RichardB
Slightly retro
- Location
- West Wales
This is probably the wrong place to post this, but at least I reckon I'll get a sympathetic hearing.
I've been back into cycling for a couple of years now, and have bought two new bikes in that time - a Dawes Galaxy which was returned as there were too many things about it I didn't like, and its replacement a Dawes Galaxy Cross. The Cross is a nice bike and rides well, but both the 'new' bikes have left me a bit unsatisfied when I stand and look at them. It was only last weekend that I realised why.
I took off the ergo grips from the Cross, as they added nothing to comfort and efficiency, and looked like something off the orthopaedic ward. I replaced them with normal lock-on grips and some bar ends. The bar ends I chose were the ones from Halfords with the little tool kits hidden inside, which I thought was a great idea. Looking at the bike now, they are the bits on it that give me the most pleasure. I've just realised it's because they are nice polished alloy. Everything else on the bike - chainset, wheels, bars, stem, seatpost, rack - are in matte or gloss black, with lots of graphics plastered all over.
While I appreciate that there is a fashion in these things, I just find all of this very ugly. If there was a quick and non-damaging way to strip all the black off and have just plain alloy that I could polish when I felt like it, I would do it tomorrow. But I suspect the coatings are bonded pretty securely, and it might be better to just replace components with alloy equivalents - the total cost of which could be significant (and a bit of a waste, as everything functions perfectly).
I'm not asking for advice, really, just having a moan. When I was looking round for a new bike last year, I was in a position to put the best part of a grand into a new steed, and nothing I saw in the shops or online really made me think "I have got to have one of those". Now I realise why. I went for a Dawes because of a good experience with a Galaxy in the 80s, but of course the fashions and even the country of manufacture have changed.
Rant over, thanks for listening
I've been back into cycling for a couple of years now, and have bought two new bikes in that time - a Dawes Galaxy which was returned as there were too many things about it I didn't like, and its replacement a Dawes Galaxy Cross. The Cross is a nice bike and rides well, but both the 'new' bikes have left me a bit unsatisfied when I stand and look at them. It was only last weekend that I realised why.
I took off the ergo grips from the Cross, as they added nothing to comfort and efficiency, and looked like something off the orthopaedic ward. I replaced them with normal lock-on grips and some bar ends. The bar ends I chose were the ones from Halfords with the little tool kits hidden inside, which I thought was a great idea. Looking at the bike now, they are the bits on it that give me the most pleasure. I've just realised it's because they are nice polished alloy. Everything else on the bike - chainset, wheels, bars, stem, seatpost, rack - are in matte or gloss black, with lots of graphics plastered all over.
While I appreciate that there is a fashion in these things, I just find all of this very ugly. If there was a quick and non-damaging way to strip all the black off and have just plain alloy that I could polish when I felt like it, I would do it tomorrow. But I suspect the coatings are bonded pretty securely, and it might be better to just replace components with alloy equivalents - the total cost of which could be significant (and a bit of a waste, as everything functions perfectly).
I'm not asking for advice, really, just having a moan. When I was looking round for a new bike last year, I was in a position to put the best part of a grand into a new steed, and nothing I saw in the shops or online really made me think "I have got to have one of those". Now I realise why. I went for a Dawes because of a good experience with a Galaxy in the 80s, but of course the fashions and even the country of manufacture have changed.
Rant over, thanks for listening
