Your rants here.

CiB

The level of stupidity and ignorance of how cycling works, shown in the newspaper reporting of Team GB's defeat yesterday is one thing. The comments that 'readers' have been supplying below those stories is staggering in the utter failure to understand how it all works and why Team GB didn't win.

Is there no way that apparently serious newspapers can be persuaded to devote a column or two to explain the brain-dead readership how it works, and why Froome wasn't going to win the TdF last week and why Wiggins wasn't going to win gold yesterday?

redvee

The tw@ts who can't hold a beer glass when walking up the road till they get to the bin 2 yds away and think my front door is a good place to smash it against. Luckily I'll be leaving on foot before I leave on my bike tomorrow.

msmancunia

fill_uk wrote:

fill_uk wrote:

Came down with a virus while at work and had to ride/push 12 miles home with a splitting head and raging temperature. My normal 50 mins took 2 hours.

Its bloody chicken pox!! my kids have given it me. Turns out i only had a mild dose as a kid and have got it again. Adults get much worse symptoms than children so my two boys are running round like nutters covered in spots and im slowly falling apart.

Oh you've got my sympathies - I caught it when I was 18 and sitting A-levels, and then again when I was 30
Antihistamines, lots of calamine lotion (Caladryl is the best as it sticks to your skin and doesn't flake off), and cool baths. If you've got them in your mouth then ice pops and very cold drinks really help.

And try not to scratch or pick as you'll scar. Easier said than done though....

rubertoe

Not one visit but two visits from the PF this morning, rear went first, no problem got a spare tube. So a quick change and I am on my way again 10 minutes later.

Only for the front to go as well about 2 miles down the road, with no repair kit, I have to trudge to the nearest bike shop, which isnt too far away luckily, but it doesnt open til 8:30 and it was only 7:15. Thankfully the owner turned up at 8 and repaired it for me!

What have I Learned? 1 tube is not enough and I need a better pump.

edhornby

for multiple fairy visits, the park tools stick on patches are a godsend, you use them as a get you home, then peel em off and do a proper repair from the safe confines of the shed/sofa/kitchen

Ben6899

I took Friday as annual leave so I could do a few miles on the bike and then show a friend of ours, over from Germany, around London's less obvious attractions and sights. So I'm stood on the canal bridge in Camden and doing some people watching while waiting to meet our friend...

A courier on a fixed-wheel bike is obviously not quite sure where he's supposed to be dropping off his current package (I can see him stood on the footway asking for directions from the girl at Inspiral's kiosk window). He then places his bike in the gutter nearest me, straddles it and is about to set off from my left to right, towards Chalk Farm Road (one way over the bridge). He does this just as traffic is catching up and a guy driving a silver Renault Clio (his girlfriend's car perhaps) makes no effort to give the courier room, – he maybe even makes the effort to drive closer and the road is comfortably wide enough here – leans out of the window and tries to push him off towards the footway.

The courier manages to remain balanced, but in doing so bangs into the rear quarter of the car. The problem now – for the driver – is that there is traffic. The courier calmly mounts his bike, rolls past the window, slows and punches the driver square in the chops, rolls a little further and kicks the nearside headlamp lens and then disappears through the junction and towards Chalk Farm.

This is a rant on two counts:

1. What an utter shitclown of a driver; and
2. The courier didn't hit him hard enough.

bdave262000

Had a great day watching the mens road race in RP at Richmond Gate. Loads of people, kids, babies having fun. Then some silly cow riding too fast on a very crowded shared path smacks straight into my 3 year old daughter and hits her in the head with her handle bar (massive bump on her forehead). Doesn't even stop to check if she is ok and cycles off without any reaction. What a complete scumbag.

Ben6899

bdave262000 wrote:

Had a great day watching the mens road race in RP at Richmond Gate. Loads of people, kids, babies having fun. Then some silly cow riding too fast on a very crowded shared path smacks straight into my 3 year old daughter and hits her in the head with her handle bar (massive bump on her forehead). Doesn't even stop to check if she is ok and cycles off without any reaction. What a complete scumbag.

That's awful, mate. I hope your little 'un fixes up okay.

What is wrong with some people?

asprilla

Three fucking punctures this morning, all between Hampton Court and Kingston. Especially annoying as I realised in Molesey that I'd forgotten my saddle bag but decided not to go back for it.

Wouldn't have helped anyway. Thanks to the chap who stopped and gave me a tube; I think the valve core on that was wonky rather than an actual puncture. Long walk to Evans.

rick_chasey

Ben6899 wrote:

I took Friday as annual leave so I could do a few miles on the bike and then show a friend of ours, over from Germany, around London's less obvious attractions and sights. So I'm stood on the canal bridge in Camden and doing some people watching while waiting to meet our friend...

