Is this good?

[Cathryn]

Kathy, please don't be put off by the controversy on here.

I was thinking that! It was poor Kathy's second post and a war starts raging!!

Kathy, there's some good (and quite balanced) advice on this thread, we all really hope it helps. As a forum, we want to encourage and welcome new cyclists and I think everyone's pretty impressed by your launching yourself into a new hobby and we just want to help.

 

[Crackle]

I was thinking that! It was poor Kathy's second post and a war starts raging!!

It's not a war it's a Bonj: A Bonj has broken out. He's been on the unreasonable juice again. My theory is he's affected by the e-numbers in his Coke.

 

[Chuffy]

It's not a war it's a Bonj: A Bonj has broken out. He's been on the unreasonable juice again. My theory is he's affected by the e-numbers in his Coke.

Stop it, you're making me laugh and I'm too ill to cope with laughing and coughing at the same time.

 

[Crackle]

sorry

 

[Chuffy]

So you should be.
Horrid wretch.
Excuse me, I need to go and bring up another lung.

 

[Crackle]

Is it not you that's having the 'horrid 'retch'?

 

[Chuffy]

Is it not you that's having the 'horrid 'retch'?

It was a cunning piece of linguistic multi-tasking.

 

[Crackle]

I have chosen to ignore one of the multi's and treat it as a purely descriptive sentence then.

 

[bonj2]

blah blah blah The bike might not have the means of mounting a rack either. blah blah blah

blah blah blah even if she pays the 'buy it now' price and comes with no rack, guards or panniers. How much will decathlon charge on top for those?

ok, so. At the end of the day, what it boils down to, is: The main advantage of that bike, which all the nostalgic loons have staked all their chips on being the thing that causes Kathy to buy it, it's main selling point is: it's got panniers.. Great.
That's like buying a computer 'cos it's got a cup holder.

Take your Christmas hat off, it just looks silly now.

I can't change it back yet because the image of the fish without the hat is on my home computer and I'm still away till tomorrow night.

Prevailing wind is the dominant wind direction in any location. In the UK its from the South West, thats not to say that the worst winds come from that direction but that is the normal wind direction. I'm trying to remember all the technical reasons but my head is bunged up with a cold, but the Jet Stream must be the reason. (Come on someone dig me out of this hole)

You can't seriously be suggesting ALL wind blows from the south west.
I find it laughable that you think you can even be sure that MOST of the wind will ON AVERAGE blow from the south west.

What, offering reasonable advice? The bike is fine, but with the usual caveats about having a good look first applying, as always. As Andygates suggested, it's not very wise to buy a bike without pressing bum to saddle and, if you can, getting someone with a bit more experience to check it over.

In my experience, it isn't normally worth the petrol and time to go over there and have a look 'cos you can bet your bottom dollar something will be rusty.

And as we all know, if you don't understand like something, that makes it wrong, doesn't it.

Like I keep saying Chuffy, I'm just providing a balanced argument. I've pointed out the good points in my first post, that they might include the panniers and it's got good shifters and possibly other salvageable things, but all you nostalgia freaks seem to be getting all misty-eyed 'cos it's from the 1860s and are telling her to not only run forth brandishing over a ton in cash for it - but also to ride it from john o groats to lands end.
I'm not saying don't buy it, I'm just saying, well, think carefully about it and consider your options before getting the same misty-eye-trocity.

Why would a mixte frame not be suitable to someone new to cycling?

Well, other than the fact that it's heavy, no reason - well, no more reason for it not being suitable for a beginner than not being suitable for anyone else. A reason applicable to beginners and non-beginners being that it's a bit of a shite design - something that only really exists not through merit but because somebody's decided he's going to try and be different from the commonly accepted, tried and tested norm.

It's only 19 years old.

ONLY nineteen years?! If it was a car, that'd make it E-, or F- reg. How many E or F reg cars do you see around? Hardly any. Because they cost more to get through their MOT than they're worth, so they get sent to the scrapyard. The only thing that means the same isn't true of bikes is because you don't have to have MOTs, but mechanically, the same principle applies. The only reason they're not in the scrapyard therefore is because they don't take up so much space in people's garage as an old shoot car, and they get nostalgic about it until their other half makes them have a clear out, when they end up on ebay - as is clearly the case here. Same with the puch clubman I had. It's the same story with all bikes of these kind.

