Has the obvious question been discussed?

dhope

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

lardboy wrote:

dhope wrote:

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Has anybody explored the potential for Boris Bike racing yet? You've got identically specced bikes with given departure points. All you'd need is to agree a finishing line and you have a race. The weight of the bikes would have course favour the bigger, more muscular rider, so you 'd maybe have to divide racers into categories from featherweight to heavyweight.

There could be distance races - how far can you go, docking point to docking point for free?

And relay races where you go as far as you can for free, dock the bike and wait till you can begin a new session on a different bike.

Or start west and go furthest east with no more than 2 bike switches? Picking a good route, knowing the BoJoDock locations and not switching bikes too early would all play a part...
Could be overcomplicating things

How about a N-E-S-W between the docks challenge?

Furthest North: Angel
Furthest East: Whitechapel
Furthest South: Oval
Furthest West: Olympia

Meet at Angel, ride to East, then South, then West and back tyo Angel in the shortest time, and as few changes as possible. Enforced change at the checkpoints, to register times on the system.

Doing a quick cyclestreets.net route plan, the N-E-S-W-N looks tantalisingly close to a 2-hour ride. Doing each leg in under 30 minutes would merit a BoBi Dazzler award

N - E http://www.londoncyclehire.org/journey/196175/
E - S http://www.londoncyclehire.org/journey/196180/
S - W http://www.londoncyclehire.org/journey/196185/
W - N http://www.londoncyclehire.org/journey/196194/

I like that. Doable route and the BoBi Dazzler award caps it nicely. Now just for my ankle to heal sufficiently that the physio wouldn't mind me cycling somewhere.

lardboy

Let's set a date, and give it a try. A Saturday night is probably best, having sampled a few rides around town at that time. Full on race, or group ride reconvening at the docks?

EKE_38BPM

These bikes open up so many racing options.
Find a stretch of road that has a sign that shows you're speed for a speed test.
Point to point, stage races, distance within the free period, team relay (teams race from one docking station to another and have to get the same bike back to the starting docking station, might as well use the fact that the bikes are numbered, eh) etc. Ooh, the options. Use of sat nav should be forbidden but is unenforcable.
The Morpeth to Kings Cross sounds like a good point to point race to me.

On a more serious note, I can see the Boris Bikes changing things quite a lot. Less tube travel in zone 1, less bike couriers being used (get the intern to carry stuff around), less short cab rides, more drunken Londoners on the road in the evening/night, more tourists pootling around with maps. I am, of course, assuming everyone enjoys cycling as much as we do.

I know I would rather take a Boris Bike across town than use PT or take a taxi.

EKE_38BPM

Or meet at The Morpeth, do the RP 3LC and back to The Morpeth. Loser buys the drinks.

PBo

dhope wrote:

Sewinman wrote:

Are we settling on 'Boris bikes'? I imagine that it will be shortened to 'Boris'.

"How did you get here?"

"Borised it over"

Gobojo is awful. Sounds like a form of tramp....or something Piers Morgan would come up with.

Ah, I like Gobojos
and the docks can be Gobojodos
If you find a broken one it'd be a Brogobojo

And if the dock is broken it would be Brogobojodo

and an angry commuter would exclaim...Mofobrogobojodo!

and the maintenance team supervisor would tell one of his team to Gotobrogobojodo

and ....ad infintum

itsbruce

Sewinman wrote:

Are we settling on 'Boris bikes'? I imagine that it will be shortened to 'Boris'.

Chucks. (Chuck Norris -> Boris).

Norky

PBo wrote:

And if the dock is broken it would be Brogobojodo

and an angry commuter would exclaim...Mofobrogobojodo!

and the maintenance team supervisor would tell one of his team to Gotobrogobojodo

and ....ad infintum

Daft word play. I approve. Carry on.

Ginjafro

If you want to know how truly undesirable (and why) a BoJo is check out this site:
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/34650/london-cycle-hire-boris-bikes
Apart from being Nelson Mandela's prison sponser, weighing in at 23Kg/50lbs a BoJo might be a bit of a challenge to dangle from Blackfriars Bridge like God's Banker. I think I'll catch the Bus....

dhope

Ginjafro wrote:

If you want to know how truly undesirable (and why) a BoJo is check out this site:
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/34650/london-cycle-hire-boris-bikes
Apart from being Nelson Mandela's prison sponser, weighing in at 23Kg/50lbs a BoJo might be a bit of a challenge to dangle from Blackfriars Bridge like God's Banker. I think I'll catch the Bus....

Yep, it's a low geared durable bike, what did you expect? Having just ridden one it did a job, which is to say I travelled a mile I'd otherwise have walked, without using PT. Job done.

I can live with the history of Barclays, most old companies have a past but I can't imagine a single current employee doesn't regret it.

SamWise1972

Chucks is nice, but "I Borised it over" I love.

lost_in_thought

Ginjafro wrote:

If you want to know how truly undesirable (and why) a BoJo is check out this site:
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/34650/london-cycle-hire-boris-bikes
Apart from being Nelson Mandela's prison sponser, weighing in at 23Kg/50lbs a BoJo might be a bit of a challenge to dangle from Blackfriars Bridge like God's Banker. I think I'll catch the Bus....

Eh?

Barclays sponsored what now? Come on... that's silly.

I hope you never buy anything from Germany, China, Russia, the UK, America... hell, we've all been pretty mean.

dondare

I saw a postman riding a Boris bike today. What's that about?

