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Cycling

Guest armelec

By Guest armelec
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Paul ™ Experienced

Paul ™

Posted
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Bike arrived and was easy to set up. Went to Aldi and got the cycle computer, gloves, took kit/bag, lock and gel seat all for under £20 :)

Was raining Thursday so couldn't get out on it after it arrived, plus was night shift at night so couldn't get out yesterday.

This morning I did my first outing, using Endomondo to track my rides using their GPS app for my HTC Desire.

Anyway THIS was the result from this morning.. felt knackered after it but for a first attempt I did ok. :D

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Purple Monkey Newbie

Purple Monkey

Posted
Posted (edited)

It's because they are looking at you, but not seeing you. They're too busy looking for cars, that a cyclist doesn't register in their brain.

What annoys me is the general belief that there is a pecking order on the roads. Cars believe they have a right to the road over a cyclist. Many cyclists believe they have a right to paths over pedestrians. Pedestrians believe they have a right to everything over everyone.

In reality it all comes down the who has the right of way and how the road/path markings are. As a cyclist, I have every right to cycle in the middle of the lane... in general I don't, but I could*. Pedestrians shouldn't be walking on cycle paths, but they do and I'm not going to get upset about them - just go around them if the path is clear. Similarly, cyclists shouldn't be riding on pavements if the road is clear or there is a cyclepath.

* I'll just add a little footnote here... I will pull out to the middle of a lane when I feel it is not safe for me for a car to overtake me, and at traffic lights to stop cars filtering up beside me. But then in general I'm doing 17-22mph so I not holding them up significantly on 30mph roads.

Anyway... dead nosey of me, but I love reading about folks' rides riding adventures and the interesting things they see. I've seen more of Kent in the last 6 months I've taken up riding again than I did in 26 years. It's great. Went out for a quick ride yesterday with a friend (40 odd miles), it was windy as hell but good fun as always. Plenty of hills to keep it interesting too.

A friend and I tend to tweet our rides and photos interesting of interesting things under the hash tag #cyclewatch. Feel free to use it too if anyone fancies it.

Edited by Purple Monkey
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Halcyon Newbie

Halcyon

Posted
Posted

I've been incredibly cranky all day, and it's only in seeing this thread that I realise why that is.... not been out on the bike all weekend. Gonna go out no and do a quick blitz round town for an hour before dinner. Give me a chance to focus all that energy into the pedals.

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rabid Newbie

rabid

Posted
Posted (edited)

then ja, that is pretty fast :D

i ride three miles to work in about 10 miles, and that's with a pace on as i usually set off later then i want. However i do have a sainsburys basket cable tied onto my pannier rack :P

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Jackmypie Rookie

Jackmypie

Posted
Posted

I'm also looking for a new bike, what do you guys think of this bike?

Bike

I live in the middle of nowhere in the country side, I normally ride my bike down a country road which has a lot of pot holes so guess I will need suspension :P.

If not that bike then does anyone know any cheaper alternatives? Thanks :D

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Halcyon Newbie

Halcyon

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Posted (edited)

I'm also looking for a new bike, what do you guys think of this bike?

Bike

I live in the middle of nowhere in the country side, I normally ride my bike down a country road which has a lot of pot holes so guess I will need suspension :P.

If not that bike then does anyone know any cheaper alternatives? Thanks :D

Edited by Halcyon
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Jackmypie Rookie

Jackmypie

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Looks fine, but that particular bike has been discontinued... so don't know how much it'd cost. From the spec, I'd say that's probably about £350 or so? Also, not a major issue, but that's the 2010 model. Not sure if there is a 2011 model yet, but if there is it'll some include upgraded components (shifters, dérailleurs etc).... for a little premium of course, but usually worth the extra 50notes.

EDIT: just found the 2011 version here

Just having a quick look... these Giants look decent: Revel 2 2011 and Revel 3 2011 (I think the model 2 has the slightly better spec of the two, the chainset and cassette are better). Or there's this Carrera Vengance Ltd Ed, although I'm always wary of getting a bike from Halfrauds. MIght be worth having a closer look at this Ammaco XXR30 (and here), but you'd need to have a good look at the actual bike as the spec is a little hidden on the web.

If you're feeling flush though, the Felt Q220 2011 looks very sweet and has a hell of a spec.

These are all mountain hard-tails though. I know you said you were on country roads with potholes and all, but I might as well ask anyway... what sort of mileage are you looking at doing, and how regularly? If it's a once a week thing, a weekend jaunt across a field and over a hill, or quickly nip down the the shops and taking the scenic route home, then a mountain will be fine.

But anything like a 5-10 mile daily round trip to the station or to work and I'd say a hybrid would be the way forward. Perhaps a hybrid with front suspension if you must, but over time you'll find that a full mountain bike is just too heavy for you to ride efficiently. The step up in performance between a mountain and a hybrid (on roads) is massive... you won't believe how heavy mountain bikes are until you've ridden a hybrid - and you won't want to go back. (It's an even bigger step between an hybrid and a roadie, but that's perhaps a step too far right now).

But I'm just a guy on the internet really. You'd be best off actually going down to your local independant bikeshop and asking them (not Halfrauds as they know jack and will sell you the bike they have the most stock of). Your local shop will be able to advise you better, and be able to give you some personal recommendations based on what you're actually going to be using it for. Note down what they suggest, and then come back and do some independant research on that particular bike... if you like the look of it's spec, then go back and buy it from the shop (they'll probably price match if you find it cheaper elsewhere). The advantage of buying a bike from a shop is that it'll be easier to take it back to get it tuned up in 3 or 4 months time... they'll prob do it once for free if they're any good.

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