I would have to agree with John Barron's post when he recently said he was
significantly faster on a new bike. However, I doubt it is purely the bike.
It is only common sense to say that if it is a few pounds lighter that it
takes less effort to propel it. But, it is not all that much lighter in
most cases...if you carry two water bottles on it instead of one, for
instance, the weight difference is largely gone. I do feel that I get
around on my longer rides a bit quicker on modern bikes than my older ones.
I also feel that the difference is a lot more related to having modern
indexing and ergo set ups on these bikes. It keeps me in the right gears
more easily, especially in heavy wind. I am a tiny bit more likely to be in
the right gears on hills.
However, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that if I were to put
modern components like I have on my Sachs 25th Ann bike on, say, my older
Mooney, Masi 3V or the Paramounts, I would achieve much the same results,
time wise. The bikes themselves are still bikes that require a good set of
legs to make good time on...there is nothing magical about Carbon or
Ti...they are just a bit lighter. A bit. They gain little in the way of
better geometry, the tires are negligible in difference...you can put great
tires on just about any older bike...and many folks do...classic riders
often are running tubulars or some really decent clinchers. A more modern
bike may have something like Zipp wheels, here again this is a decent
weight savings...they are butt ugly, and other than this, they could be put
on a classic bike, with a little planning.
I think there are two things going with these modern bikes besides the
obvious weight savings, one is the psychological ...the person feels like he
is really spending money and effort on as fast a bike as they can get and
this makes them feel a bit like King Kong. The other more significant
benefit is in components...and these could be put onto a more classic bike,
it is an aesthetic choice to keep the older or original stuff on them. Some
of us do hot rod our bikes up a bit...It is my old legs that keep me from
passing these college kids on my rides, not my old bikes. There is a lot of
grey in the beards of most of us classic bike riders, it has been noted.
I am glad that next year Campagnolo Record will be available again in a
silver finish instead of black only...I just might put some of it on a
vintage bike for the fun of it (especially those sexy skeleton brakes!)...I
am much more impressed by modern components than I am by modern styles of
bikes.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi USA