The best Christmas present EVER

londonlivvy
londonlivvy Posts: 644
edited January 2010 in Commuting chat
I've had some ace christmas presents over the years. And some utterly rubbish ones. When a boyfriend gave me a large metal spoon for Christmas some years ago, it was a pretty clear sign our relationship was over.

Today I bought myself the best christmas present a girl could want*. An Orbea Orca.
Orbea-Orca-UltRival-1000.jpg

So, people, best christmas presents, and worst christmas presents you've ever had?




*IMO, obv.
http://minxcompendium.blogspot.com/
«13456

Comments

  • MadammeMarie
    MadammeMarie Posts: 621
    londonlivvy wrote:
    I've had some ace christmas presents over the years. And some utterly rubbish ones. When a boyfriend gave me a large metal spoon for Christmas some years ago, it was a pretty clear sign our relationship was over.

    Today I bought myself the best christmas present a girl could want*. An Orbea Orca.

    So, people, best christmas presents, and worst christmas presents you've ever had?

    Congratulations!!!! Lovely bike.

    I had a b/f who asked me what I wanted for Xmas, I said an iPod, but he gave me a crap cycling top that he probably bought for less than £10! Aaaarrrgh!!!

    Wost Xmas present? Probably that one, and some funny flavoured coffee my sister once gave me.

    Best? The ones that I buy myslef! This year so far, French Connection jeans and a Muvi camera! :D
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    edited December 2009
    +1 for the ones you buy yourself. This year for myself:

    02_changabang_jkt_citronelle_moss_m.jpg

    And

    osprey_talon_33_spicy_chili_fr.jpg
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    We always have lists, that way we nearly get what we want and it banishes crap presents. However we've now come to dread the list, trying to put together something that takes into account varying values etc get increasingly difficult. Add in the fact that everyone then becomes too scared to go off-list and it makes the whole pressie thing incerasingly stressful :twisted:

    Me, I'd be happy with a bog or a bit of a school somewhere in Africa but no-one ever takes me up on the suggestion.

    I have however bought some truly crap presents over the years, that I'm too embaressed to own up to :oops:
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Very nice, Liv. :)
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • Cafewanda
    Cafewanda Posts: 2,788
    Me like!

    Best present is Babygirl and worst would have been stuff received as a child.
  • deptfordmarmoset
    deptfordmarmoset Posts: 3,118
    I don't usually go green with envy, but I'll make an exception for that bike, Livvy. It's stunning!
    Looking for a cycling buddy?
  • gtvlusso
    gtvlusso Posts: 5,112
    I bought my wife a Mulberry bag - apparently her best present ever!
  • stuaff
    stuaff Posts: 1,736
    edited December 2009
    Nice one Liv. Many happy riding miles beckon I hope! Looking forward to comparing notes on it some time.

    I've bought all my best presents myself- either literally or by giving the buyer a nice clearly defined list. So my best present would be either the Jetstream (for so thoroughly rekindling my enthusiasm for cycling) or the Magnifica (for living up to the name). Runners up: the Macs (all five of 'em) & my new telly...

    Edit: Worst presents. Socks etc, or anything that's just 'useful'. You want to feel special, that the person put some thought & effort into it. Difference between getting an airport novel and something you'll read time & again, say.
    Dahon Speed Pro TT; Trek Portland
    Viner Magnifica '08 ; Condor Squadra
    LeJOG in aid of the Royal British Legion. Please sponsor me at http://www.bmycharity.com/stuaffleck2011
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Every single Christmas present I've ever wanted I've gotten. So it's hard to actually answer

    A new bike back when I was 14 has to be up there with my radio controlled car and N64...

    Nice bike Livvy, you'll have to take it out on a SCR ride in the new year.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • Tonymufc
    Tonymufc Posts: 1,016
    I've just bought myself a PS3, sorry I meant to say, I bought my son a PS3. I'm sure I'm ahem cough cough, he's gonna love it. :wink:
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    edited December 2009
    Yaaaaaaay! Go you! When does it arrive?

    :D

    EDIT: Tell us more! Groupset, wheels, etc...
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Porgy
    Porgy Posts: 4,525
    My wife once bought me a copy of the PC game SimCity for my birthday - which happened to be her favourite - and I don;t even play computer games. :x
  • Canny Jock
    Canny Jock Posts: 1,051
    My girlfriend got me a steam iron for my birthday once, I'll leave you to work out whether that was the best or worst :shock:
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Woah - my kind of girl. I thought this was a bit of a daydream all of, oh, last week? And now it's done, dusted, and in the bag. Go LL!

