It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Audaxer

ex-pat_scot said:

Ganga said:

Terron said:

zagfles said:

Terron said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Fancy racing bikes are OK if they are used for RACING. It's a waste of money if they aren't. I remember a man at the gym saying you had to pay £3K for a TRAINING bike. I kept thinking surely a. rubbish bike is the best for TRAINING.

Probably not if you are training for racing.

Why not - like altitude training - train in an environment which is harder than the environment you'll actually be competing in

Riding a racing bike uses a different technique to riding a normal one.

Yes you go faster 

Huge apologies to @Sea_Shell for complete derailing of the thread.

You can make activity deliberately harder than it needs to be: adding ankle weights when running, carrying heavy backpacks, riding slow / heavy bikes etc. This does increase the effort required, but crucially diminishes the joy of the activity.
For that reason, I'd rather run faster / cycle longer than compromise (except when occasionally out with slower friends, when I'll ride a CX bike on the road in order to get a decent workout at their pace).

I therefore have inordinately expensive and specialised bikes - everything from superlight folding ones to ultralight racing machines and some with off-road capability. Lots of carbon, titanium, electronic and fancy aerospace materials / design.
It's a bit like the nuances between vehicle ownership - estate car, sports car, van, people carrier etc. Ideally you'd have something suitable for every purpose, but cost and space constraints tend to lead to compromise on one "best fit".
I have the space, and make judicial use of C2W scheme etc to manage costs (and, Covid-aside, the vast majority of my riding is commuting and replaces a car).

There is a slightly broader theme perhaps at play: using the "sunday best" stuff. Wear the best suit; use the best china; drink the nice bottle of wine in the cupboard; ride the "best bike". If you have something that brings you joy, then enjoy it! 

I also love cycling and agree really heavy bikes can diminish the joy and be de-motivating.

Nothing wrong with all these expensive superlight racing bikes if they bring you happiness, but I'm really surprised with all these expensive bikes that most of your cycling is commuting?

zagfles

Audaxer said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Ganga said:

Terron said:

zagfles said:

Terron said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Fancy racing bikes are OK if they are used for RACING. It's a waste of money if they aren't. I remember a man at the gym saying you had to pay £3K for a TRAINING bike. I kept thinking surely a. rubbish bike is the best for TRAINING.

Probably not if you are training for racing.

Why not - like altitude training - train in an environment which is harder than the environment you'll actually be competing in

Riding a racing bike uses a different technique to riding a normal one.

Yes you go faster 

Huge apologies to @Sea_Shell for complete derailing of the thread.

You can make activity deliberately harder than it needs to be: adding ankle weights when running, carrying heavy backpacks, riding slow / heavy bikes etc. This does increase the effort required, but crucially diminishes the joy of the activity.
For that reason, I'd rather run faster / cycle longer than compromise (except when occasionally out with slower friends, when I'll ride a CX bike on the road in order to get a decent workout at their pace).

I therefore have inordinately expensive and specialised bikes - everything from superlight folding ones to ultralight racing machines and some with off-road capability. Lots of carbon, titanium, electronic and fancy aerospace materials / design.
It's a bit like the nuances between vehicle ownership - estate car, sports car, van, people carrier etc. Ideally you'd have something suitable for every purpose, but cost and space constraints tend to lead to compromise on one "best fit".
I have the space, and make judicial use of C2W scheme etc to manage costs (and, Covid-aside, the vast majority of my riding is commuting and replaces a car).

There is a slightly broader theme perhaps at play: using the "sunday best" stuff. Wear the best suit; use the best china; drink the nice bottle of wine in the cupboard; ride the "best bike". If you have something that brings you joy, then enjoy it! 

I also love cycling and agree really heavy bikes can diminish the joy and be de-motivating.

Nothing wrong with all these expensive superlight racing bikes if they bring you happiness, but I'm really surprised with all these expensive bikes that most of your cycling is commuting?

I'm not sure having to put more effort in per mile diminishes the "joy" or is demotivating, I know some people think nothing of doing a 50 mile trip on their ultra light bike, but I'm really proud of myself if I do a 20 mile trip on mine!! Expending more effort per mile but probably less overall. A bit like using weights at the gym, use light weights and lift them loads of times, or heavy weights and lift them less? Mind you neither of those sound like any fun to me!

The other extreme I guess would to be to use an electric bike or even a moped/motorbike if you really want to minimise effort, and it'd certainly be fun, but wouldn't really do anything for your fitness level!

Ibrahim5

I remember reading someone had analyzed the effect of a carbon fibre frame Vs a steel one. The carbon fibre was faster but not by much. They were saying that if you buy a 10kg instead of a 12kg bike you would say that you might think it was 17% lighter. They sad that it was the total mass that was important so if you were 80kg you had changed 92kg to 90kg which is 2%. This was the speed difference they had observed. So in reality you could spend thousands on a carbon fibre frame or just eat a few less mince pies at Christmas with the same result.

ex-pat_scot

Audaxer said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Ganga said:

Terron said:

zagfles said:

Terron said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Fancy racing bikes are OK if they are used for RACING. It's a waste of money if they aren't. I remember a man at the gym saying you had to pay £3K for a TRAINING bike. I kept thinking surely a. rubbish bike is the best for TRAINING.

