I'm going to do this bike up.
Then I'm going to ride it at sportives next year, with the sole aim of beating a rider on an expensive bike up a steep climb.
Make sure it isn't you 🙂
Stay tuned for the restoration…
The Gauntlet
Tue, Nov 01, 2011 12:57
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Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He’s won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and likes to ride increasingly long audaxes decreasingly fast as time goes by.
18 Comments
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Miller 47 minutes ago
Weak fork not necessarily weak. I did the same once, not so dramatically as here, but the fork was still toast and I cracked a wrist bone. Mechanism is, if the tyre catches the mudguard, the guard can start rotating with the tyre. The mudguard stays instantly dig into the tyre, because geometry, the front wheel locks completely solid in about a quarter of a revolution, and the rider gets brutally thrown off the front while wondering what just happened. This is why front mudguard stays need a breakaway fitment.
Mr Blackbird 3 hours ago
@Rendel Harris Or less unelegant?
Bezzard74 3 hours ago
@shufflingb So far I've had no issues with the port going wrong (unlike my Hammerhead Karoo V2, which melted!) 20+ hrs run time means I don't usually have to charge on the go. My plan for Pan Celtic means I'll have tome to charge when sleeping, and on the go as a last resort. I am looking at an angled USB C Male to Female cable though, to move the port below.
Rendel Harris 3 hours ago
@mdavidford And indeed, looking in my copy of the complete OED, it's nearly 200 years old at least and is cited for first use by Thomas Carlyle, so you can't get a much better provenance than that. It is a bit ugly though, isn't it? "The previous criticism of a lack of strategy" or "that we were lacking in strategy" would be rather more elegant.
mitsky 3 hours ago
Re, Brandon Herrera 1) Given the exceptionally lenient sentences drivers who kill with their vehicles receive, it is almost like they get away with it. So, as has been said before, if someone's intention is to kill then using a vehicle could be the way he "... could get away with it..." 2) If he is this incensed about cyclists on roads slowing him down a little bit... How does he feel about all the other people IN MOTOR VEHICLES who force him to sit stationary in rush hour traffic? 3) My guess, as I've said before with the likes of him, is that he feels emasculated by cyclists. Which fuels his anger towards them. He feels weak because he himself isn't "tough" enough to be on a bike on public roads when faced with the danger of (ironically? paradoxically?) crazy people like him behind the wheel.
mdavidford 3 hours ago
Why does 'unstrategic' require a [sic]? You'd think if it's good enough for the OED it would be good enough for road.cc.
the little onion 3 hours ago
Putting aside any imperfections, the emphasis on quality of infrastructure, and distinguishing between everyday and racing cycling is something to be welcomed! Good luck wales.
Mr Blackbird 4 hours ago
How are the 20mph speed limits being accommodated for the TDF stage? Is the stage avoiding all urban areas and villages or will there be special permission to exceed 20mph because the roads are closed - albeit not to pedestrians? Although there are clear benefits from the 20mph limit, it has seriously kerbed cycle road racing and time trialling in Wales and is starting to have a similar effect in England. If the aim is to attract more people into cycling, doesn't it make sense to find a way of accomodating competitive club cycling alongside active travel and leisure cycling? Just think of all the youngsters who will want to emulate their TDF heroes after seeing them racing in the flesh.
Fursty Ferret 4 hours ago
Hasn't it always been the case that active travel has been abused? Councils claiming to have put in hundreds of miles of bike lanes and claiming funding for it, and the consequence being that they simple paint bike symbols between the pavement and the existing white lines marking the edge of the road? Or my personal favourite of taking the money from central government and painting a bike lane, but then allowing car owners to store their metal cubes in it 24/7, and then wonder why it's (a) unused by cyclists and (b) they're getting complaints about cyclists riding in primary position.
18 thoughts on “The Gauntlet”
Can you pubish your calendar
Can you pubish your calendar for 2012 please Dave, so I can avoid you at every opportunity 😀
I know you would beat my lardy arse up a hill, even if you were on a Raleigh folding shopper!
Are those 700c wheels Dave?
