Show us your.......newbie progress! [4 Sep 2012 - 4 Oct 2014]

[Nigelnaturist]

After yesterdays debacle of me trying to climb mountains and nearly having 2 clipless moments , today, as I have a couple of days off, I thought lets take things nice and flat, so I got my BSO fixie/single speed (in freewheel mode) Viking out. Well I'm liking singlespeed as I managed 41.04 miles in 3.01.53 if you believe Map My Ride (my phone is not able to use strava), which is my longest distance since getting back to cycling 3 weeks ago and will I be glad when my Spoon Charge saddle comes as my b*m hurts. Tomorrow back on the Cannondale and see if I can beat today's record.

btw (burnt my bounce)

T

Viking B.S.O. indeed, I am almost as quick on my Torino as some bikes costing 5x the amount.
And if you missed it here.

Remember this weather guys n girls


http://app.strava.com/activities/65205315

 

[BrianEvesham]

Love the pictures Nigel, especially the snow one.

 

[Mo1959]

@Nigelnaturist I think several of us have been wondering when you would bite re the Viking.

I actually totally agree with you by the way. I really think the notion that some riders have that buying a "good" bike will suddenly turn them into faster riders is pretty much crap. Probably get much better return for your money investing in a nicer set of wheels and tyres and just keeping your bike well maintained.

 

[BrianEvesham]

I'd be happy with a Viking Torino, I nearly went for the Remo before I discovered Decathlon.
I was amazed how many very expensive bikes I scalped on hills when on the shakespeare100 in April, I wrongly assumed only serious cyclists paid out that sort of money on bikes/kit.

 

[Mo1959]

I'd be happy with a Viking Torino I nearly went for the Remo before I discovered Decathlon.
I was amazed how many very expensive bikes I scalped on hills when on the shakespeare100 in April, I wrongly assumed only serious cyclists paid out that sort of money on bikes/kit.

So true Brian. The guy I passed the other day had full Bianchi kit on, no doubt a Bianchi bike as well.

As long as you enjoy riding whatever bike you have, and look after it well, it will give you every bit as much pleasure as one costing ten times as much that you are terrified of damaging!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@Mo1959
I have been busy Mo, just seen it. I agree with you, remember I even run a cheap Acera M.T.B. rear mech on it. It's only a 7sp triple, and can weigh up to 19Kg's, mind most of you know this. Together we have done 7,000 miles this last year, and I guess about another 1,000+ between 2008 and last year. It's gone through several mods in the last year nothing major apart from wheels and bars, the rest mainly gearing, so I could ride whatever I wanted whilst I got fitter, and now it's back at it's original gearing. Most people in this thread have given me wonderful encouragement when I have been wondering if it's been worthwhile, and seen the improvements I have made.
I have found in certain areas of the hobby/sport there is a certain snobbery (not unlike photography), and people believing a top of the range camera makes you a better photographer,

@BrianEvesham cheers Brian.
@Peter12391 It won't be as hard as when you first started.
@Nomadski thanks for baking.

 

[Mo1959]

Must be this heat, I think I am going to have to go for a half hour lie down before lunch...............is that not what the geriatrics do?

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I'd be happy with a Viking Torino, I nearly went for the Remo before I discovered Decathlon.
I was amazed how many very expensive bikes I scalped on hills when on the shakespeare100 in April, I wrongly assumed only serious cyclists paid out that sort of money on bikes/kit.

One thing I have noticed is that they do seem to be producing more bottom end bikes, they did have a carbon pursuit you could get for about £700 I think from Rutland and a Full 501 spec for £479 with carbon forks, they seem to have stopped doing these, and the shifters are all bottom end 2300 7 speeds.

So true Brian. The guy I passed the other day had full Bianchi kit on, no doubt a Bianchi bike as well.

As long as you enjoy riding whatever bike you have, and look after it well, it will give you every bit as much pleasure as one costing ten times as much that you are terrified of damaging!

The only people that seem to scalp me these days are serious cyclists, I have over took people on bikes (fair enough they seemed to be only pottering about) but like I was motorised, they guy that over took me last week was only pulling away slowly and it was on an uphill incline (nothing steep) but something I would have had to stop on at least once last year to catch my breath.

 

[MaxInc]

People spend silly amount of money on everything, I see nothing wrong paying extra on a nicer bike if that makes you feel better but not necessarily faster.

 

[BrianEvesham]

People spend silly amount of money on everything, I see nothing wrong paying extra on a nicer bike if that makes you feel better but not necessarily faster.

I agree, I wasn't knocking it, just surprised.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

People spend silly amount of money on everything, I see nothing wrong paying extra on a nicer bike if that makes you feel better but not necessarily faster.

I would agree with a bike you feel better on, in how it feels when you ride, I can equate that to camera and handling, my camera is so easy to use over the entry level canons, just two dial to control exposure one shutter the other aperture (in manual, or in a.v. or t.v. one controls the shutter or aperture the other the e.v.), a button and one of the dials to change various aspects, i.e. drive mode, metering mode, precise manual zoom on zoom lenses, a good grip for handling, shooting in raw, you don't need to worry to much about white balance, photo style, sharpness ect. as the name implies it captures all the available data which is then processed in software ( I do understand that others don't have the same software as I do, and these features in camera can be a benefit, but being a bit old school I prefer as much data from the shot as possible) .

 

[Nomadski]

To be fair, if I had a spare £3,000 I probably would blow it on a bike. Add another £150,000 and it would be an Aston Martin V12 Vantage S!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

To be fair, if I had a spare £3,000 I probably would blow it on a bike. Add another £150,000 and it would be an Aston Martin V12 Vantage S!

I wouldn't, a couple of L series lenses maybe, simple because of the weather proofing and durability, bike components whilst having the same qualities as you pay more, might not give me quite the same return in performance as an l series lens would.
Certainly not an Aston Martin.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

To be fair, if I had a spare £3,000 I probably would blow it on a bike. Add another £150,000 and it would be an Aston Martin V12 Vantage S!

If I could afford to blow £150k on a car, I would retire and ride across America with my own personal support team.

 

[Nomadski]

If I could afford to blow £150k on a car, I would retire and ride across America with my own personal support team.

I could support you in my Aston Martin!

(Just don't get any grease on the upholstery ok?)