CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Vintage road bike for newbie - good idea?

(22 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by jamesire
  • Latest reply from Charterhall
  • This topic is resolved

  1. jamesire
    Member

    Hi folks

    I'm a relatively new cyclist - have been riding seriously for past few months (city centre to Heriot Watt 5 days a week) and would love to replace my MTB with a road bike. There seem to be vintage racers popping up on Gumtree almost daily. I'd love to own one of these, (most have friction shifters) but have never ridden anything but a MTB.

    Do people think this is advisable? I'm a pretty confident rider, although the idea of changing to drop bars and downtube shifting around Edinburgh (cobbles, hills etc) is a little daunting.

    My other option is to wait a couple of months and spending a couple hundred more on a low end roadie from somewhere like Halfords.

    Advice anyone?

    Cheers, James

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. chdot
    Admin

    Difficult to advise as 'vintage' means different things to different people!

    Don't buy anything with steel wheels if you plan to use it when it might rain.

    If you're tall you might find downtube levers a bit too much of a stretch if you're riding in traffic and changing gear a lot.

    I have bikes with drops and thumbshifts - but that's DIY...

    Few vintage bikes have good brakes.

    Cantilevers (which you presumably have on your MTB) are rare on s/h road bikes. If you find one with them or dual-pivot brakes that would be useful.

    Gumtree - buyer beware and all that.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. Charterhall
    Member

    The Triban 3 from Decathlon looks hard to beat for a first buy...
    http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10929

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Uberuce
    Member

    I restarted cycling as an adult on a 1988 racer with drop bars, non-brilliant brakes and downtube friction shifters, which was and is two sizes too small for me.

    Apart from the sizing problem, it was awesomesauce. Admittedly (over the following 18 months before I finally accepted it didn't fit) I spent about £200 on upgrading the tyres, front brake, back wheel and rear derailleur, but I ended up with something better and with more character than the same money could buy new.

    I'd go for the holy trinity of Bike Station, Soul Cycles and Eastside Bikes over Gumtree.

    I would also factor in the cost of a new front brake and new tyres immediately, with new drivetrain penciled in for later.
    The old stuff just doesn't cut it, apart from saddles, steel frames and Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hubs. That's merely an annoyance for shifting gear, but for punctures and braking it's a serious safety issue, so fixey fixoo quickulously quickalo.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. allebong
    Member

    A few months back I was in exactly the OPs position looking at old road bikes on Gumtree. I eventually decided against it for the following reasons:

    -Bikes up to the mid 1980s were much less standardised compared to today. Especially Ralieghs. You wouldn't want to get a 'bargain' frame and then find it has obsolete headset and bb threading, since those parts are likely to be close to going on an old bike anyway, it's very costly to find specialist custom parts today that would fit.

    -As has been mentioned, both brakes and gears have come on leaps and bounds in the past few decades. Again it'd be a case of being either stuck with poorly performing bits or immediately shelling out for newer ones.

    -I know friction shifters have their advocates but I think you should steer well clear if you're new to road bikes.

    -Old wheels are liable to have the bearings shot, the nipples rusted, fatigued spokes etc.

    It's not that you can't find good, well performing older bikes, it's more that you have to be very careful about what you choose and be prepared to spend more again for upgrades.

    I would overall advise to save up and go for a Triban 3. I'd wager that it wipes the floor in every way compared to anything 'vintage'. Also if you're transitioning from mtb it'll be more reassuring with indexed gears and a threadless headset and the like.

    In my search for a road bike I ended up buying a cheap flat bar hybrid frame and then bodging drop bars onto it. Good DIY option and lots of fettling practice but not something I could easily recommend.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. Morningsider
    Member

    All good advice above. Another thing to consider - if you are used to the gearing on an MTB, then you are likely find the gearing on an old racer ridiculously tough (at least to start with) - the lowest couple of gears on an 80's racer are likely to be the equivalent of the top of the gear range on most MTBs. Can make for very wobbly progress until you get used to it - and getting used to getting out of the saddle on steeper hills.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. Uberuce
    Member

    In my limited experience I would say the problem with vintage friction shifters isn't the friction-ness, it's cassette and derailleur design.

    The bike in its initial state took a fair bit of persuasion to shift gear, then it had a stint as hipster wankmobile fixie, then I bought a mid/low range Shimano Alivio and a new back wheel with modern cassette, and then it shifted like a dream.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. gembo
    Member

    @jamesire is that old French racer still chained to the sign at hermiston village? Not sure how much no 29 wants for it.? This assumes you commute to heriot watt via hermiston. Village

    Martin

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. neddie
    Member

    I have a Raleigh Record Ace, 1987 vintage, which I've owned from new. I've had no problems replacing the bottom bracket (it fits a standard cassette type thing). Friction shifters fine once you get the 'feel'.

    It's a great bike.

    Only the frame, forks, headset, bars, gear levers & seat post are original. Everything else has been replaced (several times!)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. sallyhinch
    Member

    My OH bought an old Peugot racer (1980 vintage) for 100 euros when we were in France (it cost a fair bit more to ship back, mind). It's definitely a fair weather bike, but then he's an avowed fair weather rider. Everything everyone else has said has proved true - non-standard parts, ridiculously high gearing, not much stopping power in the wet. On the other hand he rides it a hell of a lot more than he ever rode his old hybrid and from the grin on his face when he does, it's a lot of fun. Oh, and it's impossible to ride it anything but FAST apparently and it weighs almost nothing and looks sexy as hell. I wouldn't buy one as a commuter or as your main bike but if you can get one cheap I'd say go for it.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    "non-standard parts"

    Well it is a French French bike.

