DooDah
Veteran
- Location
- France, now Northamptonshire
After a year in the saddle……
Well not quite, I’ve owned the bike for a year, but been in the saddle somewhat less. Here are my experiences.
1) You can’t just buy a bike and ride it, now you have to have a bike fit and measure every length and angle on your bike, measure everything about yourself (well not quite everything!).
2)Your bike arrives, oh no, I don’t have pedals. Now do I buy flats, flats with clips, SPD’s, SPD-SL’s, Shimano, Look, Speedplay????
3)Pedals bought, oh no, I need shoes. Do I buy Shimano, DHB or get mortgage and buy SIDI. How many holes do I need in the bottom? Which way round do these cleats go? What, now I need a shoe and cleat fit from the LBS??
4)Glad I bought those pedals after ending up flat on my face in front of loads of people outside a bar!
5)What, I can’t cycle in jeans? I need some padded shorts that make me look like a Russian wrestler? What make? Which sort of padding? Holy s****!
6)Well, if I am going to buy shorts then I may as well show off my belly with a jersey. Now this is easy, I always take medium in tops. Top arrives, and I have to do some yoga moves to get into it and it won’t reach further than my belly button. WTF! Sent back ordered a large, still too small. Now have an XL, did someone feed me 1000 pies whilst I was asleep?
7)OK, right I am off on my bike. Why do my hands hurt? Oh, I need some padded gloves. Fingerless, full fingers, winter, summer, gel padded? Why does everything have gel in it, I thought that was for your hair?
8)Judging by the looks, my old football socks just are not right, what 10 quid for a pair of cycling socks?
9)Still getting funny looks, so I guess my old 1980’s MTB helmet that makes me look like a mushroom is not quite right. 80 quid later (and still looking like Super Mario) I have a new helmet.
10)OK so all set. First 20km ride here I come. Enjoyed that but why is my arse sore and forgot that I maybe thirsty. So, Chamois cream (thought these were for cleaning your car!). Which make? No idea, so just bought some that cost less than I night out. Need some bottles and where do I put them? OK, so I need bottle cages.
11)Second ride out, bum less painful and no longer thirsty. Wife asked how far I had gone, how am I supposed to know that, oh I need a bike computer. So I can buy something called a Cat Eye for 20 quid or a Sat Nav for 400 quid (my laptop costs less than that, can I strap that to the handlebars). So, after spending another 30 quid I can tell the wife that I have done x kms in x minutes with x top speed, x average, but it still does not tell me why it hurt so much.
12)Apparently I need energy, so I have been told to buy gels (why does everything have gel in it?). How do you eat whilst cycling? I see the pros riding no hands, but seriously, I think I will end up in a ditch or something.
13)Now enjoying cycling, but my brakes no longer seem very good and my gears are making a noise. Time for a service, so back to the LBS. What do you mean I need lube, I have already bought that for my shorts? Oh, for the chain. More choices, wet lube or dry lube??
14)Now autumn has arrived and I am a bit cold in the shorts and jersey. So I just need some winter clothes right? Wrong. Autumn gear and winter gear. Arm warmers, leg warmers, bib tights, long sleeve jerseys, jacket, waterproof, windproof, winter gloves, funny hat thing to go under helmet, funny tube thing to cover neck. Then overshoes! You need to be Houdini to get these things on and off. It now takes me half an hour just to get ready to cycle.
15)Nobody told me that my bike was going to be the cheapest bit, I must have spent three times on kit! Now that the weather is warming up I realise that I need more bib shorts, jerseys, socks and funny tablets for my water bottles.
If it was not for cyclechat I would be lost, so thank you all, although my wife will not be thanking you. Without this site I would have needed a pHD in cycling and would have spent more time on research than on the bike (well I did actually!).
I am now totally hooked and would like a Garmin, new saddle, new wheels, better shoes and most of all a better bike (n+1). Where does this all end.
BTW this is just the short version of events and expenditure
Well not quite, I’ve owned the bike for a year, but been in the saddle somewhat less. Here are my experiences.
