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why are you a retrogrouch?

5K views 46 replies 30 participants last post by  Travolta 
#1 ·
steel is real.

something about Eddy Merx and derailleurs.

I want to feel connected to the earth.

suspension is for wimps.

One gear = more beer.


et cetera.

(did I miss a platitude?)

why do some of us (myself included) feel this way?
 
#4 ·
I just like steel because I'm familiar with it, and know a fair bit about how and how not to treat it. Around anything else, I feel the need to treat it like a fragile delicate flower... carbon, high end fancy eagle drivetrains, etc.

I can lay a steel frame on its side and it doesn't care if I step on its chainstays (with wheel installed). It doesn't care if I overtorque anything or clamp anything to it.

****, the carbon bars on my stem get torqued to 4.5 Nm and I'd expect less than a quarter turn could cinch it to 5 or 6 Nm, but it just keeps turning. WTF, ****'s getting compressed until it cracks, but it's rotating. Carbon paste or back to metal... xD

The prices on Eagle and the setup requirements, ugh. JensonUSA has Shimano components with virtually no mark up. Affordable, reliable, with solid performance, just like singlespeed. It works, not luxuriously, but you get used to what you run.

I'll admit that FS are reliable nowadays, and has performance that's sublime to the point I believe it's worth it even for commuting and adventuring, but the increase in price is so much. Once you find solid geo on a HT, it's just hard to answer the question if you even need more. The acceleration from HTs is still unmatched, even with those fancy lockouts.

Mainly, it comes down to price and longevity. My SS's been around for a while now, while I've gone through a number of FS. Feel an urge to refresh my ROS9 now. xD
 
#5 ·
In one word simplicity. With simplicity comes the ease of maintenance and affordability. A new cog is 30 bucks or grab a new used cog for 16. 400 for my nice high end 11 speed cassette.

I was looking for my first ss to make my old trails more challenging and it did.

They're great group ride bikes too. You will get a workout and it doesn't matter who you ride with.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 
#6 ·
Easy to ride, easy to maintain, easily calms my mind.... oh, and easy on the wallet.

Tech is cool and there is lot goin' on with the new rides, but I don't have the need or the cash flow. I haven't much need for a FS for the terrain closest to me, but I have enjoyed my fatbikes the last few years. Perhaps as I get older and/or have the time to go farther I'll get more into the tech that will keep me rollin'.
 
#7 ·
Steel frames are cooler, period. I like the combination of steel, rigid, and one speed.

Simplicity, connection, challenge, pure (there I said it).

I like that my frame was made with a file and a torch. I only wish I had the knowledge, time, and money to make my own.
 
#13 ·
I do own a geared hardtail with squishy fork, hydraulic brakes and pressfit BB, and even a crabon fibah aero road bike with internal, integrated and proprietary everything (no electronic shifting though), but while these modern machines ARE fast, it just freaks me out how incredibly complicated they are to maintain.

Seriously, I make at least 70% of my hours on my Monocog or fixed gear road bike, both with full steel drivetrain, and the time I spend wrenching on those is just a fraction of the time I wrench on my complicated 'modern' bikes I ride a lot less, and almost exclusively in fair weather.


And that, of course, too.
 
#14 ·
Not sure “retrogrouch” is the right label for what I am, but hey everything has to have a label these days right?

I have been through just about every fad of mountain bike disciplines in my 31 years of riding, and at the age 43 I am content with riding the XC single track areas adjacent to my house and in the general vicinity. I no longer “travel” to ride, don’t take bike vacations to Moab, and quite frankly it’s not the only thing I “do” anymore like it was for a long time. So the 2-3 times a week I do get out to ride I want the most bang for my buck, and when I’m not riding I don’t want to spend all my time maintaining the suspension and gears, or obsessing over what the latest winner of wherever-the-fck EWS race was using and convincing myself I need it. I can afford all that stuff, but bottom line is it doesn’t make me any happier than riding my rigid single speed.

