disappointed with myself

[Rooster1]

I got away with posting in "The Bra" thread, Im not chancing my luck in this one...

I know, I didn't sleep well to be honest, I think I just about got a way with it.

Oh, hang on - Account Suspended...

 

[jonny jeez]

Conversely, most of my early miles were done on a Dawes Galaxy with dropped bars. I completed Lands End to John o'Groats, John o'Groats to Land's End, a Channel to the Mediterranean studiously avoiding flat barred tourers despite them being the most common touring bike in Europe. I had my epiphany moment during a ride from St Nazaire to Dijon when the frame on my Dawes Galaxy fractured and I bought a flat barred touring hybrid from Decathlon - it was the most cost effective solution to the problem as the Galaxy would have needed a respray after welding plus a lot of the components were near to the end of their service life. It was a revelation! Much to my surprise, the hybrid was as fast and as comfortable as the Galaxy. Meanwhile I acquired a couple of dropped barred bikes for Audaxing and these were used for all day rides that were 100km or more. My most recent acquisition is a flat barred hub geared touring bike hand built by Woodrup. It has seen me through France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. It is supremely comfortable and is used for more miles than my other bicycles. It is a mile or two per hour slower than the flat barred bikes but has acquitted itself well on Friday Night Rides to the Coast, 100km audaxes and short leisure rides. I'm about to fly to America with it to embark on a coast to coast ride and I'll be doing a UK coast to coast ride starting tomorrow.

I doubt that a drop barred bike will ever again be my first choice but they do have a place in my cycling needs. I do have a hankering for a bespoke drop barred bike but that is a 'want' and not a 'need'. It's major purpose would be for me to drool over and receive admiring glances from me as it's perched behind me in the living/work room and as such I cant justify buying one.

Getting the dream bike can be fraught with doubt. I was lucky enough to be given the Woodrup Chimera prototype for a weekend long test ride. The first thirty miles was enough to convince me that it was to be 'the' bike but I kept it for the rest of the weekend. I'd spent over a year pondering over the merits of hub geared bikes without ever casting a leg over one. The test ride was the final persuader that my hankerings were realistic and the benefits tangible.

The OP should resist making a rushed decision to purchase the first bike that has the biggest bling quotient and instead buy the bike that suits her needs best and it won't necessarily be a drop barred bike. There's some great fast flat barred hybrids out there.

So @joanna, there you have it.

@vernon and for that matter @buggi are absolutely right, you should take your time and get it right.

And I am absolutely right, you should jump in now and feel the warm water.

Which means you should should hurry up and wait


As you were then. Sorry we've been no help at all really.

But we mean well.

 

[joanna]

So @joanna, there you have it.

Vernon and for that matter Bugi are absolutely right, you should take your time and get it right.

And I am absolutely right, you should jump in now and feel the warm water.

Which means you should should hurry up and wait


As you were then. Sorry we've been no help at all really.

But we mean well.

I think that is what I'll do then

 

[Doyleyburger]

Cycling daily for 10 years !
Sounds like you're a proper cyclist to me. If you've been cycling that long then you can certainly justify spending the money on a new one

 

[jonny jeez]

I think that is what I'll do then

My work here is done.

 

[mustang1]

Do what I do. Buy the bike and worry about the details later.

 

[classic33]

Why on earth do you think you are not a real cyclist if you dont have drop bars?

Probably 3/4 of the people on this site have a variety of bikes in their shed/garage and they consider themselves a real cyclist whichever bike they are on. In fact so much so they dont even bother considering it at all.

A real cyclist is someone that gets on a bike and rides it

One of mine