CCR
Mouth-Breather
I'm still waiting for 10 speeds to be cool again, already started hoarding and I'm flipping the drop bars on all of them so maybe I'll have a slight edge on the "cool again" window....
bike hobby changing?
- Thread starter 5speed
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I fortunately have no health problems and started my midlife crises 3 days after graduating high school!
IMHO, 10-speeds have never gone Out-Of-Style; they might have just been laying-low for a while in order to allow the world to catch-up, but never out of style.
1971 Peugeot UO-8
Old Spokes Home is a really cool bike shop in Burlington, VT – they have an eclectic mix of old and new bikes for sale including a museum.
Old is cool!
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I remember drilling a hole straight through one of those and the handlebars and putting a bolt through it in an effort to get the handlebars to stay in one place. I had better luck with a neck from an old Raleigh, but when the Tuf Neck came out my problems were over. Within a couple of months it seemed like everyone I rode with had one.
You are only a few years younger than me, but I am the same way. My wife calls me an "old soul." I am obsessed with how things were before I was born. I like driving routes that would have existed say 60-70 years ago before interstates and freeways. That is getting hard to do where I live, but I love being able to recognize old roads that existed many years ago.
I think a lot of us here have some of the same sentiments regarding old stuff. As the hobby goes through different phases, it somewhat mirrors history and how the bike industry has changed over time. Everything old becomes new again. For some, change brings discomfort and uncertainty, but those of us who see the influence of the past will take comfort in that familiarity.
The day they were introduced
JaxRhapsody
Rhapsodic Laviathan
when fifteen thru twenty-one came out
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fwiw, that's not folks gouging you at 11 bucks, that's niagara cycle selling that headset at pennies above a typical lbs's wholesale cost.
cost on that headset at a distributor like j&b importers is over 5 dollars...
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If I buy from Niagara, I know it's cheap and I know I'ma get the headset.
If I buy from the LBS, theoretically, they'll have it on hand and my $10 for the headset at the shop probably comes with a return policy, or at least it guarantees that some kid is going to have to listen to me whine & holler if something's wrong with the headset.
If some guy bought some Wald headsets a few years back and never used them, he'd be lucky to get Niagara prices on the RRB FS forum. Trying to get top-dollar for it? I don't blame him for trying, I guess, but what's in it for the customer?
As far as ten speeds go, they are & always have been cool. Fixed gear bikes can be cool, as well. Sometimes, the ppl who own these bikes are a bit suspect, but that's hardly to do with the bike....
If I buy from the LBS, theoretically, they'll have it on hand and my $10 for the headset at the shop probably comes with a return policy, or at least it guarantees that some kid is going to have to listen to me whine & holler if something's wrong with the headset.
If some guy bought some Wald headsets a few years back and never used them, he'd be lucky to get Niagara prices on the RRB FS forum. Trying to get top-dollar for it? I don't blame him for trying, I guess, but what's in it for the customer?
As far as ten speeds go, they are & always have been cool. Fixed gear bikes can be cool, as well. Sometimes, the ppl who own these bikes are a bit suspect, but that's hardly to do with the bike....
Yeah, I was thinking how the hobby has changed in the past few years. I do a fair amount of swap meets and I am seeing rougher condition bikes as a whole and they are selling for more money. That tells me that the hobby is on an upswing where there are more collectors and less available quality bikes. I buy bikes because I like the styling and they make me happy. I don't even think about them as an investment.
As far as 10 spds being in style, I do think you are right...there is always a market for a quality road bike. I love the vintage Italian steel lugged frames with Campy parts! I will say that 10 speeds is long out of style though....I have a 30spd touring bike and a 22spd carbon road bike.
As far as 10 spds being in style, I do think you are right...there is always a market for a quality road bike. I love the vintage Italian steel lugged frames with Campy parts! I will say that 10 speeds is long out of style though....I have a 30spd touring bike and a 22spd carbon road bike.
Terry, you should build a 30 speed (or 22) rat bike for BONINE!
Market values and styles change all the time. I remember in the early 80's everyone was going BMX and at my family's bike shop we would not give hardly anything for a trade in on muscle bikes. Nobody wanted them.
As far as 10 speeds, not that long ago you could barely give away a decent Varsity. Now I sell every one I can get my hands on. I live near a college and sell them for $120 to $150 with new tires, brakes cables etc. I probably see more steel frame road bikes around the campus than anything else. Three and five speed ladies bikes sell great too. My profit margin is pretty small on them but they are my bread and butter as well as tune ups.
I still think in general most "bike people" are friendlier and better to deal with than folks I have met in the vintage car or motorcycle hobbies. That is the one aspect of the hobby I hope never changes.
And this site is the best at maintaining a friendly, respective, supportive culture.
As far as 10 speeds, not that long ago you could barely give away a decent Varsity. Now I sell every one I can get my hands on. I live near a college and sell them for $120 to $150 with new tires, brakes cables etc. I probably see more steel frame road bikes around the campus than anything else. Three and five speed ladies bikes sell great too. My profit margin is pretty small on them but they are my bread and butter as well as tune ups.
I still think in general most "bike people" are friendlier and better to deal with than folks I have met in the vintage car or motorcycle hobbies. That is the one aspect of the hobby I hope never changes.
And this site is the best at maintaining a friendly, respective, supportive culture.
Hogwash. Technically, your 30speed is a tenspeed. Maybe it's my shop days talking, but the term tenspeed, to me, means a ten gear cluster, not a 2x5.
But, yeah, I 've decided it's finally time to boycott the stupidity of the n+1 sprocket cassettes and the planned obsolescence on the newer indexing ratios. No 11speed for me, and no Dyna-sys. I'll keep the current rides going, but it'll be all SS, IGH, and friction as I move forward.
I went with the 6800 11spd group on my Specialized. I hope to have it back together in a few days....I have to say I am impressed with the look and feel. I usually run Mavic wheels, so they should fit the 11spd cluster just fine.
I find that 3 speeds covers just about any terrain I can get into. I still stick to my single-speeds. I just pick the bike that matches where I am going. But if I had to go long distances over changing terrain on a daily basis, 3 speeds
