Practicality vs. Sentimentality - Does it Bring You Joy?
A lot of us have attachments to items we own that don't make financial sense. I'm not a sentimental person, by and large. I have a few objects that I hold near and dear to me, but in the case of the house catching fire, my wife and I will grab the cats and the wedding album and that's about it.
I bring up the idea of bonds and sentimentality and how it pertains to bicycles. We get a lot of folks coming to us to help keep their older bikes going. We've got the various bottom brackets and headsets to keep those older Peugeot UO8s and Schwinn Le Tours rolling along, handlebars to replace the going-on-40-year-old original bars, and all the fixings to make them unique to the rider. I'm curious as to whether folks are keeping them going in their original shape, setting them up as a commuter bike with newer components, or something in the middle like changing the bars and consumables for a spiffy and novel weekend rider.
The larger question of whether or not a bike should be restored to its shiny and new glory, simply spruced up and ridden, or hung on the wall? The answer is a resounding...."it depends"....
There are so many factors that goes into a decision like this. Does the bike have sentimental value, significant historical value, or is it just a fun project to work on? These decisions aren't easy especially when it comes to a budget.
There is no question that certain bikes hold more or less value to us as individuals - for example, Adrian and Igor have matching Campeurs that they used for their Denmark wedding tour. You can read about his and her Forever Bikes here.
A Peugeot UO8 is perhaps the best bike to use as an example here, as it is a re-occurring character at VO HQ. Peugeot made thousands and thousands of these bikes during the bike boom of the 60s and 70s. They were mid to low end of the range with Simplex shifting, Mafac brakes, and cottered cranks. They weren't anything special, but they were affordable, had cool graphics and Aztec lugs, and it got people on bikes - and that's what made it an icon of the era.
Would a UO8 be my first choice for a restoration? Probably not. But if a particular UO8 had significance in my life, like it was a beloved family member's, a first bike, or something of that nature, well that is a whole different story. Now that specific bike has significant sentimental value and that doesn't necessarily have the same price tag as a random UO8. I would absolutely argue that it deserves either a full restoration or moderate refurbishment to make it safe to ride - budget allowing. Replacing consumables like chains, brake pads, handlebar tape, and tires goes a long way.
I see outrageous pricing for original Simplex derailleurs and hear stories online of collectors paying huge amounts of money for period-correct parts. Is it to recreate this bike from 1973 and then display it or is someone actually riding this bike? For a lot of people, it's a totally worthwhile exercise to go and take an older frame, fix it up, put a new saddle on it, new brake pads and cables and then go out and use it. But I think one has to admit that, like many things, bikes have improved over the last 50 years and to just blindly restore a bike back to its original condition may not be the best decision.
Do you restore old bikes for sentimental reasons? Do you restore them to stock condition or do you make them more modern? Let us know in the comments!
I’ve been riding a 70’s Bianchi Limited, sport-tourer, one of the several Japanese-made models, for over 20 years. Been a bike enthusiast for decades and owned and ridden several high-end, Campy-equipped racing rides Those were nice but not as relaxed as this Bianchi. I mounted Suntour Superbe components with the exception of dual-pivot calipers. Its such a great fit and somewhat unique.
I’ve often thought finding the bike I first desired, an early 60’s Olmo Deluxe in my size, would be fun. But it wouldn’t be as enjoyable to ride and would likely be a wall-hanger.
My bike joy derives from cycling in beautiful places and my hobby refinishing/reselling vintage Italian steel frame-sets. Returning artisan-made frames to as-new for people to build and ride, satisfies another part of my bike joy and extends it to others. I suggest customers use modern parts for the reasons you mentioned (less cost, easier to find, better function). Many do and love their unique, new/old rides.
I restore primarily for practicality. If the frame is at least mid-grade or getter (well made, quality steel, nice lugs and drop-outs) I’ll put some time, effort and money into the renovation. The most extensive renovation was a late 80’s Schwinn Voyager (missing the fork). The original brake bosses were designed for antiquated U-brakes, so I needed to cut them off. So along with brazing on new brake bosses, I decided to braze on a rear canti brake stop arch, cable guides and a missing rear rack eyelet. For aesthetics, I spent some time filing the lugs into a nice taper (like you might see with a fine Italian racer of the same era). I had Alex Meade make me a custom touring fork. Keeping things simple, it was powder coated mirror black (which is affordable and durable). The final build utilized contemporary parts such as Shimano 9-speed Deore LX rear derailleur, 105 front d, short/shallow road bars, MicroShift 9-speed shifters (which are quite good; they provide accurate shifting and they’ve lasted for many thousands of miles and still going strong). Wheels are Ritchey Girder 700c mountain rims with 36 spokes on Tiagra hubs (virtually indestructible). Of course, I would be remis to not mention the Velo Orange components: Velo Orange compact crank, Velo Orange threadless headset, Velo Orange stainless steel fenders, and Velo Orange Grand Cru Zeste Cantilever brakes (which are extremely good stoppers). I would’ve used a Velo Orange seat post, but the Voyager has a very odd 26.6mm size, so I was just happy to find anything that’ll fit. In short, an old dated touring frame, albeit a well-made frame, was restored using contemporary parts to provide retro look and a sturdy rig for touring/commuting.
This blog hit the nail on the head for me. I love lugged steel (mostly) bikes, but I’ve not kept a single one of (20 or so) my bikes in “original” condition. None of of them are “high end” bikes, mostly 70s Motobecanes, because they’re pretty and the ride really well, especially with more reasonable gearing from VO cranks, and more comfortable handlebars, tires, etc. They are so much fun to ride, and that’s why I ride!
I have restored about a dozen ’80’s era Lotus bicycles. The better models made great bikes at a very affordable price and the build quality was superb. Since bicycle marketing has always had a huge fluff factor, fads, and some just pure BS, I feel no guilt about replacing original caliper brakes with modern dual-pivot caliper brakes, or fadish “aero” stuff or customizing the gearing since it was once normal to to design your own gearing. But adding modern fluff and nonsense like aero brake levers or brifters is too goofy for me. My original ‘83 Lotus Classique came out of the shop and into my arms back then with custom half-step gearing and bar-end shifters that I have loved from the start and duplicated on all the bikes I’ve restored. But the seat and deep-drop handlebars have since been replace with a more comfortable Brooks saddle and VO Nouveau Rando bars. Since then I’ve restored and customized many Classique, Unique, Excelle and Legend model Lotus bikes for family and friends. I junk the horrid Shimano Biopace chainrings and wide-range clusters for gears people will actually use. But I try to keep most of the original looks and exposed cables. Except in one extreme case, I mostly stick with just paint touch-up, decal replacements and a clear-coat. Since a lot of young folks wear rather big sneakers I usually switch out the original pedals for platform pedals with toe clips or half-clips. My “sentimental” reasons for restoring these bikes is because they are great bikes that are as good or even better than modern bikes and deserve to have their useful lives extended.
I am definitely a sentimentalist, but happy to incorporate practcal features. When the time came ten years ago, I was in no doubt about restoring my first nice bike, a 1968 Legnano bought in 1978. It has looked like new for several years thanks to Ed Litton’s gorgeous paint and decal work on the frame. While original or age-appropriate components maintain the chatacter (love those arching break cables!), I enjoy clincher rims and clipless pedals too much to go full eroica.
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