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Help required. Sorry, another thread asking for opinions...

I have decided to buy a banana for my next ride, but I can't decide which one to buy.

Budget is not a problem, but should I buy slightly green, fully yellow or yellow with brown speckles? What is the optimum length? Should it be exceptionally bent or should I go for a straighter option? Is weight important? I am concerned about the relative firmness of the fruit (what you might call its stiffness) and how comfortable it will be in my jersey pocket (what I like to call its compliance), so any help and advice would be really welcome.

Finally, I just need to know whether it is acceptable to dispose of the wrapper at the side of the road or should I place it in my pocket until the end of the ride?

I realise that some may find such questions rather frivolous, but I'm not confident or secure enough to trust my own ideas and decisions. I need peer group approval, especially when it comes to cycling matters.

Thanks.

Col

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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9 comments

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MartyMcCann | 9 years ago
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The good news is that with Fyffes now being bought over by Chiquita, you shouldn't suffer from any compatibility issues when switching bananas now. Also, if you can hold off until the end of the evening I hear there will be price cuts on previous models.

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mooleur replied to MartyMcCann | 9 years ago
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Otis Bragg wrote:

The good news is that with Fyffes now being bought over by Chiquita, you shouldn't suffer from any compatibility issues when switching bananas now. Also, if you can hold off until the end of the evening I hear there will be price cuts on previous models.

I heard there was a massive wait time still on parts for some of the older chiquita models though, is this true?

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Comrade | 9 years ago
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...or try something stylish, as featured on road.cc

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Dapper Giles | 9 years ago
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/Banana-Guard-Holder-Carrier-Lunchbox/dp/B003JBU9...

I heard a rumour Rapha is developing one in partnership with Team Sky. It will be made out of carbon fibre, will come in various colour ways and will cost the reasonable sum of £50.

Froome is testing one now.

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ColT | 9 years ago
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Forgive me. I just realised that I failed to begin with the word 'so' and I also managed a complete post without using the term 'you guys'.

Schoolboy errors.

Now, if only someone could come up with some kind of funky banana carrier.

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mooleur | 9 years ago
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Do you even ride a Pirandello tho?

....I'll get my coat.

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SimonT1971 | 9 years ago
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I assume you are under 40 as your diction indicates that you sat the diluted GCSE regime and therefore were never exposed to Faust, Camus and Martyn Samuel - poor you.

I would suggest carrying the banana in your shorts as this helps protect 'appearances' when your old boy has gone down the button mushroom route on a cooler day and will ensure a warm delivery. Although I have still to master the extraction and fuelling 'no handed' during a sportive - I think this was what David Millar was tweeting about this week when the 'prats' were wobbling all over the shop when taking their banana out whereas the 'pros' performed the task mid peloton with great aplomb during G-W.

secondly, we should talk colour. Green = Starchy and so good for slower release carbs (but you could get more benefit and taste experience from a raw potato) and yellow / flecks of brown = tasty and sweet.

and finally, the bananas should only ever be from the Windward Islands because I went to St Lucia on holiday in 1994 and Dr Doolittle was filmed there.

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mooleur | 9 years ago
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Sometimes more experienced banana carriers laugh at me on the club run because mine is a budget banana and much smaller than the others. Though personally I think if you can get by on budget bananas it makes you better in the long run, because when you finally upgrade to a bigger and more rigid banana you'll be flying.

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arfa | 9 years ago
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Whether by hard research or happenchance you have come to the right place.
Cycling is a curious collection of disciplines but happily the need for individual thought can easily be removed from the equation, removing those stressful situations where thinking for yourself might cause unnecessary embarrassment by standing out from the crowd.
I am told that something called "the rules" is a good starting point although I have never bothered to read them myself, instead preferring to simply copy what I see, whether it's the clothes others wear, brands that they ride or the sayings they use.
Good luck in your quest with your banana and let us know how you get on; no one would want a fellow cyclist to suffer any undue torment when presented with such a dilemma.

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