Posts by Aidan
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I'm late to this thread ... wrt Kebabs (a couple of pages/days ago). There was an AWESOME Kebab stall in the Square, Christchurch ... twenty years ago.
I like a kebab. Had some good ones in Melbourne, but man, I still dream of those ChCh kebabs. Amazingly elastic bread, thick too. Soaked up all the juice from the lamb (thank you for dying and being so damn tasty little lamb).
OMFG THEY WERE AWESOME!
Has that bloke formed some sort of secret monastic order and passed on his secrets. Please tell me has, and where I can find them.
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I declare this thread officially jacked.
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Great to see Russell has plenty of professional help!
Instead of “Hustle for Russell” it’s more “Get round town for Brown”.
Also good that he had a go with the drop bars to see if he liked them, which he didn’t.
I’d like to proffer the idea that drop bars are just not for everyone, no matter how <del>small their tummy</del> good their flexibility. I can ride a drop bar bike, I just don’t like it. Tight cornering feels weird, the balance is wrong. Yucky (I rode drop bar bikes for 15 years). Flat bar bikes with nice long curvy bar ends offer plenty of riding positions and allow the rider to get quite flat. I much prefer the riding position and balance, especially for around town.
There are loads of fast-ish hybrids, Avanti Blade, Giant CRX, Orbea thingamies, Scott SUBs, and there is variation within them. The blades seem lighter and more “racing-ish” to me than the Scott SUB. Also a little more twitchy. Also different frame geometries suit different people. I know as much about frame geometries as I do about art, i.e. I know what I like. I don’t know why, but I do. Some bikes just “feel right” and others don’t. I reckon.
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I bought a Giant Yukon in 1995 and it still goes fine
My old one was purchased (new) in 1993. By the end neither of the wheels was original, I was on my 4th (5th?) back cassette, 2nd set of front chain rings and cranks, and 2nd bottom bracket. I’d replaced the derailleur and both rapid-fire shifters. The second seat was wearing out …
What killed it was the second crack in the frame. The first one I’d had welded up, but the second was on one of the bottom stays out to the back wheel. Too thin to repair.
I didn’t give up on that bike, musta done over 70,000 kms on it. In hindsight I should have replaced it at the 12 year mark or so, after that alot went wrong and cost a fair bit to replace.
I really think two bikes (at a minimum!) is the way to go – good road bike and good off road bike. But it all depends on how you use ’em.
Good advice if you’re doing off-road, but by the looks of it Russell is doing road, and well .. slightly rougher road.
If I was him I’d maybe be looking at one of those hybrids with 700c wheels (no shocks, no discs). He could put the racing wheels on for long road trips and swap ~em out with fatter commuter tyres for the round town stuff. If he got really serious about the road cycling he can go and blow scads of cash for some prancing racing bike thing with $15 spokes and the hybrid is still useful for round town.
It was fine for biking the Heaphy (well, OK, it was a little bumpy)
Awesome! How long did that take?
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If you want to go quick peddle faster.
The bike I had before the current one (which I bought second hand) lasted me 17 years. Changing bikes every couple of years is a wank IMO.
Personally I prefer very simple bikes (no shocks), but ended up getting a bike with disc brakes for their phenomenal stopping power, and reasonable performance in the wet. I haven’t had to bleed brake lines and whatnot yet, so maybe ask me in a year or so if they are any good.
The other thing to bear in mind is that cheap bikes have cheap components. So if the bike is inexpensive and has shocks and discs and all sorts of crap they are generally bad examples of the genre and are likely to function poorly and break quickly.
I was only half kidding about the peddling faster. Take a look at your style, see if there are things you can improve. Keeping my knees tucked in made a big difference to my peddling efficiency. The outside of my thighs burned for a week or so, but I could definitely sustain a better tempo.
If you don’t have them already get some nice bar-ends, not stubby little ones, nice long ones like these. They help to get you leaning forward, which not only helps with the aerodynamics, but just seems faster somehow. I can’t stand drop-bars, but bar-ends are a must I reckon. I’m on them more than the main bars.
If you still feel a little “sit up and beg” on the bike, maybe look at a longer stem. Don’t know about you, but I am long in the body, and absolutely must have a longer stem to be able to lean forward enough on a bike that is sized correctly for my leg length.
I also bought clip-in bike shoes a few years ago. Mostly to stop me stuffing my shoes (regular soaking in sweat accelerated their decline) and to deal with foot pain (normal shoes weren’t stiff enough and were putting too much pressure on my foot). The upside of clip-pedals is the ability to maintain a higher cadence more easily. This means you doing more aerobically which means more exercise.
Listen to me, I sound like some sort of Cadel Evans wannabe, but I just commute 20kms/day and want to maintain some fitness along the way.
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I understand panniers aren't for everyone (I ride a Scott Sub-10) but I found cycling with a pack put strain on my lower back. Been using a pannier for 12 years or so.
Added bonus is a way less sweaty back.
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Russell, re your enthusiasm for the cycle. Do you wear a backpack on the bike? If so, I'd really recommend getting a pannier or two (and using them!).
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So, you're sitting there hoping for another big shake that takes your house out good and proper (hopefully when noone is home)?
What a shitty situation.
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Hard News: Cheer Germ, in reply to Paul Williams,
Seriously, how many people were recording that! There is a sea of little glowing screens in the audience. JUST LISTEN TO THE MUSIC YOU SAD BASTARDS!
(mind you, I am listening to it on youtube at the mo')
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Hard News: Cheer Germ, in reply to Paul Williams,
Gloating bastard.