Aren't Bicycles Great.

brat

sacsquacco wrote: »

I ve just bought a virtually new ( Ebay buy ) 8kg carbon framed racing bike at only £600. It looks like Planet X are changing the face of UK cycling by making these exotic framed beauties available for extremely low prices. Even new they are not more than £1100. The days of the 4k and more rip off bikes are numbered. The groupset on it is nt tat neither being Sram Force all round. Its a dream and a pleasure to ride but it does highlight the state of UK roads.Even out in the countryside the roads are pot holed a lot especially on the inside. Well done Planet X

What's right for you isn't right for everybody.

Last week I had a 10 mile ride on my mate's Pinarello Dogma with Zipp 404s, Zipp carbon aerobar and Dura Ace Di2 groupset. It was an absolute dream to ride. And it's a looker. OK I might not want to fork out £9,000 to £10,000 for a bike, but if you had a bike like this, you would just want to be on it all the time!!

Johnmcl7

brat wrote: »

What's right for you isn't right for everybody.

Agreed, there's pro's and cons to everything and many are not obvious from the outset. I bought my first bike from a local bike shop as I had to because that's the way Trek did it and Trek were one of the few mainstream manufacturers offering a belt drive bike. The LBS did a great job handling a couple of hub issues under warranty and a while later well out of warranty, they also got Trek to fund a fairly pricey repair without me even asking. I then put that money saved into a Trek road bike, expensive compared to other budget options but I thought worth it for the service.

It's interesting seeing the difference with the Pinnacle which is a budget bike (although the third most expensive bike out of seven I've bought), the main spec is great on paper but a lot of the finishing kit is poor. After my first ride I immediately ordered a new saddle (never needed to for the rest) and after a 100km ride at the weekend I'm thinking of getting the bars, bartape and stem all replaced as my hands were buzzing a bit due to the thin bar tape and the drops are not a great design. The Trek on the other hand had a reasonable saddle, bar tape and drop bar design so never replaced any of it.

Not that I regret buying this particular bike as Trek and others don't offer anything like (as they assume you want carbon if you want higher end Shimano stuff) and the Shimano 685 shifters and brakes are superb.

John

brat

Here's a recent vid from one of last week's rides,

https://youtu.be/MGUzfOiCcUE

I'm interested in other's thoughts, as, in hindsight I feel I should have been more cautious. I was riding through a local village which I know well. At about 12 secs I approached a vehicle which had taken the centre of the available road space to pass parked vehicles on its nearside. I could see there was plenty of space to get past between the car and the kerb so I maintained my speed and passed he vehicle. I noticed n the approach that there was another vehicle behind, and I was also aware of a junction to my left. As I passed this car I became aware (it's not clear on the video) that the white car was indicating right to turn into the junction.
This second vehicle may reasonably have thought that it was OK for it to turn right as there was no chance that anything was approaching because the car ahead had blocked the road. Fortunately he didn't turn right, instead waited for me to pass before making his manoeuvre. After the event I realised I could easily have come a cropper at that point. I guess it wouldn't have been my fault, but it would have hurt nonetheless.

One to watch out for. I'm interested to know others thoughts on this.

esuhl

brat wrote: »

I'm interested in other's thoughts, as, in hindsight I feel I should have been more cautious. I was riding through a local village which I know well. At about 12 secs I approached a vehicle which had taken the centre of the available road space to pass parked vehicles on its nearside. I could see there was plenty of space to get past between the car and the kerb so I maintained my speed and passed he vehicle.

That looked a bit tight to me. I would've slowed down and waited for the yellow car to pull in a bit. :-/

But you're probably made of sterner stuff than I am!

Johnmcl7

I would have been more cautious as I find that sort of situation can be unpredictable, it's quite tight for space and at that speed you're not going to have many options to brake or swerve. It doesn't matter who is right or wrong, as a cyclist you're going to come off worse.

John

brat

It was one of those moments where you see the space rather than the potential risk. I saw the green Ford and the usable space to its offside and I could see that he had seen me. I'm hard to miss with a 200 lumen front flasher and a distinctive jersey, Then I saw the approaching white Vauxhall further towards its own side of the road, so I decided to use the available gap.
No dramas really, until I saw that the Vauxhall was indicating to turn right, at which point I was left hoping he hadn't been blind to my approach. Luckily for me, he was alert to my presence.

It's also quite clear from these wide angled Gopros that they make you look like you're going faster than you are.

Johnmcl7

Speed wise I was going by the data overlay which was showing at 20mph+ and I find on super skinny tyres at that speed you don't get much time to get the bike stopped. I don't have the same faith in people seeing me no matter how well marked I am as people manage to miss my car entirely from simply not looking so there's less chance of seeing a bike particularly if it's going at speed where it's not expected. It's only the odd driver here and there but it only takes one collision unfortunately and I've had some really scary near misses with drivers going the wrong way down a one way street, completely ignoring a red light and soaring through (well after it turned red) or going straight onto a junction/roundabout without looking properly. If I'd been going faster I may not have had enough time to get out of the way, I realise you can't stop all accidents (was almost creamed by a campervan who went scorching past me without moving out at all to overtake) but prefer to try and reduce the chance.

John

brat

I'd use that speed anytime to go through that size of gap. Had there been no junction on the left, I wouldn't have any concern about my speed. Had there been no cars parked opposite the junction there would have been less risk too. The primary thing I was kicking myself about is my late realisation that the second vehicle approaching was turning right, and could have turned into my path.

Johnmcl7

If the car had turned right, you wouldn't have had time to do much aside from hit the car whereas at a lower speed you would have likely had enough time to slow the bike enough. In addition I think drivers get caught out when cyclists filter at speed as they're not expecting it. There's times I would have had an accident cycling at that speed in town as I wouldn't have had time to react either but I'm not judging you or telling you to change your riding, I'm just saying how I ride as you asked. I do ride very defensively partially as a result of motorbike training and I've had too many very near misses, I'm always worried the next one won't be - plenty of open roads here to get up to speed on.

John

brat

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

If the car had turned right, you wouldn't have had time to do much aside from hit the car whereas at a lower speed you would have likely had enough time to slow the bike enough.
John

I get that point, and it's the reason why I invited comment.

I'm not a fan of the idea that cyclists should reduce speed simply because we are in a town. I'd rather keep a relationship between speed and hazard risk, so if there is no hazard, I like to keep my speed up, and rely on concentration and anticipation to mitigate speed and risk where necessary.

I was irked that I missed the obvious risk, despite any potential collision not being my 'fault'.