What can I say?

[J.A.W.]

if there is a man alone in a forest who says he is sane, and no woman can hear him say it, is he crazy?

& here it is perhaps apropos to quote Dr Peter Venkmann.. "Are you - Alice - menstruating, right now?"..

[nzspokes]

Light use as in only used for commuting.

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So you consider commuting to be a low stress usage for a bicycle?

[nzspokes]

There is, at best a tenuous link between the price tag on any given product and it's cost to market.

Sure, you're not usually going to buy the best at the lowest price. But neither is paying the highest price ever any guarantee of high quality.

I suspect bikes are like most things; Between the poles of human factor constants like performance and longevity expectations on one hand and constantly improving materials and design and increased production numbers on the other there's room for some pretty good deals.

It's just a matter of identifying them. A task made all the more difficult by the reduction in general population technical literacy and increasing product sophistication. Which is no excuse to start simply believing the advertising spiel. You might as well consult an aromatherapist.

Yes i agree. There is a lot of snake oil salesmen out there talking things up. And also say in $10,000 plus bicycles its very much diminishing returns. You are getting a better product but by less margins as cost increases.

[Big Dog]

So you consider commuting to be a low stress usage for a bicycle?

Composted to some of the things I used to use bicycles for...

Limited or no of road.
Limited or no jumps.
Regular inspection / maintenance.
No curb going.
No stunting.
Yep, per kilometer that's pretty low stress.

My 80's 10 speeds coped with me putting them through their paces at a bmx track (not sanctioned racing just group of mates going up against each other for pace or the highest jump) . After riding 2-3 hours to get there and with enough confidence to ride it home with no more spares than a puncture repair kit and a folding multi tool.

If I was going to try that on modern bike I'd want a few spares.

I'd have greater confidence in the brakes and tyres. Less in just about everything else.

Neither bike died with that kind of abuse.
Both were stolen.

Other than a perforated tube with more holes than I had patches, neither ever left me stranded.

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[nzspokes]

Composted to some of the things I used to use bicycles for...

Limited or no of road.
Limited or no jumps.
Regular inspection / maintenance.
No curb going.
No stunting.
Yep, per kilometer that's pretty low stress.

My 80's 10 speeds coped with me putting them through their paces at a bmx track (not sanctioned racing just group of mates going up against each other for pace or the highest jump) . After riding 2-3 hours to get there and with enough confidence to ride it home with no more spares than a puncture repair kit and a folding multi tool.

If I was going to try that on modern bike I'd want a few spares.

I'd have greater confidence in the brakes and tyres. Less in just about everything else.

Neither bike died with that kind of abuse.
Both were stolen.

Other than a perforated tube with more holes than I had patches, neither ever left me stranded.

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Ah the old Ten Speed lovers. Go buy one and take it for a decent ride and see how much bikes have progressed.

Gawd they were crap but people loved them.

[Racing Dave]

I'm currently in Scotland (near Glasgow) and have been for the last two months, with one month left to go. It is winter (!) and with sunrise at 8:30am and sunset at 3:30pm, the 'safe' daylight hours are limited. I bought a push bike on arrival, and have used it almost exclusively for recreation but also for 'down to the shops'.

It was on special at an outdoors shop, and at the very bottom end of the price range, but given that it has been muddied on almost every ride (used on a mix of public roads, sealed dedicated cycle paths (and there's a plethora of those), and some light-duty proper off-road trails, it has stood up to the wear and tear without any problems.

Helmets here are not compulsory, and I take all of RC's arguments on board (as well as other opinions expressed above) and have chosen to (possibly) protect my £10 head with a £10 helmet. My choice.

