I wish...!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
MilkRace

MilkRace

Active Member
Handsome looking machine it is too......hope you manage to get it one day....in the not too distant future.
 

Cuchilo

Prize winning member X2
Location
London
They are only toys , just go and buy them :hyper:
My wish is hanging on the wall and will soon be getting a ride around the park :okay:

34051763161_38e6359c6b_z.jpg


Actually ....... i wish i was faster :laugh:
 

Mrs M

Guru
Location
Aberdeenshire
Raleigh Chopper. Couldn't afford one when a kid so me and my mates use to try and hack our own versions together using long bits of wood and metal piping to make the seat, put smaller wheels on the front, etc. Now I ride around on a carbon bike with super slick gears but still hanker after a Chopper!

No sniggering at the back please!
I always wanted a purple Raleigh Chopper, never got one though :sad:
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
.
I've no interest in carbon or in fast road bikes (or fast anything really), I don't much like the look of most modern bikes.

Pretty much the same as me. I'm not remotely impressed by at least 90% of the offerings in todays market. The bikes are either ugly, impractical (i.e. no mudguard clearance etc) or they incorporate stupid engineering practices, which are a retrograde step not an improvement.
The two bikes I really wished I could have had as a youngster, would be a Dawes Galaxy and a Raleigh Clubman 12, both really smart classic looking bikes with Reynolds 531 frames. My long-since-closed LBS at the time was a Raleigh dealer, and they had a Clubman prominently displayed in the shop. Lovely machine, but it must have been about 3 times the price I paid for my all-steel 5 speed Raleigh Arena, which was actually a very good tough bike, albeit rather heavy.
 
OP
OP
MilkRace

MilkRace

Active Member
Pretty much the same as me. I'm not remotely impressed by at least 90% of the offerings in todays market. The bikes are either ugly, impractical (i.e. no mudguard clearance etc) or they incorporate stupid engineering practices, which are a retrograde step not an improvement.
The two bikes I really wished I could have had as a youngster, would be a Dawes Galaxy and a Raleigh Clubman 12, both really smart classic looking bikes with Reynolds 531 frames. My long-since-closed LBS at the time was a Raleigh dealer, and they had a Clubman prominently displayed in the shop. Lovely machine, but it must have been about 3 times the price I paid for my all-steel 5 speed Raleigh Arena, which was actually a very good tough bike, albeit rather heavy.
I'm very much with you good people when it comes to some of today's supersonic offerings....a lot of which are nothing more than an engineers flight of fancy, or winners of in-house design competitions for the most non bike looking bike.....that said I can see where they do play a role, especially in track bikes with all the aerodynamic stuff......but I guess being old school I like the look, feel and grace that comes with an old school bike.

I've no real desire to ride carbon....and I've not the money to ride carbon......I'll stick with steel thanks all the same.....!
 
OP
OP
MilkRace

MilkRace

Active Member
Yum......!
 

bpsmith

Veteran
I'm very much with you good people when it comes to some of today's supersonic offerings....a lot of which are nothing more than an engineers flight of fancy, or winners of in-house design competitions for the most non bike looking bike.....that said I can see where they do play a role, especially in track bikes with all the aerodynamic stuff......but I guess being old school I like the look, feel and grace that comes with an old school bike.

I've no real desire to ride carbon....and I've not the money to ride carbon......I'll stick with steel thanks all the same.....!
So how is your Penny Farthing doing these days?
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
I've no real desire to ride carbon....and I've not the money to ride carbon......I'll stick with steel thanks all the same.....!

I could go out and buy a fancy carbon fibre bike today if I wanted, but I just don't see the attraction. The higher up the scale you go, the smaller the bang for your buck gets. No-one is ever going to convince me that a £5k carbon is going to give me 100 times more fun, fitness and useful service than a secondhand steel bike that I've spent a total of £50 on. In fact, I believe that in terms of exercise value, riding a 30+ lb hybrid or MTB is going to make me fitter and achieve more weight loss than a featherweight carbon road bike. The eye-watering aesthetics alone are enough to put me off carbon, not to mention the un-repairability of a crashed frame and the paranoia that would result from the very real risk of theft, especially in a dodgy area. Why spend thousands on a bike you hate the look of, would be a frame write-off if you crashed it, and are frightened to take anywhere in case it gets stolen? Is there any point in having a 16-17 lb bike and needing to ride around with 4 lb or more of ballast on board in the form of serious D-locks to keep hold of it? It sort of defeats the object of going for ultra expensive ultra light machines as your actual running weight is not going to be much less than a far cheaper and somewhat heavier bike that needs less drastic security!
 