    My best present was peace and goodwill to all men.*

    *Of course it bloody well wasn't!
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • MonkeyMonster
    MonkeyMonster Posts: 4,629
    Nice wheels :)
    Le Cannon [98 Cannondale M400] [FCN: 8]
    The Mad Monkey [2013 Hoy 003] [FCN: 4]
  • TommyEss
    TommyEss Posts: 1,855
    Wit and indeed woo Livvy - very very nice...

    (and LiT's right - the Orca needs her own thread...)

    As for best presents, when I were a lad, there were a few Christmases where my parents took complete advantage of my niavety...

    Picture the scene - a large lounge (full width of the house, used to be a lounge diner) - presents and tree all down in one half of the room. Busy opening my presents, and I get a Falcon bike manual? Doesn't look much, so I put it to one side and open the rest of my presents, thinking no more of it...

    Then Dad asks me to open the curtains - and there she is - my first bike with gears!!!

    They did the same the year after when I kept opening bits and pieces of Scalextric stuff (I didn't have a Scalextric...) - Dunlop Bridge, Accessory Pack including spare tyres and motors - nothing, no idea, untli they turn the lights up on the other side of the room, and there's a sheet covering a fully set-up figure of 8 race track with two cars ready to go...

    After that, the quality of presents did decline somewhat - and then I would mouth off to my Mum about my Aunty Jill's presents in particular - was only a couple of years ago I learnt that because my Aunty Jill lives so far away, they'd given up on exchanging presents years ago - my mum had been buying presents for us on behalf of my Aunty, and I'd been moaning to the woman who'd bought them right to her face... :oops:

    Now we've started doing a £5 charity shop secret santa - got to be as tatty as possible. Much more fun, doesn't cost much, and it's always nice to give something to charridee, mayte! (Love Smashy and Nicey!)

    Merry Christmas one and all!
    Cannondale Synapse 105, Giant Defy 3, Giant Omnium, Giant Trance X2, EMC R1.0, Ridgeback Platinum, On One Il Pompino...
  • CdrJake
    CdrJake Posts: 296
    edited December 2009
    The best present: A Snap On tool set
    The worst present: The last present from my ex wife...underpants :shock:
    twitter: @JakeM1969
  • hisoka
    hisoka Posts: 541
    Best present for me is too hard to decide, they are all good when thought and caring go into them.

    Worst, gift vouchers. Not only are they saying "I spent exactly X on you" but also saying "I didn't care enough to even buy you something weird that you might hate, I just thought 'hey have whatever the hell you want and I don't have to think'"

    Personal thoughts, I don't like gift vouchers from friends. People I barely know, fine, but friends know I care more about being thought about then material things. Think, get me something sh*te but weird then I will love it, don't think and give me vouchers and I will just go "oh, lovely".

    /rant

    sorry all.
    "This area left purposefully blank"
    Sign hung on my head everyday till noon.

    FCN: 11 (apparently)
  • stuaff
    stuaff Posts: 1,736
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Yaaaaaaay! Go you! When does it arrive?

    :D

    EDIT: Tell us more! Groupset, wheels, etc...

    +1. We need the details. Well, we want them...Classic rather than the 'regular' Orca?
    Dahon Speed Pro TT; Trek Portland
    Viner Magnifica '08 ; Condor Squadra
    LeJOG in aid of the Royal British Legion. Please sponsor me at http://www.bmycharity.com/stuaffleck2011
  • msw
    msw Posts: 313
    One of these, in my parents' garage in about 1985:

    41d1207037988-magburner2.jpg
    "We're not holding up traffic. We are traffic."
  • deptfordmarmoset
    deptfordmarmoset Posts: 3,118
    That's the poshest garage I've ever seen :wink:
    Looking for a cycling buddy?
  • londonlivvy
    londonlivvy Posts: 644
    I agree, Hisoka, that the best presents are those where someone has thought about you and what you'd like - the financial outlay is irrelevant. It could be a £1.50 pair of Claire's Accessories earrings, or a second hand book, and I'd be happy, if it was my sort of thing. A large cheque, whilst handy, doesn't show thought (imo).

    Wallace. Nice pressies!!!

    Canny Jock. A steam iron eh? You lucky, lucky man.

    Tommy Ess. you have ace parents.

    OK. The Orca.
    Well.. Greg66 you're right, I was wavering - but I do tend to waver with big decisions. But then a friend reminded me that I'm not spending the money, as such, more converting cash into a different type of asset...

