In this video I'm going to go all retro grouch
as you can tell by my moustache,
and I'm going to take a pedal down memory lane
and have a look at some of the things about
the bikes of my younger years that I miss and
why I miss them. I'm also going to have a
look at some of the things that I definitely don't
miss.
I'm glad to see the back off.
Just look at this beautiful Conargo Master Olympic.
Is there anything more beautiful than that?
It's the traditional geometry that gives it like a lovely
sort of form as a horizontal top tube,
straight down tube, seat tube and seats stays that aren't
drops,
they go directly up to meet the top tube at
the back.
It's just like got a sort of lovely stability and
integrity,
even an honesty that modern bikes with drop seats stays
in funny shaped tubes just don't have.
And while I'm on the subject of beauty,
have a look at the paint.
I mean this is just incredible.
This is what called Nago,
called the Art decor paint,
and you really don't see anything like that anymore.
This called Nago, perhaps controversially,
but actually Team MAPA used Shimano has Dura Ace group
said it's the Dura Ace
77109 St. group set and it's just beautifully polished.
I mean, you don't get polished group sets anymore and
I think that's a shame because you know,
that just is lovely.
It's not just about the shape of the tubes,
but it's about what they're made from.
A good quality steel tubing like this Columbus Fuel coat
tubing this Conago is made from just has a lovely
ride quality.
It's so smooth that it doesn't need drop seat stays
or funny shapes,
it just has a ride quality that's like nothing else.
This bike just has exactly the right blend of comfort
and stiffness,
and the loss of the ride quality is down to
the steel fork,
which just soaks up Rd.
vibrations perfectly. A-frame builder once said to me that every
other material tries to emulate the ride quality of steel,
and he was right, although obviously he had a vested
interest.
Sure, steel's heavier than carbon and aluminium,
and there was a time about 10 years ago when
the gap was actually pretty big when carbon bikes were
really light.
But now with the arrival of disc brakes,
the gaps narrowed again and actually this bike weighs just
over 9 kilos,
or £20 in old money.
And really you're getting some top disc brake.
Rd. bikes race bikes weighing upwards of 8 kilos,
so the difference is really not that massive anymore.
OK, so an Italian bike like a Conargo really was
the pinnacle,
but used to see names like Jeffrey Butler,
Bates Roberts, Bob Jackson, Brian Rourke,
Mercy, and and all of these British names were associated
with regions and local cycling communities.
You don't really see that anymore.
Once you got to a certain level in your cycling,
you went to see a local frame builder,
one of these guys, and you got A-frame made to
measure and it was not only a rite of passage,
but it was also supporting local industry.
The name on the downtube told the story,
as did the bike, which was unique like nobody else's.
I don't think anybody would disagree with me that life
was much simpler before the era of the proprietary component.
Shimano Campanella compatibility was all you had to worry about.
Properly established standards like the one specified by
ISO, the International Standards Organization,
meaning you can get parts for a bike years after.
It's no longer the current model,
which is why it's so easy to buy a bike
from the 70s,
the 80s or the 90s like this,
called Margo, and just restore it very simply.
But there's light at the end of this particular tunnel.
The bike manufacturers themselves are coming back round to the
idea that there are benefits to a 68 millimeter threaded
bottom bracket,
a 27.2 millimeter seat post.
Even Cannondale, the inventors of the BB30,
have gone back to a 68 millimeter threaded bottom bracket
shell on the new sign apps.
Anybody could build up an old bike like this called
Nago.
All you might need a bike shop to do is
to press in the headset and the rest of it
you can do yourself with a set of Allen keys
and the right bottom bracket tool.
Even internal cable routing didn't used to present any kind
of problem.
Now this is an internally routed rear brake cable that
just goes straight through the top tube.
It's literally the cable just pushes straight through,
comes out the other side.
Now you've got a sort of spaghetti of cables,
wires, hoses that go through the bars and the stem
and down in front of the head tube
and really, who's going to make any sense of that?
And it's all for what?
For the sake of, well,
a Watt? A Watt or two?
A clean looking front end.
I think disc brakes are dominant enough,
but it's possible to say that you miss rim brakes.
They were just so simple to set up.
All you need is an Allen key,
and for this you just need a pair of cable
cutters and there you go.
The brake pads are right there,
easy to see, easy to check the wear,
and easy to replace. There's no bleeding necessary.
There's no working out what kind of fluid you need,
the brakes are just there.
And the other thing about rim brakes is that they
work really well.
People seem to forget that they're really all you need
on a road bike.
I mean, ask yourself, how many times do I stop
on a standard hour ride?
For me it's probably less than 10 times.
If I'm riding on my own or even get a
mate,
I stop at junctions and that's all I need the
brakes for.
If you live in the outs or if you ride
technical gravel,
then it might be a different scenario.
