Devoted to classic UK and Italian lightweights
October 20, 2013 5:25 PM   Subscribe

Classic Lightweights UK
"Through our site Patricia and I would like to share our enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, classic lightweight cycles, particularly those built in Britain and Italy.
Classic Components posted by Confess, Fletch (9 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
Gorgeous! Track bikes are so elegantly simple. Great post.
posted by Grumpy old geek at 5:38 PM on October 20, 2013


I started getting interested in steel bikes a little while before the hipsters decided fixies were the thing (dammit)... managed to land a Bridgestone RB-1 for my partner just before the market exploded, and that was it; I'll probably never be able to afford a good Holdsworth except through sheer luck.

These days, unless ther's a reason to hold out for vintage specifically, you can get something better from a modern builder for the same price. And saner, when you think about it: Theadless headsets and freehubs are chunkier and uglier than their predecessors, but oh so much stronger, and the options for fit, finish and size are almost limitless. Even if you don't buy those arguments, the convergence on a few standard component sizes across all types and brands of bikes has cut down on some of the frankly insane diversity in parts, and reduced the likelihood that your bike is prematurely obsolesced because nobody makes tires for it any more.

These are beautiful bikes and always will be. They're from an era whose predecessors were rough and unrefined, and whose successors are too commoditized and techno-fetishized.

That Duke is just nuts, though.
posted by ardgedee at 6:12 PM on October 20, 2013


It depends where you are and what , I guess. When I was in Dublin, you could get lots of nice 70's/80's road bikes with French/Italian/German frames, generally with refurbished brakes etc for €200 or so, depending on condition. You couldn't get a new bike with drop handlebars of any sort for that.

I bought a new hybrid for €200 that was well on its way towards falling apart after a year (handlebars had a permanent wobble that couldn't be tightened, both tyres and front wheel replaced, broke 2 cranks and one bottom bracket) when it was stolen. I started using my flatmate's spare bike (one of the aforementioned 70's German €200 ones) and it was much better at taking whatever abuse I threw at it.

When I moved to California one of my first purchases was a mint condition mid-80's Japanese-built steel-framed bike for $250. I'm more into bikes now, and have a 105-equipped bike that weighs half as much etc., but I use them both about equally. I think the weight thing is way overstated - going up a local cat 2 climb I'm only a minute quicker on the carbon-forked wonder than the 30 year old lump of steel.

To most people 80's isn't vintage of course, but the technology was pretty stable at that point - gears that had no discrete positions that needed adjusting, high tensile steel frames that take a lot of the bumps out of the road etc. I don't think bikes changed very much between the mid 50's and mid 90's.
posted by kersplunk at 7:18 PM on October 20, 2013


On the subject of the post by the way, why do Brits like track racing so much when it's very much a minority sport in most countries? Well, in modern times, cycling has been the recipient of National Lottery funding aimed at winning Olympic medals, and there are lots more medals in track than in road cycling (even though a number of track events have been dropped recently).

But the big reason is that road racing was essentially banned in the UK during the period it was taking off in continental Europe:
the bicycle was, on the whole, seen as a machine of working classes and a strong resistance to racing rapidly emerged from the wealthy ruling classes. There are some who believe that we came close to a total ban on cycling in this country as the upper classes railed against the mobility it gave the "common" man and the resultant incursions into their beloved countryside. It was against this background, which seems so unreal today, that the NCU banned cycle racing on the highways and insisted that all racing must take place on velodromes and later on closed circuits.
There is still pretty extensive anti-cycling feeling in Britain, for example there is a lobby group trying to ban road racing in Surrey, and a couple of people in the last year have been caught boasting about running down cyclists on Twitter.
posted by kersplunk at 7:29 PM on October 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


I've always ridden Bob Jacksons. I approve of this post.
posted by adamrice at 7:44 PM on October 20, 2013


There is still pretty extensive anti-cycling feeling in Britain, for example there is a lobby group trying to ban road racing in Surrey, and a couple of people in the last year have been caught boasting about running down cyclists on Twitter.



Also, the 2012 Tour de France winner and Olympic time trial gold medalist was struck by a careless driver in his hometown.


Also, this blog focuses a lot on pre-war and immediate post-war bikes, so they're not exactly Colnago Tecnoses (Tecni? Tecnuum?), or components made of quality drillium, but there are some sick lugs in there and good God that Holdsworth is gorgeous.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:59 PM on October 20, 2013


I started getting interested in steel bikes a little while before the hipsters decided fixies were the thing (dammit)... managed to land a Bridgestone RB-1 for my partner just before the market exploded, and that was it; I'll probably never be able to afford a good Holdsworth except through sheer luck.

You still can, or at least you could in 2010 or so. You just have to play both sides of the market.

I got a newer cervelo from a guy who wanted to upgrade to something either italian or custom for an obscene price. Like $500. I bought it without really checking the fit because it was such a good deal, and it turned out to just never fit me right no matter how much tweaking i did.

I traded it plus some cash on the other guys end for this(not mine, but closest i could find to the same one. Mines the up-spec race replica model with the chromed stays). We both thought we were getting a sweet deal. He had no real idea what it was, and didn't really care. Only knew what it said on the frame and not even the model.

He had inherited it when his uncle died, who had only ridden it a few times before some injury. He just wanted a nice new bike for his wife. Dudes happily riding his specialized tarmac or whatever while i laugh off into the sunset on my dream machine.

A lot of people not only don't really know the value of old(er) bikes, but would also rather have a new one because new, or to have brifters or a 15lb carbon bike or something. Sure there's a lot of people out there hunting for vintage stuff, but there's also a lot of people in that school of thought.

If you hunt, you can absolutely still get interesting and even high end older and vintage bikes for pretty cheap, By which i mean in the $5-800 range. My friend got an amazing 70s colnago for about $900 recently. The cheapest locally handmade bikes i've seen start at 2k+ and that's not even with the top of the line components vintage bikes generally come with.

So yea, some lucks involved. But you could likely still go out and find a Holdsworth.
posted by emptythought at 8:05 PM on October 20, 2013


That site's a classic :)

I have quite a stable of second-hand classic steel bikes (but from the 70's and 80's) that ride great, are very will made, easily serviced, and the most I paid for any is $400 (for a '79 Raleigh Team Pro). Modern components are fine, but to get a new bike with them, you'd need to spend upwards of $1000 to get anything near the quality of say an 80's Japanese sport touring bike, which are easily found for a few hundred bucks.

And it's pretty easy to upgrade them to indexed brifter shifting with a little effort. Here's an '86 Masi that now runs Campy Ergo brifters, which I put together for a total cost of under $650.
posted by jetsetsc at 9:24 AM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'd forgotten all about it. This post brought back memories of my english youth years.
I had a Holdsworth then - could it have been 1957? A truly beautiful machine. White, single gear and track forks. I made it intp a fixed gear machine later.
I bought it second hand from a shop in, where? . Battersea perhaps or was it Clapham. Unfortunately had to sell it later, being skint.

Think I only got 12 quid for it.

Moi, je regrette beaucoup.
posted by jan murray at 1:28 PM on October 21, 2013 [1 favorite]


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