Mistakes I made as a begineer

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  • term1te
    term1te Posts: 1,462
    Buying some "never puncture" solid tyres, I think they were from the Green tyre company or something like that. They were said to be green as they would never need replacing. Useless, two hours to get on the rims, less grip than strapping lightly oiled banana skins to each wheel and as comfortable as sitting on a pneumatic drill. After about a month I had to cut them off the wheels.

    Stripping the tread on some cranks and trying to glue the pedal in. :oops:

    Deciding to cycle over a 3,000 foot pass with only a short sleeved jersey and summer gloves in January, and ignoring the "pass closed" sign. So much snow I had to walk for nearly an hour. My hands were so cold that when I got home I couldn't unlock the house or get my shoes off.
    The Master
    The Moser
    The VN
  • fatandwheezing
    fatandwheezing Posts: 169
    Another one for me, forgetting to tighten everything up before riding brand new bike, set off OK, move hands to brake lever hoods, bars rotate away from me as I come up to a junction.
  • Tony666
    Tony666 Posts: 274
    Fitting the mounting bracket for my Garmin upside down on my spare bike. Then going for a club ride without checking it first. Strange how you can still read a Garmin even though it's upside down :D

    Oh and as a kid trying to ride cross hands because someone told me it was cool to do it (left hand on right grip. right hand on left grip). Fell off after about 6 inches as it is impossible to steer.
    http://sotyred.wordpress.com/
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    keef66 wrote:
    Aaah, travelling round Cornwall with a stiffy. That takes me back to the days of my youth!

    It's pretty uncomfortable on the bike i can assure you... 8)
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • Bhima
    Bhima Posts: 2,145
    The one which probably gets EVERYONE at some point when they're a beginner is going out without a puncture repair kit or spare inntertube. The first time it happened, I just remember hearing "pop.... HISSSSSS........" and immediately got that sinking feeling as I realized i'd have to walk 6 miles home.

    Now, I don't even go to the shops (only half a mile away!) without all my tools/spare tubes/etc...
  • DomPro
    DomPro Posts: 321
    Bhima wrote:
    The one which probably gets EVERYONE at some point when they're a beginner is going out without a puncture repair kit or spare inntertube. The first time it happened, I just remember hearing "pop.... HISSSSSS........" and immediately got that sinking feeling as I realized i'd have to walk 6 miles home..

    Yes, but make that 15 miles :oops:
    Shazam !!
  • AndyOgy
    AndyOgy Posts: 579
    I believed the guy in Halfords when he told me that WD40 was the best thing to lube a chain with. I was snapping a chain roughly every 3 weeks.

    I've also still got the scars from when I didn't know about the reverse thread on a bottom bracket.

    Happy days......
  • Bhima
    Bhima Posts: 2,145
    DomPro wrote:

    Yes, but make that 15 miles :oops:

    Ouch! :lol:
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    Watching the Tour of Britain on TV as a 13 year old in 1991 on TV and seeing that it was going over Holme Moss, a mere 30km or so from my house the following day. Set off at 8am in the pouring rain and a howling wind wearing cycling shorts, summer cycling jersey, a tracksuit top and cycling over the A635 'Isle of Skye' road. I had a Jordans crunchy bar, a bidon of orange squash and a couple of quid. I made it across to Holmfirth and halfway up the road to Holme Moss before the publicity caravan caught me up. Froze to death waiting for the riders and then got back to the centre of Holmfirth to watch grown men load their expensive racing bikes onto the back of their cars having only done a km or so!! Discovered what the bonk was on the way back. Luckily I was given a push for a fair few km by another cyclist who had also made the trip. Without him I don't think I would have got home! Looking back i also had a pump with me but no puncture repair kit!! Good job I didn't get a flat! Still it got me hooked on cycling!
    VN BMC Cube SS
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/30000
  • Feltup
    Feltup Posts: 1,340
    Things I have learnt
    1) take a repair kit
    2) take some food
    3) take more water than you think you will need

    A couple of us went for a ride in our early teens, 12 miles from home pssshhht puncture! No repair kit and back then no phone. We did have a pump so we got the inner tube out and after searching the gutters found some string. We tied the string tightly either side of the hole and replaced the inner tube. We could make it about 1-2 miles before needing to repump the tyre, still much faster than walking.
    Short hairy legged roadie FCN 4 or 5 in my baggies.

    Felt F55 - 2007
    Specialized Singlecross - 2008
    Marin Rift Zone - 1998
    Peugeot Tourmalet - 1983 - taken more hits than Mohammed Ali
  • madandybell
    madandybell Posts: 148
    Buying a bike from Halfords!! Firts beginner mistake!!

    Mind you, instead of taking it back to them after the first few rides for a check-up, I took it to my LBS who charged me £10, they checked over it all and set it up properly. Rides like a dream now!!

    Peadalsport, Halifax.
  • STEFANOS4784
    STEFANOS4784 Posts: 4,109
    Bought 2 random road bikes without having any concept of size(just though a bike's a bike :oops: ), 1st one was an old raleigh which was huge but is long gone so can't give a size. Then r=the Cannondale which i now, eventually, begrudgingly admit was to small :(
    winter beast: http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff016.jpg
    Summer beast; http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff015.jpg
  • STEFANOS4784
    STEFANOS4784 Posts: 4,109
    P.s, never had a problem on the 'dale until i rode the Kuo0ta for a couple of months, then got back on the 'dale and had awful lower back pain. I'm guna keep the dale and put some t.t bars on it as i think it'll suit me fort that job :D
    winter beast: http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff016.jpg
    Summer beast; http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff015.jpg
  • doog442
    doog442 Posts: 370
    believing that cycling 30 miles would cure a prolapsed disc :( ...it doesnt
  • mididoctors2
    mididoctors2 Posts: 96
    chriskempton wrote:
    Went out for a ride without reattaching front brake caliper bolt.

    I was going down a hill, applied brakes. The caliper grabbed the rim, came out of the frame, span round wheel until it ran out of cable. Then it pinged up in the air, before landing back in the spokes and going round the wheel to the forks. When it got there, it jammed between spokes and forks, stopping the front wheel dead. I naturally went over the bars and landed in a bloodied heap in the middle of the road.

    :shock:

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