And then there's a good case for the disc brakes.
But for a road bike,
for ordinary Rd. riding in Britain,
this is all you need.
One of the reasons why rim brakes are disappearing is
because tires are getting too fat for them.
Why are tires getting too fat?
Because frames are getting too stiff.
It's a vicious circle. Now with a steel frame,
there was enough comfort in the steel frame itself that
you didn't need balloon tires unless you're touring and carrying
heavy panniers.
You might think I've gone mad saying I miss skinny
tires,
but the difference in performance between an expensive skinny tire
and a cheap skinny tire is not as great as
the difference in weight and performance between a cheap 30
or 32 millimeter tire and an expensive one.
Fat ties are great if they're supple,
lightweight and tubeless, but cheap heavy ones with thick inner
tubes just dull the ride and add weight.
So to sum up, I'd say that a cheap narrow
tie is less detrimental to the performance of your bike
than a cheap fat one.
Now some people might think I'm going too far here,
but I'm going to add to the list of things
I miss.
Aluminium wheels. Now, there used to be wheel builders at
the back of bike shops who would build you the
wheel you wanted.
You chose the hub, the spokes and the rim,
and he built it for you.
Now you buy a carbon wheel set that was made
in China or Taiwan,
and it's incredibly expensive and it's the same as everybody
else's okay.
So the carbon wheel set might be a little bit
more aerodynamic,
little bit lighter, but really,
is that a priority over serviceability,
durability, individuality and price?
Talking of price, the top Rd.
bikes today can cost over
£12,000. Now looking at the inflation rate in the UK
over the last 30 years,
it's just over 100%, which would mean that a top
road bike in 1990 would cost
£6000 and I certainly don't remember them costing that much.
And if they had, would any cyclists have actually been
able to afford one?
So if you want a prestige classic bike like this
one,
the good news is that you can get one of
eBay pretty cheaply.
I bought this Cornago as A-frame and fork off eBay
for
£450 in 2014 and I sourced all the rest of
the components separately or the Dura
7700 group set. All that came off eBay as well
and the whole thing cost me just under £1000.
And finally, will I be standing here in
2052 praising whatever it is?
In my opinion makes the
2022 bike better than the
2052 one? Well, hopefully I'll still be here,
but I really doubt that many bikes from
2022 will be, or at least in a rideable state.
Even if I was able to replace the proprietary components
with the carbon fiber have suffered from some sort of
galvanic corrosion from being next to metal parts,
metal inserts and bolts. Would it have been damaged?
You can't always see it,
I'm not so sure. Whereas a steel bike will last
a lifetime if it's properly be looked after and cherished
as it should be.
And when it does come to the end of its
life,
it can just be recycled.
It's not going to end up in landfill or even
worse,
in the sea.
So those are some of the things I miss.
But that's not to say old bikes were perfect.
I might have been suggesting that the cycling industry has
been fixing things that ain't broke,
creating solutions in search of a problem and generally charging
us too much money.
But there are certain things about old bikes that I'm
really,
definitely glad to see the back off.
We've done a quick bike change just to illustrate the
things that I don't miss and the first of these
is toe clips and straps,
Now strapping your foot into a steel cage and then
pedaling.
That sounds like torture and it does feel like torture
and it's pretty dangerous as well I would say.
So thank God for the clipless pedal which has been
around for the last 35 years,
pretty much unchanged since look came up.
The original ski binding derived pedal and only speed player
have messed with the design
and they've really just turned the whole thing on its
head with the spring mechanism in the shoe rather than
the pedal and that works really well.
So thank God
for racing bikes. A 5339 chainset or a
5242 even, was standard. That was fine as long as
you had a decent spread of gears at the back.
But you generally didn't. Which meant that if you were
going uphill and at the same time you wanted a
reasonably close ratio,
then you'd have to really put your back into it.
And you can see that literally that's how it used
to be.
If you look at footage of old races going uphills,
it's like,
so good riddance to big gears,
don't you believers? Now, I had to think hard about
whether to include these in my list of things I
don't miss because some people really like them.
Some people actually enjoy that.
You have to finesse the lever and even listen to
whether the chain is on the correct code or not.
But for me, I mean,
no, no, thank you. And
I appreciate the fact that there's a really nice direct
connection,
just this cable running straight to the derailia,
and it's lightweight as well.
But really, I don't want to sit down every time
I want to change gear.
I just want to do it with a button.
That's all I want from shifting.
I don't care. Some things are best consigned to history
and sadly
down to believers. They're one of them
or two of them.
So those are the things I miss and don't miss
about old bikes.
If you think I'm just a nostalgic old fool,
then let me know in the comments underneath.
And if there are things that you miss and don't
miss about old bikes,
then let me know about those too.
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