A courier on a fixed-wheel bike is obviously not quite sure where he's supposed to be dropping off his current package (I can see him stood on the footway asking for directions from the girl at Inspiral's kiosk window). He then places his bike in the gutter nearest me, straddles it and is about to set off from my left to right, towards Chalk Farm Road (one way over the bridge). He does this just as traffic is catching up and a guy driving a silver Renault Clio (his girlfriend's car perhaps) makes no effort to give the courier room, – he maybe even makes the effort to drive closer and the road is comfortably wide enough here – leans out of the window and tries to push him off towards the footway.

The courier manages to remain balanced, but in doing so bangs into the rear quarter of the car. The problem now – for the driver – is that there is traffic. The courier calmly mounts his bike, rolls past the window, slows and punches the driver square in the chops, rolls a little further and kicks the nearside headlamp lens and then disappears through the junction and towards Chalk Farm.

This is a rant on two counts:

1. What an utter shitclown of a driver; and
2. The courier didn't hit him hard enough.

F*ck me.

Good on the courier.

Last time someone tried to push me off like that it worked and I ended up in hospital.

veronese68

Ben6899 wrote:

bdave262000 wrote:

Had a great day watching the mens road race in RP at Richmond Gate. Loads of people, kids, babies having fun. Then some silly cow riding too fast on a very crowded shared path smacks straight into my 3 year old daughter and hits her in the head with her handle bar (massive bump on her forehead). Doesn't even stop to check if she is ok and cycles off without any reaction. What a complete scumbag.

That's awful, mate. I hope your little 'un fixes up okay.

What is wrong with some people?

That's terrible, hope little'un's ok.
I had to laugh at a comment my wife got leaving the park on Saturday. Having left by Ham Gate she was riding along an open road with lots of people walking in it. She rang her bell and said excuse me to get passed a particularly large group of people and one of them tutted loudly and said "Bloody cyclists, they think they own the road." She couldn't respond as she was laughing too hard. The fact that they were walking in a road that was open to traffic was obviously lost on them.

Blacktemplar

msmancunia wrote:

CiB wrote:

The Cycle Show (ITV4 last nigth).

Juvenile puerile execrably crap attempt at being 'exciting', 'fun', 'with it', 'edgey'.

+ 1000

... and breeeaaaathe.

(I haven't seen it yet).

Mind you, it was worth watching just for Graham Obree's 'trainspotting-I'm-strung-out-have-you-any-crack-mate?" routine, and Fatso Mansell's eyebrows....

Blacktemplar

bails87 wrote:

Suzy: I'll be in Scotland Friday- Sunday, so hopefully I'll bring some good weather with me!

Epic fail my man.

I had my own personal Cowded House* cycle yesterday round the Trossachs, followed by monsoon clouds, with three visits from the PF and 23,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 bloody midges. I now have King of the Mountains polka-dot legs with all the bites, and a bad dose of trench-scrotum.

Maybe I could cycle in Summer instead. Oh, wait, we don't have that season up here..... :evil:




* Four Seasons in one Day (including a dusting of hail up the Dukes Pass. And hail up yer Duke's Pass is to be avoided at all costs)

aclivity

As I have mentioned on another post, my 9 year old son has been bitten by the cycling bug, through watching the tour and the olympics road race with me, and also I'm hoping that some of my exuberance is rubbing off. I am dead keen on encouraging this, as it will give me someone to go for rides with, and also adds weight to the need for me to get another bike. We've been out every day we can recently, him on his BMX, me on my Brompton, and all he can talk about is Team Sky and "when I get my road bike", and he has been practising riding his BMX with his hands in the middle of the bars like he is doing a time trial. We've had a bad time with him recently, as the rest of his class are all footballerina fans, and he doesn't really like football and when he joins in (which he feels compelled to, as otherwise he would be on his own at lunch and break) he's not as good as the rest, and he has been bullied about it, so finding a sport he is keen on is something we are quite pleased about.

Sadly, he's very short, smallest in his class.

He's been to Winstanleys cycles this morning with his mum and is now in bits as, whilst he can get over a 24" wheel road bike, his body is a bit too short to reach the brakes safely.

So my rant is ... I can't find a small enough road-style bike to capitalise on my my son's new found love of the sport.

We've booked a kids experience session at the velodrome in Manchester for a couple of weeks time, but at the moment I've got a really upset lad at home. Wondering if it's worth getting a 20" wheel road style bike, even if it is only for a year until he can fit the larger one.

