- Thread starter stuvy
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Ashley Burton
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@Lewis_RX8 I think I would of enjoyed it more on my own bike!
One thing which has been a great game changer is the Garmin 1030 Edge I bought at the start of the year. It's opened up so many different riding routes & combined with OS maps you can get yourself lost in the countryside
Also want to add trail routes for bike parks as I have got lost due to poor sign posts many of times
One thing which has been a great game changer is the Garmin 1030 Edge I bought at the start of the year. It's opened up so many different riding routes & combined with OS maps you can get yourself lost in the countryside
Also want to add trail routes for bike parks as I have got lost due to poor sign posts many of times
bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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No pic of my current bike(s), as they're locked up in the garage.
This was the first MTB I ever owned:
Saracen Limited Edition, 1988 model.
(not my picture)
Paid £299 cash for it from Watson Cairnes in lower Briggate, Leeds, round about November 1988 (I was 16, just had first son, and was working behind a bar whilst doing 7 A levels!)
Had them swap the knobbly tyres for hybrids in with the price.
I went specifically for this model because it was the only one which had the braze-ons for panniers, as well as two bottle mounts.
I cycled over 30,000 miles on it from buying it to getting married in late 1993.
Went up Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon on it. As well as a big chunk of the pennine way.
Did the east-west coast (along Hadrian's Wall), and also the Wold's Way and the East Coast path (basically humber bridge to Whitley bay).
Went Leeds - Scarborough and back practically every week. (I worked weekends, college was Monday and Friday. So I set off Tuesday morning, and returned home Thursday night).
After getting married, I used it to cycle to work and back - 30 mile round trip to the far side of Bradford at one point! - Until I finally had to buy a car for work. (1999)
It got stolen in 2002 :-(
but tbh, it was pretty much worn out by then: the bottom bearing was bent where I got knocked off on my way home one night, and the seat post had a dent where someone tried to mug me. (and I hit him in the face with the bike).
Insurance paid out £200 IIRC. That disappeared on "house stuff".
In 2012, I dropped on the one bike which I lusted after all the way through my late teens and early 20s : Gary Fisher Paragon in Black, Yellow, and Red. In my size, "hardly ever used it - been in my shed since he left home" - £89! (£1200 list price - which was a LOT of money when I was on £2.50/hr bar work and supporting a wife and 3 kids).
I've done less than 500 miles on it since I bought it :-(
(again, not my pic)
This was the first MTB I ever owned:
Saracen Limited Edition, 1988 model.
(not my picture)
Paid £299 cash for it from Watson Cairnes in lower Briggate, Leeds, round about November 1988 (I was 16, just had first son, and was working behind a bar whilst doing 7 A levels!)
Had them swap the knobbly tyres for hybrids in with the price.
I went specifically for this model because it was the only one which had the braze-ons for panniers, as well as two bottle mounts.
I cycled over 30,000 miles on it from buying it to getting married in late 1993.
Went up Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon on it. As well as a big chunk of the pennine way.
Did the east-west coast (along Hadrian's Wall), and also the Wold's Way and the East Coast path (basically humber bridge to Whitley bay).
Went Leeds - Scarborough and back practically every week. (I worked weekends, college was Monday and Friday. So I set off Tuesday morning, and returned home Thursday night).
After getting married, I used it to cycle to work and back - 30 mile round trip to the far side of Bradford at one point! - Until I finally had to buy a car for work. (1999)
It got stolen in 2002 :-(
but tbh, it was pretty much worn out by then: the bottom bearing was bent where I got knocked off on my way home one night, and the seat post had a dent where someone tried to mug me. (and I hit him in the face with the bike).
Insurance paid out £200 IIRC. That disappeared on "house stuff".
In 2012, I dropped on the one bike which I lusted after all the way through my late teens and early 20s : Gary Fisher Paragon in Black, Yellow, and Red. In my size, "hardly ever used it - been in my shed since he left home" - £89! (£1200 list price - which was a LOT of money when I was on £2.50/hr bar work and supporting a wife and 3 kids).
I've done less than 500 miles on it since I bought it :-(
(again, not my pic)
Tangledfeet
Think outside, no box required.
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@stuvy @Ashley Burton How tall are you guys? Wonder if it's a height thing; I'm over 6'1" so it suits me. I was 26" until I got the Merida FS several years ago and that persuaded me that bigger wheels make sense if you're taller - more proportional.
@Ashley Burton Before we moved to Fife nearly eight years ago we used to live 30mins drive from Glentress and Innerleithen. Trail centres are fun but I've always enjoyed exploring and plotting lines on paper OS maps more!
Used to pay an annual pilgrimage to the Fort Bill downhill champ for several years; it turned the atmosphere in the area into a cycling Mecca! Have ridden the XC course there and did a 24hr team event there almost 15yrs ago.
