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    Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

    Chapeau encore.

    I'm also around the 3000 for the year, I think (no computer on the winter bike, see earlier posts, grrr).

    Did my 1st there-and-back commute on the heavier winter cross bike today, after a persistent chest infection.

    (Great sunny ride home, til I met some fucking coppers driving down the middle of the road at 50 mph. They were in such a hurry to get somewhere they had time to turn round and stop me to see if I had been 'trying to flag them down'...)

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      Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

      Thanks, everyone. 5,000 was my target for this year, so it was nice to get there with a few weeks to spare.

      Chances are I'll be nowhere near that next year, particularly if my eldest gets into the school she'd like to go to, as then commuting on the bike will have to be jettisoned in favour of driving her to school.

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        Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

        Excellent work!

        I'm just about to tick over 4000km on the Garmin, though that doesn't include a fair bit from the early part of the year...

        I've 55km of vertical gain.

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          Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

          Ye'll be needing some new bibtights, then.

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            Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

            Ha ha!

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              Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

              This has been the most kms I have done in a year.
              6 500kms versus 4000 last year so big increase. My colleague just told me he suppassed 10 000km/year for the first time this weekend ; but I cannot work out how I could ever find the time to hit that.
              According to Garmin Connect, I spent a bum numbing 265 hours on the saddle!!!

              However,I hit 6000 by the end of September, and the old enthusiasm has flown away a bit.
              I am now getting into my Fat Jan off season training of gluhwein, cakes and tartiflette.
              I will hate myself well before the spring.

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                Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

                This is the kind of fetish object that could turn a man's head...

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                  Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

                  Pretty interesting bike auction next week in Vienna:





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                    Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

                    I don't know who on earth would want one of these...but if we decided to club together for it, it's currently £130...

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                      Time For a New Bike Porn Thread

                      We should buy it for ursus arctos.

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                        This thread's been quiet for a very long time, but may I introduce the Bianchi Scuderia Ferrari 01?

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                          Allow it

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                            It looks like there's going to be a cycle superhighway going nearly past my front door straight to my workplace. For the first time since I moved to London, I'm contemplating getting a bike. What do people recommend for a commuting bike? And for a lock, and other accessories I suppose.

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                              I don't want to recommend anything specific, but - don't spend too much, because it's London and there's always a risk of it getting nicked, and because the road conditions are shitty. I guess I'd ballpark at keeping the price below 400 quid.

                              You're not going to be riding far, or hard, so you don't need anything particularly glam or lightweight or carbon or any of the fancy shit that people will try and upsell to you.

                              You probably want a hybrid - the straight handlebars are better for steering around shitty traffic and potholes; slightly bigger tyres absorb more road crap. You don't want the whole suspension shebang you get on mountain bikes, because that's really only necessary when you're on muddy trails and reduces power noticeably. It also adds serious cost if you want something that's not a pile of steaming shit.

                              The last commuter bike I had in London was a "Revolution" brand hybrid from Edinburgh Bike Cooperative, which was excellent, great value, and very durable. I'd recommend that, but a quick look at EBC's website and I can't actually see any of their own brand bikes, so I don't know what's happened there.

                              With lights these days, for city riding at least, is to get USB rechargables. It means you don't have to worry about batteries. And they're high quality now.

                              Locks are much of a muchness, I think - they deter, but if someone really wants to break in, they can.

                              One thing you should invest in is a high quality pump. It's only 25 or 30 quid for a decent stand pump, but having properly inflated tires, and it happening quickly and easily, is well worth it.

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                                Get 700s if you can. Big wheels help a lot in London.

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                                  Never heard of Quirky Jerseys before, but they have a nice range of retro jerseys here:


                                  https://quirkyjerseys.com/collections/vintage

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                                    Narrow tyres (under 30mm) and gatorskins.

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                                      Stats show that the mid-range flat-bar bikes by Specialized, Trek and Giant are the most frequently stolen bikes in the UK. These brands are of course also the most common but they are over-represented in thefts versus sales (data from 2014).

                                      http://road.cc/content/news/119280-w...l-surprise-you

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                                        I guess that's where people start getting slightly less careful. I've never locked my bike up on the street as it was too expensive to replace. That's probably true of lots of people with expensive bikes (not that my bike is high end), but if it's 'just' a mid range hybrid then people may take more risks.

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                                          I've started thinking about commuting by bike, but am not so convinced that it's a good idea, in large part as I haven't sat on a bike for nigh on 30 years.
                                          It's about 10 miles each way, mostly along city streets with no hills up and down the Peninsula (SF Bay Area). My main incentives are that it's horrible for the environment to have me sit alone in a car for the commute, and that it's a way to get some exercise doing something that I need to do anyway (go to work), since it's quite hard for me to find time to exercise otherwise. I figure that the return trip would quite possibly be quicker by bike.
                                          So, should I do it? If so, how much training would I need to do prior to actually starting commuting? And would anyone have advice for what to look for in a bike etc? Another thing is that I'd want to transport a dachshund with me (please save dogs at work comments for another thread).

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                                            I think you need to do very little training for 10 miles each way, on the flat, in relatively decent weather conditions (and, for cycling, the Bay Area's pretty decent weather). Just start doing it once or twice a week, and add extra days when you realise it's nicer being outside in the fresh air doing easy cycling than being stuck in a car in traffic with a million other people. The bike should probably be a comfortable hybrid. For commuting you don't want anything too race-y, you probably don't need drop handlebars or any of the really fancy tech - it makes the ride a little less comfortable, even if it is a bit faster. But you don't want suspension and all those mountain bike gimmicks for riding on paved road, because they just consume energy. I can offer you no advice about dogs.

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                                              Has anybody here attempted (or considered riding) one of the Eroica events? They've now added a Nova category so that that bikes of a non-vintage nature can be used.

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                                                The California one always seems like it would be gorgeous, but I'm nowhere near in condition to be able to do it.

                                                The non-vintage bike (or vintage spirited) edition...is interesting. I like the idea of it, but it also seems like the rules were a bit precious.

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                                                  Practical bibshort sizing question:

                                                  have/have had a range of makes of bibshorts and, not surprisingly, they have a range of fits.

                                                  Most notably I had to send back a pair of gigantic XL adidas, clearly made for an XL German, whereas I'm confident in buying Etxe Ondo (Basque make) in an XXL, because they think Iban Mayo was a large.

                                                  Italian brands also fairly small-fitting, but I've never had any Sportful shorts and the chance to buy some new-old Chianti Classico ones, to match a well-loved jersey has arisen.

                                                  Anyone got/know of Sportful bibshorts and have a rough idea how gigantic/moderately sized their XXL might be..?

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                                                    I've no experience with Sportful, but I have a lot of experience with the vagaries of bib sizing. Normally you just accept that as craziness, but it's really annoying when one company changes its sizing. Pactimo, who make the gear for our informal group/club, changed 2 years ago from having an XL which was an XL for "normal humans" to XL suddenly being XL in comparison to "professional road cyclists who specialise in climbing" and suddenly only my arm can fit in the XL's torso without tearing the elastic.

                                                    My favourite fitting bibs come from Owayo, because they have a much wider range of sizes, and an actually physical size to compare yourself to. They are ridiculously comfy.

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