Are Old Bikes Worth Saving?

It's a question that comes up a lot. The intent, in my experience anyway, always seems to be a cost savings measure. It rarely works out that way.
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[@jefftoonstra5087]

Perfect timing! I just rescued a 90’s trek 1100, nicely converted to flatbar (with indexed downtube shifters😮), but needed little more than a tune up and someone gave me an 80’s Schwinn world traveler with a bad front hub. Been trying to hunt down a rigid fork for my beloved 90’s homegrown single speed, that’s a challenge, esp with 26” wheels!

[@caseycook8071]

At the beginning of the pandemic, i started a resto mod build of a 97 Rockhopper. For me, it was a low barrier to learn how to work on my own bike. It hasn't been the cheapest, but less than a new surly and I chose and learned to install about every single component. I rides really nice and I've taken it bikepacking and some gravel events. That said, I put a deposit down on a Hardtack to see what modern ATBs are about!

[@jefftoonstra5087]

Those old specs are popular now days!

[@laneromel5667]

I upgraded my Peugeot PX10 to modern groupset, and wheels, could not be happier. For me the old school bikes are far more comfortable. The PX10 has half a million km on it, still going strong. I upgraded because my legs are nopt what they used to be. A guy I ride with had a carbon bike, went about as well as the sub at the bottom of the Atlantic.

[@uniquenamegoeshere2263]

I have a PX 10 sitting in my basement needing a bottom bracket rebuild

[@bikesandbeyond618]

Happy Independence Day! Something that has awaken in me has been the need to ride RAGBRAI. Can’t make it this year due to an already scheduled vacation trip. Next year is the plan….

[@ThePsychicDerailleur]

Happy Independence Day to you too! RAGBRAI has always looked like a good time.

[@paulklahr997]

The value isn’t in the dollars, rather in saving / preserving a classic and giving it new life. I did this to a late 80’s Schwinn Cimarron which was my first bike (ATB). It was a labor of love. Didn’t save any money doing it. I took a fork from a taller frame set to artificial increase the head tube height because that is an issue as Chris said. The other issue and the reason I now commute on something else, the bb is too high. Worth it, sure. Just not in a financial sense.

[@dough.1355]

It seems that new bicycles are priced less than the sum of their parts.

[@dough.1355]

The sum of retail prices for those parts to be clear.

[@ThePsychicDerailleur]

It’s been that for as long as I can remember.

[@robbchastain3036]

So from time to time over the past week I've been thinking about your question and to follow up on my initial reply about installing a GreenZone Bikes e-conversion kit to a 26" mountain bike and having a lot of fun with it, I am surprised that it hasn't become a major thing among us cyclists to do that, to give a boost to a runabout, if nothing else, with a conversion kit. And we are the people of the N+1 bike collections, always room for something else. And while I totally understand and support the sub-thousand-dollar urban e-bike with its beefy frame and beefy tires and beefy everything, no way can those be ridden as bicycles when the juice is gone, just way too much weight to negotiate and fair enough, they are not made to be operated without juice in the battery. However, my Diamondback mountain bike with the e-kit rides like a normal bike without juice, yes, a bit heavier with the battery and such, but still, especially for errands to the post office and such, good to go as usual with 38mm stout commuter tires fore and aft. And that brings me to another point of surprise with the failure to adopt these kits, stashing the battery in a rear pannier and i suppose panniers must be lame because I see so few of them but I don't get it, panniers are great for hauling groceries or gear or something to read at the coffee shop or whatever, and they certainly make for great storage of an e-kit battery, such a better look and option to hide it there instead of placing it at a water-bottle mount. So I suppose I'm just saying I'm surprised and disappointed that we cyclists as a group aren't having more fun and function with old bikes by giving them a new role as silent mini-bikes, as I like to call 'em. And power doesn't mean you stop riding your quiver of other bikes. There was a time when I was an American teen military dependent in Frankfurt, West Germany that I rode street-legal on a 50cc Honda Dax, commuted to and from school and my after-school job on a German-made Rixie 10-speed, and did crazy BMX stuff on my CYC Stormer BMX bike with Skyway Tuff-Wheels, a bike I bought mail-order through a little ad in Dirt Bike magazine. And the Stormer did pretty much replace my beloved Schwinn Sting-Ray but it was time and besides, nearly half a century later, my Sting-Ray still gets its photo-op in my little thumbnail and i enjoy telling the story of my seven years on it, 1967 to 1975. :)

[@karthik7800]

It depends is the right! i've been looking for a road bike with a very slack seat tube and long chainstay plus some form of horizontal dropout for single speed conversion. no one makes geometry like this anymore(aside from rivendell of course and they don't have a horizontal dropout), I found a vintage (70's) Condor touring to suit my preference. these old bikes also has 120 mm rear spacing, perfect for a standard singlespeed wheels

[@dougpeterson3356]

"Something has awakened...". Been there. Then I realized I'm not as young as I think I am.

[@robbchastain3036]

I like your thoughts on the bike renovation situation, probably like a home renovation, you need to know it'll take more time and money and enthusiasm than originally planned. And I agree, it does depend on so many factors, initial condition and sentimental value maybe being the top two? And I think a great use of an old bike is as an e-bike conversion. I took a flyer on a GreenZone Bikes conversion kit, front-hub motor and Samsung battery and thumb throttle, and I installed it on a 26" mountain bike with smooth tires and it is a true joy of a commuter and it has changed my commute, out of the saddle up climbs and rises to save the juice, then O that wonderful assistance on flats and such. Plus, if I am running late, I can pretty much run it like a mini-bike, use most of the battery over a 14-mile up-and-down route but get to work on time and then pay a bit of a price getting home with the extra weight but no complaints, I just figure I'm muscling up for the over-60 class in a gravel event, eyes on that trophy. Or also-ran ribbon. 😀

[@ThePsychicDerailleur]

The worst decisions I’ve ever seen made all stemmed from the “sentimental value” of a bicycle. Your e bike conversion sounds fun as heck, and exactly the way I would use one!

