Not old enough to be vintage, not new enough to be modern

[bthomas515]

One of my hobbies is fixing up bikes, riding them for a bit, and then selling to repeat the process. This has led me to pick up a bunch of bikes that fall into that weird category of not old enough to be vintage but not new enough to be modern. They’ve sat for years or been kinda pieced together as spare bikes. They seemingly are not very coveted because they don’t fall into either category.

Right now, I’m riding a mid-2000’s S-Works E5 and am blown away at how well it climbs. Would still say it competes with anything modern in the race category.

Anyone else have an older bike they enjoy but probably doesn’t get the notoriety it deserves?

[jamesdak]

First off, nice ride.

I do the same thing sorta although I tend to keep a lot of them around.

I'd say I have quite a few bikes that fit in this category.

One more recent one is the Coppi Neuron Mega T. One of the last great steel frames in my book that rides very fast and responsive while still be comfortable for long miles.



There's not a round tube on this one, to include the pointed headtube.




And of course the Softride is normally the odd one out too. As much as I love all my classic steel rides I have to admit that this odd, plain, weird bike is faster than everything else I have.

[jadmt]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

First off, nice ride.

I do the same thing sorta although I tend to keep a lot of them around.

I'd say I have quite a few bikes that fit in this category.

One more recent one is the Coppi Neuron Mega T. One of the last great steel frames in my book that rides very fast and responsive while still be comfortable for long miles.



There's not a round tube on this one, to include the pointed headtube.




And of course the Softride is normally the odd one out too. As much as I love all my classic steel rides I have to admit that this odd, plain, weird bike is faster than everything else I have.

I am so jealous of your bike collection.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by bthomas515

Would still say it competes with anything modern in the race category.

How many 2023 model year pro race bikes have you ridden for comparison?

[bthomas515]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

How many 2023 model year pro race bikes have you ridden for comparison?

Lol when I say modern I mean like in the last 5 years or so.

[bicycletricycle]

Had one of those E5 frames in silver ano. It was great.

[wgp]

I still have my S-works E5 in the zebra-stripped Aqua Sapone paint job, built up with Campy 10 speed gruppo … currently on loan to my son! My first “modern” bike when I got back into serious riding back in early 2000s. No longer has the matching bar tape :-(

[pinkshogun]

In my world STI bikes are modern...downtube/stem shifters are vintage

[mstateglfr]

That bike has at least 10sp Ultegra- it's plenty modern.
It isn't bleeding edge newest tech, but it's modern.

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

That bike has at least 10sp Ultegra- it's plenty modern.
It isn't bleeding edge newest tech, but it's modern.

11-speed Dura Ace was introduced in 2012, I think. It's modern enough, but the 10-speed era was a decent time ago!

Now, 9-speed feels pretty classic at this point...

[nmrt]

Hah! I used to own the non-S-Works version of the bike. It was a dog on climbs -- heavy and lumbering. I think it weighed a ton too with the triple up front and heavy wheels.

There is no way this bike compares to a moden climbing bike like the Emonda SLR or the Tarmac or the likes.

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

11-speed Dura Ace was introduced in 2012, I think. It's modern enough, but the 10-speed era was a decent time ago!

Now, 9-speed feels pretty classic at this point...

Agreed that 10sp was released long ago, but it still very much exists on bikes in the $1500-2000 range right now so I don't think the 10sp era is gone.
I mentioned 10sp Ultegra because I view that as modern enough since the shift cables run under bar tape so it has a pretty modern look to it, even though it was released 15 years ago.
If there were a dozen bikes with modern mechanical and di2 drivetrains, a bike with a 2x 6700 drivetrain wouldn't look glaringly out of place.

The bike in question has at least 6700 on it(I assume the rest is Ultegra based on the crank) which is why I mentioned this in the first place.