MBT v Racer

[charlie]

Hi I've been cycling regularly as my main form of (trying) to keep in shape for over 4 years. Got
myself a mountain bike, as I particularly enjoyed going off road , cycling via canal towpaths , etc
etc. I have waited until a couple of weeks ago to get myself a racer because I have been quite
concerned about cycling on roads with the state of today's traffic. Nevertheless, I would like to
share how happy I am with my purchase. Nothing too fancy, a Carrera Virtuosa, but what a difference.
Its a completely different experience. With the MTB sheer strength and balance are necessary whilst
with a racer one develops greater fitness levels and one needs to keep quick reflexes. My greatest
problem is deciding which bike to use before deciding where to go.

Has anyone else shared my experience. Happy cycling. Charlie

 

[Peter B]

<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>> My greatest problem is deciding which bike to use before deciding
> where to go.
>
> Has anyone else shared my experience.

Yes. I have ridden both for quite some time and enjoy their differences. Where I live I'm blessed
with rolling, twisty, quiet country lanes and bridleways and field roads. On hot windless days I
prefer the road bike for the self generated breeze but if it's cooler and/or windy the mtb is a
better bet as average speeds are lower for the same work load which keeps me warm. Some days the
decision is not clear cut and I want to ride both

One thing is for sure, when you ride one more than t'other for a period when you do go out on
t'other it's a whole new experience. Getting back on a proper road bike after a winter of wet mtbing
and hack road biking is always a delight, it seems so smooth and effortless.

Humming along on a lightweight road bike with the sun shining or tackling technical stuff on the mtb
both have merits.

Pete

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Sun, 11 May 2003 14:50:59 GMT, [email protected] wrote:

>My greatest problem is deciding which bike to use before deciding where to go. Has anyone else
>shared my experience.

Oh yes. I have to decide whether to ride the recumbent or the tourer to work each day (and the
recumbent pretty much always wins), the recumbent or the mountain bike for shopping trips (the
recumbent wins most of the time) or, if going out with my elder son, whether to take our own bikes
(repeat my wedgie / 'bent dilemma, he only has one bike) or whether to take the "megabike" - the
family triplet.

And to think I used to believe one bike was enough! Now I want a road bike, a Windcheetah, a
unicycle and a tandem as well!

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. http://www.chapmancentral.com (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

 

[Alex Graham]

Does anyone else find a straight handlebar incompatibility (for a mile or 3 at least) after riding
'dropped' bikes day in day out?

--

-Alex

----------------------------------
[email protected]

http://alexpg.ath.cx:3353/cycling.php http://www.westerleycycling.org.uk
----------------------------------

 

[Danny Colyer]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> And to think I used to believe one bike was enough! Now I want a road bike, a Windcheetah, a
> unicycle and a tandem as well!

*a* unicycle? (Shouldn't that be "an unicycle" anyway)?

You should know right now that one is never enough. I've got 5 and I still want more.

--
Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny ) Recumbent cycle page:
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/ "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." -
Thomas Paine

 

[Sandy Morton]

In article <[email protected]>, Danny Colyer <[email protected]> wrote:
> You should know right now that one is never enough. I've got 5 and I still want more.

I've got 180 - I do NOT want more

--
A T (Sandy) Morton on the Bicycle Island In the Global Village http://www.sandymillport.fsnet.co.uk

 

[Peter Clinch]

Danny Colyer wrote:
> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>
>>And to think I used to believe one bike was enough! Now I want a road bike, a Windcheetah, a
>>unicycle and a tandem as well!
>
> *a* unicycle? (Shouldn't that be "an unicycle" anyway)?

Just getting by with one for now... Having popped it in the garage over winter I'd got out of the
habit of having a go, and when I dug it up a couple of weeks ago I couldn't get anywhere... black
thoughts of "back to the drawing board", but Saturday I tried again and was pretty well back to
where I'd left off last year. Main problem then was knees taking a beating, particularly the one
that someone drove a car into a couple of years ago, and someone suggested putting the seat up
might help. I'm very glad they did as that helped enormously, and yesterday I smashed my previous
distance records with about 150m on straight, flat tarmac and about 50m offroad (landy track
equivalent). Now I seem to be making headway (whole meters of travel without needing to wave my
arms frantically!) I'll probably want more vehicles, but having no trikes at all at the moment
that's a more obvious priority.

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

 

[David E. Belche]

Alex Graham <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Does anyone else find a straight handlebar incompatibility (for a mile or 3 at least) after riding
> 'dropped' bikes day in day out?
>

Yup, having owned nothing but drop-bar machines since the age of 12. Taking straight-bar machines
for test rides after servicing at the bike shop I worked in a couple of years ago was a very odd
experience!

David E. Belcher

Dept. of Chemistry, University of York

 

[Anonymous]

"Alex Graham" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Does anyone else find a straight handlebar incompatibility (for a mile or 3 at least) after riding
> 'dropped' bikes day in day out?

My wife sometimes tries to go on the drops on the MTB tandem. Don't think she's banged her nose
too hard yet.

cheers, clive

 

[Peter Clinch]

David E. Belcher wrote:

> Yup, having owned nothing but drop-bar machines since the age of 12. Taking straight-bar machines
> for test rides after servicing at the bike shop I worked in a couple of years ago was a very odd
> experience!

Likewise, I found it very odd at first. However, since I stopped using drop bars (the Dark Side
seduced me) I've lost a degree of my regular use adaptation to them. No control problems, or
anything like that, but I found I got a very sore neck from looking up to see where I was going on
my old tourer after about 15 miles. Never noticed it when I was doing it every day.

