do you lead a double life?

[dellzeqq]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2012/jan/20/slow-fast-urban-cycling
I do. A lot of miles on the Colnago and a lot of journeys on the Brompton. Now that Her Nibs has got a Brompton I'm going to lead a double double life - we can go out to friends, or to a bar a deux, and then go for rides in the countryside or around Regents Park at the weekend. Commuting will be a mix of both - if we're going out after work it'll be the Bromptons, or if there's a chance of rain in the evening it will be Brompton out, tube and Brompton back.

Neither is better than the other. There's just lots of things that you can do on a Brompton and lots of things you can do on a road bike

 

[tyred]

I own a wide variety of bikes from pre-war single speed roadsters to couple of decent steel road bikes and everything in between. I select bike depending on the mood but rain doesn't stop me from riding my road bikes (fabulous things, mudguards ).

 

[GrasB]

I tried doing the slow thing once on a friends 40 year old butches bike, 3 speed hub, built like a tank etc... when I looked at my watch & worked out the miles I'd done I found my average was 17.5-18mph, not only that but I was considerably more hot & bothered than I would have been had I jumped on the fixed with a rucksack to do the 8 miles or so return journey. Been riding on performance bikes ever since.

 

[tyred]

I find I can make decent enough progress on my roadsters. A comfortable pace seems to work out at about 13 1/2 mph average which is fast enough for most purposes.

 

[Bicycle]

London: Fixopholous Steel Roadie or a 'Street-warrior, locked-out, roadified HT MTB'. I get all 'ex-courier' about it and am always over the front wheel giving it wallop or pulling failed stoppies at red lights,

Sticks: Much faster, but in a more gentlemanly way. Geared road bike or fix and just spinning along in comfort and (imagined) serenity. iPod in left ear only.

Both are lovely for me. Both probably look absurd to others.

 

[Breaker Morant]

Having read that it was a rather long winded way of pointing out the obvious - that different bikes represent a tool box and you don't always have to dress like a tit to ride one.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Agree the author's observation about speed. On the Brompton I'm generally keeping pace with London traffic . Took a while to learn how to handle the BWR 6speed but having done so I can acheive the same continuous acceleration as on the old L5.

By contrast on a Boris I feel I'm not really 'in the groove' and with that an urge to ride closer to kerb - increasing danger of course. But OTOH on a ride round quiet streets the Boris's 'stately as a Galleon' mode is great for observing the scenery.

 

[Ian H]

Shoes are the key. Ordinary walking shoes on the Brompton; choice of those or touring shoes on the Airnimal. Both of those suitable for civvies, though the Airnimal can slide into the next category. Touring/mtb shoes on the touring/audax bikes (and properly attired for journeys of any length); road shoes for the training and racing bikes, with the skinsuit if it's serious.

I forgot the mtb.

 

[MacB]

Quadruple life for happiness:-

1. a solid commuter/tourer kitted out with rack and guards - for out and back trips or to trusted locations or for touring
2. a folder that can also take regular panniers - for multi modal stuff, general pootling and trips/shopping where you wouldn't want to leave bike 1 locked up.
3. an offroad bike - for muddy fun
4. a road bike, or a little weekend fancy if you will - something that feels distinctly lighter and different for long/fast unladen riding

My limited experience was that, despite being without panniers at the weekend, my quick/light bike was far more fun when it became a weekend only ride option. Hopping on the same bike at the weekend, that you'd spent 200 commuting miles on during the week, just wasn't the same.