TheEnglishman

Prominently displayed Neurofen Extra + - £3.19

Hidden at the back Sainsbury's Paracetamol £0.20

Bloody rip off!!

dhope

aclivity wrote:

As I have mentioned on another post, my 9 year old son has been bitten by the cycling bug, through watching the tour and the olympics road race with me, and also I'm hoping that some of my exuberance is rubbing off. I am dead keen on encouraging this, as it will give me someone to go for rides with, and also adds weight to the need for me to get another bike. We've been out every day we can recently, him on his BMX, me on my Brompton, and all he can talk about is Team Sky and "when I get my road bike", and he has been practising riding his BMX with his hands in the middle of the bars like he is doing a time trial. We've had a bad time with him recently, as the rest of his class are all footballerina fans, and he doesn't really like football and when he joins in (which he feels compelled to, as otherwise he would be on his own at lunch and break) he's not as good as the rest, and he has been bullied about it, so finding a sport he is keen on is something we are quite pleased about.

Sadly, he's very short, smallest in his class.

He's been to Winstanleys cycles this morning with his mum and is now in bits as, whilst he can get over a 24" wheel road bike, his body is a bit too short to reach the brakes safely.

So my rant is ... I can't find a small enough road-style bike to capitalise on my my son's new found love of the sport.

We've booked a kids experience session at the velodrome in Manchester for a couple of weeks time, but at the moment I've got a really upset lad at home. Wondering if it's worth getting a 20" wheel road style bike, even if it is only for a year until he can fit the larger one.

Islabikes?

aclivity

dhope wrote:

Islabikes?

Slightly out of my price range at the moment. Even second hand they seem to be expensive.

He wants a road bike, whereas mountain "style" bikes are ten a penny, road bikes with drop bars are harder to find.

sketchley

aclivity wrote:

dhope wrote:

Islabikes?

Slightly out of my price range at the moment. Even second hand they seem to be expensive.

He wants a road bike, whereas mountain "style" bikes are ten a penny, road bikes with drop bars are harder to find.

It must be possible to get a bike that will fit him. Can I suggest trying the classified / wanted section on here and other similar forums. Someone may well have one in shed, child grown up that kind of thing....

Sharkyssurfers

or getting a hybrid that fits him and adding drop bars to it

sketchley

Kids Racing bike there be a few in the calssified section here's one....

viewtopic.php?f=40093&t=12868818

Edit:

and another

viewtopic.php?f=40093&t=12866401

anonymousblackfg

Where i've seen this come up lately everyone's mentioned the Isla bikes loose about £20 during ownership and given current interest should be even less. Though expensive this does effectively mean it's more like renting than owning.

aclivity

Thanks for the links - I have already sent Duboy a PM, the other one looks better than the one he saw in the shop, still a little worried about the reach aspect of the size?

pangolin

Sharkyssurfers wrote:

or getting a hybrid that fits him and adding drop bars to it

We can build it. We have the technology. We can make it faster, better, smaller.

Forum must be able to sort this out! We can have a London build off. Or something. Build off implies 2 teams, which there wouldn't be. Or if there were 2 teams, one of the losers has to ride the winning bike to wherever aclivity lives.

sketchley

aclivity wrote:

Thanks for the links - I have already sent Duboy a PM, the other one looks better than the one he saw in the shop, still a little worried about the reach aspect of the size?

You could always fit a shorter stem wouldn't cost a lot. And what's more if he grows (which he will) you can simply fit the old one back on again.....

asprilla

Grrr! Why leave a message saying that it's absolutely vital that I contact you immediately regarding my mortgage application if you are then going to walk away from your desk for the next three hours? Why? Why? Why?

pangolin

Don't worry Asprilla, based on your signature you still have 11 spare.

SteppenHerring

aclivity wrote:

dhope wrote:

Islabikes?

Slightly out of my price range at the moment. Even second hand they seem to be expensive.

He wants a road bike, whereas mountain "style" bikes are ten a penny, road bikes with drop bars are harder to find.

If reaching the brakes is the only issue then you might be able to buy/make wedges that will pull the handles in. Sure you sacrifice a bit of travel but it's the bit you only use when you come round a corner at 45mph to the bottom of Hammer Ponds last week and find a stupid driver stopped in the middle of the road.

twist83

Short Stem and Specialized make some blocks/wedges for a few quid that decrease the reach. I should imagine you can get compact drops as well.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... 9GbjKSjo6Q

Reduce reach by about 20mm. That combined with a 30mm + decrease in reach with a stem might well be the ticket.

aclivity

We seem to have reached a solution - possibly this should go in anti-rants but what the heck ...

Having come home heartbroken and upset, he went off to look on the internet, only to find that Mark Cavendish started his cycling riding a BMX. Added to that, a call to the Manchester Velodrome found out that he can do a kids experience track cycling, so we've booked him in for that - and the bikes on the velodrome don't have brakes!

Hopefully we can do a few more track sessions to keep the interest up whilst he has promised to eat plenty of veg to help him to grow so he can get his first road bike as soon as possible. Bit of a win-win, I hope.

Really quite excited about going to the velodrome too ... will they let me go on there with my Brompton?

clarkey cat

3 punctures.

2 tubes.

Gah!