Hiring a fast bike?

news.plus.net said:

It's probably a silly query really, but I thought I'd run it past
uk.rec.cycling to see what others thought. I suppose borrowing someone's
bike would be another option, but I don't know anyone with a posh bike, so
that rules that out.

Look up your local club and get to know the Chain Gang. That way
you'll soon know someone with a posh bike.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Quoted message said:

Look up your local club and get to know the Chain Gang. That way you'll
soon know someone with a posh bike.

That's a good idea - but I'm busy with kids and family at weekends and
evenings. I commute to work, which is about the only time I ride.

Sorry to be awkward. I realise I'm probably asking a daft question...

In article <[email hidden]>,
news.plus.net
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

today on my ride home from work, I managed to beat my personal best average
speed by 0.3 mph. Not a big gain, but I was pleased about it.

I ride a touring bike, an old Harry Hall frame with mudguards, rack, 25c
wide tyres, and had a pannier on one side.

I have often been curious about whether I'd go +loads+ faster on a posh
sporty bike, instead of a touring bike.

It won't make a huge difference, assuming that you normally pump your
tyres up and your current gearing suits you.

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 02:08:22 +0100

Rob Morley said:

Quoted message said:

I have often been curious about whether I'd go +loads+ faster on a
posh sporty bike, instead of a touring bike.

It won't make a huge difference, assuming that you normally pump your
tyres up and your current gearing suits you.

The change in geometry can spur the body on into putting in more
effort to go fast. And if you're in decent shape, it's painless.

Some years back, I borrowed a racing bike and took it for a spin.
I was on hols in Northumberland at the time, having taken just over
three days to cycle from Bath (that's ~100 miles/day solo with full
camping gear, so I must've been in decent shape). The big difference
the racer made was that suddenly my speed on the uphills felt fast -
it had probably at least doubled from my normal unhurried plod.

--
not me guv

On Aug 1, 10:00 pm, "news.plus.net" <i-am-a-ro...@little-pink-

nose.com said:

Quoted message said:

Look up your local club and get to know the Chain Gang. That way you'll
soon know someone with a posh bike.

That's a good idea - but I'm busy with kids and family at weekends and
evenings. I commute to work, which is about the only time I ride.

Sorry to be awkward. I realise I'm probably asking a daft question...

Not at all.

I have several times casually looked into hiring road bikes for
friends who fancy joining in the fun for a weekend, and like you have
drawn something of a blank. I don't know if there simply isn't the
market (anyone who wants to ride a road bike goes out and buys one,
everyone else just want to hire something "simple"😉 or if I'm just
looking in the wrong places.

Quoted message said:

I have several times casually looked into hiring road bikes for
friends who fancy joining in the fun for a weekend, and like you have
drawn something of a blank. I don't know if there simply isn't the
market (anyone who wants to ride a road bike goes out and buys one,
everyone else just want to hire something "simple"😉 or if I'm just
looking in the wrong places.

Its rare to find even bike shops that sell road bikes these days - they
are nearly all mountain bikes or hybrids - so finding someone who rents
a not very popular type of bike is going to be hard. The best bet is to
find a road bike shop and arrange a test ride.

Tony

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have several times casually looked into hiring road bikes for
friends who fancy joining in the fun for a weekend, and like you have
drawn something of a blank. I don't know if there simply isn't the
market (anyone who wants to ride a road bike goes out and buys one,
everyone else just want to hire something "simple"😉 or if I'm just
looking in the wrong places.

Unhelpful answer - the bike shops near the famous cols in the alps and
pyrenees rent out fairly good road bikes :-)

cheers,
clive

Clive George said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have several times casually looked into hiring road bikes for
friends who fancy joining in the fun for a weekend, and like you have
drawn something of a blank. I don't know if there simply isn't the
market (anyone who wants to ride a road bike goes out and buys one,
everyone else just want to hire something "simple"😉 or if I'm just
looking in the wrong places.

Unhelpful answer - the bike shops near the famous cols in the alps and
pyrenees rent out fairly good road bikes :-)

As do those around here.

As an aside, the "Tour d'Alsace" came along our road yesterday -
looked to be quite a large event, but surely it won't be the same top
teams as the TdeF, so soon after that finished, would it?

--
Ace in Alsace - brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom

"Ace" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

As an aside, the "Tour d'Alsace" came along our road yesterday -
looked to be quite a large event, but surely it won't be the same top
teams as the TdeF, so soon after that finished, would it?

