Reply to: Any keen cyclists?

[CptFantastic]

It'd be alright in the winter - but unless you have an outdoor freezer it'd just melt, surely?

It's the novelty that counts :P

[threaded]

Yes, it is a definite problem, I've not seen a bike in a shop without a weight limit of 75kgs or 85kgs, excepting specials of course...

So, for a man of your means I'd suggest a Setavento frame, they come made to measure and you can specify over size/thicker walled tubing, and they are proud of their guarentee that if you bugg3r it up they'll do you another for a reduced price. Bontrager wheels, as they don't have a weight limit.

Otherwise, buy something made of steel, if you can find it. There are some builders who specialise in 'Clydesdale' bikes.

[gingerjedi]

OK, challenge time for you "knowledgeable" cyclists out there.

After my move to Cambridge, I've contemplated buying an all-terrain bicycle. Unfortunately I'm having trouble finding one suitable.

I'm 6ft 8" and weigh 18 stone. My inside leg is 36".

Where do I buy a suitable bike?

http://www.bikeforest.com/cb/index.php

[Churchill]

OK, challenge time for you "knowledgeable" cyclists out there.

After my move to Cambridge, I've contemplated buying an all-terrain bicycle. Unfortunately I'm having trouble finding one suitable.

I'm 6ft 8" and weigh 18 stone. My inside leg is 36".

Where do I buy a suitable bike?

[realityhack]

Why about a ice, shiny BMX bike? When I was a kid, I could get anywhere with that

It'd be alright in the winter - but unless you have an outdoor freezer it'd just melt, surely?

[CptFantastic]

Why about a ice, shiny BMX bike? When I was a kid, I could get anywhere with that

[realityhack]

Spoke to a rubbish sales guy at Evans and he was about as cheerful as a burning orphanage - the seat post on the Tricross Sport is steel - the cheeky beggars put a 'carbon effect' sticker round the tube. Ruled that one out on general principle.

It was useful just to see the range of cyclocross bikes side by side. Might go for the bright orange Jake The Snake by Kona, better gearset than the Tricross Comp and £400 cheaper.

I ain't spending €4k on a bike when I'm just trying this style out. Maybe sometime in the future when/if I really get into it. Thanks for the feedback anyway.

[threaded]

Exactly the same principle. Although with the cars I also, for some of them, have varying sets of tyre-wheel combinations for varying conditions.

[wendigo100]

Me, like I was saying, have a set of bikes for varying conditions as the reality is no one bike fits all.

A bit like your stable of cars then?

I have a set of shoes for varying conditions.

[threaded]

This from Marschall is about as good as you're going to get for an everyday high speed commuter, it's about €4k, unless you start spending silly money.

Me, like I was saying, have a set of bikes for varying conditions as the reality is no one bike fits all. Although this ultimate commuter from Ben Cooper is pretty close. Incidentally he's building a USE-SUB fork demo bike at the moment that is pretty similar to my usual commuter.

[threaded]

Carbon failure mode: sudden and catastrophic.

Aluminum failure mode: sudden and scarey.

Steel failure mode: gradual and "oh has something bent more than it should, ho hum."

threaded in "steel is real" mode

[realityhack]

True, but one benefit of a cyclocross is you can fit wider, more rugged wheels/tyres as there's more clearance than a true racer. Looking at others but they all seem to have carbon forks and seatpost.

You've worried me slightly with the carbon issue - going to have to do a bit more research.

Cheers Mrs Goof - am off to Evans' now.

Oh and Freaky - racers are gay when they're ridden by lycra-wearing tarquins from meejaville - but quite nice when normal types take a spin, leaving fat wheezing heifers struggling to pop more than 30mph on their MTBs in the dust.

Except Threaded of course.

[threaded]

Then lay of the ******* pies!

Well, the pies is one thing, but the reality is that when you hit a bump at speed your wheel gets bent a little.

Machine built wheels, i.e. new ones, are real bad for the speed they go out of true, and getting them built by hand means they last a little longer, but cost a fortune.

One reason for prefering mountain bikes is that the brakes are on a disk and you can at least get home when a wheel has gone way out. On a racer, especially the top aero ones, even a little out of true means the wheel is hitting the brake blocks, or even the frame, so you end up with hobsons choice of releasing the brakes a little, and not being able to stop, or going slower and ruining your rims by binding.

[Churchill]

The big difference being that when something is knackered on his bike he has mechanics and/or the time to fix it, or can get a new part gratis, whereas chummy in this thread will be shelling out.

I'd love to ride a full-on racer for my daily commute, but I know I'd be rebuilding wheels every other evening, and frankly life is way too short for that.

Then lay of the ******* pies!

[threaded]

RH if you are in London got to Evans Cycles shop, by waterloo station, great advice

I believe the bike in your original post is used by Richard Stannard (look him up) when doing cross country triathlons.

The big difference being that when something is knackered on his bike he has mechanics and/or the time to fix it, or can get a new part gratis, whereas chummy in this thread will be shelling out.

I'd love to ride a full-on racer for my daily commute, but I know I'd be rebuilding wheels every other evening, and frankly life is way too short for that.