How would an old racer compare to a modern one?

Bradidup

Im out of touch with cycling since 1980 when sold my racer and got a motorbike and havent cycled much since!!!. I am curious to know how that bike would compare to a modern day racer in weight, preformance and technology. And how much would a modern day equivilant cost? (If I was ever to get another one!!).

The bike I had was a Carlton Pro with Reynolds 531 double butted tubes & forks , Campagnolo Nouvo Record 10 speed gears and Shimano Dura Ace chainset brakes & hubs and bar end gear controls. It had tubular tyres. The bike at the time weighed only 22lbs and would have cost over 400 quid old money in its day!!.

RainyDay

Having reluctantly replaced my 1982 vintage Dawes Super Galaxy with a modern Giant Boulder mountain-bike, I've found a huge difference in the gears and brakes. I was nervous about moving to a gear control which had fixed positions (e.g. 1, 2, 3) as I wouldn't be able to make those tiny adjustments with the lever, but my fears were without foundation. The modern controls work brilliantly. The brakes are also much firmer (leading to a few skids when braking hard).

Bradidup

I can remember the Dawes Super Galaxy well, they were a dark metallic, green or brown, would have been the ultimate touring bike, I think they came with Suntour Cyclone gears, and was Reynolds butted as well. I never found the campag as positive compaired to the more modern fixed gear selectors.

Mucco

Bradidup wrote:

The bike I had was a Carlton Pro with Reynolds 531 double butted tubes & forks , Campagnolo Nouvo Record 10 speed gears and Shimano Dura Ace chainset brakes & hubs and bar end gear controls. It had tubular tyres. The bike at the time weighed only 22lbs and would have cost over 400 quid old money in its day!!.

That sounds like quite a decent bike!
Today you'll find that the gear control is very good, even without getting the top-of-the range. Brakes have also come on quite a bit, with technology drifting down to the cheaper models.
However, frame material has changed quite a bit now. Al is used almost exclusively for the cheaper models, with Ti and C now available to the punter. Steel frames are very hard to come by - probably need to be custom made. The Al gives a light bike, but not so comfortable a ride. Carbon is good!
As regards cost - whatever you want to spend! My Carbon+Ultegra was €1800.

Bradidup

It was!! cost me an arm and a leg!! I was still in school and got it by working a full summer in 1978, got the frame in Hardings Cork, and the rest of it around the city and from some dealer out in Clonee, id say in todays money it would be nearly 2k. I remember at a time when the only place selling an alloy cotterless in Dublin was the Rutland, now i see them on kids bikes.

Capt'n Midnight

RainyDay wrote:

Having reluctantly replaced my 1982 vintage Dawes Super Galaxy with a modern Giant Boulder mountain-bike, I've found a huge difference in the gears and brakes.

At a guess I'd say it's got centerpull brakes. By 1991 they had Cantilever's and indexed gearing similar to mountain bikes back them.

cyclopath2001

The integral break levers/gear shift are a god-send, you can delay gear-change decisions to much later on a climb, also just safer, because your hands are on the bars all the time. The indexes are handy too, no hunting for for the right line gear line-up.

I've mixed feelings about pedal technology. Look pedals can be very demanding of the precision your position setup & your physical condition. For anyone of a certain age migrating from toe-clips, I'd recommend SPD cleats and pedals, they're more forgiving.

Capt'n Midnight

Mucco wrote:

Brakes have also come on quite a bit, with technology drifting down to the cheaper models.

I saw Direct-Pull Cantilever Brakes on an €89 bike in Woodies :eek:

RainyDay

Bradidup wrote:

I can remember the Dawes Super Galaxy well, they were a dark metallic, green or brown, would have been the ultimate touring bike, I think they came with Suntour Cyclone gears, and was Reynolds butted as well.

Mine was a beige-brown colour with the Suntour Cyclone gears, which worked brilliantly until I had to get the levers replaced earlier this year, 25 years after purchase!

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

At a guess I'd say it's got centerpull brakes. By 1991 they had Cantilever's and indexed gearing similar to mountain bikes back them.

Centre-pull indeed - I could never manage to keep side-pull brakes working, but I managed to keep the centre-pull on track and effective.

This is turning into quite a nostalgia trip.....

Bradidup

Weinmann I think on the Dawes? The only side pull brakes that were effective were the top end from Shimano 600, Dura ace, Zeus and Campag with close wheel clearance, I never found the cheaper ones any good especially on the lower end raleighs

RainyDay

Bradidup wrote:

Weinmann I think on the Dawes?

Weinmann indeed - worked like a dream for 25 years

el tel

Bradidup wrote:

Im out of touch with cycling since 1980 when sold my racer and got a motorbike and havent cycled much since!!!. I am curious to know how that bike would compare to a modern day racer in weight, preformance and technology. And how much would a modern day equivilant cost? (If I was ever to get another one!!).

The bike I had was a Carlton Pro with Reynolds 531 double butted tubes & forks , Campagnolo Nouvo Record 10 speed gears and Shimano Dura Ace chainset brakes & hubs and bar end gear controls. It had tubular tyres. The bike at the time weighed only 22lbs and would have cost over 400 quid old money in its day!!.

Your bike sounds it was like the daddy in the day. The Carlton frame you had would still cut the mustard today though if it a touring bike was built around it. My first proper racing bike (bought second hand and fairly antique at the time) was a Carlton Carrera, Reynolds 531c with full shimano 105. I still have it, the frame is mint but the bits are in a box now.

To get a modern day replacement for your old bike which would be the eqivalent, both materially and in terms of kudos, you be looking at €3000+ in my opinion. However, on any decent modern bike at around you would feel a massive improvement.

Bradidup

el tel wrote:

Your bike sounds it was like the daddy in the day. The Carlton frame you had would still cut the mustard today though if it a touring bike was built around it. My first proper racing bike (bought second hand and fairly antique at the time) was a Carlton Carrera, Reynolds 531c with full shimano 105. I still have it, the frame is mint but the bits are in a box now.

To get a modern day replacement for your old bike which would be the eqivalent, both materially and in terms of kudos, you be looking at €3000+ in my opinion. However, on any decent modern bike at around you would feel a massive improvement.

Carlton had a great name in frame building like Mercian, Claud Butler and Harding that used Reynolds Butted tubing, unfortunitally Raleigh took them over and destroyed that name with the likes of the corsa & continental that rebadged them with their own frames using cheap Eu/uts 20/20 tubing and they weighed a ton!.

My first ever racer was the Carlton Continental, baught new for £77 in 1977 from Elveries, I fitted a Maxi cotterless chainset in an attempt to cut the weight down, sold it for £30 a few years later, by coincidence I baught the exact same bike back for £10 from a woman I saw with it in town in 1995!! I still have it!!.