The big teams normally have enough riders for more than one event, but yes,
I wouldn't expect to be seeing the TdF riders in there, and the team mix
will be different.

cheers,
clive

Tony Raven said:

Quoted message said:

I have several times casually looked into hiring road bikes for
friends who fancy joining in the fun for a weekend, and like you have
drawn something of a blank. I don't know if there simply isn't the
market (anyone who wants to ride a road bike goes out and buys one,
everyone else just want to hire something "simple"😉 or if I'm just
looking in the wrong places.

Its rare to find even bike shops that sell road bikes these days - they
are nearly all mountain bikes or hybrids - so finding someone who rents
a not very popular type of bike is going to be hard. The best bet is to
find a road bike shop and arrange a test ride.

Tony

prob depends on area where i live (kingston upon thames area) lot of the
bike shops stock road bikes though they do still stock mountain bikes,
or most do any way. persumbly to cope with richmound park or some such.

roger

--
www.rogermerriman.com

Tony Raven said:

Its rare to find even bike shops that sell road bikes these days - they
are nearly all mountain bikes or hybrids

You jest! Dundee's two LBSs have window displays that show this to be
quite clearly not the case, at least in this part of the world.

Pop down to Embra and EBC have a large and growing selection of road
machinery, and just over the road are Velo Ecosse who specialise in road
bikes. They're growing ever more popular year on year AFAICT, as MTBs
become more specialised.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On Aug 1, 3:45 pm, "news.plus.net" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi,

today on my ride home from work, I managed to beat my personal best average
speed by 0.3 mph. Not a big gain, but I was pleased about it.

I ride a touring bike, an old Harry Hall frame with mudguards, rack, 25c
wide tyres, and had a pannier on one side.

I have often been curious about whether I'd go +loads+ faster on a posh
sporty bike, instead of a touring bike.

I'm not so affluent as to go out and buy a posh sports bike just to try it
out.

So - does anyone have any experience of hiring posh sporty bikes? A quick
google for 'cheshire bike hire' returns the standard mtb hire type things,
but not a lot else.

It's probably a silly query really, but I thought I'd run it past
uk.rec.cycling to see what others thought. I suppose borrowing someone's
bike would be another option, but I don't know anyone with a posh bike, so
that rules that out.

Thanks

Jim

Ask around at your local bike shops to see if they have any test bikes
you could take out. I know when I was looking for a new mtb a few
years back I got to borrow about 5 bikes from different shops. Some
for an hour or two and one for a whole weekend. If you want to be bold
you can even ask some bike companies directly to see if they have any
test bikes they could send you, just fake out the ol' amateur racer
line.
I found the biggest difference between a tourer and full on race bike
to be weight and stiffness and that these differences make the biggest
impact on acceleration and climbing. I could pull away from the lights
quicker, climb alot quicker and could really feel the difference in
sprinting. On the down side, a stiffer frame meant a harsher ride,
some race frames don't come lugged up for paniers or mud guards and
those skinny [censored] wheels hate pot holes. I used to commute about
27miles into the office (not everyday) and rode a racing frame to help
reduce ride times, but I wasn't carring anything more than two water
bottles as I'd already taken 4 days worth of clothes in on the Monday
morning.
Try some skinny race tyres to see of they make and difference in your
average speed.

Do you ride in cycling shoes or trainers?

news.plus.net said:

I'm not so affluent as to go out and buy a posh sports bike just to try it
out.

Find somewhere that has demo bikes to try.

In York, Cycle Heaven has Scott and Cycleworks has Look demo bikes
that you can take out for the day. There must be somewhere in cheshire
that does the same.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
The struggle of people against power is the struggle
of memory against forgetting - Milan Kundera

Peter Clinch said:

Tony Raven said:

Its rare to find even bike shops that sell road bikes these days - they
are nearly all mountain bikes or hybrids

You jest! Dundee's two LBSs have window displays that show this to be
quite clearly not the case, at least in this part of the world.

Pop down to Embra and EBC have a large and growing selection of road
machinery, and just over the road are Velo Ecosse who specialise in road
bikes. They're growing ever more popular year on year AFAICT, as MTBs
become more specialised.

Pete.

does seem to be popular at least in areas, i don't see many around where
i've come from but then there is hills a plenty. while now living nr
kingston there is very little to use a mountain bike on thus, most folk
into bikes are seen with racers or such.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

news.plus.net said:

So - does anyone have any experience of hiring posh sporty bikes? A quick
google for 'cheshire bike hire' returns the standard mtb hire type things,
but not a lot else.

