"Entry level" nonsense

[Ludwig]

Why do certain plonkers in the cycling world use this loathsome ponced up piece of Americanized marketing gibberish "entry level" when referring to cheap bikes.
When I see or hear this sort of silly nonsense I just want to vomit. Lets get back to reality - call a spade a spade and use plain English. Another irritating thing is when I see bikes 10 years old or more described as "retro". Retro is a word used by ponced up interior designers and doesn't really belong in the cycling world

 

[domtyler]

I think you need a drink!

 

[Crackle]

Friday, time to de-stress....................................and relax...........................deep breath........................................................and relax...................

 

[Vapin' Joe]

I agree.

Kit that Merckx would have died for in his day is now seen as something that needs to be grown out of and replaced after a first seasons use. The trouble is that journalists are used to riding on high-end equipment they don't have to pay for and dismiss everything below that as unworthy. Nice as Record or Dura Ace mey be, 99% of cycists go no faster on it than they would on Xenon or Tiagra.

 

[Crackle]

Let's see: First road bike a Carlton Giro. 10 speed 52,42, Steel wheels, steel frame, Weinman brakes, French rear shifter (forget the name, really cheap), friction downtube shifters, rock hard moulded plastic saddle (which I never changed), cottered cranks, bolted on wheels and that was more or less it.

I used it for school, 25 mile journeys to a mates, discovered what cycling was all about, did two tours on it (with p clip rack fitted, homemade canvas panniers with coat hangars for frames - useless and a handlebar bag).

I broke two cranks, ruined three wheels but learned to build my own, found out why you can't just change a chain after a few thousand miles, learned how to take a freewheel apart and fix the pawls, learned to actually use the gears it had, after I'd changed the cheap french mech to a Japanese one and generally had great fun.

It eventually got stolen from my mates driveway

£500 is a top of the range superstar in comparison.

 

[Chris James]

French rear shifter (forget the name, really cheap),
QUOTE]

Sachs Huret?

Sounds like my first bike - except my was five gear only.

 

[Crackle]

Chris that's the one. Do they still exist?

 

[Crackle]

Oh yeah! I forgot. I also did rough stuff on it, on bridleways and forestry tracks (before the Forestry Commission got hip and allowed it), kinda stuff you'd definetly use a mtn bike for now. A mtn bike is better for that though.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

That's the mech on my old foul weather bike. Its a Dawes Shadow of 1987 vintage. Clumsy, but with a bit of fettling it still works ok. Thing is, I can leave it outside the village pub with a certain degree of confidence that it'll still be there when I want it.

 

[Crackle]

My first road bike was a Marlboro Medallion, out of the Grattan catalogue.

A real work of fart.

Not even Google can help me with that one.

My Carlton was bought for me '77/'78ish which coincides with a Sachs Huret mechs and levers from the same period on e-bay at the moment. In fact they could even be the model I had on mine.

Exactly Gerry Attrick, some fettlin' required. If I recall, going up a gear - lever back then forward a nodge, allow a few moments of grating, then lever back, crunch of gear changing, a few more clacks down the road then a bit of forward and back movement to settle it down. Changing front rings required a long straight and a clear road and the ability to ride with one hand on the bars only. All bets off if you didn't get into gear before the hill.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Not even Google can help me with that one.

My Carlton was bought for me '77/'78ish which coincides with a Sachs Huret mechs and levers from the same period on e-bay at the moment. In fact they could even be the model I had on mine.

Exactly Gerry Attrick, some fettlin; required. If I recall, going up a gear - lever back then forward a nodge, allow a few moments of grating, then lever back, cruck of gear changing, a few more clacks down the road then a bit of forward and back movement to settle it down. Changing front rings required a long straight and a clear road and the ability to ride with one hand on the bars only. All bets off if you didn't get into gear before the hill.

Beautifully put. I still get caught out with the front chainring.

Incidentally, I also had a (beloved) Carlton nicked from the shed at the back of the house I used to live in then. That would have been about 1973 when it was my only form of transport. I had rescued it from a friend who was going to chuck it over the sea cliffs. I restored the frame and rebuilt the wheels and it turned out to be a gem. No idea what model it was though.

 

[Tynan]

oh do **** off

living language, the phrases mean what the mean, nothing more unless you choose them to mean more

ffs

 

[John the Monkey]

My tenspeed (my first commuter, bought second hand last year) works great for changing the chainring, it's the back that always gave trouble.

On most of my commutes, it's effectively been a two speed - set to a cog on the bike manageable on both big and small chainring, with small for starts and hills, and big for straight roads and downhill

 

[bonj2]

But yes, if it's the likes of JJB trying to pass off a cheap lump of scaffolding tubing as 'entry level', then it's ridiculous.

I bought this beautiful bike, I think Imight have been conned though.

 

[Crackle]

I'll give you a fiver for the pump. 10 if you throw in the chair.