Hi from Belgium !

[A-lexandre]

Hello everybody!

I've joined because my friends got tired of hearing me talking about bikes all day More seriously, although that's a bit true, I'm still pretty much a newbie, I don't know much about anything, and I'm getting more and more interested in biking I'm a commuter since 2013 and I would like to travel with my bike too.

I bought a cheap bicycle from the sport-ish supermarket and came to regret it. When it was completely broken, and the repairs would have costed me more than the price of the bike, I decided to buy a second-hand bike, which prove to be in good shape, but not meeting my needs (it's a road bike). I spent several days digging into bike mechanics, specs etc, and I now I think I now what I want, and I'm not afraid anymore of the mechanical side of biking (I'm usually terrible at that kind of stuff, but now I think I now enough to feel a bit more secured).

I decided first to put back on the road the old moutain bike of my brother, and to use it for my first bike trip this summer. While getting my hands dirty and knowing more about bike repairs, I'm going to spare some money to buy the bike of my dreams (currently the Oxford Bike 1R, but it certainly will change as I discover new things).

I signed up to this English-speaking forum because I want to get to know the technical words, and have perhaps a broader view at my options that a French forum wouldn't offer me.

Anyway, thanks for reading and see you!

 

[Bryony]

 

[Dangermouse]

Hi Alexandre, welcome from Lincolnshire

 

[David Higson]

Hello and welcome from the north of England. I hope you enjoy our company.

 

[Apollonius]

Welcome. And may I congratulate you on your English. Way, way better than my French and with a good grasp of colloquial expressions.
Only one participle out! (Sorry, ex-teacher here).

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Hello and @A-lexandre

 

[welsh dragon]

Hello and welcome to the forum from Wales

 

[A-lexandre]

Thank you everybody :-)
@Apollonius I've spent the winter in North Yorkshire. My accent is now terrible but it made me close to fluent! And don't worry, my father teaches English (aouch, I know) so I'm used to informal corrections :P I think I found it: "which proved to be...", isn't it?

 

[HLaB]

I've done the Flanders sportive a couple of times, Belgium is not as flat as folk think

 

[Apollonius]

No, it is the participle with the future perfect. On the other hand, it could be a regional variation. Odd things go on in Yorkshire, you know. And they have a bike race soon.

 

[A-lexandre]

@HLaB Yes that's an odd stereotype. I've met a lot of people around here who don't want to commute on a bike because the flanks of the valley are too steep (and to be honest, I do understand them ).
@Apollonious I couldn't find it, so I'd go with the regional variation to cover my back I don't follow the bike races, but it seems like a pretty decent challenge to climb that kind of relief, at least from what I've seen in the Moors.

 

[Apollonius]

At the risk of being thought a pedant, and at the risk of spoiling your welcome, which is very sincere, here goes on the grammar.

The past participle of "cost" is "cost". We use "costed" possibly as a regional variation, but in a specialised sense to mean the process of estimating how much a project might cost.
For example: the new building was costed at over €500,000. I am noticing that the spell checker is objecting to that too.
I am astonished that a Belgian does not follow cycle racing! The greatest racer of all time (disputable) was Belgian.

 

[A-lexandre]

Thank you for the note, it's always nice to learn a new subtlety :-)
Actually I don't follow sport competitions in general, cycling included, and I tend to see the bicycle like a tool that I enjoy using rather than a sport (no offense intended to those who like races, but it's not my thing). A few years ago the Tour de France happened to pass near my house, but it was so crowded that my curiosity failed me and I stayed at home :P

 

[Hyslop]

Hi A-lexandre.Welcome to you from Cumbria!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Welcome to CC @A-lexandre from Scotland

At the risk of being thought a pedant, and at the risk of spoiling your welcome, which is very sincere, here goes on the grammar.

On your bike @Apollonius (from another foreigner)