Are those 700c wheels Dave? If they’re 27″, that would be the most awkward part of the restoration. Unless you plan to keep them.
I thought you were already leaving expensive bikes in you wake on our Genesis Equilibrium.
they’re 700cs so shouldn’t be
they’re 700cs so shouldn’t be too bad. i might re-lace them cause the spokes are past their best. the rims and hubs are fine though.
the equilibrium is currently undergoing a transformation into a ‘proper’ audax bike. i did overtake a couple of cervelos on the bwlch last time i did the dragon on it. but it’ll be even more fun on this 🙂
perhaps i should get some retro kit too. or is that taking it too far?
Not much room for a motor in
Not much room for a motor in the bottom bracket dave 😀 Though like othello you’ll probably drop me no matter where 🙁 the retro kit will be a nice touch. Looking forward to following the restoration and bragging 😉
I count the number of carbon
I count the number of carbon bikes I pass on hills during sportives on my Brian Rourke steel frame and then see if I can pass the same amount on the descent as it just fires away downhill given its weight.
Ups and Downs.
Lets say bikes under £1000
Lets say bikes under £1000 don’t count as expensive.
Then, I don’t need to be ashamed when you beat me up the easiest of climbs on every sportive.
Seriously, like Othello, I too would like to know your sportive calendar for next year. Wanna see what the strongman of road.cc is riding 🙂
Nice that it has 700c wheels.
Nice that it has 700c wheels. Gives you so many more options, tyre choice etc…
Only other gotcha I can think of is the threaded headset. When I tried, most decent replacements (with cartridge bearings) had too big a stack height, which wouldn’t leave enough steerer to thread onto at the top. We had to settle for a cheap replacement.
What about cheap carbon
What about cheap carbon bikes? 😉
Quote:Wanna see what the
you’re confusing me with mat 🙂
Mostly I’m going for madones and cervelos, stuff like that. need to drop a few pounds though 🙂
Quote:I too would like to
Dunno for sure. but probs i’ll be at the Lionheart, FoD spring classic and the Dragon. Fred Whitton hopefully, but probably *not* on the BSA 🙂
I’d like to try some ones i’ve not done before too. who has recommendations?
@ Dave – Innishowen, Causeway
@ Dave – Innishowen, Causeway Challenge are two that spring to mind both over in Ireland. The causeway challenge has one climb that will make you weep!! At least I did!! Flat out in the Fens – yes it’s flat but when the temp hits the 30’s and you’re trying to maintain a decent cadance and there’s a brisk wind that always seems to be in your face, well ‘nough said 😉
Dave – Dartmoor Classic
Dave – Dartmoor Classic highly recommended. Any plans for a mayhem timed sportive this year?
yep Dartmoor Classic, easily
yep Dartmoor Classic, easily the best ive done in the last two years (and better than the Dragon i reckon)…mind you the FoD spring classic was tougher, even though it’s got less total meters in climbing the hills are unrelenting (all 18) and all short (ish) and steep-er.
Dunkery Dash audax could be a good ‘warm-up’. 😀
plenty of power climbs on the
plenty of power climbs on the Chiltern 100 – full of home counties carbon
The Dartmoor Classic is not
The Dartmoor Classic is not for the feint hearted have done it three times…only once on a carbon. I am happy to give you a prize from the top shelf if you can beat me up any of the hills next year!! But I do like your bike…makes me think I could dust off my rusty Raleigh and try for a gold medal on that B-) Note the big words with months to go…won’t be so cocky the night before :&
If you’re really serious
If you’re really serious about riding that thing, try L’eroica?
I used to turn out for some of our fast club rides on an old Gios Compact that weighed about 22lbs – ride was predominantly E, first and second cats and we’d go for a 90 mile thrash around the Surrey Hills. Always a degree of satisfaction getting to the top of those hills first.
Is that the VC Meudon monty
Is that the VC Meudon monty dog?
That’s me safe in the Hell of
That’s me safe in the Hell of Ashdown, then – mind, my Ribble doesn’t count as ‘expensive’ 😀