The gears have been replaced and I'd bet the wheels have too.

Now that's viewing it with rose-tinted specs that have all misted up with rose coloured mist from your misty eyes. You 'bet' it's had new wheels? :?: What makes you think it's had new wheels? Surely wouldn't the owner advertise that on the auction if it had?

Here, this might help. It doesn't mean that the wind always blows from the South West, but if you want a tailwind (and you might on a ride of that length) then you are more likely to get one going in that direction.

That shows the wind blowing from the north west. So going south, that will at best help, at worst be a cross wind (but I'm sure that's actually just an example).
I'm still waiting for you to show me the evidence that you 'most' winds blow from the south west, and thus that you can confidently predict that that's what the wind direction will be on any given day.

Kathy, there's some good (and quite balanced) advice on this thread, we all really hope it helps. As a forum, we want to encourage and welcome new cyclists and I think everyone's pretty impressed by your launching yourself into a new hobby and we just want to help.

Yes, exactly - balanced. I'm needed to balance it out.

 

[Chuffy]

That's like buying a computer 'cos it's got a cup holder.

That's not a cup holder, it's the DVD drive.

You can't seriously be suggesting ALL wind blows from the south west.

No, I wasn't.

I find it laughable that you think you can even be sure that MOST of the wind will ON AVERAGE blow from the south west.

You're getting all confused again Bonj. It's a game of averages, ok? If you go from the SW then you have a greater chance of catching a tailwind.

Like I keep saying Chuffy, I'm just providing a balanced argument. I've pointed out the good points in my first post, that they might include the panniers and it's got good shifters and possibly other salvageable things, but all you nostalgia freaks seem to be getting all misty-eyed 'cos it's from the 1860s and are telling her to not only run forth brandishing over a ton in cash for it - but also to ride it from john o groats to lands end.
I'm not saying don't buy it, I'm just saying, well, think carefully about it and consider your options before getting the same misty-eye-trocity.

Which is pretty much all that anyone else has said. Minus your weirdly obsessive phobia of anything more than a week old.

Well, other than the fact that it's heavy, no reason - well, no more reason for it not being suitable for a beginner than not being suitable for anyone else. A reason applicable to beginners and non-beginners being that it's a bit of a shite design - something that only really exists not through merit but because somebody's decided he's going to try and be different from the commonly accepted, tried and tested norm.

So, there's no reason for it not being suitable then? It's a touring bike. A few extra ounces are not going to make much difference. As for the design, well mixte frames are basically frames for ladies (or Scotsmen) who want to ride in a skirt or want to minimise the risk of, ahem, soft tissue damage when stopping in a hurry.

ONLY nineteen years?! If it was a car, that'd make it E-, or F- reg. How many E or F reg cars do you see around? ........Same with the puch clubman I had. It's the same story with all bikes of these kind.

Hmmm, you're right about the cars, but how does that explain the sheer number of ancient (10+ year old) bikes I see on the roads? Could it be the mechanical simplicity of the bike compared to a car?

Now that's viewing it with rose-tinted specs that have all misted up with rose coloured mist from your misty eyes. You 'bet' it's had new wheels? What makes you think it's had new wheels? Surely wouldn't the owner advertise that on the auction if it had?

It's something that would be worth asking about. It's old enough to have worn out the rims easily (and possibly the hubs too) depending on mileage and use. Who knows what goes through the mind of someone when they write up an E-Bay ad?

That shows the wind blowing from the north west. So going south, that will at best help, at worst be a cross wind (but I'm sure that's actually just an example).

That's a chart, not a map.....

I'm still waiting for you to show me the evidence that you 'most' winds blow from the south west, and thus that you can confidently predict that that's what the wind direction will be on any given day.

I have, you just can't don't want to understand it.

Yes, exactly - balanced. I'm needed to balance it out.

A deranged Ying to my sane Yang perhaps? :?:

 

[vernon]

The prevailing winds can blow in any direction. The wind on saturday for example is south westerly.

"it's got a certain, charm"
hmm, but that's nearly ALL it's got, sadly


you NEED new gears for touring?
absolute load of cobblers.
this one for instance, is £169 and is advertised as having a triple. Bet it's a damn sight lighter, aswell - it's aluminium rather than steel, and doesn't have a weird design with excess tubes where it doesn't shouldn't need them.

