Any of you Tossers ride a pushbike?
- Thread starter y2blade
- Start date
Or you could avoid Garmin altogether and get a Bryton Rider.
According to my Garmin Oregon (now spare after I upgraded to a Montana), I did 57.5 miles on my bike today. Did a one-way ride from Cheshunt to Newmarket, then caught the train back.
The trouble with one-way rides is that if the wind is against you, as it was for me this morning, it's against you all the way.
The trouble with one-way rides is that if the wind is against you, as it was for me this morning, it's against you all the way.
ahutcheon
Registered user
The trouble with out and back rides with a tailwind as you set off is that the wind always seems to turn when you do. Hills are fairer sparring partners, gravity doesn't f**k around in either direction.
Ooh I was about to post asking some advise from you all about push bikes.
I need to buy one soon and thought about using the cycle to work scheme and wondered if anybody could offer me some advice on the fold up versions.
My parking rights are being withdrawn in September so I dont have much of a choice ....
The idea is that I drive most of the route into work (its quite a distance from the village where I live to the City), park up on the road a couple of miles on the outskirts and bike the rest into town but wondered if anybody had bought any fold up versions with or without the battery pack.
Would welcome some sound advice please.
I need to buy one soon and thought about using the cycle to work scheme and wondered if anybody could offer me some advice on the fold up versions.
My parking rights are being withdrawn in September so I dont have much of a choice ....
The idea is that I drive most of the route into work (its quite a distance from the village where I live to the City), park up on the road a couple of miles on the outskirts and bike the rest into town but wondered if anybody had bought any fold up versions with or without the battery pack.
Would welcome some sound advice please.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-376961-city-and-commuting-bikes/N-102587-type-of-bike~folding-bikes
Decathlon, good value but you can buy better, offer a range of folders from £139.
Wear proper bike-wear like Spandex or Lycra.
Get your hands on a decent helmet and make good use of it.
Another one for Surly
Attachments
Another great ride this morning.
Did 20miles with an average speed of 16mph in one hit although I kept messing about with cycle app and managed loose a bit of my ride.
It was Cloudy and cool when I set off, then by the time I got home the sun was just breaking through the clouds so timed it just right.
Got home & had a nice shower, now sitting in the garden with a beer.
Did 20miles with an average speed of 16mph in one hit although I kept messing about with cycle app and managed loose a bit of my ride.
It was Cloudy and cool when I set off, then by the time I got home the sun was just breaking through the clouds so timed it just right.
Got home & had a nice shower, now sitting in the garden with a beer.
Just in from a quick 12 mile circuit.
170 miles in total since last Saturday. Not bad for an old tosser.
170 miles in total since last Saturday. Not bad for an old tosser.
Just in from a quick 12 mile circuit.
170 miles in total since last Saturday. Not bad for an old tosser.
Nicely done chap
btw all of a sudden the other cyclists I see on the road are saying "Good morning and hello" to me when we pass!!!
Never got anything from them when I was on MTB.
Simon_h
Registered user
I wouldn't want to go back to normal pedals. SPDs are just second nature now.
Aurelius
Registered user
I went out for my first group ride yesterday with three others I've known only through Facebook. These guys ride the same 35 mile loop every week, so I wasn't particularly optimistic about my chances of keeping up with them since the route covers the very steepest climbs in central Florida, including one so steep that many riders prefer to simply walk it.
Making matters worse was the fact that the others all had cassettes designed specifically for climbing. When one of them noticed that my bike still had the stock cassette, he said, "Looks like one of us is going to be walking up Sugarloaf hill."
