"Entry level" nonsense

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Ludwig

Hopeless romantic
Location
Lissingdown
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

Über Member
I think you need a drink! :sad:
 
Friday, time to de-stress....................................and relax...........................deep breath........................................................and relax...................
 

Smokin Joe

Legendary Member
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.
 
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 :sad:

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

Lincolnshire Mountain Rescue Consultant
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.
 
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

Lincolnshire Mountain Rescue Consultant
Crackle said:
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

Veteran
Location
e4
oh do **** off

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

ffs
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
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 :biggrin:
 

bonj2

Guest
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.:biggrin:
 
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