The Case for an Old Bike

I recently bought a “new” bike—though the quotation marks are doing heavy lifting here, since it’s actually 20 – 30 years old. Why choose such an old machine? The obvious answer is financial: 1,500 CZK (about $70) got me something I could ride immediately, rather than surrendering a month’s salary for today’s hyped idk carbon bikes. But the real appeal runs deeper.

It’s just a bike. Not a status symbol or investment piece — just a tool that’s proven its durability over three decades and has another thirty years left in it. When it finally gives up, it can be recycled, unlike composite frames destined for landfills.

There’s something liberating about riding a machine that doesn’t demand constant upgrades. When something breaks, I can fix it with basic tools in my toolbox. No electronic shifting to malfunction, no marketing department trying to sell me the latest geometry breakthrough.

This old steel frame represents something the modern cycling industry would prefer we forget: the bicycle is already a perfect machine for human-powered adventure. It doesn’t need annual reinvention—it just needs to roll.

to be continued…