Best time in history to be a cyclist

[smokeysmoo]

My first ride on a carbon bike was an absolute revelation.

and mine wasn't.

While it was very nice, it was no better or worse than any other bikes I've owned.

I've had two CF road bikes, a Trek Madone 5.5 and a Focus Cayo Pro, and also a Focus Raven Pro CF MTB.

I now ride a CAAD10 and I can ride it equally far and with equal comfort as either of my other CF road bikes, and it's lighter too!

I did find CF an advantage on an MTB due to the lighter weight, but I won't let CF rule my decision if I ever lose my marbles and decide to buy another MTB.

Comfort is what you make it IMO.

 

[Globalti]

*reminiscing mode*

My Dad was the doctor in an Oxfordshire village in the sixties and almost every Sunday the local road club used to have a crash on the corner at the Bird in Hand. He used to get a call to go up and administer first aid; nowadays I guess an ambulance would be called.

 

[Accy cyclist]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2255587/Olympic-hero-Harry-Hill-dies-aged-92.html

"Cyclist Harry Hill won bronze in the 4,000m team pursuit at the 1936 Berlin Games.
He rode 200 miles to London before setting off for Germany because he could not afford the train from Manchester.
On his return, Harry had to cycle home after spending all his cash on an Olympic jacket."

Harry Hill a true Olympian!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hill_(cyclist)

 

[gbb]

I reckon that the golden age of cycling was when it first caught on with the masses, when working class people escaped the confines of their grimy towns to cycle out to the countryside in vast numbers at weekends, when ownership of a bike did not mark you as either a crank, or a pauper, when the best bikes were made in Britain (and indeed when the best of anything was made in Britain) and when the roads were not packed with idiots in cars.

Talking to my dad (who's 82) just the other day, and he said almost exactly what you just said...that was in the late 40s and 1950s. People couldnt afford cars so cycling really was the only daily transport people had. He's told me years ago, (and again the other day)...on a Sunday in the 50s, you'd see club runs of 50 to 100 cyclists constantly, the roads were buzzing with them. Even if its an exaggeration, there's no doubt that there really were an awful lot more cyclists then than now.

 

[Biglad82]

All the smart money was playing golf in the 90s - these days, all the smart money is on pushbikes. Either way I doubt if it had anything to do with frame material. Road racing was on its arse back then, but on the upside, getting entries was no problem. Comfort is down to fit and tyre pressures - not much else.

All my money is spent on golf and bikes.........

 

[Psycolist]

He has sadly passed away now, but my Gt Grandad used to tell us stories of riding from central London to various coastal resorts on a sunday as a date. He and his girlfriend, would meet up @ 7am and ride to Brighton, Southend or Clacton with other like minded couples, sometimes on tandems, as a date! Couple of hours at the sea side and then home for supper. Not much chance of any funny business on those dates I shouldnt think, but this was a regular part of thier social life. This is supported by the male and female 'distance ridden in a year' world records being set by a lady in 1938 and good old Tommy in 1939. I think this must have been the golden age. Nobody getting wound up about weight, equipment, clothing or streamlining. They just got on whatever bike they had at the time and RODE . My other Gt Grandad had a bike in his shed in Norfolk, that I saw with my own eyes, that had rope tyres. I never saw it ridden, but there it sat, rod brakes and all.