bpsmith

Veteran
I could go out and buy a fancy carbon fibre bike today if I wanted, but I just don't see the attraction. The higher up the scale you go, the smaller the bang for your buck gets. No-one is ever going to convince me that a £5k carbon is going to give me 100 times more fun, fitness and useful service than a secondhand steel bike that I've spent a total of £50 on. In fact, I believe that in terms of exercise value, riding a 30+ lb hybrid or MTB is going to make me fitter and achieve more weight loss than a featherweight carbon road bike. The eye-watering aesthetics alone are enough to put me off carbon, not to mention the un-repairability of a crashed frame and the paranoia that would result from the very real risk of theft, especially in a dodgy area. Why spend thousands on a bike you hate the look of, would be a frame write-off if you crashed it, and are frightened to take anywhere in case it gets stolen? Is there any point in having a 16-17 lb bike and needing to ride around with 4 lb or more of ballast on board in the form of serious D-locks to keep hold of it? It sort of defeats the object of going for ultra expensive ultra light machines as your actual running weight is not going to be much less than a far cheaper and somewhat heavier bike that needs less drastic security!
You’re probably right about the 100 times the enjoyment argument, buts the amount of increased enjoyment is impossible to measure and varies considerably between people. Actually, why do you even spend £50, when there are cheaper or even free bikes out there to be had?

I am confused by your idea that a heavier bike will make you fitter and achieve more weight loss. The reason being that you regularly debunk this in other threads.

With regards to carrying heavy locks everywhere, this totally depends on what the bikes used for. Personally, I don’t own any such security for my carbon bike. I ride for pleasure. I don’t generally stop and tend not to leave it anywhere out of sight if I do.

What you’ve got to learn is that we are all different. If you enjoy your £50 bike and someone else enjoys their £5,000 bike, and you both respect the others choice, then what’s not to like? There’s no real need to rubbish other people’s choices, just because it doesn’t fit your rhetoric.
 
Last edited:

bpsmith

Veteran
I’ve been looking around for a new bike recently, to replace a damaged one.

Managed to get out on the bike yesterday, after not being able to ride all week. What soon became apparent was that there only so much looking at bikes you can do, but actually riding them is paramount!

Have put the looking on hold, whilst I await the settlement, and am now using the time getting all my jobs done so I am ready for the next decent spin when the the planets suitably align. :smile:
 

FishFright

More wheels than sense
I could go out and buy a fancy carbon fibre bike today if I wanted, but I just don't see the attraction. The higher up the scale you go, the smaller the bang for your buck gets. No-one is ever going to convince me that a £5k carbon is going to give me 100 times more fun, fitness and useful service than a secondhand steel bike that I've spent a total of £50 on. In fact, I believe that in terms of exercise value, riding a 30+ lb hybrid or MTB is going to make me fitter and achieve more weight loss than a featherweight carbon road bike. The eye-watering aesthetics alone are enough to put me off carbon, not to mention the un-repairability of a crashed frame and the paranoia that would result from the very real risk of theft, especially in a dodgy area. Why spend thousands on a bike you hate the look of, would be a frame write-off if you crashed it, and are frightened to take anywhere in case it gets stolen? Is there any point in having a 16-17 lb bike and needing to ride around with 4 lb or more of ballast on board in the form of serious D-locks to keep hold of it? It sort of defeats the object of going for ultra expensive ultra light machines as your actual running weight is not going to be much less than a far cheaper and somewhat heavier bike that needs less drastic security!

If you have the chance to have a go on a high spec carbon bike then you certainly should go for it. They are amazing to ride at full chat and you can seriously tell where the development has gone. Moaning about locking one up in a dodgy place or having mudguards is missing the point by so much that point didn't even notice it happen.
Having said all that I don't own one and and expensive one isnt on the to do list. But don't bash what what you haven't tried.

Addendum , 3 years ago I had a go on a recumbent trike and I now own two, now that was a slippery slope !
 
Top Bottom