On Bikes
So, the onerous wait that is the 'cycle to work' scam. I have opted for a Cube Nature, €700 worth of hybrid. It is basically the same as 'Knife to a Gunfight' which bought in cork and brought me to Gallway, slightly better specification due mostly to the gradual improvement of the range over time, the headline is hydrolic disk breaks, well fancy.
Now i had set out to get a fixed-fork touring hybrid, something a bit more suited to long distance then 'happy compromise' but a bit less 'general purpose' then knife. Unfortunately despite it being quite a large cycle shop i didn't really have the choice i wanted.
They let me test-ride a giant hybred - closer to a pure road bike then anything i have been on before, i didn't find it as uncomfortable as expected and the gear ratio basically forecast a top speed of like infinity km/h - but they didn't have a frame to fit me, and even if i found it comfortable, changing gear ratio AND ride position will probably do my back no favors on long runs.
And seeing as 'knife' took me 120 km in a day, this new bike will go much farther, much faster - target is 200km in a day, and 200km the day after, then... 200km the day after that.
Basically the rub here is that i need a bike that docent exist:
why are people still not using disk breaks - with disks your stopping profile basically never changes regardless of the road condition, its just so much safer.
I don't need front forks, ever. they are dead weight to me, and they will stay locked out for the life of this new bike.
I don't care for drop bars, the main reason i wont go to a full road bike is that those drop bars just don't look comfortable, i imagine you can train yourself into dealing with them but for stop-start city cycling 'war driving', riding upright is just a bit safer i think.
Gearing - i want a deeper gear ratio - on the test cycle i could imagine the extra reach really speeding me up, but the cost is climbing, and the ratio on happy compromise made climbing pretty incredible grades pretty straightforward. for blind exploration cycling, i have to go for the flexible option.
so in conclusion, maybe i chickened out by going with the familiar design, and the familiar make, but if i could make it to Droghada in an afternoon on 'the happy compromise' ill be able to do it on this one. which will be called either 'Distance Cubed' or 'Two Knives at a Gunfight' - and anyway - as something on facebook said - 'don't buy up-grades cycle up grades'
Now i had set out to get a fixed-fork touring hybrid, something a bit more suited to long distance then 'happy compromise' but a bit less 'general purpose' then knife. Unfortunately despite it being quite a large cycle shop i didn't really have the choice i wanted.
They let me test-ride a giant hybred - closer to a pure road bike then anything i have been on before, i didn't find it as uncomfortable as expected and the gear ratio basically forecast a top speed of like infinity km/h - but they didn't have a frame to fit me, and even if i found it comfortable, changing gear ratio AND ride position will probably do my back no favors on long runs.
And seeing as 'knife' took me 120 km in a day, this new bike will go much farther, much faster - target is 200km in a day, and 200km the day after, then... 200km the day after that.
Basically the rub here is that i need a bike that docent exist:
why are people still not using disk breaks - with disks your stopping profile basically never changes regardless of the road condition, its just so much safer.
I don't need front forks, ever. they are dead weight to me, and they will stay locked out for the life of this new bike.
I don't care for drop bars, the main reason i wont go to a full road bike is that those drop bars just don't look comfortable, i imagine you can train yourself into dealing with them but for stop-start city cycling 'war driving', riding upright is just a bit safer i think.
Gearing - i want a deeper gear ratio - on the test cycle i could imagine the extra reach really speeding me up, but the cost is climbing, and the ratio on happy compromise made climbing pretty incredible grades pretty straightforward. for blind exploration cycling, i have to go for the flexible option.
so in conclusion, maybe i chickened out by going with the familiar design, and the familiar make, but if i could make it to Droghada in an afternoon on 'the happy compromise' ill be able to do it on this one. which will be called either 'Distance Cubed' or 'Two Knives at a Gunfight' - and anyway - as something on facebook said - 'don't buy up-grades cycle up grades'