Probably not if you are training for racing.

Why not - like altitude training - train in an environment which is harder than the environment you'll actually be competing in

Riding a racing bike uses a different technique to riding a normal one.

Yes you go faster 

Huge apologies to @Sea_Shell for complete derailing of the thread.

You can make activity deliberately harder than it needs to be: adding ankle weights when running, carrying heavy backpacks, riding slow / heavy bikes etc. This does increase the effort required, but crucially diminishes the joy of the activity.
For that reason, I'd rather run faster / cycle longer than compromise (except when occasionally out with slower friends, when I'll ride a CX bike on the road in order to get a decent workout at their pace).

I therefore have inordinately expensive and specialised bikes - everything from superlight folding ones to ultralight racing machines and some with off-road capability. Lots of carbon, titanium, electronic and fancy aerospace materials / design.
It's a bit like the nuances between vehicle ownership - estate car, sports car, van, people carrier etc. Ideally you'd have something suitable for every purpose, but cost and space constraints tend to lead to compromise on one "best fit".
I have the space, and make judicial use of C2W scheme etc to manage costs (and, Covid-aside, the vast majority of my riding is commuting and replaces a car).

There is a slightly broader theme perhaps at play: using the "sunday best" stuff. Wear the best suit; use the best china; drink the nice bottle of wine in the cupboard; ride the "best bike". If you have something that brings you joy, then enjoy it! 

I also love cycling and agree really heavy bikes can diminish the joy and be de-motivating.

Nothing wrong with all these expensive superlight racing bikes if they bring you happiness, but I'm really surprised with all these expensive bikes that most of your cycling is commuting?

My commuting is either 20 miles each way plus train plus another 3 miles each way, or 45 miles each way. Depends on the office.  Will likely amend somewhat post Covid, if I don't retire first!

Audaxer

ex-pat_scot said:

Audaxer said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Ganga said:

Terron said:

zagfles said:

Terron said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Fancy racing bikes are OK if they are used for RACING. It's a waste of money if they aren't. I remember a man at the gym saying you had to pay £3K for a TRAINING bike. I kept thinking surely a. rubbish bike is the best for TRAINING.

Probably not if you are training for racing.

Why not - like altitude training - train in an environment which is harder than the environment you'll actually be competing in

Riding a racing bike uses a different technique to riding a normal one.

Yes you go faster 

Huge apologies to @Sea_Shell for complete derailing of the thread.

You can make activity deliberately harder than it needs to be: adding ankle weights when running, carrying heavy backpacks, riding slow / heavy bikes etc. This does increase the effort required, but crucially diminishes the joy of the activity.
For that reason, I'd rather run faster / cycle longer than compromise (except when occasionally out with slower friends, when I'll ride a CX bike on the road in order to get a decent workout at their pace).

I therefore have inordinately expensive and specialised bikes - everything from superlight folding ones to ultralight racing machines and some with off-road capability. Lots of carbon, titanium, electronic and fancy aerospace materials / design.
It's a bit like the nuances between vehicle ownership - estate car, sports car, van, people carrier etc. Ideally you'd have something suitable for every purpose, but cost and space constraints tend to lead to compromise on one "best fit".
I have the space, and make judicial use of C2W scheme etc to manage costs (and, Covid-aside, the vast majority of my riding is commuting and replaces a car).

There is a slightly broader theme perhaps at play: using the "sunday best" stuff. Wear the best suit; use the best china; drink the nice bottle of wine in the cupboard; ride the "best bike". If you have something that brings you joy, then enjoy it! 

I also love cycling and agree really heavy bikes can diminish the joy and be de-motivating.

Nothing wrong with all these expensive superlight racing bikes if they bring you happiness, but I'm really surprised with all these expensive bikes that most of your cycling is commuting?

My commuting is either 20 miles each way plus train plus another 3 miles each way, or 45 miles each way. Depends on the office.  Will likely amend somewhat post Covid, if I don't retire first!

If some of your commutes are 45 miles each way, that is impressive. I now understand why you need a light racing bike, especially if it's hilly.

Sea_Shell

OK guys, you've had 2 pages of "bike talk", I think that's enough.

Thanks. 

enthusiasticsaver

Sea_Shell said:

Zero winnings on the PB's again for the second month (on £40k) 

Shoving it all in Marcus would have guaranteed £20.   Ho Hum.

As each month passes, surely we get more and more likely to win something....eventually!!

Although I did make a FB sale yesterday for £15, woohoo.

I have to  say I haven't bothered with PBs as not convinced the winnings are enough and although my Emergency fund/cash reserves are earning barely anything in my Yorkshire internet saver it is still better than nothing and accessible in hours if needed. Congrats on FB sale. All I tend to get are time wasters when it comes to selling on marketplace so have gone for freecycle/charity shop more over last few months. 

Stubod

...we have maxed out on PBs and so far this year Mrs Stubod has beaten me by getting 2%, mainly due to our first ever £500 "win" last month. Since we have had them we have pretty much achieved just over the "average" rate. Seeing how this is over 1% it still beats most other savings accounts.

Ibrahim5

If you won £500 you could buy a nice bike.

Stubod

Ibrahim5 said:

If you won £500 you could buy a nice bike.

..already got one ta...electric...the only way to cycle     ...