    The bike has : SRAM Rival compact groupset, Campag neutron wheels (I want the freewheel noise - I know it's shallow but hey, it's MY bike). Or rather will be my bike. Not sure when it'll be ready - new year, certainly - but the wheelset (and specifically the wheelset and freehub combo) is on order so depends when they get it. I shall have to be a little bit patient for now (emphatically NOT something that comes naturally).
    http://minxcompendium.blogspot.com/
  • aberdeen_lune
    aberdeen_lune Posts: 547
    Hi Livvy fatastic Christmas present you have treated yourself to. Is that the 2009 model you've ordered? I have an Orca on order for my Christmas. I'm hoping it comes into the shop today so I can pick it up tonight. Do you think I should wrap it?
  • Cafewanda
    Cafewanda Posts: 2,788
    Aberdeen_lune wrote:
    Hi Livvy fatastic Christmas present you have treated yourself to. Is that the 2009 model you've ordered? I have an Orca on order for my Christmas. I'm hoping it comes into the shop today so I can pick it up tonight. Do you think I should wrap it?

    Hell yes! :lol:
  • londonlivvy
    londonlivvy Posts: 644
    It's the Orca Classic, apparently.

    Aboslutely get with the wrapping - or at the very least a large bow round the front for your christmas day ride!

    Very jealous of you having your bike now. I am having a bike-free xmas. boo...
    http://minxcompendium.blogspot.com/
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    londonlivvy wrote:
    OK. The Orca.
    Well.. Greg66 you're right, I was wavering - but I do tend to waver with big decisions. But then a friend reminded me that I'm not spending the money, as such, more converting cash into a different type of asset...

    The bike has : SRAM Rival compact groupset, Campag neutron wheels (I want the freewheel noise - I know it's shallow but hey, it's MY bike). Or rather will be my bike. Not sure when it'll be ready - new year, certainly - but the wheelset (and specifically the wheelset and freehub combo) is on order so depends when they get it. I shall have to be a little bit patient for now (emphatically NOT something that comes naturally).

    Converting it into a different asset, hey? I like that one...

    Fantastic, it'll seem to take forever but it'll be so worth it! Is it red like in the picture? We demand images! Well, I do. SRAM - do they have a thumb button and a lever under the brake lever? A lot of people getting bikes seem to be going for SRAM over campag or shimano at the moment... do you have it on another bike? What swayed you?

    And yeah, campy noisy freewheel = great. :)
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    londonlivvy wrote:
    Well.. Greg66 you're right, I was wavering - but I do tend to waver with big decisions. But then a friend reminded me that I'm not spending the money, as such, more converting cash into a different type of asset...

    I'll have to remember that, I'm not buying a bike, I'm just converting this cash to carbon :wink:

    V nice bike LL
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • londonlivvy
    londonlivvy Posts: 644
    Yes indeed red like in the picture (red bikes go faster, you see).

    SRAM are the double-tap ones - so you push half way to go down and the whole way to go up (or the other way, I forget - I feel sure this will cause some comedy moments initially). I got it primarily because of the gear ratios they offer - a 12:27 cassette will enable me to get up even alpine climbs (I have a v.good friend who lives in the alps) without having to resort to a triple. Also, Epic were offering the SRAM Rival at the same price as the Campag Veloce - and SRAM rival is reputedly better. I've never had SRAM before - my hybrid has Shimano and my old road bike has Campag so I'm covering all the bases now!

    I didn't go for the red stripey tyres in the end as apparently they are small and I'd really really struggle to get them onto the neutron rims - and I guess, given that the red is on the wear surface, it'd only look cool for about 20 minutes anyway. Duranos for the winter and I can see how I feel in the summer.
    http://minxcompendium.blogspot.com/
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    My better half took me to Switzerland for the weekend to the HR Giger museum and bar

    that's was fu<king awesome
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • fenboy369
    fenboy369 Posts: 425
    msw wrote:
    One of these, in my parents' garage in about 1985:

    41d1207037988-magburner2.jpg


    I had one of those for Christmas once, was ace! Wheelie tastic and was nice down the local BMX track too!

    Best present, my wife saying "Yes!" eight years ago.

    Worst present, hmmmm, a hip flask from the father in law. That has given me nothing but head aches ever since....
    '11 Cannondale Synapse 105CD - FCN 4
    '11 Schwinn Corvette - FCN 15?
    '09 Pitch Comp - FCN (why bother?) 11
    '07 DewDeluxe (Bent up after being run over) - FCN 8

Categories