Specialized Needs

dondare wrote:

I saw a postman riding a Boris bike today. What's that about?

Did he have a delivery bag?

You should have sent a photo into the Daily Mail. They could have run a 'cutbacks' article.

On a more(?) serious note, a photo like that might have been a fun one to send to the CTC in light of their campagn to stop Royal Mail removing the delivery bikes.

dondare

No bag that I could see. Given the size of the front carrier and the lack of a rear one they're not going to get much post delivered that way.

I was wondering, why didn't Boris just buy up all the RMs bikes that they're no longer going to be using? They're even the right colour to match London's buses and phone boxes.

Zombie_donkey

Gobojo, FCN, alleycat race,Wicker, Boris...

Is there a glossary of terms on this forum somewhere?

dondare

Zombie_donkey wrote:

Gobojo, FCN, alleycat race,Wicker, Boris...

Is there a glossary of terms on this forum somewhere?

FCN = Food Chain Number (Only relevant if you're into SCR.)

Alley Cat Race = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLzGj10fg2g

Boris = Johnson (or short for Boris Bike?)

Gobojo = Boris Bike but probably won't catch on.

Wicker = Old fashioned shopping bike. That's a guess.

Zombie_donkey

dondare wrote:

Zombie_donkey wrote:

Gobojo, FCN, alleycat race,Wicker, Boris...

Is there a glossary of terms on this forum somewhere?

FCN = Food Chain Number (Only relevant if you're into SCR.)

Alley Cat Race = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLzGj10fg2g

Boris = Johnson (or short for Boris Bike?)

Gobojo = Boris Bike but probably won't catch on.

Wicker = Old fashioned shopping bike. That's a guess.

Thanks......er.... Whats SCR?

lost_in_thought

Zombie_donkey wrote:

dondare wrote:

Zombie_donkey wrote:

Gobojo, FCN, alleycat race,Wicker, Boris...

Is there a glossary of terms on this forum somewhere?

FCN = Food Chain Number (Only relevant if you're into SCR.)

Alley Cat Race = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLzGj10fg2g

Boris = Johnson (or short for Boris Bike?)

Gobojo = Boris Bike but probably won't catch on.

Wicker = Old fashioned shopping bike. That's a guess.

Thanks......er.... Whats SCR?

Just read this thread, it'll all become clear...

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... 70&start=0

lae

Why don't they have proper inbuilt baskets front and rear? Seems completely daft to me.

lost_in_thought

Yeah, I completely agree re. the rear basket, or lack thereof. Even hooks for bags would be better than nothing. I don't know why they haven't done that...

I have to say, the bikes aren't THAT heavy, they're about the same as, if not lighter than, my old commuter. However the gearing and riding position are both rather odd. There seemed to be 3 - kind of OK, 2 - really very spinny, and 1 - has my chain come off? as gear options. Rather odd.

I really like the bell, though. I'd quite like one of those on my FG. Anyone know who makes them?

dhope

I collected the scalps of two MTBs and a hybrid on the way from Bank to Kings X. Saw a roadie ahead who was pootling but couldn't for the life of me spin fast enough in the only usable gear to get anywhere close. +1 to LiTs mention of the gears, 1st and 2nd barely feel like you're going anywhere, 3rd is about useful but could really do with the equiv of 3rd, 6th and 9th rather than 1st-3rd

dondare

dhope wrote:

I collected the scalps of two MTBs and a hybrid on the way from Bank to Kings X. Saw a roadie ahead who was pootling but couldn't for the life of me spin fast enough in the only usable gear to get anywhere close. +1 to LiTs mention of the gears, 1st and 2nd barely feel like you're going anywhere, 3rd is about useful but could really do with the equiv of 3rd, 6th and 9th rather than 1st-3rd

These bikes are intended for people who don't usually ride their own and may not be very fit or strong. The granny gear really is for a granny.

roger_merriman

to catch folk you'll need to spin like mad.

assuming this site is correct.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/34650/london-cycle-hire-boris-bikes

not heavy either well within norm for the type of bike it is. ie 50lb.

probably quite nippy away from lights with hub plus low gears, sounds a hoot.

dhope

roger merriman wrote:

probably quite nippy away from lights with hub plus low gears, sounds a hoot.

Nope, spinny right away

wgwarburton

dhope wrote:

.... +1 to LiTs mention of the gears, 1st and 2nd barely feel like you're going anywhere, 3rd is about useful ...

Anyone know what GI they are? I've found the opposite problem on Bromptons I've ridden- 1st is the most useful gear, 2nd handy when you're pressing on a bit but 3rd corresponded to speeds that would need a fair amount of courage on 16" wheels.

Cheers,
W.

SmellTheGlove

Gobojo? BorisBike?
Surely it's simply a Johnson - as in "Where can I dock my Johnson?"
Yours truly
F Saunders

CXXC

SmellTheGlove wrote:

Gobojo? BorisBike?
Surely it's simply a Johnson - as in "Where can I dock my Johnson?"
Yours truly
F Saunders

lol brilliant, that will be coke spat out over my keyboard

SimonAH

CXXC wrote:

SmellTheGlove wrote:

Gobojo? BorisBike?
Surely it's simply a Johnson - as in "Where can I dock my Johnson?"
Yours truly
F Saunders

lol brilliant, that will be coke spat out over my keyboard

And tea from my nose!