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I’m looking at buying a vintage road bike that needs a bit of work. I enjoy tinkering with a bike and having something old to work on and have as a town bike seems to tick a few boxes. Having looked online at a few sites and finding a few on ebay that look ok it seems like a good hobby.
Is there anyone else doing the same?
I got smitten
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/share-your-lockdown-bikes-2/
Also did up an old 90s MTB a few years back and really enjoyed it. I prefer these retro gravel-touring shenags though. MTB is better modern IMHO, yet this old 531 tourer rides like a dream whatever the year and I like fiddling with it. Am just now farting about putting on/taking off some mini-Vs while simultaneously browsing some rando racks/commenting here. ADHD winning!
*Edit, also have an 80s Raleigh Sirocco (sp?) frame and bits waiting for me to decide what to do with it.
Here’s what someone else did with one. :
https://road.cc/content/blog/32125-my-bike-what-i-built
Whatever floats your boat, maybe try Pinterest for inspiration? Some of the best pics and ideas are on there and the algorithms are pretty good. It can be addictive.
Here she is today. Needs (IMO) a nice rando rack for the front, with light-mount and a dynohub.
I was tempted by retro MTB but I've got a rigid 26" mtb and I don't need more of the same. A vintage / retro road bike is a different beast and the work to restore it to original or another project bike is the attraction.
@Malvern Rider - that British Eagle looks good.
Cheers 🙂
restore it to original or another project bike is the attraction.
👍🏼 For me it’s about 80/20 ride/project. Having ridden one before I knew it was such a great-riding tourer, and I bought this to ride, preserve, inspire, experiment and protect! But by far mostly to ride. I have zero interest in hanging a bike on a wall - but get that some do. Met a guy once who had about 8 Raleigh Burners hanging on his living-room walls!
I restored a Viscount Sebring mixte for my daughter. Was fun to do and the result was lovely to look at.
Hmmm.
Yea.
It's ace.
Definitely do it.
Roadbikes are probably making the most sense.
The road is still basically the road.
Unless you really need a sub 8kg roadbike , then an old one will be perfectly fine.
BUT , really old ones with downtube shifters and rubbish brakes might be less dead good.
I have done several.
The last relatively vintage RB was a 2003 Cannondale CAAD7 , with ergo power Campy , and dual pivot brakes.
Polished Aluminium frame.
Team Saeco.
About 8.5kg in the end , ha.
That ticked many boxes.
I have several old MTBs.
They are also perfectly fine , but unlike roadieing, MTBing has changed somewhat, so avoid the double blacks.
But yea, do it.
It's very rewarding I think , and can simultaneously tax the brain , and De-skin your knuckles.
Hmmm.
Yea.
It's ace.
Definitely do it.
Roadbikes are probably making the most sense.
The road is still basically the road.
Unless you really need a sub 8kg roadbike , then an old one will be perfectly fine.
BUT , really old ones with downtube shifters and rubbish brakes might be less dead good.
I have done several.
The last relatively vintage RB was a 2003 Cannondale CAAD7 , with ergo power Campy , and dual pivot brakes.
Polished Aluminium frame.
Team Saeco.
About 8.5kg in the end , ha.
That ticked many boxes.
I have several old MTBs.
They are also perfectly fine , but unlike roadieing, MTBing has changed somewhat, so avoid the double blacks.
But yea, do it.
It's very rewarding I think , and can simultaneously tax the brain , and De-skin your knuckles.
Here is a fairly vintage , 03 Trek XO1 CX bike.
I actually ended up using most of the CAAD7 bits on it.
In the end , it was only 100g heavier than my very cute SuperX.
This came out quite well.
Been in my mum's garage for over 10 years , at least.
Lockdown gave me time to do it.
Rigid bikes are easier though.
Obvs.
If you get something that is structurally sound, it's surprising what a damn good clean up will do.
Make it safe to ride , with new tyres , cables , and brake pads.
And then just ride it.
But as I said , know your limits.
It really doesn't look like those pics worked , but maybe you can use your imagination.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ic96pd8SWMx8QQBk 7" alt="MuddyFox" />
BUT , really old ones with downtube shifters and rubbish brakes might be less dead good.
Surely not vintage if it doesn't have downtime shifters. Possibly even without indexing.
Go have a look at the 'monkeyshred' channel on YouTube he tends to post nice ~30 minute videos of him restoring bikes, anything from 1930s to 1990s and all points in between.
Take one old Peugeot MTB donated by a neighbour (rougher than it looks).
Then inspired by Pashley Guvnor make this.
Surely not vintage if it doesn’t have downtime shifters.
Agree. Vintage suggests something much older than a 2003 bike which I would just count as a used bike and rate alongside a current bike. The whole point of a vintage road bike for me is that it would have down tube shifters as that is part of the vintage ride.
This is my vintage bike that is "modernised" a bit
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Frame is french I think dating from around the 60s. Originally built for tubs ( came with campag record hubs and tubs) which means that 700c wheels fit nicely. Modern wheels but a choice of SS rear wheel or one with a 60s SA 3pd. Trigger shifter is from the 30s, front fork came out of a box at the bike station - solid alloy that seems to be forged. Weinman centre pull brakes - again from the 60s
This is mine, similar to TJ's but without the Cinelli stem!
It's early '60s, 27" wheels that I still managed to get some nice tyres for, fixed wheel and original "More Ears Than Gears" sticker, if anybody remembers that Singletrack singlespeed ride over Cannock Chase many years ago - although this wasn't the bike I rode that day.
It rides like a dream. The other week, after a 50 mile road ride on my carbon Pinarello I needed to nip up the shops to get some bread so I hopped on this one and it was just so comfortable.
A little bit ashamed that I fitted a back brake to a fixie last week, but some riding mates are muttering about doing a proper road ride on our road singlespeeds and that Winking Man hill coming down from Buxton to Leek has claimed enough collarbones.
Surely not vintage if it doesn’t have downtime shifters. Possibly even without indexing.
Likewise, my British Eagle is circa 1990 so just about ‘retro’, letalone ‘vintage’!
It has decent indexed shifters and they work well for touring/general cycling, certainly no complaints. Downtube levers (especially non-indexed/friction) require a more ‘mindful’ and sympathetic approach to shifting/forward-planning which I actually like
The ‘fine-tuning in motion‘ of friction shift is also part of the charm for me. Snicketysnak. Nothing more lovely than the whirrs and ‘sniks’ of an exquisitely maintained old steel bike. I rebuilt a retro M-Trax years ago, and the best ‘upgrade’ was a move from indexed gripshifts to XT thumbies set to ‘friction’.
But even if you are buying a vintage road bike/frame for rando (or even audax) or there are alternative shifting/gearing options available for a custom restoration (ie see the kickshift example in my Raleigh Scirocco link upthread)
And there’s always fixie...