Author Topic: Oldest kit still in regular use  (Read 2690 times)

Oldest kit still in regular use
« on: 21 October, 2014, 04:03:38 pm »
While fettling the blue'un with its hotchpotch of parts I remembered that the front mech, a Shimano 600 came off my Falcon Majorca bought as a teenager with my Saturday milkround money, so its now 35 years old. However, a quick glance at the tandem put that in the shade: original Dura Ace hubs, a Simplex push-rod front mech and out the back a black Shimano Crane GS, all of which were suggest a new date of about 1973.  The tandem was second hand when my parents bought it in the early 80's. All those parts are working just fine, 41 years later. 

So it got me thinking: what's the oldest kit out there still in regular use? (Perhaps we should exclude frames from this as some seem to go on for ever.)
They laughed when I said I was going to be a stand-up comedian. They're not laughing now.

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #1 on: 21 October, 2014, 04:10:03 pm »
Campag Tipo hubs from about 1969, so about 45 years old.
Le Tour double fixed hub from about 1975, so about 40 years old.

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #2 on: 21 October, 2014, 04:53:27 pm »
Campag  LF front hub.Original cones bore the datemark 1956.Still in regular use with new cones and the centre barrel painted red when the chrome peeled off.Still has original QR mechanism.

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #3 on: 21 October, 2014, 05:00:41 pm »
Two used knees, one worse than the other, c 1945

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #4 on: 21 October, 2014, 06:14:59 pm »

Posted by: Peter: Today at 05:00:41 PM 

Two used knees, one worse than the other, c 1945

Tee,hee, I've got a pair of those ten years older than yours!

red marley

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #5 on: 21 October, 2014, 06:18:47 pm »
My Rapha 'Croix de Fer' jersey from 2004 is still going strong (and I still fit into it).

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #6 on: 21 October, 2014, 06:26:57 pm »

Posted by: Peter: Today at 05:00:41 PM 

Two used knees, one worse than the other, c 1945

Tee,hee, I've got a pair of those ten years older than yours!

I knew there must be some!  Good luck with them - nobody will take them as trade-ins these days!

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #7 on: 21 October, 2014, 07:00:34 pm »
Original brakes, chainset, handlebars. Used regularly for shopping...



from https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22914.msg1195255#msg1195255
Quote from: tiermat
that's not science, it's semantics.

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #8 on: 21 October, 2014, 07:24:45 pm »
I use a 1964 bike, with a 1970's 3 speed hub gear / dynohub for my commute to work.  With a modern LED headlamp it works very well.  Picture https://www.flickr.com/photos/velocio/8350017648/in/set-72157600276240320.
Sunshine approaching from the South.

First time in 1,000 years.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #9 on: 22 October, 2014, 08:36:12 am »
Original brakes, chainset, handlebars. Used regularly for shopping...



from https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22914.msg1195255#msg1195255

My Mum bought me a men's version of one of those for a quid in an auction in around 1970. It was probably 15 years old even then. I converted it to drop bars and cable brakes!  :facepalm: Well, I was only 15 and I needed a racer!

Vince

  • Can't climb; won't climb
Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #10 on: 22 October, 2014, 12:52:11 pm »
I have a Histor - Sigma racing jersey from 1990 that I can still get into
216km from Marsh Gibbon

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #11 on: 22 October, 2014, 01:51:35 pm »
Well, if old clothing counts - I've recently retired a Chateaux D'Ax long sleeved jersey which has been my jersey of choice for 6 months of the year every year since I bought it in 1985.  Almost 30 years of use before I decided it was getting too many snags and minor rips.

Complete machines - I went out today on my 1974 Dawes Kingpin which I think is original except for the tyres.  It even has the tartan coloured cardboard bag on the rack.  I suppose this does not really count because it is not in regular use.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #12 on: 22 October, 2014, 02:18:54 pm »
Butterfly's fixed is from 1951.
Getting there...