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

 

[W K]

"Danny Colyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> > And to think I used to believe one bike was enough! Now I want a road bike, a Windcheetah, a
> > unicycle and a tandem as well!
>
> *a* unicycle? (Shouldn't that be "an unicycle" anyway)?

The U takes on a consanantish sound and so "a unicycle" is correct. Like "a university" or "a yellow
submarine".

> You should know right now that one is never enough.

It is for me, still hanging there in the garage with its flat tyre and woods valve.

 

[W K]

news:[email protected]...
> "Alex Graham" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > Does anyone else find a straight handlebar incompatibility (for a mile or 3 at least) after
> > riding 'dropped' bikes day in day out?
>
> My wife sometimes tries to go on the drops on the MTB tandem. Don't think she's banged her nose
> too hard yet.

Could be worse. Has she ever tried fumbling for a water bottle on a racer after a lot of tandemming.

 

[Jeremy Parker]

> ....... I have waited until a couple of weeks ago to get myself a racer because I have been quite
> concerned about cycling on roads with the state of today's traffic.

Regarding riding in among other traffic, it's worth while borrowing John Franklin's "Cyclecraft"
from the library, or even buying it. Learn from somebody else's mistakes, not your own.

Jeremy Parker

 

[Dave Kahn]

Alex Graham <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Does anyone else find a straight handlebar incompatibility (for a mile or 3 at least) after riding
> 'dropped' bikes day in day out?

On my one extended go off-road on an MTB I found the flat bars extremely uncomfortable after a while
and my wrists got quite sore and tired. Extensions might have helped. I suppose you get used to it
eventually but I couldn't imagine wanting to use straight bars on the road.

--
Dave...

 

[Dave]

"Danny Colyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> > And to think I used to believe one bike was enough! Now I want a road bike, a Windcheetah, a
> > unicycle and a tandem as well!
>
> *a* unicycle? (Shouldn't that be "an unicycle" anyway)?
>
<snip> Asked my wife about this, 'cos she's got a genuine interest in the workings of the English
language. Apparently, she reckons that as it's pretending to be a consonant, i.e. yunicycle, it gets
away with 'a' instead of 'an'. Well, I was convinced.......a few minutes later she said that she
wasn't sure and could've made it all up but it sounds good enough for me ;-).... As I worship the
ground she walks on and am sure I've seen the sun shining out of her shorts, it's gospel from now
on. My Lord hath spake!! Dave. ;-)

 

[Ambrose Nankive]

In news:[email protected], Danny Colyer <[email protected]> typed:
> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>> And to think I used to believe one bike was enough! Now I want a road bike, a Windcheetah, a
>> unicycle and a tandem as well!
>
> *a* unicycle? (Shouldn't that be "an unicycle" anyway)?
>

Definitely a unicycle. The 'a' - 'an' distinction is solely made to stop 2 vowel sounds running into
each other. Where's Eddie Dubourg when you need him to explain it all clearly.

Ambrose

 

[Dave Kahn]

Peter Clinch <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Danny Colyer wrote:
> > Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> >
> >>And to think I used to believe one bike was enough! Now I want a road bike, a Windcheetah, a
> >>unicycle and a tandem as well!
> >
> > *a* unicycle? (Shouldn't that be "an unicycle" anyway)?
>
> Just getting by with one for now... Having popped it in the garage over winter I'd got out of the
> habit of having a go, and when I dug it up a couple of weeks ago I couldn't get anywhere...

I must confess I've been fairly remiss at practising with mine. I can still only manage a few yards
at a time and cannot free-mount. As I'm working abroad during the week I've been toying with the
idea of bringing it away with me and practising in the hotel corridors, maybe riding it to the hotel
gym or down to breakfast. The trouble is you really need to be at a certain standard before you can
get away with that sort of thing.

--
Dave...

 

[Peter Clinch]

Dave Kahn wrote:

> I must confess I've been fairly remiss at practising with mine. I can still only manage a few
> yards at a time and cannot free-mount. As I'm working abroad during the week I've been toying with
> the idea of bringing it away with me and practising in the hotel corridors

I started in my hall which was quite good for rudimentary stuff (i.e., moving from no use at all to
merely not very much!): very good for that as I could always grab a wall if things went wrong.
Stopped that when I redecorated the hall! Hotel corridors should provide similar practice space.

Then moved outside to the garden path alongside the house with a wall on one side, which saw
further progress.

Freemounting is now something I get right as often as not, though it took me quite a breakthrough to
get my weight onto the seat and my second foot up before weighting the pedals. I had to very
consciously think about what I was going to do. Tip: wear a shinpad for the first few serious tries!

Another thing I found was that it pays to get away from supports probably before you think you
should. When it's easy to reach for a wall you will, if you've no alternative to trying your best to
keep up you learn how to keep up quite a bit faster IME.

Of course, if one of the Actual Unicyclists here suggests I'm talking tosh their word will probably
be worth heeding more than mine!

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

 

[W K]

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> Freemounting is now something I get right as often as not, though it took me quite a
> breakthrough to get my weight onto the seat and my second foot up before weighting the pedals. I
> had to very consciously think about what I was going to do. Tip: wear a shinpad for the first
> few serious tries!
>
> Another thing I found was that it pays to get away from supports probably before you think you
> should. When it's easy to reach for a wall you will, if you've no alternative to trying your best
> to keep up you learn how to keep up quite a bit faster IME.
>
> Of course, if one of the Actual Unicyclists here suggests I'm talking tosh their word will
> probably be worth heeding more than mine!

That does sound about right. Of course, this is all memory from 14 years ago.

Its far too undignified for someone our age, the local kids think its amusing enough that I
run for fun.