@Ashley Burton Before we moved to Fife nearly eight years ago we used to live 30mins drive from Glentress and Innerleithen. Trail centres are fun but I've always enjoyed exploring and plotting lines on paper OS maps more!
Used to pay an annual pilgrimage to the Fort Bill downhill champ for several years; it turned the atmosphere in the area into a cycling Mecca! Have ridden the XC course there and did a 24hr team event there almost 15yrs ago.
stuvy
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My mate had a Saracen raw in black and orange I had a Saracen rufftrax way back in 1995
my first mtb that I Brought myself at the age of 15 was a specialized A1 hardrock I used that to ride trials, xc, commute and did the lejog when I was 16 it took three weeks and we did it all off road, also did the east to west coast on it. I still have it and makes me smile every time I look at it
my first mtb that I Brought myself at the age of 15 was a specialized A1 hardrock I used that to ride trials, xc, commute and did the lejog when I was 16 it took three weeks and we did it all off road, also did the east to west coast on it. I still have it and makes me smile every time I look at it
Ashley Burton
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@Tangledfeet I'm 5'9
I think it was more that the 29" bike I rode was a low spec model & the ride was woeful
I think it was more that the 29" bike I rode was a low spec model & the ride was woeful
stuvy
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I’m 6’2” my orange is a 17” frame and it is small but I like it. I do swap bikes with my mates when we’re out and my mate went through loads of bikes. He has a limited edition from hope. I know what he payed for it and it would be brand new car... it’s light but I don’t see the point when mine does the same job and he can’t drop me off his back wheel
bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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I'm 5'7 with a 30" inside leg: I don't get on with 29" wheels. I look like I've "stolen my dad's bike" apparently.
I fit a 17.5" frame on a 26" wheeled bike - but that does depend on the length of the crank arm. (borrowed a mate's (same height, but 34" inside leg) speedway push bike that had extra long crank arms - let's just say we still refer to the incident as "The Nutcracker Waltz".
Ashley Burton
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bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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I'm sort of tempted: I have a habit of cycling too far (thinking I'm still 24 y/o, and 13 stone - not 48y/o and 18st), then having to get a lift home.
My house is about the highest point for 15 miles in any direction. It's *always* uphill to go home.
It would mean I could get home: but I could see myself overusing it on the outbound trip - then STILL having to phone someone for a lift.
WorkshopChris
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Love them especially for the commute, when I ras riding work was not far and almost all off-road.
Your choice of power from almost full assistance to off, depending on how tired you are or how much fun you want.
marlinspike
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We holiday in Austria a lot, where bike renting is very popular and the electric bike thing has taken off massively in the last few years. I'd say that most of the bikes being rented in the Tirol are e bikes now. I'm nowhere near fit enough to bike up a mountain so I can really see the appeal - it hugely widens the scope for the casual and unfit biker. Hopefully prices will drop eventually.
bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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That's basically my plan. Luckily there's a quite pleasant loop around my part of Leeds, with my house at the centre of it - so I'm never more than a couple of miles from home. (and 200 ft of climb
)Topographic map of middleton:
The green all the way round represents a drop of at least 200ft - much further east (and away from the city), it's a 400ft drop. lovely on the way out (especially as the prevailing winds are easterly). Awful coming back.
We once did a 15 mile run to Lotherton hall in about 40 minutes. Barely pedalling.
Turned round to come home, and a gale had blown up - took 5 hours to walk home!
When I worked at the far side of Bradford, it was faster to cycle the 15 miles around Bradford ring Road, then cut across through Morley (the light pink bit in the bottom left of the map) (50 mins total) than cycle Bradford train station (3 miles, 10 mins) and out of leeds centre (Dark blue top right) (5 miles, 45 minutes). that's without including the train ride!
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Tangledfeet
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They have a place. Last big group ride I went on last year reassembled a whole load of us that used to ride together around 15yrs ago and two guys had them; one of them is in his 70's and another has MS - it meant that they could both participate. It also meant that it was me that was last and rode largely on his own as I only cycled three of four times last year! I'd be fine now as I've got my mojo back.
stuvy
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one of my mates goes out with a fast group of lads, he borrowed one from the bike shop on a test and said he dropped all of them off his back wheel
matt1978
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I Think it’s something I might look at next year esp with the Bike2Work scheme as it also applies to ex demo/ex rental bikes and considering some of these bikes were over £4-£5k when new and you can get the for around £2k and with the tax savings it could cost you about £1200 out of your own pocket, they seem good value. But I guess high end Bikes and “value” don’t go together now. I’m sure I seen one full Sus advertised for about £13k and it wasn’t even an eBike. How do they even begin to justify those sort of numbers??