Too late for me to back out after having driven for nearly an hour to get to our meeting spot, so off we went. The first climbs seemed easy enough, but then one of them warned me that we were approaching a hill dubbed "The Wall", apparently so named because it goes almost instantly from flat to a steep grade, which really takes you by surprise. That one was tough, but to my amazement I managed to outpace all the other riders. When I crested the top, I couldn't even see them any longer. I managed to repeat that performance on all the hills thereafter, and I started thinking to myself that maybe they were conserving their energy for the final and worst climb: Sugarloaf hill. As we finally reached Sugarloaf, my suspicions may have been confirmed, as all three raced passed me toward the base of the hill. I got there about 100 yards behind them, but managed to close the distance quickly. As soon as I began the climb, I realized I was in for an epic battle. I could only maintain a speed of 7.3 mph, and I'd run out of gears. But I also noticed that I was catching up to the other three fairly quickly. The third rider was a former Iron Man competitor, and I thought he'd just pull away the moment he realized I was attempting to pass him, but he looked utterly spent. I passed the second rider, who looked like he was about to bail (he didn't), and then I passed the lead rider, John. John's bike had a cassette on it that looked like something he'd sourced from a mountain bike. The final gears were enormous, and I suspect this was the climb he envisioned when selecting those huge gears. He was pedaling much faster than I was, but it didn't seem to be helping. I passed him, and then another rider, and that's when I saw someone whose physique looked like a serious racer, riding up Sugarloaf on a Specialized Epic S-Works. I got closer and closer to him, determined to be the first one to reach the top. When I pulled up alongside, I recognized him as Dale Serge, a pro-racer I've known for about a year. My elation at passing him was dashed when he told me he was on his 29th climb.
He did three more, for a total of 32 runs up Sugarloaf. 
. Apparently he was out there practicing for an upcoming race. I was too stunned to say much at all, other than to wish him luck.
The return trip was uneventful, except for one mad dash down a long flat road that seemed to go on forever.
My legs still feel knackered, and even my arms are sore, but it was worth it. This was not only my first group ride, it was also my first ride in decades on roads rather than trails, and the first time I've done any serious climbs since the late 1970's. I'll definitely be doing it again in the coming weeks... but with a different cassette.
<iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='http://app.strava.com/activities/68791600/embed/1a18d727ca56896fe190aa367ed5437449da1595'></iframe>
Making matters worse was the fact that the others all had cassettes designed specifically for climbing. When one of them noticed that my bike still had the stock cassette, he said, "Looks like one of us is going to be walking up Sugarloaf hill."
Too late for me to back out after having driven for nearly an hour to get to our meeting spot, so off we went. The first climbs seemed easy enough, but then one of them warned me that we were approaching a hill dubbed "The Wall", apparently so named because it goes almost instantly from flat to a steep grade, which really takes you by surprise. That one was tough, but to my amazement I managed to outpace all the other riders. When I crested the top, I couldn't even see them any longer. I managed to repeat that performance on all the hills thereafter, and I started thinking to myself that maybe they were conserving their energy for the final and worst climb: Sugarloaf hill. As we finally reached Sugarloaf, my suspicions may have been confirmed, as all three raced passed me toward the base of the hill. I got there about 100 yards behind them, but managed to close the distance quickly. As soon as I began the climb, I realized I was in for an epic battle. I could only maintain a speed of 7.3 mph, and I'd run out of gears. But I also noticed that I was catching up to the other three fairly quickly. The third rider was a former Iron Man competitor, and I thought he'd just pull away the moment he realized I was attempting to pass him, but he looked utterly spent. I passed the second rider, who looked like he was about to bail (he didn't), and then I passed the lead rider, John. John's bike had a cassette on it that looked like something he'd sourced from a mountain bike. The final gears were enormous, and I suspect this was the climb he envisioned when selecting those huge gears. He was pedaling much faster than I was, but it didn't seem to be helping. I passed him, and then another rider, and that's when I saw someone whose physique looked like a serious racer, riding up Sugarloaf on a Specialized Epic S-Works. I got closer and closer to him, determined to be the first one to reach the top. When I pulled up alongside, I recognized him as Dale Serge, a pro-racer I've known for about a year. My elation at passing him was dashed when he told me he was on his 29th climb.
He did three more, for a total of 32 runs up Sugarloaf. . Apparently he was out there practicing for an upcoming race. I was too stunned to say much at all, other than to wish him luck. The return trip was uneventful, except for one mad dash down a long flat road that seemed to go on forever.
