It has been a long time since Liam was born in the early 90s and the same can be said for road bikes. Compare the differences between a 1993 Tour de France bike and a modern road bike, like the Specialized S-Works Aethos, and nearly everything has changed. But is it all good news? Liam headed to find out.
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Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
00:24 The Bikes
03:08 Are Modern Brakes Better?
04:44 Are Modern Bikes Faster?
08:41 Are Modern Gears Better?
10:53 Climbing Differences
13:54 Conclusion
31 Comments
Like most things, the 90s bike was probably great in it's day but after riding a modern bike there's just no going back.
Gazzele Champion Mondiale
DROOOOPS 😀 always ride in the drops on your vintage bike
The brake comparison is so wrong. Dual pivot caliper brakes are pretty good unless the road is flooded.
And the aero test? Why didn't he use the drops?
Surprised that the bars are spec'ed as they are. Modern carbon bikes I have had had either 42 or 44 cm bars. My vintage steelies have 38 and 40 cm.
And ride? With 25mm tires on my old and new bikes, the steel bike is so much nicer. But yes, integrated shifters are far easier to use.
I have a Nigel Dean frame from the late 1980's (it was my dad's) with modern Chinese bits on it and for road riding it's fine, but not as quick as my carbon Boardman bike. However in it's defence there are two strong positives.
Firstly it is much more comfortable when on a turbo trainer where weight and aero count for sweet FA and secondly I can ride it anywhere and not worry too much if it gets damaged or even stolen, a pain yes, but it's about £300 all in and not £900.
Stopping distance at 30kph…6 minutes?🤌
My Colnago arabesque is in mint condition with campag super record on it and it’s an absolute dream to ride…..sunny days only.wherever it goes it gets attention it’s a stunner.
A funny little video, but to use a Specialized S-Works Aethos as a "modern super bike" was a bit odd! Sure – it's expensive and light, and rides very nice, but it is also as slow as a sea cucumber. No one would ride that today, if their goal is to win a road race.
Modern direct Mount Tim brakes are as good as disc braves in dry conditions, Iam riding both,and my Campagnolo rum braves are superb.
Obvious hatchet job by obvious shills 😂
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I think the MBK is fillet brazed, not welded. This means a much better finish.
I especially like the Aethos because it meshes the modern with some of the past. I;d also put the TCR in a similar category,
There is no ‘best’ it entirely depends on what you want it for and what you want to do with it……….so a somewhat futile subjective piece fwiw
I have never riden a modern bike, just because I have not found someone who might want to buy one of my excellent condition kidneys….
Promise I will get a new, modern bike once that I accomplish that sale… or get my 60K€/year salary straight……
I do love my Peugeot Competition 83, bought at a local recycled shop for 120€… but it was really hard to find.
The only thing that I'm looking forward to change from it is, as you said, getting brifters on it… I don't find down bar drifters romantic… Always thought of them as dangerous, in the 90's and now
Notice how quiet the 90's bike is. Carbon frames resonate with tyre noise and steel frames don't. Also, I don't find my carbon endurance bike any more comfortable than my steel bike. Maybe that MBK has steeper angles and doesnt soak up anything.
One is beautiful, the other is a turd. That's the beginning and end of it.
Just finished a Neo-Retro build using a CAAD4 frame; best of both worlds!
In such comparisons, the drops position (the aero position of the 1990s) should be compared with the aero hoods position on a modern bike.
Yep, you're paid off by Big Bike. As if we need or even want hydraulic brakes. I just saw a vid where they're pushing 32" clown wheels for mtb now.
90s bikes way cooler, only disc brakes are better.
I'm using cane creek rim brakes on a Calfee I recently built up with 11 speed ultegra.
Those brakes seem as good as disc's so far.
the mbk is too big for you
What a load of shit. At least try to be a little bit honest by comparing a well maintained steel bike fitted for you. Its easy to see right through this bullshit.
I've got two vintage bikes – a '93 Bridgestone RB-1 and an '86 Schwinn Paramount. Both are all steel, including the fork. The RB-1 shifters are on the brake hoods, while the Schwinn employs down-tube shifters in friction mode. Modern bikes have become ridiculous in the price and equipped with things I don't need or want – eletronic shifting, internal cabling, disc brakes and carbon everything.
It should be mentioned that the corsa tyres (I rode the exact same tyres a couple of years ago), are fantastic for being 20mm tyres. However, the biggest difference in tyres are actually not the size but the pressure. Lowering the pressure of 23mm from 120psi to 100psi makes a much bigger difference than going from 23mm to 28mm tyres! If we had just known about real world rolling resistance back then….
I don't know where to start first. Okay. Frame size. The MBK is obviously bigger than your grey bike, so you're more stretched out especially when riding on the hoods. I had the same brakes on a Gitane and they're pretty sharp regarding power and levers are comfortable as . . . I had the right riding position on it. Also as mentioned by others, riding in the drops is more of a thing. Personally, I think the trend to more shallow drops make a bike look ridiculous but that's only personal opinion. The bars are from an era where shoulder width was taken into account when choosing bar size. Not how aero the riders could get. Trying to compare a mechanical brake (even disc) with hydraulic is completely pointless. They simply aren't comparable at all. Gear levers on the downtube is not an issue at all once you get used to a bike with them. Of course being mechanical, there's obviously no need to worry about if your bike is charged up or should you have a fall, about it going into crash mode, or a lever getting damaged rendering your gears unusable. Steel bikes are quiet, when compared to the hollow sounding carbon offerings of modern bikes with their oversized "tubing" especially. They also have more compliance/comfort owing to the material and smaller diameter tubes than a rigid carbon bike. Tyres have been getting wider for a reason and it's not all about aero. Give me the MBK any day over the other bike. It also looks nearer my size. Other than that, it was a good video 🤣 Nice to see a classic early '90s team bike being ridden still. I can't imagine the same being said about a modern bike in 30 years. Food for thought
Bikes today are faster , safer , handle better
Been cycling 30 years …..
Awesome video,I'm riding a Peugeot Monaco 1990 with more moder part's fitted like Shimano Tiagra 9s STI's,Ultegra 6600 Hollowtech crankset,105SC dual pivot brakes wider 28c tires 38cm handlebar and it's rides really fast and stops very well in the wet and dry.💯💪🏻🙌🏻
I was rocking a 70s bike up until this last winter, I can't speak for disc brakes or carbon yet but 2×10 Shimano Tiagra definitely surpasses 2×5 Shimano Eagle from 50 years ago, shocking no one xD