Show your Bicycles.....

Alnico

littlegreenman said:

Seeing as it's new bike day, here's a piccy.

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14022197_10208091960629016_7934107888894252405_n.jpg?oh=28b764aa4cd89354d958a2eba703cd66&oe=581D63B3

Having ridden a very old steel Bianchi with downtube shifters and dodgy brakes for years the difference going to an Aluminium frame, Carbon forks and indexed shifting is night and day. Clipless pedals and 105 brakeset upgrades come payday

REALLY nice man !

JohnnyPlectrum

My Giant Defy Advanced has a cracked frame that's already been with Giant for 5 months. They've said it'll be another 9 weeks before the new one arrives.  
A lifetime frame warranty is no good if the frame's in a box...
Never again.

capo4th

9 weeks !!! I would complain like an expert and I am sure a new bike wold be forthcoming.

axisus

UnclePsychosis said:

Seeing as the thread is full of bike geeks: whats the skinny on folding bikes? I'm thinking of moving house and it would involve a bit of a commute. It would be easiest to do bike / train / bike so a folding one has a big appeal. Wouldn't need to be carried (other than onto the train) and wouldn't be ridden far (ten minutes either end). Would prefer not to spend silly money either, I'm not a big cyclist really. 

My boss got a folding bike for free from a recycling site. It folded up but it was a horrible tank of a bike. He then gave it to me for free. It was so heavy it was incredibly unpleasant to actually carry anywhere. I sold it for £2 at a car boot sale.

A guy at work has a Compton. It's a thing of beauty and easy to carry but costs £900+ new. 

So I'd say that the bottom line is you get what you pay for, but the cheap ones aren't worth bothering with.

Benson

axisus said:

A guy at work has a Compton. It's a thing of beauty and easy to carry but costs £900+ new. 

Is that like a Brompton?

Bowks

My new toy

roundthebend

@Bowks subtle

strtdv

@Bowks very nice! Love the matching water bottle holders too!
I almost went for a Defy Pro 2 when I bought my Canyon, but decided in the end that I didn't really need discs on what is essentially my "good" summer bike so thought I'd save myself £500.

You could lose the plastic wheel guard at the back though, a decently indexed 105 system is very unlikely to over-shift the chain into the spokes.

Bowks

Giz a chance, it was only delivered to the office this morning :-)

I've got a pair of Spin Koppenberg wheels to fit on it this weekend, just to pimp it a little more!

strtdv

Nice! That will shave a decent bit of weight off too.

Drew_TNBD

I've only spent £250 on transport costs since starting to cycle to work. That's over three months. Used to be £178 a month.

strtdv

Drew_fx said:

I've only spent £250 on transport costs since starting to cycle to work. That's over three months. Used to be £178 a month.

Good point. 
It actually takes me considerably less time to commute on bicycle than it does to drive through the city, although obviously showering/changing time adds to that on the way in, but on the way home it takes me 20 minutes less getting home by bike than driving.


I ended up just getting another Conti GP4000II for the Canyon, the Pro4 endurance are very solid, grippy enough and actually very comfy, but the rolling resistance is definitely better with the Contis, particularly noticeable when you're doing 25+mph, it's definitely easier to hold on them compared to the Michelins.


I'm doing over 80 miles a week now and despite having given up on any sort of diet I'm still losing weight.
For the first time in about 10 years I'm under 80kg.

capo4th

Please explain how getting home by bike is 20 minutes quicker than cycling.?

strtdv

Fixed

DougCoda

http://imgur.com/a/YH5RN
 Colnago C40  old school carbon
http://imgur.com/a/IcCKF
Colnago Super ...90's
I have a worse bike problem that my guitar problem..CX and another road bike too..My wife is very understanding thankfully 

strtdv

4 bikes isn't too bad!

I've been gradually increasing my miles, doing about 100-110 a week on average now.
My weight is stabilising now, just under 80kg, so still pretty large for a cyclist, but I'm still slimming down so presumably it's down to putting on leg muscle.

My short term goals are now to average >20mph for about 2-3 hours, a little more weight loss (if I can get down to near 76 I'll be very happy), and work on some more climbing.

I've started to add some interval training 1-2 sessions/week and some resistance training for core strength a couple of times a week too, some hopefully should see some improvement.

thermionic

Benson said:

axisus said:

A guy at work has a Compton. It's a thing of beauty and easy to carry but costs £900+ new. 

Is that like a Brompton?

Yes, but from a bad neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

Bowks

strtdv said:

Nice! That will shave a decent bit of weight off too.

It's not really saved a lot of weight, but they are 25mm rims fitted with Schwalbe Pro One 25mm tubeless tyres so the ride is a little smoother and I'm a real tubeless convert too. They do ride differently  (I had the 25mm Ones fitted before the tubeless conversion)

Niallmo

Cycle to work finishes in December so I'm on the hunt....
I can can get a B-Twin Ultra 700 AF 105 equipped alloy frame at 8.9kg for about £750 -the 20% vat....I can't really see a lot out there better value than that and they will of course have offers....I'm hoping the 720 Ultegra version gets discounted...

Bothered more about weight than carbon/alloy/steel frame, if it is alloy it'll be a better group set. I did REALLY want a Specialized Roubaix SL4 but I doubt any 2016 versions will be about at the discount price by December.

strtdv

My local decathlon has the 720 Ultegra reduced to £750 I think.

I would suggest a Canyon but sadly the £ is weak so their pricing is relatively expensive at the moment. 
The Endurace CF9.0 I paid £1450 for (albeit on special offer) is now £1950. It's still good value for a 7kg carbon bike with full Ultegra, but not quite as good as it used to be.