Ah, the KOM... Beauty!!! Out-aggro'd? Perhaps, but seldom out-classed!! Keep that beauty in the family for sure. BB
On Thursday, November 6, 2014 11:16:20 AM UTC-5, Tim Gavin wrote: > > I agree, there were some great "all-terrain" bikes built in the 80s. I > love my '88 Schwinn KOM (lugs, prestige, XT, and now drops). It's funny > how a bike that was built as an aggressive racer (and championship winner!) > has been out-aggro'd by 30 years of suspension and fat tires. > > > > I ride a head-shock Cannondale--and now my new Fatboy--for aggressive > single track. The obstacles and big hits are better handled by those newer > bikes with knobby tires and wide handlebars. > > But the KOM is still a fast, playful, indestructible bike and makes a > great bike for gravel. The drop bars really changed the feel of the bike > (or how I feel on it), and now it just flies on any surface. > > I recently broke the original XT rear derailer, and I had to choke back a > tear for losing such a trusty, original component. But, the new cheapo > Acera RD is lighter and smoother--maybe because of those huge pulleys Grant > likes so much! (That said, anyone have a XT-M730 RD > <http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=4a92b92d-00f7-40e0-9694-551ac9e9e554&Enum=108> > > around? Or for parts?) > > Old steel is still real! With new paint, I'll be passing this bike (and > my others) down to future generations. > > Tim > in: > > > > >> Now 30 years later, while my mountain biking has evolved somewhat, and I >> followed the industry trends for awhile (dabbling with full-suspension, >> aluminum, titanium, etc) I've gone back to riding a simple, fully-rigid >> steel frame/fork (kinda like the original 80s bikes), not because I'm >> nostalgic, but because it just FEELS right. And as for the original 80s >> designs, I think the industry absolutely nailed it in designing perfect >> workhorse all-rounders build to last... And think about it... the frames, >> shifters, brake levers, derailleurs etc of the 80s are still around (I >> actually prefer them) because they were built to LAST! It's a shame that >> most of the industry (starting in the late 80s) seemed to drift away from >> building these super-high-quality, overbuilt bikes and components in favor >> of evolving designs, and (IMO) cheaper-quality... I hope we're seeing this >> trend reversed... >> >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