Mr Larrington

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Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #13 on: 22 October, 2014, 05:24:15 pm »
I haz a GB stem and brake cable doobrie-that-fits-under-the-headset-locknut which have done duty on two Claud Butler Majestics and my Revell Romany before migrating onto the trike.  Only date back to 1982 though.  The Romany frame and the four-point Blackburn rack attached thereto are 1984 vintage but not currently in use until such time as I amass the tuits to resurrect the bike, probably as a single-speed.
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LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #14 on: 22 October, 2014, 06:15:15 pm »
Currently in regular use is quite young.
The custom S&S-coupled Frezoni that I got for PBP99. It used to have a set of 32/40 hole Campag hubs (possibly older than I am) until I wore out a cup. The wheels are still in Oz, waiting for me to fit the replacement cups. The 1970s Campag front mech I had on it eventually broke too.

The 1965 Moulton Stowaway (older than me) that I rode for PBP03 is in Oz, so not regularly used, seeing I only get back there every couple of years or so.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #15 on: 22 October, 2014, 07:54:11 pm »
1953 Higgins trike, original rear axle & wheels, eccentric bottom bracket, 70's Suntour rear derailleur, 80's Shimano 105 front shifter & downtube levers. Hub brake/double pivot caliper combo on the front. Used daily in the summer.
Rider older than the trike.
Winter trike is a Rogers,  only 40 years old with two wheel drive upgrade & 8 speed cassette, hub brake/Dynohub/ vee brake on the front

Basil

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Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #16 on: 22 October, 2014, 08:19:09 pm »
I'd like to nominate my 1996 shimano LX silent hub.
Not as old as some of the kit listed above, but to be honest, I feel that some are taking a rather liberal interpretation of "in regular use".
This hub was on my only bike (a Super Galaxy) from 96 to 99, and then moved to the Mercian which soon became my general commuter/utility bike and still is.  It is used every day in Brum.  I have no idea how many 10s of thousands of miles it has done in 18 years with ne'er a fettle, or how many it has still to come.
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Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #17 on: 22 October, 2014, 08:27:32 pm »
My oldest kit is from the eighties and is most of Frankenhilda's frame.   Not sure of the age of the Thorn Brevet frame but it is one of the frankenframes, i.e. the tubing is 753 708 653 531c.   It rides beautifully with the much sharper noughties built 531c fork that I had made by Lee Cooper for the Airborne and transplanted onto the Thorn.   

Everything else is nineties and later.

Does a Brooks B17 count as old kit cos the design is decades old?   :D

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #18 on: 22 October, 2014, 09:59:55 pm »
Had to think about this, but a Campag Record hub now on the front wheel of my Genesis Equilibrium, purchased about 1980.

Re-greased this the other day, still on the original cones.  May treat it to some new ball bearings next year, suspect these are still the originals.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #19 on: 24 October, 2014, 11:21:08 am »
I have a Histor - Sigma racing jersey from 1990 that I can still get into

I have a Vetements Z jersey of around the same vintage* that was too small for me when I bought it (secondhand on ebay) a few years ago but now fits me.  :smug:


*you can tell by the quality of the material that it's an original and not a modern Prendas reprint.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #20 on: 24 October, 2014, 12:19:06 pm »
All depends on what people think regular use is .  Could say maxi car hubs  30 years but only out  a few times each year.  Campag 10 speed  is  the only year round stuff  that's old and used all the time, when did 10 speed hit the market?

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #21 on: 24 October, 2014, 01:07:51 pm »
..would have been my 1985 tourer if someone hadn't nicked it.  Altho' the British/Coventry Eagle is only 2 years younger.  Other than the frame, only the seat pin, bars and stem are original.
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Otto

  • Biking Bad
Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #22 on: 24 October, 2014, 03:55:03 pm »
Crank extractor I've had since I was 18... and some Santini bib shorts of 1994 vintage

Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #23 on: 24 October, 2014, 04:33:53 pm »
I used to ride a 1946 Hill Special to work - for about 5 years.  I had to retire it when the flex between the bottom bracket and the chain stays became quite alarming.

Currently it's a 1998 Merckx Corsa Extra with Shimano Ultegra parts of the same vintage.  Not really in regular use, though.

J.Y.Kelly

  • Shopping trolley, helmet and umbrella in one.
Re: Oldest kit still in regular use
« Reply #24 on: 27 October, 2014, 10:01:26 am »
I ride a 1960s French frame (all I can remember is it starts with an 'L'), with a 1976 Sturmey 3 speed with a handlebar-end trigger. The chainset is a T.A from the 70s. One of my cycling jackets dates from 1983. I have no idea how old the Carradice saddlebag is.