[@robbchastain3036]

@@ThePsychicDerailleur O my and O sigh, I hear that about the sentimental projects. One got me so steamed that I donated it to the charity thrift store down the street about five years ago. I had second thoughts the next day and figured I'd buy it back as they only charged about twenty bucks for them. But it had already sold and fair enough, just had to let it go. 😀

[@chrisalto7313]

My Trek 800 easily ate up about $700 to turn into a lovely winter beater with matching red accents everywhere. Definitely not as capable as any other bike I own, but great to get out when the Spring MN roads become sloppy. Thanks for the shoutout! Renovation projects are fun and rewarding

[@chrispierce2625]

1x10 friction shifting square taper 80s / 90s MTB conversions are so practical and easy. So many good used parts. 26” wheels and tires are still plenty available for commuter style riding.

[@sheilastallard]

Yes!! We have a Peugeot 653 Athena. From the 90's and it still runs OK!!. Down tube levers with friction shift. Hubby loves it!. Love from England .

[@dpl9711]

Great advice.. old bikes are cool but best to refresh and donate to a newbie to get them started in this amazing hobby.

[@sdmike1141]

I was with you with the smash burgers, but then dozed off…what were you saying?🤣. Great to see ya, and thanks for pointing the week in the right direction!

[@kitchencarvings4621]

I'm rebuilding a 1985 Ross Mt. Whitney mountain bike and turning it into a touring bike. It was the first bike I ever bought when I was heading off to college and it has so much sentimental value. Now that I've gotten older, it's just not comfortable anymore but I can't part with it. So I'm getting a new fork and raising the stem and adding some swept-back bars and a dynamo hub and light, a porteur rack, and a Brooks saddle. I've always wanted to try a Brooks saddle. I know that for what I'm going to spend I could get a new bike but it won't mean as much and this way I can build exactly what I want. I'm doing all the work myself so that I can repair anything out in the field.

[@hippiebits2071]

All valid points, but I think it mostly depends on the intended purpose of the bike. I would say a 50 y.o fixing one of these up to do group rides or long days would unquestionably be better served by a bike with modern geometry. On the other hand a reasonably fit college student in search of a realitively snappy handling low buck commuter could do much worse. I'm glad you've found something to pursue as an additional interest. Looking forward to the updates on how it all goes.

[@merlinthebikewizard4392]

I work in a nonprofit shop that refurbishes and sells used bikes. It is worth it if you don't look at it as a profit proposition.

[@speedy1490]

Im a bike mechanic, but built up a lot of 90s steel frame bikes in my free time. With new wheels and completely new 10x1 Deore Drivetrain you can definitely do it around 300€/330$, including 20€-50€ for the base bike, even cheaper when you keep it 3x7. If you buy something new with crappy components its at least around 600€. If you want a nice Frame as base probably more. But maybe parts, especially machine laced wheels with rims from the Netherlands/Belgium (Ryde) and basic Shimano stuff, are cheaper in Europe?

[@ThePsychicDerailleur]

Yes, I’m Europe you buy shimano for what a shop pays. It’s always been that way. Because we have to pay a middle man called shimano USA. It’s madness.

[@daniellarson3068]

I guess it depends on what you want. So - people are all about these "gravel" bikes. They don't really seem that different than my 1991 steel frame hybrid. I bought it in 1991 and took it on fire roads and then on bike trails in many parts of the country. I've never been interested in racing. I'm no athlete. So I've replaced bearings and cables last Spring and the bottom bracket last week. I think it will be good to go another 30 years. I didn't see big cost. It sure is a lot cheaper than a new bike. A new Surly preamble gravel bike is $900.

[@Joerides7]

I'm looking at a nos 26" wheel LHT frame/fork hanging in one of my local shops I can get a deal on. I have a room full of 9spd Ultegra/Deore road and mountain parts, and a virtually new Velocity 26" wheelset. I'm pretty sure all I'd have to buy are cables, housings, and maybe a stem, I'm still hesitating. I don't remember how that bike fits me, and although I can do it, not sure I want to do the build myself.

[@es9415]

OK, here's my two cents; this guy is a perfect example of someone bashing older used bicycles in order to promote "sales" of new bicycles, after all he does own a bicycle shop. Listen..... people have toured around the world on old 80's and 90's mountain AND hybrid bicycles for years with no more than $400 to $500 worth of component upgrades. Also keep in mind, for some of us there's a great satisfaction and pride of building a resto-mod or simply restoring an old classic bicycle that would functions exceptionally well for a fraction cost of a new one. In my opinion, the most important nucleus of a bicycle is the frame and fork...... For example, Reynolds, Columbus, Tange Prestige, or even True Temper frame tubing from the 80's and 90's would serve well in today's modern era..... Now, if you're NOT into all that Grant Petersen's Rivendell type of bicycle philosophy, you know (quill stems and rim brakes), or if you know absolutely nothing about bicycles and wish not to tamper with them, then yes..... buy a new modern bicycle with a warrantee pay the extra and be done with it.....Don't let this guy, or any other salesman shame or discourage you from the hobby of bicycle building.

[@SINTHEREBEL666]

True story

[@SINTHEREBEL666]

I think so

[@Korina42]

If money is your only criteria, then no. When I recommend old bikes to folks, I tell them outright that they will put money into it, but it'll be a nicer bike than they can get new for the price.

[@johnkorpics5155]

Solid channel man

[@ThePsychicDerailleur]

I appreciate that. Thank you.