I had to ride an upright bike to work this morning [1]. I
hadn't forgotten how precarious it feels perched up there,
but I had forgotten just how much extra notice I need in
order to stop, and how much harder it is to make eye contact
with motorists when you're towering over them. Being able to
see over the cars was nice, but it doesn't begin to make up
for the disadvantages (IMHO).
My [censored] started to ache about 1/2 mile from work. My legs
started to ache halfway home, thankfully my wrists didn't
start to ache until a couple of hundred yards from home. I
will have to make this bike fit me better. This morning was
the first time I've ridden this particular bike, apart from
a brief test ride yesterday afternoon.
My old ATB was knackered years ago, but I made an effort
to keep it running until I was able to afford the bent,
then I kept it as a spare. But last year a friend gave me
a bike that he wanted to get rid of. He'd had it 6 or 7
years, but had ridden less than 100 miles on it, so it's
still in good nick.
The frame geometry is identical to that of my old ATB (which
I managed to make reasonably comfortable after fitting a
long seatpost and bar ends), so I thought it should be OK. I
transferred the slick tyres, mudguards, rack, seatpost,
saddle, computer and various handlebar furniture from my old
ATB to this one and thought I'd be OK. I didn't anticipate
the effect of the much shorter stem on this bike. It feels
incredibly cramped, though I was able to alleviate the
problem a little by moving the saddle back.
So, once the bent's back up and running, I'll transfer the
stem from my old bike to this one as well. And then my old
diamond frame is going to be transformed into a 3 speed
unicycle :-)
[1] On the way home from a picnic with Jenny last week, my
chain slipped off the biggest sprocket and got tangled
up in the spokes. This then yanked the derailleur
round, bending the dropout. This very nice man:
url:http://www.oldbagonabike.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
came round last night and bent it back for me (I am
now very glad that I insisted on a steel frame when
choosing a bike), but I still need to put the bike
back together again.
--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
speedy5.freeserve.co.ukdannyOpen ↗
Why I like OE6 - speedy5.freeserve.co.ukoe6.htmlOpen ↗
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine