What constitutes a "classic" or vintage" bike?

[wheres_my_beard]

What constitutes a "classic" or "vintage" bike?

According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online

Vintage:
Definition
of high quality and lasting value, or showing the best and most typical characteristics of a particular type of thing, especially from the past
a vintage aircraft
a vintage comic book
This film is vintage (= has the best characteristics typical of films made by) Disney.
She loves buying vintage clothing.
Classic:
Definition

•​

having a high quality or standard against which other things are judged
Have you ever read Fielding's classic novel 'Tom Jones'?
Another classic goal there from Corley!

•​

informal extremely or unusually funny, bad or annoying
Then she fell over backwards into the flowerbed - it was absolutely classic!
That was classic! That van-driver signalled right, and then turned left.

 

[tyred]

My understanding from old car circles is that anything from the end of WWI to the early 1930s is vintage, anything after that is classic and anything before WWI is veteran.

Personally, if it's loved and cared for, it's a classic. And always remember that today's old junk is tomorrow's classic.

 

[biggs682]

thats going to be hard work to define as every body has own ideas

 

[alecstilleyedye]

in bike terms, any steel bike made before the advent of taiwainese aluminium frame domination, made of reynolds 531 tubing or better…

 

[xpc316e]

And always remember that today's old junk is tomorrow's classic.

I'd have to disagree with this statement: in years to come there will be very few examples of the bikes that Tesco/Asda/etc. sell today, but that will not make them classic, or vintage. Even yesteryear's run-of-the-mill machines were built to much higher standards than today's junk, and were expected to give years of service. Whenever I visit the council tip I see bikes that are only a couple of years old being dumped - and not without good reason.

 

[bobg]

I convince myself that my bikes fulfil all the OP's definition of vintage if I want them bad enough. It often wears off though...

 

[Wobbly John]

NAVCC says
Pre 1915 = veteran
1915 - 1935 = vintage
Classic is normaly pre 1970

But then again, if it's desirable, then it's collectable.

 

[tyred]

I'd have to disagree with this statement: in years to come there will be very few examples of the bikes that Tesco/Asda/etc. sell today, but that will not make them classic, or vintage. Even yesteryear's run-of-the-mill machines were built to much higher standards than today's junk, and were expected to give years of service. Whenever I visit the council tip I see bikes that are only a couple of years old being dumped - and not without good reason.

I agree up to a point but if you had an immaculate and basically unused Tesco's bike in 30 years time, someone would like to have it, either because they like the unusual (and the high end stuff in any area is the stuff that gets cared for so survives longer and often ends up more common than than more run of the mill examples. Lots of MKII Escorts around at car shows here but mostly the sports models or Ghias, try to find a decent 1100 Popular for example.) or because they had one years ago. It won't make it valuable, but there will still be someone who'd like to collect them. People collect Ladas, Yugos and heaven forbid, Morris Itals .

 

[Smut Pedaller]

I think the dictionary definition is probably the closest. Personally, I think fixed dates as what defines "classic" or "vintage" is too black and white. Like others have said, if it's collectable or desirable it's classic/vintage.

 

[porteous]

If you are 20 anything before 2000 is old. If you are my age anything after 1985 is new! My definition? Pre 1990, preferably steel and well engineered. No bikes produced in the far east, no BSOs. Anything Sheldon Brown would have approved of definitely qualifies, and so does anything here: http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk.

 

[tyred]

I have about 13 bikes, only 2 of them were made after I was born, 2 of them were made before my Dad was born.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I'd have to disagree with this statement: in years to come there will be very few examples of the bikes that Tesco/Asda/etc. sell today, but that will not make them classic, or vintage. Even yesteryear's run-of-the-mill machines were built to much higher standards than today's junk, and were expected to give years of service. Whenever I visit the council tip I see bikes that are only a couple of years old being dumped - and not without good reason.

You're right.... but some ruddy awful cars from the 60's/70's and 80's are regarded as classics these days which shows that if it once was new and crap but has survived long enough to be old and crap someone will regard it as a classic.

 

[xpc316e]

The 60s/70s/80s grey porridge rubbish cars that are regarded as 'classics' are only seen as such by those people who cannot afford Astons, Alvises, Jaguars, etc. The original Mini broke the mould and is rightly regarded as classic, but junk like Austin Cambridges, Cortinas (except the Lotus versions) can never be. They might be museum pieces because of their age, but it is only worth saving one of each.

 

[Paul.G.]

I have a Colnage Master Xlite and a Colnago CT1, I concider them both to be classics, otherwise I would never have been able to convince my lovely wife of how much of a bargain they were and how I could not possibly miss making the purchase !!

 

[asterix]

I'd claim my British Eagle Touristique is a classic tourer of the 1980's (unfortunately the only original parts are the frame, seat post, stem and bars!). Nevertheless the bike was hailed as being exceptionally good in its day, the equal of a Dawes Galaxy but built in smaller numbers.