NickNick
Well-Known Member
Been a bit naughty and have done this as my second post having forgot to introduce myself
I'm fast reaching the end of my 20's,, used to ride a mountin bike quite a bit as a kid, loved the mechanical side of it and doing all my own repairs but was never overly enthusiastic about riding. I did however on a couple of occasions ride a mate's brother's road bike (would have been 10-11yo) and absolutely loved it, but never had the chance to have my own.
Pretty much stopped riding throughout my early 20s until I got hold of an old Raleigh racer someone had chucked in a skip, spent some time doing it up and got the riding bug. It was however very heavy, always having mechanical problems (not helped by a slightly bent frame ) and as a result outside of commuting didn't ride too much.
This all then changed about 6 months or so ago when a friend gave me an Ammaco XRS700 road bike, its shockingly bad as I now know, but free... its a crap bike & frame, but the difference in weight, handling and reliability (for first month or so) compared to what I'd ridden to date really gave me the riding bug.
Before I knew it I was fitting clipless pedals, upgrading the crap componentry to a tiagra groupset, swapping the deep rim (bikes are £400 new, so you can guess their quality!) wheels to some shimano ones after the freewheel died and enjoying it more and more.
I started commuting across London with it when down there for work instead of using the tube to get around and the 12miles felt like a huge journey . Then I made the move to lycra and bib shorts after commuting for 20-30miles a day 7 days in a row with a rucksack full of tools. Chafed doesn't even begin to touch on the damage done to my groin that week!!!
I've been getting 120-200miles of riding in a week now, pretty much all pleasure riding, having worked out a nice quick route out of Birmingham and onto some nice country roads. I've had a bit of a slack week due to work commitments and illness but can't wait to start getting some more miles under my legs again.
I'm now starting to save up for a decent frame and hopefully in the next 12 months will be swapping the good bits off my crap bike onto a good frame! Although this could come sooner as I'm having some serious bottom bracket issues that could write off the frame according to the guy at my LBS.
Anyway sorry for huge intro!
I'm fast reaching the end of my 20's,, used to ride a mountin bike quite a bit as a kid, loved the mechanical side of it and doing all my own repairs but was never overly enthusiastic about riding. I did however on a couple of occasions ride a mate's brother's road bike (would have been 10-11yo) and absolutely loved it, but never had the chance to have my own.
Pretty much stopped riding throughout my early 20s until I got hold of an old Raleigh racer someone had chucked in a skip, spent some time doing it up and got the riding bug. It was however very heavy, always having mechanical problems (not helped by a slightly bent frame ) and as a result outside of commuting didn't ride too much.
This all then changed about 6 months or so ago when a friend gave me an Ammaco XRS700 road bike, its shockingly bad as I now know, but free... its a crap bike & frame, but the difference in weight, handling and reliability (for first month or so) compared to what I'd ridden to date really gave me the riding bug.
Before I knew it I was fitting clipless pedals, upgrading the crap componentry to a tiagra groupset, swapping the deep rim (bikes are £400 new, so you can guess their quality!) wheels to some shimano ones after the freewheel died and enjoying it more and more.
I started commuting across London with it when down there for work instead of using the tube to get around and the 12miles felt like a huge journey . Then I made the move to lycra and bib shorts after commuting for 20-30miles a day 7 days in a row with a rucksack full of tools. Chafed doesn't even begin to touch on the damage done to my groin that week!!!
I've been getting 120-200miles of riding in a week now, pretty much all pleasure riding, having worked out a nice quick route out of Birmingham and onto some nice country roads. I've had a bit of a slack week due to work commitments and illness but can't wait to start getting some more miles under my legs again.
I'm now starting to save up for a decent frame and hopefully in the next 12 months will be swapping the good bits off my crap bike onto a good frame! Although this could come sooner as I'm having some serious bottom bracket issues that could write off the frame according to the guy at my LBS.
Anyway sorry for huge intro!