tools we use to have fun, and scratches scuffs and dings are a mark of heavy use, a badge of honour.
So my question is, can we ever envisage a time when we might scratch a bike and not mind? Or even, buy a prescuffed bike? Why aren't "relic'd" bikes desirable? Could they be in some future?
My frame has a small ding on it that I call 'Patience' as it got it in Whistler 🙂
Don't think they'll ever be desirable, but I kinda like the used look of the scratches and scuffs on my bikes. On my steel bikes I've put clear nail varnish over some of them to stop them rusting (I'm not about to repaint the whole frames and touching it up is just going to look rubbish).
I quite like a bit of wear and tear on my bike. I always promise myself I'll invisframe a new bike, but I never do.
I've bought one of those Carbon downtube protectors because I don't like dents, but mostly my bike wears it's marks with pride. I'll cry a bit when it's time to sell it for something else because half the potential buyers won't like it, but really I don't care.
You can't have an MTB without scratches. Mine came with a couple of scratches from new (discount) - I just said it's going to get more the first time I use it.
My bikes are very "bedded in" and I couldn't care less. They're mountain bikes, you know, for riding in the mountains, where it's muddy and rocky and that.
can we ever envisage a time when we might scratch a bike and not mind?
Yes, in fact that time is right now and has been for the last 47 years of me riding bikes. I just changed frames a few weeks ago and it already has a gouge and a number of chips on it. It is a cheap frame with presumably cheap matt paint which appears to scratch very easily so in a years time it will be covered in marks.
I couldn't care less and just as well as not much I can do about it as riding gravelly surfaces is a recipe for stone chips on frame, cranks arms, seat post etc,.
I may not care because I don't buy expensive bikes (even though I ride a lot) or maybe just have a sense of perspective.
It's because guitar tech doesn't change/advance like it does in the mtb world.
Meanwhile, in the world of bikes, only shiny is desirable.
You ain't seen my bikes.
Rust on a bike is generally a bad thing - means damage and degradation. Not really an issue on a guitar, but much more of a problem on something safety critical. I had a lovely clearcoated raw steel frame which I loved the look of, but it developed "patina" at an alarming rate around the BB and I was concerned for the welds, so I warrantied it.
Might be a cultural thing too, guitars and rock music culture always prizes the retro stuff while mountain bike culture seems much more focused on the new, shiny tech
People like guitars from 60 years ago.
People think 6 year old bikes are obsolete so that might be the difference.
I think a guitar with a lot of battle scars will still perform as it always did, where as a beat up bike seems to suffer a greater drop in functionality.
Can anyone find the pictures of the Specialized with the rusty paint job?
I think buying fake patina is like buying something with a certain paint job. It's just because you prefer a certain colour, style or texture but you're getting a new item that should work perfectly. You wouldn't buy a guitar (or a bike) that was genuinely trashed. But you might buy one that's designed to look like it's had a hard life.
People still buy ripped and faded jeans.
Only shiny things left on my bike are the crank arms and that's only because my wonky ankles rub on them.
MTB's are like hammers - should be pristine when new, from that point they should garner (Kung Fu Panda accent) authentic battle damage!
(Kung Fu Panda accent) with authentic battle damage!
😎
Dunno if it's desirable, but if you want it, this lady does rather a good job:
I issuant fell more comfortable on my bikes once they're worn in because I tell myself they're less attractive to thieves.
One of the selling points of my old Canyon was the hard wearing anodised ALU frame. Trouble was it sounded wafer thin and actually scratched really easily.
I would buy a bike with patina (secondhand with price reflected on it) if the 'patina' started to look worse than a few marks then it would be recycled/powdercoated. Having said that I would absolutely not buy a new product that looked old.
I think with ‘patina’ it depends who/what has put it there.
New from the shop? Meh.
Some random from general riding? Good for the owner, not anyone else.
Famous racer? Desirable.
I’m not sure it will ever add value to a bike though (unless it’s a properly famous rider/persons bike, but that’s more that it belonged to the person, rather than it being a bike) as it does with cars or guitars. Just look at retrobike, they’re all keen on the ‘as it left the factory’ resto’s, but that’s just the market I suppose.
The first On One 45650b I bought new was in the raw finish, which I loved. Over time, the lacquer got scatched so bits of the frame got surface rust spots, but overall it aged well, had a lovely used bare metal look.
However, I also like that my Ti gravel bike keeps looking nearly new every time you wash it.
Think if I was buying a painted bike from new, I'd probably invisi-frame it as I think glossy painted bikes just end up looking a bit tatty when scratched and scraped rather than 'aged' or 'patina'd' ...
Personally I tend to feel almost embarrassed on a mountain bike with no wear and tear.
Although I’d be a bloody sight more embarrassed about buying a new one that had been “pre-distressed”.
Big fan of the raw Nicolai frames, you can batter the hell out of them and then restore to new with a bit of steel wool (which they include)
If my guitar breaks while I'm playing it I'm unlikely to get horribly injured.
2tyred
Subscriber
If my guitar breaks while I’m playing it I’m unlikely to get horribly injured.
What if it's on fire and you're playing with your teeth?
Desirable, no, not on a new frame. Inevitable, yes. I don't mind light wear on a used frame as long as there's no obvious damage.
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
There's a whole group of vintage bike enthusiasts who cherish every dent and scratch as part of the history of the bike.
If you took an old lugged steel classic and restored it to look brand new, they'd pay less than you'd have got for it with its patina.
Lots of rust fetishistas over on Radavist.
can we ever envisage a time when we might scratch a bike and not mind?
Who are these people that worry about a bike getting scratched? Nobody I know gives a rat's arse.
Also, anyone who buys a pre-scuffed guitar, clothes, etc. is a dick in my book. But, fools and their money, etc.
When I was a lad and road racing (a lot) in the 80's, I rode steel bikes, as everyone did. I loved looking at the pro's bikes, which all tended, by mid-season, to be a bit battered - scratched, decals rubbed, scuffed bar tape, etc and just loved the fact mine was the same - I hated the look of a "new' bike in those days - v different now with every pro bike looking immaculate!!
I like a bit of beausage on a bike, but wouldn't buy a new bike with it added artificially.
Same with jeans - they look better once worn in and with a few holes but I wouldn't buy an artificially distressed pair.
Just remember that a Paris Roubaix winning bike is never cleaned again. You can’t buy that sort of patina.
I dont feel like its 'my' bike until its got some sort of minor scuff/scratch from heavy use or an off. I certainly dont want dents or rust, but something that lets me know Ive used it for what it was intended for. Id feel a bit of a chump riding round on something in showroom condition, but can also understand others see appeal in that.
Interesting about the guitars though, I had no idea. Its a bit sad that someone has to add it, rather than it being part of the story.
Patina is a good thing when authentic, but if I found out that someone had deliberately stone chipped some old car, bent a few radiator fins, and created a minor oil leak I'd think they were a prat.
Also, anyone who buys a pre-scuffed guitar, clothes, etc. is a dick in my book
I like relic'd guitars but don't worry, I think you are a bit of a dick so all good.
kayla1
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
While I like the sentiment, sadly, the reality is that people who live like that rarely get to skid sideways into their grave.
They're usually tipping drooling from the wheelchair they have occupied for the last 30 years, and they usually think "About time..".