What the bike industry has been able to do in the past 5 years is truly amazing ~ they have upsold the majority of riders to carbon, changed standards for drivetrains and interfaces a couple of times, all while turning “Enduro” into this discipline everyone thinks they are a part of and something to aspire to. In reality, these people aren’t any closer to racing Enduro™️ than I am, they are just bouncing along on relatively smooth XC single track on poorly set up bikes that have too much travel for the conditions. All the while stopping every half mile or so to catch their breath with the bros and talk about the long low and slack geometry and how rad it would be if their stem was 30mm instead of 40. And after finishing their big 5 mile ride, race back to the parking lot to spend 2x as long drinking IPAs while leaning on the Dakine truck pad planning their next outing. I know, because I’ve been that guy. /rant

Hey, technology is good! I love tubeless tires and carbon seatposts, as well as Ergon saddles that make my ride more
comfortable. I also really don’t need disc brakes where I ride, so some Paul Motolites get the job done for me. If I rode somewhere that the conditions dictated I need discs, I’d run them. I’m also not tall! 26” wheels work just fine for me, realistically the difference to me when riding is imperceptible to 27.5 wheels. I don’t like 29” wheels, had several different bikes and just not for me (off road).

So to recap and attempt to pull this back on course, I like my ti rigid SS because it’s simple. I don’t have to think about anything but how hard I need to pedal to get up that next hill or how much momentum I need to carry into the next climb. It’s relatively quiet (except for the WI freewheel clicking along), it’s light, fits me and is comfortable. I also don’t have to spend a lot of time doing anything to keep it rolling smoothly other than wipe off the chain and top off the tires occasionally.

I hesitate to say it’s “pure” because that implies it’s somehow better than what other people choose to ride, and it’s not. It’s just my preferred way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#23 ·
because if it ain't broke....

I grew up on the original steel single speed: BMX

it never crossed my mind to need or want anything else. When things got harder to ride you just got physically stronger and learned how to manipulate the bike

I do have my Krampus now, which is 1x10 (OG model), but that will be it.

I can't stand the feel of all of the squish in between me and the ground. People will say "you learn to like it"...but the same could be said about eating glass...I don't need to.

I also plan to bikepack, and I want less things to maintain when I am out and about

I will proudly say that I am a retro grouch, and also a card carrying member of the Old Guy Shaking His Fist Club, and the Get Off OF My Lawn Society...
 
#25 ·
for me, it is someone who does not give new things a chance...or sees a need for something to be improved...my grouchiness comes from that aspect.

Funny that people get grouchy over things like this though...I also think people get defensive about new stuff as well...what would the opposite of a retrogrouch?

I have never "had my fur up" about new tech, or old tech...it isn't really something to spend the mental or emotional energy on
 
#27 ·
For me, comparing a nice rigid steel SS to most FS bikes, is like comparing my Grayling Bear Grizzly recurve to the compound hunting bows these days. Contraption is the first word that comes to mind when I look at one.

At the same time, I do not consider someone that enjoys the clean lines of a rigid SS and the different challenges it can bring to a ride, a retrogrouch. I would think that would be someone that keeps trying to convince everyone rim brakes perform just as good and are less hassle than disc, refusing to try anything but 26" wheels while complaining about the problems with all the other sizes, still insists tubes are better than tubeless, and moans about the industry moving beyond 8 speeds, 1.95" tires, narrow handlebars, and the classic NORBA geometry.
 
#33 ·
Maintenance on geared bikes really is not that bad if you do minimal stuff to take care of them (similar to what I do on SS's).

Definitely retro grouchy on geometry- XC-ish works for me... straight 1 1/8" steer tube is also just fine. I do like 15mm up front but almost as happy with a DT Swiss RWS and a plain vanilla dropout fork.

I like steel SS's for the simplicity, a bit more cush and also have both of mine setup with stout gearing to get a better workout on climbs and avoid spinning to death.
 
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