New Year pedolutionists

TimC wrote:
On 2006-01-09, SuzieB (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

I really am beginning to wish I had bought a different bike for my
first one. I have a hybrid GT Timberline which is a heavy beast of a
thing, hence it's nickname, "The Beast". Anyway, being shy and unsure
this bike with big tires seemed good and the bike shop didn't try and
sell me anything different. Then I realised that it wasn't so good with
the knobblies on the road so I switched to slicks. Now I realise that
the bike is stuck somewhere in nowhere land. It's not so good for a
commuter or tourer as it's really heavy and it's really not good for
mountain biking with the slick tires.


Apparently it is necessary to make a big mistake on your first bike
(and first tent and first everything else that is expensive). But you
then learn what you want. Of course, with bikes, you always want one
more bike anyway. Dammit.


I took it to Lysterfield yesterday where EuanB and Bikesoiler very
kindly waited for me to either walk up the hills because my legs just
wouldn't do any more or walk down the hills because I was so terrified


What!? A day after your Amy's ride?

Yeah. Kathy wouldnt get out of bed. Wouldnt let me in either
That Suzie done good

Dave

LotteBum wrote:
Theo Bekkers Wrote:

In my schools only pansies got driven to school.

That hasn't changed at all, Theo. It's just that most kids ARE
pansies these days - made so by their over protective parents.

But, but, their parents are my generation's children. WTF happened?

Theo

On Sun, 08 Jan 2006 21:20:11 -0800, Bleve wrote:

(of bunnyhops)
You'll struggle to do them on flat pedals on an upright bike.

Not true. Upright bikes are easier to bunnyhop, and flat pedals aren't
that hard with a bit of practice. For a while I could bunnyhop higher in
flats than with cleats, because my timing was off in cleats.

They are, for $400 you can get a perfectly servicable MTB or hybrid, you
won't get a roady for less than $1000, and that's a dunger.

I would have said closer to $600 as a starting point. At $400 there are a
few too many compromised components. But they're not bad value

--
Dave Hughes |
"If you're bored, find something and break it" Jamie Rapson - 1996

Zebee Johnstone wrote:

When I said elsewhere that I didn't see kids riding to school anymore,
or riding much at all (compared to the wide range of our freedom
machines where kids spent all day on pushbikes) I was shot down, with
folk saying they saw a lot of kids on bikes.

Anyone see many kids riding to school? Do schools even have bikesheds
now?

I don't see any. When I was in high school, in a smallish country town,
between 8 and 9 am the streets belonged to kids on bikes. Outnumbered cars
by ten or more to one. Even more so at 3:15.

Theo

Bleve wrote:

I carried heavy bags to school on my old "cruiser" (forerunner to MTB)
as a kid, and cricketbats, loaded on a packrack, to a school where a
significant majority of kids got dropped off by car.

There's always excuses ...

When I was about 13 my mum used to send me down to the mill to pick up a
bushel bag of chook pellets, which I carried home on the handlebars. Before
I left home I made sure the front tyre had some serious pressure in it (for
the time).

Theo

TimC wrote:
On 2006-01-09, SuzieB (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
I really am beginning to wish I had bought a different bike for my
first one. I have a hybrid GT Timberline which is a heavy beast of a
thing, hence it's nickname, "The Beast". Anyway, being shy and unsure
this bike with big tires seemed good and the bike shop didn't try and
sell me anything different. Then I realised that it wasn't so good with
the knobblies on the road so I switched to slicks. Now I realise that
the bike is stuck somewhere in nowhere land. It's not so good for a
commuter or tourer as it's really heavy and it's really not good for
mountain biking with the slick tires.

Apparently it is necessary to make a big mistake on your first bike
(and first tent and first everything else that is expensive). But you
then learn what you want. Of course, with bikes, you always want one
more bike anyway. Dammit.

No, it is not necessary to make such a mistake. It is only necessary
if you don't do your homework before splashing out lots of cash.

I took it to Lysterfield yesterday where EuanB and Bikesoiler very
kindly waited for me to either walk up the hills because my legs just
wouldn't do any more or walk down the hills because I was so terrified

What!? A day after your Amy's ride? /I/ certainly was struggling
yesterday on the BR. Partly because I didn't eat enough Saturday
night, and partly because I just plain cannot do two long rides in 2
days. What tips do people have, other than eating more pasta?

Base miles. Get fitter. Ride at low intensity. Eat during and
immediatly after your ride. etc

Tamyka Bell wrote:

Perhaps I found them useless because my feet are small and there are
no such things as small toe straps. So my foot can still slide
forwards unless I have them very, very tight. Being small sucks
sometimes.

Tam, when I was buying them, toeclips came in three sizes, small, medium and
large. The size indicates the depth of the clip.

Theo

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 9 Jan 2006 13:59:10 +0800
Theo Bekkers wrote:

I don't see any. When I was in high school, in a smallish country town,
between 8 and 9 am the streets belonged to kids on bikes. Outnumbered cars
by ten or more to one. Even more so at 3:15.

There aren't many kids in smallish country towns now.. welcome to the
demographic trough

I see lots of kids in private school uniforms on trains, I dunno if
that's a trend or just a function of being in the inner ring suburbs.

Also, in the places where there are a lot of kids, how close are the
schools? Are they going to local schools or ones 10-15km away or
more?

Zebee

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 9 Jan 2006 13:56:09 +0800
Theo Bekkers wrote:
LotteBum wrote:
Theo Bekkers Wrote:

In my schools only pansies got driven to school.

That hasn't changed at all, Theo. It's just that most kids ARE
pansies these days - made so by their over protective parents.

But, but, their parents are my generation's children. WTF happened?

The world changed.

More people, more things, more cars, longer hours, all that ****.

The stuff your lot set up and then got out before it hurt...

Zebee

Zebee Johnstone wrote:

You speak for yourself you squarefin owner you!

I started with a roundie.

Theo