Can a Retro Bike Handle a Modern Groupset & Disc Brakes?

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This video is for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as an instructional guide. Please do not attempt to recreate anything shown in this video unless you are suitably qualified or you have obtained professional advice and/or assistance.
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Everyone loves the look of a retro steel bike, but while classic components can be stylish, they simply don't perform as well as modern tech (as Manon found on her 100-mile ride on a £100 bike!). Alex wanted to know whether he could revive the very retro frame from that video to bring it into the 21st century by fitting modern components. The results were pretty stunning!

Thanks to Tom at Barbastelle - check out his Instagram @barbastellebikes

#Cycling #GCN #GCNTech #RoadBike

What did you think of this? Would you rather the modern components or keep the classics? Let us know in the comments!

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Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound:
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ES_Beauti Ful - Smartface
ES_After the Reign - Jerry McHoy
ES_A Winter's Itch (Instrumental Version) - Ingrid Witt
ES_A House of Glass - par
ES_Another Day and Other Dollars - Bonkers Beat Club
ES_Sunset Dew - Lupus Nocte
ES_Yhello - Lofive

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[gcntech]

What did you think of this? Would you rather the modern components or keep the classics? Let us know in the comments!

[willbowen]

Now you need to give it back to Manon to do her 100mile route again

[jontyarcheryedgar]

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”- Dr Ian Malcom, Jurassic Park

[stanislawwawrzyczek]

I have been riding various retro builds with modern groupsets for commuting for about a decade now. There's a lot that I can say in their favour: unlike your very expensive build for most peaple this is a great way to save an old frame from junkyard and give a second life to your aging groupset that you've just upgraded (or you use secondhand parts). For the short distance city rides a 13kg vintage steel bike is all you need - they can be more comfortable on rough roads and you get more excercise for the time spent cycling on a heavier bike! Needless to say aerodynamics of the bike does not matter if you ride in your casual clothes in the city traffic. I often cary 15kgs or more of grocery shopping on my vintage Bianchi, so really the weight of the bike does not matter much. Looking a bit scruffy they are more likely to be overlooked by the thieves - no stress locking the bike outside of a shop or pub. Last but not least, for 500quid or so you can build a decent bike (and have fun in the process!) that has a cool factor you could never match with anything you can buy new for that much.

[maketup]

I rebuilt my classic late 80s steel bike with a modern mechanical Campy groupset and aero wheels, aero carbon bars and a carbon fork. I also had custom internal cable routing to delete the downtube shifters. Absolutely brilliant to ride and completely unique.

[eyenoball]

Hack/Bodge on the next GCN Show: "so I got my welder friend Tom to put some disc brake mounts on my vintage bike..."

[Wonder]

Next challenge: ride 200 miles in the updated retro bike.

[cycleistic]

1:25 Braking power on old road bikes may improve greatly when any old, often petrified brake pads are changed to new and fresh ones and brakes adjusted properly. Sometimes cleaning the rim can also help, but the pads should be looked into the very first. Happened to me few years back having bought an 80's road bike that had stood in a garage for about 10 years. Whew, those braking distances and close calls on the old pads, lucky to be here with you today!

[xXOOooTTTooOOXx]

I installed an ultegra 6600 Groupset on my 1983 Peugeot together with mavic ksyrium elite wheels and it runs perfectly smooth. Neo-Retro is in my opinion the perfect combination of aesthetics and technology.

[lizardbliz]

GCN "I'd like to see how an old frame holds up" then hacks it apart to completely change the frame

[johns]

Y'know...lots of people put LOTS of miles on "retro" bikes back before they were "retro".

[TheMarman]

I've still got my metallic yellow Peugot 105 Carbolite from the 1980's. It's very light, really thin tyres, and it still holds the land speed record ( my land speed record) down the "Gausekotte" monster 4 kilometer 14% hill near Detmold at a top speed of 119 Kmh !!! I nearly came off once going for it on that descent. Glad I'm still here to tell the tale.

[ericbritton]

This revision is absolutely remarkable. I actually thought the groupset you would choose would have mechanical disc brakes, but you surprised me by installing hydraulic disc brakes. Once again, absolutely remarkable!

[toddmcdonough]

great idea! Thoughts and prayers to the brave soul who pulls the front brake on a hairpin decent.

[robertytoop]

I would have loved to see more detail of the conversion process. Some information on the challenges of using new equipment on old frames and how to work around these issues would have been fascinating. An opportunity missed on this video I feel...

[Djm]

Retro Mods are one of my most favorite projects and one of the reasons I got back into cycling. There's nothing like Shimano 105 on an old Schwinn World Sport.

[MIAthe]

I’d love to see this vintage bike with a modern group set vs a modern bike with an old school group set (like the ones you took off this bike)

[jeffmitchell]

Like a few have said : A better (531) frame and modernise the rim brakes rather than discs. That plus the other mods would have been a cool upgrade and much more balanced?

[Justin-zvcm]

You can also give an 80-year-old man a fresh set of breast implants with the same logic used here. I miss Jon Cannings.

[briansteele]

Alex seems a great addition but Manon seems to kill everyone on the bike while laughing at the same time 🤣