For all those biking posts that just refuse to be defined in one place
Let me start with a little story. It's a true one, it happened just last week and it happened to me. I was winding my way home on my road bike, just cruising along through the last 10 miles or so of a fifty mile odd loop through some of my favorite local country lanes. I …
Continue reading Why can Cyclists be some of the rudest people on the planet?
In preparation for the long-awaited rebuild of my poor long-suffering and chronically neglected Lapierre Zesty I've been watching a few 'how to' videos on the wonderful world of YouTube. And what I've concluded is that they can quickly lull you into a false sense of security about the task you're about to attempt. Take the …
Well, as I've mentioned before my knee hurts. Its grumbled on and off for a good few years. It likes to remind me of the misuse and neglect I've subjected my moving parts to since I've been capable of moving around under my own steam. It likes to remind me that I'm not 21 and …
I am awesomely weak when it comes to spunking my pitiful disposable income on the latest 'must have' cycling trends. Dropper posts, 29' wheels, 1x whatever drivetrain - I've fitted them all and then wondered why I've really bothered. Even when it's something I really am going to use if there's a chance to over …
One of the lesser mentioned and debated side effects of not riding as much as one used to is that bikes and kit simply don't wear out as fast as they did when one is young and keen. I once reckoned that if a cartridge bottom bracket (remember them anybody? - you know the ones …
Continue reading So here it is, Merry Christmas, every bodies having….. hugely rising costs!
Firstly let's get something straight right off the bat. I'm not going too bang on about Polish frame builders or Romanian wheel truing experts coming over here and stealing our jobs. Nor am I going to advocate the wholesale repatriation of families who have come to this country and discovered to their delight they don't have to cycle …
First the usual disclaimer - I've never met Shane Sutton, Victoria Pendleton, Jess Varnish or indeed any of the current GB cycling team past or present. (Actually that's not true, Dame Sarah Storey bless her once cruised effortlessly past me with a lovely cheery 'hello' a few years back as I grovelled up a minor …
First, a disclaimer. I'm only another disillusioned fan. I've never met any of the people involved, I've never seen or examined one of these alleged motorised cheat machines. I have no idea if the guys and girls with their names all over the press are innocent or guilty as charged. Like most of the other …
Continue reading Mechanical Doping -Pro Cycling’s Latest Attempt to Self-Destruct
'Built not Bought' is a tag line and sticker now currently popular on the modified car scene. Displaying one on the back window or bumper of ones 'ride' proclaims to the world at large (or at least the tiny proportion of it that actually cares) that those ill-advised styling touches and that badly installed exhaust …
Continue reading Self Build Satisfaction – ‘Built not Bought’
My relationship with cycles with treaded knobbly tyres is a long and complex one. Once way back in the mists of my competitive youth off-road riding meant winter cyclo-cross races held at muddy playing fields or municipal recreation grounds during the road racing off-season. Like many aspiring junior roadies I subjected myself to these bleak windswept afternoons of cycling …
The Declining Cyclist 