new (old) bike, yehey!

[Luigi De Guzman]

let the jubilation commence; I am no longer bikeless! a trip to ReCycling on elephant road and I am
now once again a wheelman.

as predicted by myself this summer, my london bike has turned out to be cheap, horrible, and
hub-geared. No chaincase, though. It's a horrid motobecane MBK mixte frame, painted pink fading to
black. (It's a good pink. the Giro leader wears pink, right?) The rear hub is a sachs torpedo
3-speed, *coaster brake*. and it has moustache-ish bars (which, btw, are pretty comfy for what they
are)it's ugly enough to be safe from kidnappers.

Why bother?

it has 700C x 28 tyres. Full fenders. A real rear rack. I figure I didn't do too badly for the UKP
60.00 I paid for it. fourteen quid more and I have a lock as well. Not bad. Now I'll have to starve
for a few days to keep my accounts straight, but.

Rode it home maybe a mile in sunday afternoon traffic, from Elephant & Castle to Bankside. My first
experience of big city riding is jumping onto the Elephant & Castle roundabout at speed. quick way
to get your blood up. On the way home, I was a litany of Highway Code errors. I ran a red. I nearly
right-hooked a car. I live. Other than those two nailbiters, I cope surprisingly well with the ride,
trafficwise. London isn't a forgiving environment for a rookie, but a bit of confidence goes a long
way, I suppose, and provided I knew where the traffic was flowing, I had no problems.

it isn't a longstaff, by any stretch, but now with some panniers and a rack, the weekend ride out
becomes *possible*. Target: London-Cambridge-London. People used to ride great distances on
three-speeds like this, after all.

sorry for rambling. return to your winter wrenching.

-Luigi

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Luigi de Guzman) writes:
> let the jubilation commence; I am no longer bikeless! a trip to ReCycling on elephant road and I
> am now once again a wheelman.
>
> as predicted by myself this summer, my london bike has turned out to be cheap, horrible, and
> hub-geared. No chaincase, though. It's a horrid motobecane MBK mixte frame, painted pink fading
> to black.

Mixtes as commuter/transportational bicycles offer a couple of distinct advantages:

they're easy to pick up by the top tubes, and carry into elevators, etc.

and if you've got a tall load of groceries on the back, you can just step through the frame to get
on the bike.

I can't climb standing on mine -- the frame creaks & groans something fierce if I try. That's okay,
I can live with sittin' & spinnin'. And if there's a particularly heavy load on the back, the bike
tends to wag its tail. Maybe a front rack/panniers would help.

Congrats on your new (old) bike. May it serve you well.

cheers, Tom

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[David Reuteler]

Luigi de Guzman <[email protected]> wrote:
: It's a horrid motobecane MBK mixte frame, painted pink fading to black. (It's a good pink. the
: Giro leader wears pink, right?)

pink can be pretty damn sexy luigi. check out this track bike i spied on ebay a few years back
(http://www.visi.com/~reuteler/images/pinktrackbike.jpg). funny thing is the guy was apologizing
profusely for the colour in the description.

had it been my size i'd own that bike now.
--
david reuteler [email protected]

 

[Lincoln Ross]

Good for you. I like 3 speeds myself, in addition to the fancier bikes. Too bad you can't get free
transport to here in the USA, as we are drowning in cheap (price, not quality) old 3 speeds and road
bikes. I have a Gitane mixte 10 speed that I can't seem to unload for $25! Make yourself as visible
as possible, and claim your space. No good running into an opening door. If I was there I'd forget
to ride on the other side of the road and would run into a bus.

Luigi de Guzman wrote:
>
> let the jubilation commence; I am no longer bikeless! a trip to ReCycling on elephant road and I
> am now once again a wheelman.
>
> as predicted by myself this summer, my london bike has turned out to be cheap, horrible, and
> hub-geared. No chaincase, though. It's a horrid motobecane MBK mixte frame, painted pink fading to
> black. (It's a good pink. the Giro leader wears pink, right?) The rear hub is a sachs torpedo
> 3-speed, *coaster brake*. and it has moustache-ish bars (which, btw, are pretty comfy for what
> they are)it's ugly enough to be safe from kidnappers.
>
> Why bother?
>
> it has 700C x 28 tyres. Full fenders. A real rear rack. I figure I didn't do too badly for the UKP
> 60.00 I paid for it. fourteen quid more and I have a lock as well. Not bad. Now I'll have to
> starve for a few days to keep my accounts straight, but.
>
> Rode it home maybe a mile in sunday afternoon traffic, from Elephant & Castle to Bankside. My
> first experience of big city riding is jumping onto the Elephant & Castle roundabout at speed.
> quick way to get your blood up. On the way home, I was a litany of Highway Code errors. I ran a
> red. I nearly right-hooked a car. I live. Other than those two nailbiters, I cope surprisingly
> well with the ride, trafficwise. London isn't a forgiving environment for a rookie, but a bit of
> confidence goes a long way, I suppose, and provided I knew where the traffic was flowing, I had no
> problems.
>
> it isn't a longstaff, by any stretch, but now with some panniers and a rack, the weekend ride out
> becomes *possible*. Target: London-Cambridge-London. People used to ride great distances on
> three-speeds like this, after all.
>
> sorry for rambling. return to your winter wrenching.
>
> -Luigi

