Am I a bad bad person?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
Why would that make you bad? Surely it will just enable you to be better informed about advanced bits.

You don't have to use something to find it interesting. I've followed a number of DI2 threads in some detail, fascinating stuff. Disk brakes, yes I know a fair bit about them from here. Never owned them though.
I think maybe you missed my admission of sin/feelings of slight guilt at the following, and that I have little desire to fit the stuff.
ie - motivated for that warm glow by what you might term schadenfreude.

Maybe those germans, masters of the simple tough and practical, could come up with a more specific bike related word for the sin.
 
I think maybe you missed my admission of sin/feelings of slight guilt at the following, and that I have little desire to fit the stuff.
ie - motivated for that warm glow by what you might term schadenfreude.

Maybe those germans, masters of the simple tough and practical, could come up with a more specific bike related word for the sin.

It would probably be 37 letters long and have a capital letter. I'll see what I can find.
 
I'd definitely go ahead and build @Andy in Germany - if the stuff is all nice and simple it can all be taken apart again later in life if needed and used on other bikes, unlike the componentry of some of the more advanced concoctions - three of my bikes (2 bought new, 1 built) use the same 12-36 9 speed cassette but they are quite different bikes.

I work on a similar principle: nearly all of my bikes are 26" wheeled Steel MTB rebuilds with roughly the same components so I can swap them, which helped my one day when I had a V-Brake fail* when I was supposed to be going to an interview: ten minutes later I had a working bike again.

The only problem with this policy is that to my astonishment the tourer I built a couple of years ago, whilst a lovely lightweight and fast bike, is possibly a bit on the small side, something I've never experienced with a bike before. I've been contemplating a version 2.0 based on a frame for 700cc wheels.

It occurs to me that taking a new job working partly in a bike shop that exists to recycle old bikes may be a rather dangerous decision...

*By fail, I mean I broke it while trying to set it...
 
Last edited:

Lovacott

Über Member
..unlike the componentry of some of the more advanced concoctions - three of my bikes (2 bought new, 1 built) use the same 12-36 9 speed cassette but they are quite different bikes.

As you all already know, there is non linear increase in performance with a higher priced component. Paying ten times more for something might only give you a 5% performance gain.

I've got the Apollo for commuting (new £140), the Boardman Carbon Road bike (new £1000) and now the Voodoo for dry day commuting (new £450).

I'd say that the Voodoo is about 40% better than the Apollo for performance with the Boardman being about 15% better than the Voodoo.

The Apollo is cheap to fix. It has a Shimano Tourney groupset and the components are so cheap, I've got a complete set of spares so that if anything goes wrong, I won't need to wait for parts. The Tourney set up works quite well and is easy to maintain and set up. The groupsets on the Voodoo and the Boardman are double and triple in price compared to the Apollo but maybe only 10% and 20% sweeter. I'm not about to spend ten grand on a new bike for maybe a 10% increase in performance.

But like with anything we buy, one mans expensive is another mans cheap.

You won't see Simon Cowell lining up at Halfrods to collect his £135 Indi Mtb.

And you won't see me riding around on a £16,500 Swindon Powertrain .

But, bottom line is, if I won the lottery tonight, I'd probably go out and buy the most expensive and advanced bike ever made and I'd throw my peasant bikes to the local poor people.
 

Juan Kog

permanently grumpy
The next bike I build up will probably have downtube levers. I've given up on more than 9 gears too.
I fitted those on the tourer, to see how they worked: I prefer then to trigger shifters now.
I always have D/T levers on a touring bike . Less vulnerable in the event of accident or bike simply falling over and easier to sort problems on the road .
 

Lovacott

Über Member
I always have D/T levers on a touring bike . Less vulnerable in the event of accident or bike simply falling over and easier to sort problems on the road .
I grew up with levers.

No indexing and forward meant up and backward meant down.

When I say no indexing, the position of each cog was stored in my brain rather than hard set into a brifter, twist or trigger shift. As a result, I could apply "fuzzy logic" to any shift and adjust to the conditions and workload when required.

The only gear adjustment you'd ever make was to the limit stops.

I'd have friction levers on all of my bikes today if it were an option.
 
I grew up with levers.

No indexing and forward meant up and backward meant down.

When I say no indexing, the position of each cog was stored in my brain rather than hard set into a brifter, twist or trigger shift. As a result, I could apply "fuzzy logic" to any shift and adjust to the conditions and workload when required.

The only gear adjustment you'd ever make was to the limit stops.

I'd have friction levers on all of my bikes today if it were an option.

On the tourer the back cassette is indexed and the front is friction, which I find the perfect combination.
 

Lovacott

Über Member
On the tourer the back cassette is indexed and the front is friction, which I find the perfect combination.
My daughters Apollo has twist grips with the front mech/left grip being non indexed.

I find it really easy to use, she hates it and relies entirely on the indexed back gears whilst leaving the chain permanently on the front middle ring.
 

battered

Guru
I like to have bikes, and other stuff, that's fit for purpose without being excessive. If I wanted to go touring in the Alps I'd have no objection to having a £2000 bike with eleventy -seven gears, bespoke luggage and brakes that would stop Guy Martin's bike. But I wouldn't then use that for commuting, it's a waste. I've just been out to the post box, used my £35 single speed hybrid. It was great. But I'm not stupid enough to don a hair shirt and take it up Pool Bank every day. The same goes for tents etc, for winter in Scotland or high mountain use I want the top of the shop, but I wouldn't then use it in a pub field in summer, collecting UV damage and getting peed on by passing dogs.
 

Lovacott

Über Member
I like to have bikes, and other stuff, that's fit for purpose without being excessive. If I wanted to go touring in the Alps I'd have no objection to having a £2000 bike with eleventy -seven gears, bespoke luggage and brakes that would stop Guy Martin's bike.
I'm the same with the car and the house. If it does what it says on the tin, I'm happy enough.

Do I really need a 20 bed mansion to live in? Probably not.

Do I need a £2000 bike for a work commute? Probably not.
 
Top Bottom