Bike Innovations you don't need

[Colin_P]

Have all these innovations turned us all into softies? sti's/electronic shifting compact chain sets with dinner plate size cassettes carbon/light alloy frames and now we have e bikes.For over 20 years my only bike was a steel frame raleigh with 52/42 chain set and a 12/25 block,i don't remember having to walk up any hill

I was the same when I was young, on the flat I'd be in top and flying along on the 52/12 and the 42/24 always seemed low enough for any hill.

The problem is we get old and some of us suffer health issues. That is why I recently ditched the 52/42 and 12/24 for an mtb triple up front and a 11/34 at the back. The small one on the triple is a 22! Hills are do-able but can be slower than getting off and walking, but that is not the point for me. All done on an early 80's steel framed racer with downyube shifters. It works perfectly.

 

[jefmcg]

none of them would believe that a girl (Eileen Sheriden)

She was in her 30s. Try repeating after me: "wo-man; woman"

 

[jefmcg]

even the cow shoot.

I've learnt something from country cycling: I can differentiate cattle and sheep by smell alone.

(many spring school holidays on the farm)

 

[bpsmith]

Sorry, you worry me profoundly, unless you are a pro, for even wanting to post-ride analyse what gears you were in for every metre of your ride. Smell the roses, even the cow shoot.

Nothing wrong with being into figures. I clearly wouldn't want to look at every part of the ride, but would like to use the information to compare spinning vs grinding for example.

 

[davidphilips]

She was in her 30s. Try repeating after me: "wo-man; woman"

LOL, Ok smart ass now try cycling 872 miles in 2 days 11 hours and 7 minutes?

 

[arch684]

View attachment 386035

Maybe you are strong enough to enjoy riding up 25% slopes in a 42/25 gear but I'm not, so I'll stick to my 28/30, ta very much!

@ColinJ I will be 67 next month my days of riding up hills like this are long gone,but every bike shop i visit every road bike has compact chain set with a 11/30 or 32 cassette. My neighbor who is in his late 20s borrowed a bike from me and brought it back after half an hour saying f*** that,that was got me thinking

 

[jefmcg]

LOL, Ok smart ass now try cycling 872 miles in 2 days 11 hours and 7 minutes?

I can't. Not close. But I'm not the one belittling the record of one of the greatest mid century athletes as "a girl" and thinking that men old enough to know what a Hercules bicycle is can compare themselves to her.

For the record, I've tried to cycle that distance
View: https://www.strava.com/activities/71705930/embed/fcbf84e25b856fe8ba3ab2af21717d3b78fde192

 

[davidphilips]

Eileen Sheridan was an amazing top level competitive cyclist with a phenomenal palmares of all the records available to her.

To compare like with like you'd have to ask if one of today's top female athetes (Jasmijn Muller perhaps) have much trouble performing phenomenal feats on a Hercules bicycle? I doubt it.

Not only is it not right to refer to Eileen Sheridan as merely "a girl", nor is it correct to refer to "a Hercules bike" as if it's something that your grandad used to ride to the pub with rod brakes and a big white patch painted on the back mudguard. Quote: Yet the reality was that she never raced on a real Hercules, but on a lightweight machine badged up as a Hercules.

And yes, I remember walking up plenty of hills on my non-lightweight tourer.

You are perhaps putting a very different emphasis on what i wrote, Point i was making was that in 1954 a cyclist cycled 872 miles in a time that very few even with modern bikes and kit could do, this thread is about bike innovations you dont need?

It was yourself that referred to Eileen Sheridan as merely "a girl" ? All i wrote was a girl not (merely "a girl") ?

Weather the bike was a Hercules bike or another bike rebadged it was still in 1954 even with a modern bike how many of us could even come close to that? For me any way there was nothing merely a girl or Merely about EIleen Sheridan.

 

[davidphilips]

I can't. Not close. But I'm not the one belittling the record of one of the greatest mid century athletes as "a girl" and thinking that men old enough to know what a Hercules bicycle is can compare themselves to her.

For the record, I've tried to cycle that distance
View: https://www.strava.com/activities/71705930/embed/fcbf84e25b856fe8ba3ab2af21717d3b78fde192

No i am not belittling one of the greatest mid century athletes but praising her, Try reading what i wrote instead of instead of posting ( She was in her 30s. Try repeating after me: "wo-man; woman") now that was a bit belittling and not very nice.

Where does this come from (and thinking that men old enough to know what a Hercules bicycle is can compare themselves to her) If you ever change your job dont go into mind reading as thats not what i thought.

But to praise you a bit and try to restore some harmony to this thread That was a good cycle you done in 2013 better than any i have done so well done, are you going to do it again?

 

[Smokin Joe]

Weather the bike was a Hercules bike or another bike rebadged it was still in 1954 even with a modern bike how many of us could even come close to that?

All the riders with the same ability as Eileen Sheridan could do it, and almost certainly improve on it with superior modern equipment. Sheridan rode the best kit available to her at the time, as did all top class riders. Were she alive today she'd run a mile from what she used back then, only a minority of people have a religious desire to live in some long forgotten golden era.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I hate the ashtray for bikes you can get now. Bloody useless.

 

[ColinJ]

@ColinJ I will be 67 next month my days of riding up hills like this are long gone,but every bike shop i visit every road bike has compact chain set with a 11/30 or 32 cassette. My neighbor who is in his late 20s borrowed a bike from me and brought it back after half an hour saying f*** that,that was got me thinking

I will be 62 in January and I am still riding up that hill and others like it (very slowly, and sometimes having to hop off and walk!) with the aid of my trusty 28/30 grovelling gear!

I agree that people living in less hilly areas shouldn't need those tiny gears. I have actually ridden 1,500 miles in the last year on a home-built singlespeed bike which has a 52/19 gear, but I avoid the really steep climbs on that bike.

 

[mjr]

Our hands might hurt a bit from riding narrower diameter handlebars.

Handlebar grip diameter hasn't changed much since the 1970s or probably earlier. Still either ⅞" or 15/16". Mainly the clamp diameter has gotten bigger.

 

[SuperHans123]

Cycling clothes that make roadies look like highlighter pens.

 

[jessand]

Were she alive today she'd run a mile from what she used back then, only a minority of people have a religious desire to live in some long forgotten golden era.

She is alive today, although I'm not sure if she's still using the same bike.