1) You can’t just buy a bike and ride it, now you have to have a bike fit and measure every length and angle on your bike, measure everything about yourself (well not quite everything!).
2)Your bike arrives, oh no, I don’t have pedals. Now do I buy flats, flats with clips, SPD’s, SPD-SL’s, Shimano, Look, Speedplay????
3)Pedals bought, oh no, I need shoes. Do I buy Shimano, DHB or get mortgage and buy SIDI. How many holes do I need in the bottom? Which way round do these cleats go? What, now I need a shoe and cleat fit from the LBS??
4)Glad I bought those pedals after ending up flat on my face in front of loads of people outside a bar!
5)What, I can’t cycle in jeans? I need some padded shorts that make me look like a Russian wrestler? What make? Which sort of padding? Holy s****!
6)Well, if I am going to buy shorts then I may as well show off my belly with a jersey. Now this is easy, I always take medium in tops. Top arrives, and I have to do some yoga moves to get into it and it won’t reach further than my belly button. WTF! Sent back ordered a large, still too small. Now have an XL, did someone feed me 1000 pies whilst I was asleep?
7)OK, right I am off on my bike. Why do my hands hurt? Oh, I need some padded gloves. Fingerless, full fingers, winter, summer, gel padded? Why does everything have gel in it, I thought that was for your hair?
8)Judging by the looks, my old football socks just are not right, what 10 quid for a pair of cycling socks?
9)Still getting funny looks, so I guess my old 1980’s MTB helmet that makes me look like a mushroom is not quite right. 80 quid later (and still looking like Super Mario) I have a new helmet.
10)OK so all set. First 20km ride here I come. Enjoyed that but why is my arse sore and forgot that I maybe thirsty. So, Chamois cream (thought these were for cleaning your car!). Which make? No idea, so just bought some that cost less than I night out. Need some bottles and where do I put them? OK, so I need bottle cages.
11)Second ride out, bum less painful and no longer thirsty. Wife asked how far I had gone, how am I supposed to know that, oh I need a bike computer. So I can buy something called a Cat Eye for 20 quid or a Sat Nav for 400 quid (my laptop costs less than that, can I strap that to the handlebars). So, after spending another 30 quid I can tell the wife that I have done x kms in x minutes with x top speed, x average, but it still does not tell me why it hurt so much.
12)Apparently I need energy, so I have been told to buy gels (why does everything have gel in it?). How do you eat whilst cycling? I see the pros riding no hands, but seriously, I think I will end up in a ditch or something.
13)Now enjoying cycling, but my brakes no longer seem very good and my gears are making a noise. Time for a service, so back to the LBS. What do you mean I need lube, I have already bought that for my shorts? Oh, for the chain. More choices, wet lube or dry lube??
14)Now autumn has arrived and I am a bit cold in the shorts and jersey. So I just need some winter clothes right? Wrong. Autumn gear and winter gear. Arm warmers, leg warmers, bib tights, long sleeve jerseys, jacket, waterproof, windproof, winter gloves, funny hat thing to go under helmet, funny tube thing to cover neck. Then overshoes! You need to be Houdini to get these things on and off. It now takes me half an hour just to get ready to cycle.
15)Nobody told me that my bike was going to be the cheapest bit, I must have spent three times on kit! Now that the weather is warming up I realise that I need more bib shorts, jerseys, socks and funny tablets for my water bottles.
If it was not for cyclechat I would be lost, so thank you all, although my wife will not be thanking you. Without this site I would have needed a pHD in cycling and would have spent more time on research than on the bike (well I did actually!).
I am now totally hooked and would like a Garmin, new saddle, new wheels, better shoes and most of all a better bike (n+1). Where does this all end.
BTW this is just the short version of events and expenditure
Why does everything have to have gel in it?
. The wife already thinks that I spend too much on bike stuff. She thinks I spend more time buying bike related things than actually riding, still trying to work out if she is right
or the 4 bum- hurting saddles, I am eventually (ha ha!)planning on selling on.