Older Bikes - Originality, does it matter ?
- Thread starter pubrunner
- Start date
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Rhythm Thief
Veteran
Originality vs updating
Tricky really. I think it depends on how complete a bike is and how rare it is. A good old complete bike deserves to be kept intact. A damaged or incomplete one might help another be rescued. Any old good old frame deserves to be rebuilt with modern components or original components. I don't think any old and complete bike deserves stripping just to make a few extra bob on e-bay. In general conservation is better than destruction any day of the week. If you upgrade a rare old bike in order to make it more rideable then perhaps keeping the original components is a good idea?
I have been wanting to recreate a childhood bike for some years and now have the frame (only). After thinking about it for a while I have decided to keep the original cylo derailleur 4speed but upgrade to a contempory(ish) double chainwheel and modern crankset combined with a cyclo suicide changer which will, I hope, be the way the bike would look now if I hade kept it for the last 45 years. (I hope this makes sense!).
On the other hand I have spent a year sourcing bits to rebuild a 1949 Rudge Clubman to original spec. Not a rare bike, but a nice ride.
There you have it, for what its worth!
Tricky really. I think it depends on how complete a bike is and how rare it is. A good old complete bike deserves to be kept intact. A damaged or incomplete one might help another be rescued. Any old good old frame deserves to be rebuilt with modern components or original components. I don't think any old and complete bike deserves stripping just to make a few extra bob on e-bay. In general conservation is better than destruction any day of the week. If you upgrade a rare old bike in order to make it more rideable then perhaps keeping the original components is a good idea?
I have been wanting to recreate a childhood bike for some years and now have the frame (only). After thinking about it for a while I have decided to keep the original cylo derailleur 4speed but upgrade to a contempory(ish) double chainwheel and modern crankset combined with a cyclo suicide changer which will, I hope, be the way the bike would look now if I hade kept it for the last 45 years. (I hope this makes sense!).
On the other hand I have spent a year sourcing bits to rebuild a 1949 Rudge Clubman to original spec. Not a rare bike, but a nice ride.
There you have it, for what its worth!
TheCyclingRooster
Veteran
- Location
- Scarisbrick,Lancashire
My heartfelt feelings go out to you pubrunner.It happened to me with an unrelated matter to cycles.There is however one likely course of action even at this late stage!.Create a little effigy and mini bicycle,mount the effigy and repeat the following several times over the following 24hrs:- I hope your balls get saddle sore,then turn square and fester in the corners.This act of deception is a bit like the moaning hard up,hard done to pensioner brigade that could buy & sell most of us time & time again.Happy & Safe Riding to you All.
I had a lovely old frame, early 70s, with a Cinelli internally brazed fork, a Pista chainset, and draped in early Record.
Gorgeous, but I took it to bits because I was scared of using the frame (really, it was coke can thin and I'm BIG), and I swapped the frame with a mate.
The bits I'm keeping onto not because they're worth a lot of money (they are, if I used Ebay), but because I like them, and will enjoy taking them out of their box and polishing them sometimes until I find another old frame for them to hang on. My mate has a really nice, unusual fixed gear that he uses all the time and swapped them for a mountain bike frame I like and will use. Splitting bikes need not be the end of the world.
Really, I think the money some people will pay for old bike stuff spoils it. We should not get so hung up on originality, so long as the bikes are still used sometimes that's enough.
Gorgeous, but I took it to bits because I was scared of using the frame (really, it was coke can thin and I'm BIG), and I swapped the frame with a mate.
The bits I'm keeping onto not because they're worth a lot of money (they are, if I used Ebay), but because I like them, and will enjoy taking them out of their box and polishing them sometimes until I find another old frame for them to hang on. My mate has a really nice, unusual fixed gear that he uses all the time and swapped them for a mountain bike frame I like and will use. Splitting bikes need not be the end of the world.
Really, I think the money some people will pay for old bike stuff spoils it. We should not get so hung up on originality, so long as the bikes are still used sometimes that's enough.
Happiness Stan
Well-Known Member
Its all down to you. There isn't a right or wrong answer. I alwys admired Sheldon Brown for cobbling together a variety of components slapping them on to an ultra rare frame in order to be able to RIDE a bike. That is what it is all about after all.
Wocce Racer
Active Member
- Location
- In a house
pubrunner said:
If you can find them, GB made a dual pivot break in the early 60's called the syncros. It does have quite a deep reach though. Because this and that they were (I believe) the first dual pivot in full production, they do not have the same effect as the dual pivots of today.
