Am I just being gay or...

[BigNige]

Back in the day My bikes had a feel to them, i was comfortable on them, the bars were just so (high and wide and sat upright) the frames were shorter so the centre of balance was further back and they felt like a part of me.

these new fangled jobbies just dont fit! okay im 4 stone and 25 yrs to the good but they just feel alien to me.

I was fussy though. I swapped "medium" Diamond back handle bars for a set of Diamond Back pro bars (10" rise) and suddenly i could go higher and spin quicker and just do it all better.

So any of you old school chaps feel the same or have i just turned into a fat, old spineless fagg?

[RATTY]

Nige, I still try and ride new school bikes, and I still find them strange, I think you just have to persevere with it, remember as kids we probably rode our bikes for 12 hours a day, Im lucky to ride 12 hours a week, so trying to get used to a bike is gonna take ages

[TwoBobRob]

Stick with it.  They do seem like hard work at first, but it all drops into place soon enough.  Plus, there's loads of parts out there to buy these days so you can be as fussy as you like   

[djweston]

i dont think its the bike, i think its the 20yr lay off 

[harris]

stick at it i am ,feels odd thou..the new s&m bars coming out are 30" wide so ive just been told   

[Bob_Acid]

Yup, big bars seem to be making a comeback 

[SaMAlex]

the new s&m bars coming out are 30" wide so ive just been told  

Yep, "Grand Slams"   

[pickle]

yep you gotta stay with it..........i did and i wouldn't ride anything else now....the only time i ride my OS is for a cruising around on.

[Moose]

GAY!!

No, just kidding - I can't help with any advice I'm afriad, I haven't ridden for ages 

[the_cyclops]

I think its just a case of getting used to the new!

OS bikes are usually supershort and twitchy whereas NS bikes are mostly limo long and really stable in the air!

The first time I rode a long bike (Which was a Gen1 S&M Holmes) I couldnt even lift the front wheel up to hop over a curb but soon got used to it

I never even noticed a difference having smaller bars

But now I would never even attempt to ride an OS bike cos really they are crap compared to whats available now!

[BigNige]

All wrong except Moose

I AM GAY!!

Lol only kidding - shit, now you all have your doubts.

The first time i took my new bike out (8 yrs ago) i wiped out real bad and had to ride home with a stone embedded in me right knee since then i have become a quivering wreck, I hide behind the sofa when they show the vert ramp on Extreme Sports.

Nah i think I just need to ride more - but when you have primary school kids hittin ramps harder than i ever dreamt and all i can do is eat dirt trying to do a roll back its kinda intimidating. so you sit and watch and then the "whats that fat old man doing staring at our kids" guilt complex kicks in.

so you go home and do something grown up like mow the lawn. :p

I still feel that the new set up is odd. When I learned to snowboard i had a dozen lessons and was as bad on the last as i was on the first, then someone said try a smaller board. so swapped it out and rode it like a pro. I cant help but feel this is the same thing.

[dannyboy]

im just glad i never was any good on my old bmx so my old skool rides feel awsome when dropping of a big kerb or doing a skid  on the gravel at the end of the street

[Bob_Acid]

Ride what you feel happy riding.

[andy619]

I felt the same as you when I got my new bike.  Low, narrow bars, more difficult to lift the front end than I remembered.  Now I have about 10 hrs of roll time and I am starting to feel comfortable.  Your comfort level is all that matters so you can either get bigger bars or wait and see if you get used to the new bars.

[darkersomeday]

All wrong except Moose

I AM GAY!!

Lol only kidding - shit, now you all have your doubts.

The first time i took my new bike out (8 yrs ago) i wiped out real bad and had to ride home with a stone embedded in me right knee since then i have become a quivering wreck, I hide behind the sofa when they show the vert ramp on Extreme Sports.

Nah i think I just need to ride more - but when you have primary school kids hittin ramps harder than i ever dreamt and all i can do is eat dirt trying to do a roll back its kinda intimidating. so you sit and watch and then the "whats that fat old man doing staring at our kids" guilt complex kicks in.

so you go home and do something grown up like mow the lawn. :p

I still feel that the new set up is odd. When I learned to snowboard i had a dozen lessons and was as bad on the last as i was on the first, then someone said try a smaller board. so swapped it out and rode it like a pro. I cant help but feel this is the same thing.

maybe youre on the wrong size frame?
get out and ride more and dont give a toss whay others think of the way you ride, you'll soon start to fit in and the more you ride the more you'll hook up with older riders and not feel so out of place,
maybe you wont be "blasting the jumps" but you can still enjoy what you can do,
the vast majority of riders i've ever met have only been pleased to see someone trying hard, progressing and shit,
and fook those that dont eh?

gradually you'll get a feel for how you want to get your bike to feel,
my current bike feels perfect and thats after 25 years of searching!

try to remember that you've grown too since you old school days, your bodys shape and geometry have changed and your bike should too,
i personally couldnt in a million years even imagine going back to a weak ill-fitting o/s frame, they were mostly built for kids, not 6'3" 14st adults!

how tall are you? what frame are you on at the moment?