Hello from Eastbourne

nigeve

Hi Guys, I thought I drop in and introduce myself… I sold the car and last Friday decided to start commuting to work each day. Eastbourne to Bexhill (about 12 miles each way). Took me an hour on Friday but it’s down to 50 minutes already. My target is about 40 minutes, and then I feel I’ll be seriously working out… I’m 43, 5’8” and nearly 13 stone so I really want to burn two stones. I am trying to resist the urge to eat all the calories I am burning up. My body aches from top to toe and don’t even talk to me about saddle sore, I could write the book…
I ride a 15 year old Rocky Mountain Hammer Race. At the time it cost me about £950 with a couple of upgrades. It’s quite a good quality piece of kit hand built in Canada. However, I was really struggling on Friday with the original knobbly tires so I bought some road tyres on Saturday and I have to say it made a massive difference.
There’s a strong wind in my face all the way home. There are no changing or drying rooms at work but I’ve started petitioning my company to join the governments ride to work scheme. It’s a big company with over 600 employees so I would have thought it would be in their interests to encourage cycling.
Question to those of you with more experience..? Would a dedicated road bike make my journey better? I am not talking about a folding commuter bike. I am talking an £800+ road bike from my local (serious racer type) bike shop with very thin tires and a couple of trick bits…
I have a Yamaha XJR1300 that eats this journey for breakfast but I have to say that in a masochistic kind of way I am enjoying the cycling. Oh, and I should add, about half my journey is on cycle paths and about a quarter on quiet country roads, although cars do tend to fly along these roads. Anyway, sorry for the long thread, I just wanted to introduce myself…

Cafewanda

Welcome nigeve. You will slowly lose your sanity in here but it's all good

I've very little cycling experience having only started last September, but I think Kieran Burns might suggest you join him (CX bike) or a Tricross. You'll need a cape also to fit the profile fully

Others with far more experience than I will ever have will be along shortly. Ignore the roadies though, they know nothing about 'proper' cycling

UndercoverElephant

Hi there,

Congratulations on giving it a go. The first trip is always the hardest, especially if you're on knobbies

I did my first 600 commuting miles on a nobby-tyred BSO mountain bike, which cost me £40 from Aldi a number of years back. Has my new road bike made a difference? Oh, hell yes! Probably about 15% on time, but I feel much less tired when I get here, and less sweaty too.

That said, my BSO times went from averaging 1 hour to about 45 minutes over a couple of months, well below 40 now (below 36 PB).

Congratulations again.

Kieran_Burns

Wallace1492

I have today started on a new life.

Used to commute on a Kona Cladera with Slicks, but have now joined The Dark Side and hopped on a Specialized Tricross. Very good bike, front brake and pedals excepted. Could also do with slick tyres, but that is for later.

Smooth ride, fast acceleration, slick responsive gearing. Comes with a free cape....

Have a look, have a test ride, then join us on The Dark Side....

Cafewanda

:roll: :roll:

You owe me plenty KB.

Kieran_Burns

I'm slowly taking over.... has anyone noticed yet? 8)

prawny

If you want a road bike you're already 7/8 of the way there

You obviously don't need one but I love my roadie, I fancy a tricross for the winter but for every day I love my roadie I had a bit of a race with a CG125 this morning I was keeping up on the flat but he did me on the hills.

biondino

nigeve wrote:

I have a Yamaha XJR1300 that eats this journey for breakfast

That is *kind of* cheating... Bet it's great fun to ride though!

Nice work on your commute - the only place me and the gf have been cycling out of London is Eastbourne, just up and down the seafront a couple of times. Happy memories.

jimmypippa

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I'm slowly taking over.... has anyone noticed yet? 8)

I'm just waiting for Aprin and C2W, then I'll join you...

Or grow a beard and get an audax.