Those cycling annoyances...

[Arch]

Gasp! I've never said anything nasty to you Arch!

We all have irrational likes and dislikes: white socks on cyclists is one of mine, I'm laughing at myself, not them.
But, it had to be said, Mickle's hatred of bar ends on riser bars is spot on: those culprits need putting up against a wall.

There's a fellow in my town who has riser bars and then, rising vertically, bar ends on bar ends on bar ends with wing mirrors atop the lot looking over his shoulders. It looks kind of cool. He also has a habit of going round roundabouts several times.

I'm sorry, that was uncalled for, you're right...

oh dear, re bar ends. Assuming you mean what I think you mean by risers, you hate me too...

Suppose it's just what I find comfortable?

 

[theclaud]

I'm sorry, that was uncalled for, you're right...

oh dear, re bar ends. Assuming you mean what I think you mean by risers, you hate me too...

Suppose it's just what I find comfortable?

Hmmmmm. It's a tricky one. Bar ends on risers do look seriously wrong. I'm a bit of a straight bar purist. They still have exactly the same extremely useful functions, though, and given the increasing popularity of risers, I suspect people like me, Mickle and Betty will just have to get over it.

Backward-pointing bar ends, though, and upside-down drop bars, are another matter entirely

 

[Mac66]

What about about red socks?

 

[Arch]

Hmmmmm. It's a tricky one. Bar ends on risers do look seriously wrong. I'm a bit of a straight bar purist. They still have exactly the same extremely useful functions, though, and given the increasing popularity of risers, I suspect people like me, Mickle and Betty will just have to get over it.

Backward-pointing bar ends, though, and upside-down drop bars, are another matter entirely

Why?

I don't like flat bars, they strain my wrists. I like to have bar ends in order to have a different hand position now and again. I don't get on all that well with drops.

Perhaps I'm too thick, I just don't tend to get the idea that something looks wrong in that way. If it works and does a job, that's all that matters. So the same applies to any bar combination, or any bike kit for that matter. Much worse, to my mind, would be a 'perfect looking' set up that was acutally uncomfortable or didn't work...

 

[theclaud]

Why?

I don't like flat bars, they strain my wrists. I like to have bar ends in order to have a different hand position now and again. I don't get on all that well with drops.

Perhaps I'm too thick, I just don't tend to get the idea that something looks wrong in that way. If it works and does a job, that's all that matters. So the same applies to any bar combination, or any bike kit for that matter. Much worse, to my mind, would be a 'perfect looking' set up that was acutally uncomfortable or didn't work...

Well, I've already admitted that I'm a handlebar purist, which makes me by definition an unreasonable arse on this subject. Your point of view is entirely reasonable and wins the argument hands-down. They still look wrong, though! With me it's basically just a slightly snooty preference for XC MTBs over the increasingly popular "all-mountain" kind. Straight bars with bar-ends give you the best options for those loose rocky uphills, and straights are easiest to wrench around those rocks and roots you only saw at the last second. You might need a riser on a downhill bike, where bar-ends are almost beside the point. With bikes other than MTBs I'm much less of a handlebar nazi, though.

 

[Arch]

That's good, I don't have an MTB, I'm talking about a Giant FCR compact road bike! I don't even like bumpy tarmac much, let along off road...

Well, ok, my winter hack is a more MTB type frame, but pretty hybridised. But I don't have the bar ends on that, as it's for shorter distances and I don't need the hand positions.

 

[Speicher]

What about about red socks?

Excellent, red socks, white socks, even pink and blue spotty socks.
If you are going fast enough I won't see your socks, and if I pass you in my c*r, then I am concentrating on where I am going, that I am passing safely, (from your point of view and mine) and that you have got clearance between you and my car of about four feet, or more. And that your tootsies, arms and legs and head stay safe whatever colour they are enrobed in. (Would prefer you in Black shorts, or leggings, or trousies)

If you stop at a tea shop or pub and sit in the garden, I am sure that the colour or length of your socks is not the first, second or even third thing I will notice. More likely to notice what sort of cake and how many you are eating? and that there will be some left for me in the cake shop after you have chosen yours.

 

[Chuffy]

If you stop at a tea shop or pub and sit in the garden, I am sure that the colour or length of your socks is not the first, second or even third thing I will notice. More likely to notice what sort of cake and how many you are eating? and that there will be some left for me in the cake shop after you have chosen yours.

For some reason people always seem to notice (and comment on) my socks. Possibly because the fourth thing that they've noticed has left them desperate for something else to look at...


Another pet peeve, people who have managed to find the helmet section of their lbs, but not the section that sells lights...

 

[Speicher]

For some reason people always seem to notice (and comment on) my socks. Possibly because the fourth thing that they've noticed has left them desperate for something else to look at...


...

Must try to resist ---oh no cannot resist.

Why, do you take your cycle horn with you into the tea shop?

I'll get my coat, I'm going out now.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

people who wear helmets when off the bike, especially at café stops

 

[Milo]

Tesco MTB

 

[fossyant]

Any squeeks, rattles or knocks from any part of the bike - drives me insane.... hance I don't allow then on my bikes...they get stripped and put back together if that happens......

I chucked the saddle backpack back in the house the other week as I hadn't packed it properly and it was going to rattle on a 57 mile ride - so stuffed the pucnture kit etc in my pockets.... was to be my first ride with it....haven't bothered with it since...

 

[red_tom]

Chain whips. There must be a better tool that can be made. I can't believe the 'wrapping the chain around the sprocket and using the wheel itself as a giant lever to remove that stubborn fixie sprocket' is the best way of doing things.

 

[red_tom]

Also swallowing insects at high speed, midges in the eyes and wasps targetting helmet vents.

 

[Milo]

Wacking horse flys at 45 down hills can be a joy.