--
Lincoln Ross NOTE ADDRESS CHANGE: [email protected]

 

[Luigi De Guzman]

Lincoln Ross <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Good for you. I like 3 speeds myself, in addition to the fancier bikes. Too bad you can't get free
> transport to here in the USA, as we are drowning in cheap (price, not quality) old 3 speeds and
> road bikes. I have a Gitane mixte 10 speed that I can't seem to unload for $25!

Yeah, mixtes are difficult to unload. My particular one was staggeringly expensive by comparison
(although mine did come with mudguards, which i appreciated today, and a rack, which I haven't had
occasion to use *just yet*).

In the style stakes there is nothing that is so naff as a mixte. Especially a big fat man like me
riding a mixte. The idea itself is laughable. I mean, it's a girls' bike!

This helps me somewhat, though. I'm kind of hoping that when I park it in front of my building,
outdoors, the bike-thieving scum of London will nip the nice Ridgebacks and Treks (or indeed, even
the Batavus) on the rack before they think of nicking mine.

>Make yourself as visible as possible, and claim your space. No good running into an opening door.
>If I was there I'd forget to ride on the other side of the road and would run into a bus.

Riding in central london traffic is surprisingly effortless. There are enough other cyclists (just!)
to remind the motoring population that two-wheeled traffic exists. Even the notorious White Van Men
have been nice to me, thus far.

(Incidentally, I like black cabs; they seem to know how to react to me a lot better than most
other traffic.)

Buses are a scary proposition in my patch, though; loads and loads of them, and on the Strand and
Waterloo station there are the new 'bendy buses' (articulated buses. bus route 521 for you
bus-spotters out there) which make me nervous, what with their very large blind spots. I will
confess to overtaking them at bus stops, but there's a kind of zen flow to the traffic that you get
into. Motor traffic moves as fast as you in that situation, they're slowing down, you're speeding
up, you match speed briefly and the gaps stay open long enough for you to look, signal, and move (as
i don't have a mirror, I can't Mirror, Signal, and Maneuver, Highway Code fans). On the whole the
sensation one gets, in certain spots, is of surfing on waves of traffic. Once your'e over the fear,
the sensation of hyper-alertness takes over; nothing else I do in my rather boring life compares.
Driving a car is like showering in a raincoat by comparison.

As to riding on the left hand side--I learned to ride in traffic in England, so I'm not too fussed
by that. Big roundabouts are somewhat scary, as I find them tight squeezes--traffic in the
roundabout on the right of you, traffic entering the roundabout to the left of you, buses in front
of you volley and thunder. If I ever get lost doubt my abilities, I get off the road and walk. It's
all about confidence-building.

Right turns still scare me. I tend to confine these as much as possible to stoplight-controlled
crossings, or go all the way round roundabouts to achieve the end. It doesn't help that there are a
lot of intersections where right turns are prohibited to any traffic--never mind cycles!

Being doored--especially by a taxi or a visiting continental--is a worry. But I haven't had this
happen yet. I keep my eyes open and my trust in the Lord.

-Luigi

"Nunquam dormit Londinium-- Tantum sugit: Vitam ex me et denarios ex sacculo meo..."

- Catatonia, "Londinium"
(ex Anglice)

 

[Matt O'Toole]

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> In the style stakes there is nothing that is so naff as a mixte. Especially a big fat man like me
> riding a mixte. The idea itself is laughable. I mean, it's a girls' bike!

Girls' bikes were always popular with southern CA surfers, because they're easier to get on and off
while carrying a surfboard. Girls' bikes became "cool" after awhile, because whether or not you were
really a surfer, with a girls' bike you could look like one.

Matt O.