My legs still feel knackered, and even my arms are sore, but it was worth it. This was not only my first group ride, it was also my first ride in decades on roads rather than trails, and the first time I've done any serious climbs since the late 1970's. I'll definitely be doing it again in the coming weeks... but with a different cassette.
<iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='http://app.strava.com/activities/68791600/embed/1a18d727ca56896fe190aa367ed5437449da1595'></iframe>
Stewart H
Registered user
Supertrick looking bike Aurelius 
I am just in from a four mile bimble on the scroungebike
I found a nice rear wheel with an eight speed cassette in my mates garden, a clean and repack with grease and I am up to 24 gears definitely a wider spread of ratios, this week I have removed my long steel mudguards and repainted them, I will not refit them until Autumn now, I am also considering a new gearcable but at £2 I may just oil the one I have, I need to control the costs I have also fitted some toe straps, an improvement apart from when I ride in crocs 
I am just in from a four mile bimble on the scroungebike
I found a nice rear wheel with an eight speed cassette in my mates garden, a clean and repack with grease and I am up to 24 gears
definitely a wider spread of ratios, this week I have removed my long steel mudguards and repainted them, I will not refit them until Autumn now, I am also considering a new gearcable but at £2 I may just oil the one I have, I need to control the costs I have also fitted some toe straps, an improvement apart from when I ride in crocs
Aurelius
Registered user
Supertrick looking bike Aurelius
It's the bike Mark Cavendish races, but for some reason mine isn't nearly as fast. Must be some manufacturing defect.
I am just in from a four mile bimble on the scroungebike
I found a nice rear wheel with an eight speed cassette in my mates garden, a clean and repack with grease and I am up to 24 gears
Lol You're doing it the right way Stewart. I spent stupid money buying something intended for people with ten times my riding ability. I actually paid less for my first car.
Lol You're doing it the right way Stewart. I spent stupid money buying something intended for people with ten times my riding ability. I actually paid less for my first car.
I did just over 20 miles on my Halfords Hybrid bike this morning and stopped at a bike hire place that sells coffee. The lad working there had a 12 month old Scott Comp CR1 that he was selling for an old school mate. The bike was half the new price so I bought it and saved a fortune................even though it was double the amount I intended to spend on a road bike
Oh jeez more cycling threads !!!....
I'm quite happy bobbing about on the hack I bought for 200 notes a few years ago... Put some flat bars on it to make it comfy... on advice from the entusiasts in the office bought some SPD's and cheapo shimano shoes... makes the world of difference being able to pull as well as push...
Managed to crack out 80 miles on saturday morning... Would have gone for the century but ran out of liquids and cash !!
I'm pretty sure buying the latest carbon fibre framed exotics is going to make feck all difference when I'm over 16 stone anyway... it'll probably crack under my weight !...
I am full of the belief that if you are buying a pushbike for more than 500 quid, you are the equivalent of the McBoorman Tossers floating around on their GSA's pretending to ride to Mongolia...
I'm quite happy bobbing about on the hack I bought for 200 notes a few years ago... Put some flat bars on it to make it comfy... on advice from the entusiasts in the office bought some SPD's and cheapo shimano shoes... makes the world of difference being able to pull as well as push...
Managed to crack out 80 miles on saturday morning... Would have gone for the century but ran out of liquids and cash !!
I'm pretty sure buying the latest carbon fibre framed exotics is going to make feck all difference when I'm over 16 stone anyway... it'll probably crack under my weight !...
I am full of the belief that if you are buying a pushbike for more than 500 quid, you are the equivalent of the McBoorman Tossers floating around on their GSA's pretending to ride to Mongolia...
I'm pretty sure buying the latest carbon fibre framed exotics is going to make feck all difference when I'm over 16 stone anyway... it'll probably crack under my weight !...
I am full of the belief that if you are buying a pushbike for more than 500 quid, you are the equivalent of the McBoorman Tossers floating around on their GSA's pretending to ride to Mongolia...
Funny, those were my exact same thoughts this morning before 10am and then I tried the Scott just to see what it was like: the Halford Hybrid feels like a relic in comparison. I will still be cycling in my cut off denims and T shirt though, Lycra's not for me.
