But there are 'some'? If it's something you want to do then go for it, none of us are getting any younger
Spoken by a man who has experienced the chaffing? Oh yeah and a decent saddle,I have a women's race one,yet again by Specialized, it has a hole in it, really comfy yet small enough to get over the back of when going down nice rocky descents
The saddle on my last bike was my favourite. Nice squidgy gel seat that looked cool too It was a bit chunky, but that was fine by me!
Well Im doing the 60 mile ride in July, so Im determined to get a good time in, and at least keep up with Jamie!
Pah, I expect 1 hour maximum! I did a 60 mile run once just for a casual day ride It wasn't difficult but I did stop quite a few times to drink and have a natter. Now I couldn't do a 1 mile ride!
Don't kill me, I have so much to give! Rest assured though that my cycling outfit will outshine yours sir. You don't accessorize, there's a simple truth to you.
Now I have an image of a skimpy pink sequin costume... That reminds me of the naked bike race article I stumbled upon yesterday, old men in nothing but pants, uchyfi!
My butt REALLY hurts My new bike arrived yesterday. I assembled it in no time, spent another hour adjusting the very bad V brakes, then give it a run around the block. The saddle had NO padding at all, it may as well have been a block of wood. I got home after 10 minutes panting for breath, legs like jelly, and today I can't sit down I've bruised my butt bone so badly. I've bought a nice comfy padded seat but I can't sit on it still due to the bruising - so I'll have to give it a couple of days before I head out again. But wow, 8 years out of cycling and 10 minutes killed me. If anyone is ever thinking of purchasing a cheapy self assembled bike - DON'T DO IT! They're a death trap :bang:
Tip - don't go along a canal towpath if its seriously muddy unless you want to have the bike try to spit you off into the canal. Yep, it happened to me and all that happened was I ended up on an adrenaline high from it I got my Apollo bike from Halfrauds back in September and its starting to get slightly oddified (nothing stays standard when I'm around, as you should know by now). Grip shifts have been changed for Shimano Acera trigger shifters, cranks are SR Suntour Duros, pedals are some random studed things (not SPD!) that will quite happily put holes in your legs, different handlebar stem and my latest buy - Rock Shox Toras. Going from 50mm travel on the standard shocks to 130mm on these = goooooooood Biggest tip I can give is to get some decent gloves for riding. When you come off (and you will!) your reaction will be to put your hands down, no matter how hard you try not to. I have Kona Cowans from Halfrauds for summer riding and my ever-trusty 661 Storm winter gloves. Oh, and in answer to your questions in the first post, I mainly ride to uni (1.5 miles away) and can do that ride in 4 minutes now including the usual hopping off things and riding like a nutter (quite often playing air-bass while annoying pedestrians) but will just as happily ride along the canal with no music playing just to chill out.
Good work on getting it V, but yeah self assembly bikes aren't great. My bf bought a titanium Rock Lobster frame a while back and spec'd it up himself, it was a cool bike but hassle. Even though it's good to alter things and customize it self assembly can be tricky. I remember when I got my Fire Mountain it had those awful grip shifts which came off immediately. For frequent mud riding i would go for some hydraulic discs, my new bike has them and I have never looked back!
I can't wait to get disk brakes, V brakes suck badly. It took me an hour of fiddling to get the brakes off the rim but not too far that the brakes didn't work. I'm hoping the pads will wear down a little, they're still sticking to the rim and they're as loose as I can get without it being a death trap!
Ahhh right ,tricky one :S It may be that the wheels aren't completely true, you could always take it to a bike shop for them to check- they'll just put it on a little machine that lets them see if the rim is ok and whether the spokes have been fitted properly and are all ok.
The brakes are pretty wonky to be honest. They move quite easily from side to side which is worrying me, ending up with one brake pad higher than the other - but I can't stop it unless I tighten everything so much the pads can't move off the rim. Maybe I should shave a little off them...
Nah I'm not that bad, I spent most of my teens pulling bikes apart and building them. It's just these crappy brakes These cheap bikes are really bad though. The kind of people (99% of the time) buying these bikes aren't likely to be able to assemble one safely. They should be ready assembled and checked before sale!
Greetings fellow bike riders! I went years without riding, but i decided a few weeks ago i was going to save £50 a month by riding to work and not getting the bus. It is actually quicker to go by bike which i was a little surprised about. My bike is crap! i got it about 9 years ago! its a carrera banshe, full suspension...but it has a disc break at the front...all be it a cable not hydraulic! Im hoping it lasts me till the end of the summer, then i'll invest in something a little better. My bro goes xc all the time so im going to do a lot more biking now ill tag with him!
Don't talk about crap, I'm riding with V brakes I need to get gloves at some point soon, my grips are a killer, I swear they take a few layers of skin off every time!
Woo hoo! Nice work H! Yeah gloves are a wise move V! I erm...."borrowed" my sister's ,well, she left them at my house, and she doesn't appear to have noticed she has none. I bet she won't even notice if I wear them for the epic ride we are doing in July! We don't seem to have time to fit any cycling in at the moment,particularly xc stuff, plus ,as Jamie will testify,I am somewhat of a wuss when it comes to downhilling Put me with a man to roll and I'll fight him, put me at the top of a tricky downhill on a bike and I become a complete girl !