Traffic is intense and fast-moving, and roads are narrow, compared to NZ. Cyclists are very few indeed (as are motorcyclists. On a daily basis I see none; on a weekly basis maybe just the one - I'm not kidding. This winter has been horrendously wet, although not especially cold) but despite that I feel pretty happy cycling, everywhere, even in really busy traffic, because it's the attitude of car and truck drivers that differs from their NZ counterparts. They signal their intentions, they wait to pass until there's room, and none have (yet!) opened a car door as I pass them when they're parked. Awareness and respect.

That said, I have had one bottle thrown at me, but it missed.

[Big Dog]

Sometimes I wish I had bought one and kitted it out with modern gear instead... or the canondale special I was offered.

Yes I have recently ridden one.
Yes I still want one.
No, I can't afford another project just now.

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[Big Dog]

If I had the money, I'd go back to no suspension, wider and higher bars, bigger front sprocket. Still couldn't use it as intended because I don't live close enough to work anymore.

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[pritch]

If I had the money, I'd go back to no suspension,

My bike has no suspension - I wanted to keep it simple.

When commuting I used to make sure the tyres were inflated to the max so as to get the maximum result for the effort expended. Now I normally run the tyres 10psi down on the max as the ride is less harsh. These days it seems comfort takes precedence over speed or efficiency. I've got all day after all.

[Gremlin]

I've done road racing when at school, team time trialling etc. Had plenty of close shaves with cars passing too close etc.

Got back into riding a couple of years ago for fitness. Mountain bike only and no desire to ride on roads. However, it does tie nicely into adventure riding. Where motorcycles aren't allowed, bicycles are. NZ scenery rocks

[Big Dog]

My bike has no suspension - I wanted to keep it simple.

When commuting I used to make sure the tyres were inflated to the max so as to get the maximum result for the effort expended. Now I normally run the tyres 10psi down on the max as the ride is less harsh. These days it seems comfort takes precedence over speed or efficiency. I've got all day after all.

Yeah, converted from "small block" 29" to 700c for better power and speed when I was commuting still but now that I only ride ocassionally and for the hell of it I run down 10 also.
when the kids get the concept of pedalling I will probably go back to the small blocks so we can ride some paddocks.


One thing I will give the suspension... my arms are not as tired after 16 kms as they were on the same bike with rigid forks, albeit at the cosy of more maintenance.

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[rastuscat]

Helmets here are not compulsory, and I take all of RC's arguments on board (as well as other opinions expressed above) and have chosen to (possibly) protect my £10 head with a £10 helmet. My choice..

Bless you.

I lived in Edinburgh for a couple of years a few years ago, and used my helmet when cycling for sport, but not when riding to work.

Made perfect sense to me, given the actual conditions I was cycling in.

That cycle shop down on The Meadows, Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op, well worth a visit.

[scumdog]

Ah the old Ten Speed lovers. Go buy one and take it for a decent ride and see how much bikes have progressed.

Gawd they were crap but people loved them.

Did 35,000km on mine going to and from work, only ever got a couple of punctures.

After the second one I fitted 'No-more Flats' 'tubes', they obviously never punctured - but sure made for hard effort on the pedals!.

[Big Dog]

Did 35,000km on mine going to and from work, only ever got a couple of punctures.

After the second one I fitted 'No-more Flats' 'tubes', they obviously never punctured - but sure made for hard effort on the pedals!.

Good effort.
Most bikes these days don't get 1000 kms a year.

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[Racing Dave]

Good effort.
Most bikes these days don't get 1000 kms a year.

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Mine does - I commute four days a week from Prebbleton to the Airport, which is 14km each way; two hundred such trips per year at 28km per trip, plus recreational riding, 'down to the shops', etc gives me around 7000km annually.

As far as safety goes, with a 5am departure from home (no traffic!) and with either a wide (near 2m) cycle lane on the side of the road, or the separated-from-the-road Little River Rail Trail, damn near all of the way, the (perceived) risk from motorists is very low.

After 20 years of pedal-powered commuting, the number of unavoidable confrontations is very small. Most careless/thoughtless/unaware drivers can be avoided with ease.