Must be winter...

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Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
I swapped my summer hack for my winter hack today, having finally got round to fixing the slow flat in the front wheel - much easier to disconnect the hub brake than I'd been dreading.

Feels a bit odd, having been on skinny tyres all summer, to be back on my 2" Big Apples. And now I remember, I meant to change the pedal with the bent axle... Last year, I got used to it, so I'd forgotten by the time I put the bike upstairs for the summer.
 

walker

New Member
Location
Bromley, Kent
Still not used the winter bike yet, the weather, even though cold, has been pretty dry.
 
Location
Herts
Winter draws on!!


There was frost on the inside of my car's windscreen this morning.

Some numbnut left it outside with the hood down overnight.
 

Melvil

Guest
Winter = Cold Cold Cold Rain Rain Rain :-(

However it's fun to buy sexy new lights with funny flashing patterns on them, so...
 

NickM

Veteran
I didn't think you had an upstairs...
 
OP
OP
Arch

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
NickM said:
I didn't think you had an upstairs...

To clarify then, my flat is upstairs, my regular bike lives in the lobby downstairs - but there's only room for one, so the other lives in the flat. So I can't easily pick and choose which bike to ride on a whim - hence changing over to the winter bike although we've had no frost or anything.

If I fancied a nice ride out in the country on a crisp winter day, I could carry the FCR down, but I wouldn't want to do it every day. Apart from anything else, the turns in the stairwell are quite narrow and I end up leaving tyre marks on the walls. Also, I'm so feeble that carrying any bike downstaris tends to lead to the bike trying to run away from me, and me getting a handlbar in the ribs or a pedal biting my shin...

Fossyant, I've got used to that pedal already y'know... I know, I know, I'll change it...
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
Bit warmer again today - swap time!

Actually, where did the term "Hackbike" come from? And what is classed as one?

I commute on a Specialized Allez all year round, but I also have a VERY low-end Claud Butler MTB that I use to get me the mile up to the train station when I can't cycle commute. Are these both hacks? Are either?
 
OP
OP
Arch

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Tetedelacourse said:
Bit warmer again today - swap time!

Actually, where did the term "Hackbike" come from? And what is classed as one?

A hackbike comes from the term 'hack', short for hackney, used for a horse that was used for everyday use - most specifically for a gentleman to ride to to a hunt while his groom left earlier and rode his good quality hunting horse there at a gentle pace. The hack was a sort of second best horse, to be used a little more roughly, often hired (hence Hackney carriage, a carriage pulled by a working horse as opposed to a smart carriage horse, and in today's terms, a hired vehicle). Today, hack also means to go for a ride in the country with no particular purpose other than the ride...

I believe it comes from a French term originally.

So a hack bike is your everyday bike, the one you don't mind getting a bit wet and dirty, as opposed to your fancy best bike.
 

twowheelsgood

Senior Member
I could understand swapping from a "goodbike" for winter. But a hackbike?

It snows a lot here and goes down to -15 some winter mornings and can be up to 35 in summer, yet I don't feel the need to change mine. I run the same Kaffenback with the same GP4000 tyres all year, unless the snow is so deep I need the MTB.
 
OP
OP
Arch

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
twowheelsgood said:
I could understand swapping from a "goodbike" for winter. But a hackbike?

It snows a lot here and goes down to -15 some winter mornings and can be up to 35 in summer, yet I don't feel the need to change mine. I run the same Kaffenback with the same GP4000 tyres all year, unless the snow is so deep I need the MTB.

For a lot of people, I think it's to avoid getting a lot of muck and salt off the road onto their best bike. For me, it's also so that I have dynamo lighting and bigger tyres for the winter, although I probably don't need them much, but I'm more confident on them if it does happen to be icy.
 
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