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forum
Upgrade old or buy new.
My current road bike is a 531 framed Dawes road bike from the 90s, which I bought second hand. While I really like the bike, the wheels need a rebuild or replaced as I've broken a few spokes recently. The rear spacing is 126mm but I could probably squeeze in 130mm wheel. Its got down tube shifters, which I don't mind. The frame is in pretty good nick, but the quill stem is frozen. I'm looking to do a bit more cycling, possibly a sportive , my question is whether I should upgrade the existing bike, or go for a new budget model such as a btwin from Decathlon. Second hand could also be an option, but I've not seen a lot on Gumtree near me (Aberdeen)
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3 comments
Keep the old one and restore it at your leisure if you think it's worth it and get new one as well. GCN do a nice comparison of Delgado's 1985 Vuelta winning bike with its modern equivalent here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4JAvQCp8ww
Retro bikes are cool as hell but modern bikes are just all round better - and I say that having owned a Raleigh Record Sprint as a teenager.
Keep the old bike mate, you will love it more. New wheels mind, if they will fit, as the seals will be far better, get something made. But try to keep everything else retro, they often built stuff to last back then. Swissstop make good brake pads that will get better braking than the old ones. LBS for the stem, they know how to sort stuff like that.
My personal preference is second hand as the value normally beats the hell out of new (bought a colnago C59 with full DuraAce 9800 and C24 wheels last year for 1200 quid (equivalent). If you really like the frame there's nothing wrong with keeping it, but I suspect you'd be blown away by a decent carbon frame. The quill stem can be removed carefully in pieces by a decent bike shop or engineering firm, and if the donw tube shifters are not indexed then they should provide years and years of service and will be compatible with 8/9/10/11/12 speed