Why I Ditched My Super Bike For This 1980s STEEL Road Bike

What would make you ditch you modern road bike? Well, for Joe Baker, there were a number of reasons which made him make the switch to a custom built 1980’s Massi steel framed road bike. It wasn’t just to do with style, but for him it went deeper, it was how the bike made him feel. Would you ever ditch your road bike for something from yesteryear?

We may earn a commission when purchasing through affiliate links in this description.

Subscribe to Cycling Weekly here: https://www.youtube.com/user/CyclingWeekly1?sub_confirmation=1

More at:
Cycling Weekly: http://www.cyclingweekly.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CyclingWeekly
Instagram: https://instagram.com/cyclingweeklymagazine
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cyclingweekly
Email: cycling@futurenet.com

#cycling #bikes #bicycles

AOS super bikes I’m fed up with them for several reasons which we’ll go into they just don’t suit my riding anymore so I’ve ditched them for something with a little bit more Panache I’m introducing to the channel my custom 1992 Massie Mega team race road bike it’s steel it’s Rim break and I love it but why have I made the change well the Catalyst for the change was a pretty unfortunate event bike theft my previous long-term race bike the fact O2 was stolen from my garage around 2 years ago and it left me not only without a road bike but with a pretty big hole in my wallet too when I looked to replace the bike though my riding had totally changed no longer was I racing full-time and no longer was I looking for every last what in a competitive environment with that in mind I began a search for a bike that I could truly fall in love with after deciding I wanted something a little bit different I began trolling the likes of E eBay online forums and eventually I found this gorgeous frame set for the modest price of just 208 quid with no clue whether the 53 frame set would fit me or what parts I was going to put on it I bought it and when it turned up at my house the condition was better than I could ever believed it was brilliant for a while the bike did sit on my desk as I had no parts to build it with but after a month or so Fortune changed for the better I managed to acquire a full altegra 6800 group set from of all play places the tip by chance I met a man throwing away his crash damaged Willie road bike so I had to ask if I could take it off his hands he was more than happy to see the parts go to some use as he’d already upgraded to a new bike courtesy of his insurance company the wheels too it’s fair to say were a stroke of luck for the price of a lead out on the Chain Gang and a couple of pints I acquired these 45mm fast forward Carbon wheels from a friend who once again having switched to disc brakes had no use for the wheels he’s pretty sure they’re from 2013 I’m not sure on the exact model the tires they’re shod with are much more modern Continental GP 5000s in a now fairly retro 25 mm width finishing kit 2 was done pretty much on the cheap where possible handlebars were from a scrap 80 steel road bike and Bond Trager B tape was about the cheapest I could find I did spend out on a data mux quill stem simply for the aesthetic and I’m glad I did it’s sleek and the lines I think work really well with the Retro look of the build what isn’t so aesthetically pleasing though is I know the saddle I’m sure I’ll get some stick for this in the comments but I’ve been with the ism PN 3.0 for 4 years now and I just get on with it for the sake of this build though I wish I didn’t but I don’t go sprinting around as much as I used to these days so for the most part it remains hidden probably for the best now I know you’ll all be wondering what does this bike weigh it’s not light 9.5 kg to be exact but stay with me this bike is about more than just statistics and in any case it cost me a fraction of the price of a modern super bike thanks in no small part to the free group set and wheel set this bike owes me just £450 which I think for a bike in this condition is an impressive price Eide viewers and vintage enthusiasts may have noticed that this is a Massie that’s spelled with two is the significance of this is the quality of the frame set frames by ferio Massie with 1s were very sort after with the Italian frame Builder making Renown race bikes and nice examples actually still fetch over ,000 on the secondhand Market my frame set is from Spanish brand Massie who is still around today the frame set is made from high quality Columbus brain butted tubing and features triangulated sections at the rear chain stays for added stiffness it’s not a logged frame being slightly newer it features standard steel welds instead but as you can expect retrofitting an 11-speed group set with modern STI levers wasn’t without its pitfalls for the most part it was actually easy than expected I was able to install the bra on front Mech and 11-speed rear Mech with no issues and with some careful limit screw adjustment I’ve had few issues with gear changes even with a square taper bottom bracket and change set shifters on the other hand were slightly more problematic it turns out when Shimano designed the altegra 6800 group set in 2013 they didn’t really consider it used on 26.8 MM vintage handlebars that means the shifters don’t clamp tightly enough around the handlebars but I found a creative solution in the form of a Coke can to fit the shifters I actually shredded two coat cans into long thin sections and coated them in carbon fiber grip p these were then rolled up around the handlebars to create some pretty bodgy shims not something we’d recommend doing but I will know I keep a pretty Keen Eye on them to make sure they’re safe and for now at least I’m still here so how does the bike ride our a bikes of my is it all marketing BS absolutely not this bike is not fast by any means external cable routing old school tube profiles and a 92 kilo weight to blame for that but right is about more than just chasing average speed for me these days that said it is an important Point I’ve ridden both super bikes and my Massie around a given test Loop and the speed differential seems to be around about 3 km per hour that’s based on a 30 km an hour riding Pace though this isn’t powermeter verified so bear that in mind but what the Massie lacks in outright speed is more than made up for by the bike’s handling and comfort steel has long been hailed for its vibration dampening qualities and it’s no different here in fact despite just fitting 25 mm tires it’s unbelievably compliant even on my far less than perfect Oxfordshire home roads it Corners brilliantly too the handling is a little bit slower than bikes on the market today but the low feel from the traditional handlebar drop is something I’ve actually really warmed to then there’s the athetic pretty much every ride I do now will feature a cafe at some point and the TR Tru is I just like how this bike looks up against the fence when I’m drinking my coffee it’s a little bit different and it sort of sits as a modest protest against internal cable routing and 15,000 bikes and to be honest I like that the biggest downgrade however for me is the rim brakes just the other day I was out on a pretty wet ride here in the UK and I was reminded of just how long it takes to stop on Carbon wheels in the wet that said though the pads are cheap and a fresh set of external cables are far easier to service than brake beds so for me it’s a small price to pay but this bike does what any bike should it makes me want to get out the door and ride and I look forward to putting many more miles on this trusty Steed in the next year and Beyond so there you have it my long-term Steed it’s not new it’s not fast and in a lot of cases it’s not even practical either but I love it