Jim
Eureka Cafe at two mills have mention of bike hire on their web site
and at the cafe. They have some posh bikes at the shop they have
recently opened. Couldn't see any details on the web site but the phone
nummber is there.

<http://www.eurekacyclistscafe.co.uk/>

--
Andy Templeman <http://www.templeman.org.uk/>

On 2 Aug, 05:45, "news.plus.net" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi,

today on my ride home from work, I managed to beat my personal best average
speed by 0.3 mph. Not a big gain, but I was pleased about it.

I ride a touring bike, an old Harry Hall frame with mudguards, rack, 25c
wide tyres, and had a pannier on one side.

I have often been curious about whether I'd go +loads+ faster on a posh
sporty bike, instead of a touring bike.

I'm not so affluent as to go out and buy a posh sports bike just to try it
out.

So - does anyone have any experience of hiring posh sporty bikes? A quick
google for 'cheshire bike hire' returns the standard mtb hire type things,
but not a lot else.

It's probably a silly query really, but I thought I'd run it past
uk.rec.cycling to see what others thought. I suppose borrowing someone's
bike would be another option, but I don't know anyone with a posh bike, so
that rules that out.

Thanks

Jim

Have you tried the bike shop on Frodsham Street Chester, Dave Millers,
Claude Grimes on Delamere Street and also theres that shop on Boughton
Road the Bike Factory that has connections with the Chester Road Club,
last time I went there they friendly and helpful. If you don't live in
or near Chester try the following link it lists bike shops in
Cheshire. Good luck!

http://www.cycleweb.co.uk/cntys/cnty-lsts/mid-ch.htm

AndyM

in message <[email hidden]>,

news.plus.net (') said:

Hi,

today on my ride home from work, I managed to beat my personal best
average speed by 0.3 mph. Not a big gain, but I was pleased about it.

I ride a touring bike, an old Harry Hall frame with mudguards, rack, 25c
wide tyres, and had a pannier on one side.

I have often been curious about whether I'd go +loads+ faster on a posh
sporty bike, instead of a touring bike.

You might talk your local bike shop into lending you a bike for a proper
road test - they'll often do this if you leave your credit card in the
shop as security.

Alternatively, say where you are and how big you are. Someone on here might
lend you a decent bike for a day, or swap bikes with you for a ride.

Personally I am about 2-3mph faster on my 'good' road bike[1] than on my
commuting bike[2]. This is not mainly because it's easier - my good road
bike encourages me to work harder, because it's responsive and rewarding
to ride it fast.

[1] http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/album/kitchenpr0n/target0.html
[2] http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/album/kitchenpr0n/target7.html

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; When all else fails, read the distractions.

in message <[email hidden]>, Rob Morley

(') said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
news.plus.net
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

today on my ride home from work, I managed to beat my personal best
average speed by 0.3 mph. Not a big gain, but I was pleased about it.

I ride a touring bike, an old Harry Hall frame with mudguards, rack, 25c
wide tyres, and had a pannier on one side.

I have often been curious about whether I'd go +loads+ faster on a posh
sporty bike, instead of a touring bike.

It won't make a huge difference, assuming that you normally pump your
tyres up and your current gearing suits you.

That is definitely not my experience.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
[ Disclaimer: This is a work displacement exercise. Please feel free ]
[ to reply either on or off group. Expect lengthy replies until the ]
[ deadline has passed. Thank-you for your cooperation. ]

in message <[email hidden]>, Ace

(') said:

Clive George said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have several times casually looked into hiring road bikes for
friends who fancy joining in the fun for a weekend, and like you have
drawn something of a blank. I don't know if there simply isn't the
market (anyone who wants to ride a road bike goes out and buys one,
everyone else just want to hire something "simple"😉 or if I'm just
looking in the wrong places.

Unhelpful answer - the bike shops near the famous cols in the alps and
pyrenees rent out fairly good road bikes :-)

As do those around here.

As an aside, the "Tour d'Alsace" came along our road yesterday -
looked to be quite a large event, but surely it won't be the same top
teams as the TdeF, so soon after that finished, would it?

Each of the big pro teams has a squad of between thirty and sixty riders.
There will often be taking part in two or three races at the same time,
and still have some of their squad resting. So although you may have a
T-Mobile or CSC team in the Tour d'Alsace, it won't be the same actual
riders as the T-Mobile and CSC teams in the Tour de France.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Q: Whats a webmaster?
A: Like a spider, but nowhere near as intelligent.