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Actually Riding Your Classic or Antique Bike

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Yes, very old bike, back and forth to work,
for actual 4216 miles in 2021,
+ 3362 miles in 10 months, '22
The more you ride, the more you love it.🥰
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I don’t know Rob may remember the woman that had the meltdown on the Nashville ride? Wasn’t a hill to be seen but we obviously eclipsed her skill level! V/r Shawn
I talked to Rob about this as I was not on the Nashville ride. That lady you mentioned no longer comes on our rides.
 
I’m guessing you’ve never ridden a modern top shelf bike. A night and day difference compared to the old bikes. Less weight, easier to pedal, and gears make a significant difference especially over distance. Don’t get me wrong I ride vintage most of the time but something to be said for technology when you want to cover a lot of ground fast-or as fast as this 60 year old can! V/r Shawn
Couldn’t agree more.
Everything about higher end modern bikes is superior to vintage bikes.

Model T vs modern sports car, in every respect.

Having not ridden a 1970’s, and older, bike in decades, I was shocked how inefficient they were. 52/20 something gearing kind of sucks.
These bike designs were fun at the time.
As technology progresses you forget the advancements, S.I.S. and clipless pedals not withstanding!


Bikes have always been awesome right? No matter what age you, and the bike you rode in on, we’re, they were always great while you were “there”.

After buying my Krate I realized how archaic older bikes were. But, I also knew that they are fun to ride slow! Racing bikes are not fun to ride slow….

Yes, gearing on my single speeds are very high. Yes my Krate is stupid slow despite 5 speeds.
I accept that.

In my present circumstance vintage are the perfect bikes for what I am able to do.

I live in an area which is enough removed from bike trails that it is hard to access them.
I also am the caretaker for my mother which prohibits me from going on any long bike rides. I feel can safely leave her alone for a 1/2 hour at most.

So, getting out on my old bikes works well for me.

Bonus #1: They provide a real workout even on my short rides.
Bonus #2: The nostalgic experience is definitely part of the enjoyment. I never think, “can’t this thing go any faster?” because I know it does what it was designed for, in the time period it was produced.
Learning to ride without efficient cadence is accepted now. 20 RPM? Who cares!
Bonus #3: Bragging rights. Let’s face it, vintage bikes are cool. As cool as the latest and greatest, ( which won’t be next year anyway.)
 
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The biggest favor, performance-wise you can give yourself with any bike (vintage or not) is proper fit. Gearing adapted to your ride terrain is certainly helpful, but fit comes first. Take the time to get the seat and bars into positions where you are comfortable and getting proper leg extension and comfortable arm reach. It will really bring the bicycle to life and it will allow you to get the most out of the bike, regardless of what you're riding. All things being equal, a modern bike will outperform a vintage one. But I see so many riders out and about every summer who need to spend the time getting the bike to fit better, and they're on all kinds of different bikes (some vintage, some not).
 
Yup, people have no idea about seat height anymore.
I really feel bad for their tiny kids whose seats are too low.
It’s one of those things that everyone knew about back in the day. Now, not so much.

Thats a freebie. Changing stems and whatnot gets expensive.
I bet I have several hundred dollars of aftermarket stems and handlebars from racing and mountain bikes.
I always got my rides dialed in.

Since my vintage bikes were sized for young boys it’s hard, if not impossible, to achieve the correct fit.
Short men are exempt.

There are many things that you simply can’t adjust on old bikes to make them as efficient as more modern ones. Since they didn’t offer different sized components back then you can’t substitute for a better fit.
Seatposts only extend so far. The lack of saddle rails makes for/aft adjustment impossible. Bars and stems are fixed, as are frame sizes. I’m not asking about vintage racing bikes here, that’s different.

Adjustment on vintage bikes for “performance“, and with that, efficiency, is extremely limited compared to newer bikes.
You can’t change any of that unless you substitute modern parts so what’s the point?

There is no “All things being equal” when comparing modern and vintage bike fitment.

You do the best you can and make the most of it.

Proper fit only goes so far on old bikes. IF, that can be achieved, and it usually can’t, you still have the old technology working against you.
Thats what I was talking about.
 
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Forgot to mention another issue, proper tire inflation. I see some folks riding on fairly low inflated tires. Low inflation means more drag and resistance making pedaling a tad harder.
 
Even an inefficient bike is way faster than walking. That was, of course, the original idea.
 
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