Hi List, I'm not sure where I fit in the demographic of this list, but from watching the recent discussion on bike values and what makes something collectible and something not, I thought I'd pipe in as someone who got into bikes in 1992 at age 14. I read the now "collectible" 1992-1994 Bridgestone catalogs at the kitchen table to drown out family discord. That is where I learned to look at popular bike trends with a critical eye. I was criticized in high school because I rode my bike to school instead of driving a car (in my small midwestern town, everyone had a car at age 16). In 1995 at age 17-18, I completed a solo cross country tour--on a used (now vintage?) 1985 Cannondale touring bike I had "upgraded" from 18 to 21 speeds. Of course I wanted a Bridgestone RB-T or XO-1, but I got the Cannondale used and it was all I could afford. In 1997, I was riding another Cannondale across Nebraska with buddy and stopped at a fantastic bike shop in Lincoln where I found an early 80s Lotus Odyssey touring bike. I bought the bike, mailed the Cannondale back home, and completed the tour on the Lotus. Been riding lugged steel ever since.
Now, at age 30, I have a basement full of projects, mostly mid-level Japanese frames from the late 70s to early 80s. So in general, my collection is barely on-topic, although I have a handful of truly on-topic frames. I don't race, never have, and probably never will. I don't follow racing, and I know precious little about the great history of racing that is often discussed here. Perhaps in some ways I don't belong on this list. My modest income and family prevent me from collecting at the level many here do, and I take the bikes that come to me via Craigslist or random finds, rather than seeking out particular bikes to re-create or re-live some era in my life or the sport.
But I agree with another member who has gotten into older and older bikes via contact with the list, that the bikes one started with are a "gateway." I have zero interest in the Cannondales (and OT mountain bikes) of my youth, and the Japanese bikes I like so much were made when I was not born or a toddler. I'm working on a super clean Peugeot UE-18 mixte from the early 70s and loving it right now, and a 1975 Raleigh Super Course. Modest projects, but important. I'm happy to leave the Colnago, Masi, Hetchins, Herse and the like to others, while focusing on the somewhat undervalued and non-exotic bikes that are so much classier than anything out there today. If one of the holy grail bikes comes my way, I hope I'll know enough to spot it, but I most likely would not be seeking it out.
As for KOF bikes, well, I can't really afford any of them, so I'll stick to my Tange 2 1983 Lotus Classique for my rider while I tool around with the others.
I'll go back to lurking now, but I'm curious if there are any other 20-30 somethings on this list who don't yet make enough money to collect but do modest projects as they come along.
Cheers, Caleb Hawley, Baltimore, Maryland USA
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