"The bike might not have the means of mounting a rack either"
yes, it MIGHT not. So make sure you don't check it out so you don't discover that it does. tit.



ok yep, fine. So make sure you never cycle too far from a wilko's so when the head breaks off your dog bone spanner you can always just pop in for a new one.




hmm, can see the logic to most of that last bit, especially the last sentence. Beweare though that land's end itself isn't a public town as such, so much as a tourist attraction - when i went there as a kid you had to pay to get in. Don't think it's much, only a couple of quid probably but don't spend all your money on energy bars along the way and then not be able to complete the route 'cos some little hitler with a turnstile is standing in your way.

I don't know why Bonj sees aluminium as being supperior to steel for frames buy hey, each to their own taste. The mixte frame works so the bike will do the job ofr the original poster. One needs to remember the stated need i.e. get to LE as cheaply as possible and assess whether the bike meets the need - it does.

Unfortunately Bonj can not avoid insulting folk whose opinions differ from his own. I'll be more assertive about the Decathlon biikes. From my recent recollections about the range as inspected in the Sheffield branch, I do not recall seeing rack mounting points on the road bike. This reminds me that the bikes are road bikes and not tourers so I'll restate that in addition to the £169 the user is likely to want to: replace the saddle at further expense, replace the cassette or chain rings to obtain a touring range of gears especially if camping at further expense, purchase mudguards at further expense, buy a rack at further expense, buy touring luggage at further expense and the £169 has become very inflated.......


Going along with *your* suggestion that two spanners is a good idea, breaking the head off one dog bone spanner through using ignorance and brute force is hardly a disaster as ther will be a spare to hand There's a plethora of local bike shops to supplement the Wilkinson's network so purcdhasing a replacement is hardly problematic

Neither end of LEJOG are public towns. There's no need to fret about admission fees LEJOGers are given access to the signing in point at the Hotel beyond the turnstile at LE. Beware of arriving after the end of the 'trading period' the finger posts are taken down at night which will deny riders the opportunity of a souvenir phote. The official photo taken by the official photographer is quite expensive.

It's worthwhile collecting a LEJOG/JOGLE log sheet at the hotel at JOG and obtain six or soo proofs of passage as you complete the ride. This will give you the option of joining the LEJOG club and getting a commemorative certificate. I might get around to submitting mine sometime.

And returning to the original post - yep the bike is likely to be fine.
Unlike Bonj, I have ridden JOGLE and LEJOG and have observed a whole range of bikes and riders similarly engaged. There's a plethora of received wisdom about what can and can not be done or accomplished and most of it can be disproven. The mixte framed bike will do the job without fuss and should your riding end with the completion of the ride, you will not have taken a huge financial hit when disposing of the equipment.

What ever decision you make, you need to get a bike soon to get some miles in. Meanwhile continue with the planning - some folk find it fun. I found it a chore and left it for as long as possible.

 

[Aperitif]

Great post Vernon - thanks.

 

[snorri]

You can't seriously be suggesting ALL wind blows from the south west.
I find it laughable that you think you can even be sure that MOST of the wind will ON AVERAGE blow from the south west.

Bonj, the only laughable aspect is your amazing ignorance of meteorolgy. Wind direction is not random, weather patterns exist. We know these patterns exist from Met Office records taken over the last 150 years.

 

[summerdays]

You can't seriously be suggesting ALL wind blows from the south west.
I find it laughable that you think you can even be sure that MOST of the wind will ON AVERAGE blow from the south west.

No all wind doesn't blow from the south west, however over any given period it will blow from that direction the most TIMES. Trees in exposed areas will be bent in a particular direction away from the prevailing wind (for that location). The most damaging winds are often from other directions as tree roots have developed to resist the prevailing wind.

Heres a link to wikipedia's version of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevailing_winds

 

[User482]

Kathy

Welcome to the forum. Please ignore Bonj, he's obviously been drinking meths again.

I did my first LEJOG last year and absolutely loved it. I did a bare minimum of training, but planned the ride with some shorter days at the beginning, to ease myself in. By the time we got to Scotland, I was fit as a butcher's dog, and indeed my best average speed was on the last day. My advice is to follow my diet regime en route of large quantities of pie, plus copious measures of single malt in the evenings. You'll need the calories.