    Peugeots sold in UK had British threads.

    http://sheldonbrown.com/velos.html

    Info on old Raleighs -

    http://sheldonbrown.com/raleigh26.html

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. Charterhall
    Member

    Of course quality older bikes that have been looked after can continue to be a great joy to ride and in many cases could easliy better many current bikes especially those at the budget end. But you have to know what to look for and to be aware of the issues around replacement parts. Not to mention whether the seller is legit. If you've got access to such expertise and find a suitable machine with trustworthy provenance then go for it.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. jamesire
    Member

    Wow thanks for all these helpful answers!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. wee folding bike
    Member

    My actual road bike was made in early 1990. It got new wheels 10 years later but other than that it's not really changed. Seeing late 1980s machines described as vintage is a little unsettling. And yes, Campag Delta brakes of that era are less effective than current Brompton brakes.

    Look out for 27" wheels on bikes from the early '80s and before. I think you can still get tyres for them but most people moved to the slightly smaller 700 size. You can get 700 rims put on it but you need to check that the brakes reach them.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. Uberuce
    Member

    Looking back at my response to allebong's warning about friction shifters, I completely forgot to concede that the downtube is a rubbish place to put them. Moving your hands to change gear sucks.

    In its last gasp of my racer being on the road I converted it to to riser/cruiser handlebars and a pleasantly upright posture, so upright I could change gear with my feet more easily than with my hands.

    I've still got that frame hanging up in my flat, but if it's to run again, I'll convert to thumbshifts like chdot does, bar-ends or all the way to shiny STI, depending on the budget of whomever I'm giving/selling it to.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. EddieD
    Member

    "Raleigh cups are no longer made, but they are extremely hard."
    " Beware, though, the welds to the bottom bracket shell of a Raleigh Twenty can be very hard"
    "The stock Raleigh headsets have proven to be unusually long lived"

    I was brought up near Nottingham in the late 60s/70s, and so I was brought up with Raleigh (and Carlton for the rich kids) bikes, and I can attest to how bombproof they were. The 20 made a good jump bike in the old quarry.

    I actually like downtube friction shifters, but that may be because I was brought up with them, and have long arms. You can also wire them up backwards, which we used to do for the front shifter - top gear, both forward, bottom gear, both back.

    Older bikes tend to have slightly odd geometry - my friend who gave me a Mercian frame and forks was trying to persuade me to take a much straighter threadless CF fork, as the heavily raked original made the bike somewhat twitchy - apparently it was the style for road bikes 20+ years ago.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. Bhachgen
    Member

    I've got a 1979 Peugeot which serves as my main road bike. Downtube friction shifters. I'm fine with these, though like EddieD I grew up with them. I occasionally find myself searching between my legs for a gear lever and then remembering I'm on one of my bikes with shifters on the bars!

    Brakes are way superior to the cantis on my 2011 Cross bike. Replacement pads are outrageously expensive
    but they last pretty well especially if I save it for fair-weather riding.

    Good quality steel frame is fast but comfortable - a combination which can be pricey to come by in new bikes.

    Gear range is an issue compared to even the cheaper modern road bikes but you just have to get out the saddle, grit your teeth, and attack the climbs. This is great training and also gains a lot of respect from those with namby-pamby newfangled compact drivetrains!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    Don't overlook aluminium frames. The combination of big companies switching to carbon and the prohibitive cost of the inert gas welding and solution treating (baking in a huge oven) required for aluminium frame building (c.f. steel frame building) means they have no marketing push behind them any more. So there are lots of overlooked bargains to be found secondhand. Framesets to look out for include Altec 2+, Airplane, Zonal, Starship and XLR8R. These were used in Colnagos, Pinarellos etc. but trickled down to smaller manufacturers. These tube sets made under licence and built into frames in the far east were effectively Tour de France quality but now sell for less than £100 on eBay.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  19. crowriver
    Member

    Nowt wrong with a nice old steel frame. Except the obvious: they rust.

    If shopping for one, inspect the bottom bracket area, main tubes, seat stays, forks, for signs of corrosion. Also, take a set of allen keys and remove the seatpost (if it will come out - if not, DO NOT BUY). Peer down the seat tube in bright daylight (or use a penlight torch) and check the inside of the seat tube/bottom bracket shell for corrosion too.

    I've bought a few 1990s era frames in the past couple of years and they were all in good nick, little or no corrosion evident.

    Also, Raleigh frames and componen ts are quite tough. My early 1990s Raleigh has the original headset, bottom bracket, wheel hubs, and freewheel and they are all still going strong. It is worth re-greasing all these areas, replacing bearings if need be. Grease dries out over time and bearings/cups will wear very fast if they are run dry.

    Finally if downtube shifters are putting you off you can switch to stem shifters: basically downtube shifters clamped around the stem instead. 6 speed sets with all the cables and fittings you need are available for very little and can be run indexed (SIS, rear only) or friction. The only extra bit required is to convert the downtube shifter braxe-ons to cable stops: again kits available very cheaply.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  20. jamesire
    Member

    Just to update this - I bought a Robin Williamson (1980s, possibly) single speed. Love it!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  21. crowriver
    Member

    Apparently Robin Williamson was a bike shop in Stockbridge, where Alpine bikes is now. Now the owner of Biketrax in Tollcross?

    So I can imagine it's a good bike, probably intended for track racing.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  22. Charterhall
    Member

    Robin W does indeed own Biketrax, I've often been served by him or at least had a chat with him when visiting.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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