carrera virtuoso, and cyclists under 30
Discussion
ok well ive had my virtuoso a few weeks now so time to give a bit of an appraisal.
First thing i notice is how damn quiet the bike is .. my Ribble would rattle itself crazy over broken tarmac, in fact any tarmac come to that! The carrera is tight and rattle free apart from the usual chain bounce noises over bigger bumps, quite impressive.
The brakes are also very good for a cheap bike, progressive and virtually silent. I was expecting the rims to make some noise but it's ghostly quiet. impressive stuff.
The indexing on the gears seems pretty accurate too with only a few changes on my 30 mile ride yesterday not going 100% cleanly .. again this is better than the campag veloce I had on the Ribble too.
In fact at the only thing i'm considering changing at the moment is to put some thicker handlebar tape on and change the blinking seat lol! all in all Im staggered you can get so much bike for 320 pounds! It's knocking spots off the 700 pound ribble.
The other thing I noticed yesterday was how few younger (ie 30 and under) cyclist say hello to you on a ride. I always try to say hi to fellow cyclists when I'm out and about but the pattern seems to be that the older people out on more leisurely rides always have time to say hello or wave, but the younger riders never even acknowledge you, grr. anyway thats just a small observation that didnt detract from what was a thoroughly enjoyable ride through dore and owler bar and baslow.
happy riding all
First thing i notice is how damn quiet the bike is .. my Ribble would rattle itself crazy over broken tarmac, in fact any tarmac come to that! The carrera is tight and rattle free apart from the usual chain bounce noises over bigger bumps, quite impressive.
The brakes are also very good for a cheap bike, progressive and virtually silent. I was expecting the rims to make some noise but it's ghostly quiet. impressive stuff.
The indexing on the gears seems pretty accurate too with only a few changes on my 30 mile ride yesterday not going 100% cleanly .. again this is better than the campag veloce I had on the Ribble too.
In fact at the only thing i'm considering changing at the moment is to put some thicker handlebar tape on and change the blinking seat lol! all in all Im staggered you can get so much bike for 320 pounds! It's knocking spots off the 700 pound ribble.
The other thing I noticed yesterday was how few younger (ie 30 and under) cyclist say hello to you on a ride. I always try to say hi to fellow cyclists when I'm out and about but the pattern seems to be that the older people out on more leisurely rides always have time to say hello or wave, but the younger riders never even acknowledge you, grr. anyway thats just a small observation that didnt detract from what was a thoroughly enjoyable ride through dore and owler bar and baslow.
happy riding all
I was going to start a post about miserable cyclists myself but just read this.
I'm used to the friendly nod, smile or odd hello in Pembrokeshire, but working in Swindon as far as I can work out, 90% of all cyclists no matter how old they are are miserable b
ds.
Sod em, I'm still going to smile & say "alright?" (or maybe just a grunt if I'm knackered) and make 'em squirm in their general miserableness
I'm used to the friendly nod, smile or odd hello in Pembrokeshire, but working in Swindon as far as I can work out, 90% of all cyclists no matter how old they are are miserable b
ds.Sod em, I'm still going to smile & say "alright?" (or maybe just a grunt if I'm knackered) and make 'em squirm in their general miserableness
So it's not just me! I cycle to work now and again on a disused railway track which has been converted into a cycle route, we also have one that runs along the river. I would say only 10% of riders acknowledge me with more than just a grunt or snarl most just sail on by and I spend the rest of my ride beating myself up as to why I bother saying Hi, Most ignorant are the ones who look as they are well into the sport or keen cyclists. I'm thinking of having a T-shirt designed.....any ideas?
fastasflip said:
Most ignorant are the ones who look as they are well into the sport or keen cyclists.
Tbh, you seem like the ignorant one - if they are "well into the sport" they are probably out training - i know that if i am doing sprint/TT intervals then the last thing on my mind is "did that guy just wave?" all i am concentrating on is the 20m directly infront of my wheel.If i'm out on the TT bike, i wont wave.
If i'm doing anything hard - i wont wave - i wont even see you.
If i'm pulling at the front of a paceline, i wont wave.
If i'm out doing recovery or commuting, then i will wave at anyone else on a bike - not expecting them to wave back.
I'm 22 for the record.
Blimey I ride into the city, if I waved at everyone I'd fall off!. The only time I've had a load of "hallo's" or "good morning" was the other week when there was a tube strike and there was a lot of occasional cyclists on the road.
Mind you I'm currently not riding as I was knocked off so back on the train, now if you want misrable try the 7.30 WGC to Moorgate!!
Mind you I'm currently not riding as I was knocked off so back on the train, now if you want misrable try the 7.30 WGC to Moorgate!!
fastasflip said:
So it's not just me! I cycle to work now and again on a disused railway track which has been converted into a cycle route, we also have one that runs along the river. I would say only 10% of riders acknowledge me with more than just a grunt or snarl most just sail on by and I spend the rest of my ride beating myself up as to why I bother saying Hi, Most ignorant are the ones who look as they are well into the sport or keen cyclists. I'm thinking of having a T-shirt designed.....any ideas?
Chester By any chance? my local haunt, but not managed to get out this year (the shame....must do something about that)Whereabouts are you riding?
I also try and give at least a nod to other people on bikes and, likewise if pedestrians stray onto the cycle paths I try and acknowledge it when they move out the way.
However, it's very rarely reciprocated. That has nothing to do with the age of the cyclists though, it's because I'm in London. On an aside, it was hilarious trying to explain to one of my colleagues yesterday how I'd transfered money directly into someone's account on the promise that they'd ship my new car, just on trust that they wouldn't ake the money and run: "But there's something I don't understand, you're doing this on trust right, and you've never even met the guy...." "Yeah" "No, that's what I don't understand."
Any sort of faith in human nature is a complete mystery to those within the M25.
I also try and give at least a nod to other people on bikes and, likewise if pedestrians stray onto the cycle paths I try and acknowledge it when they move out the way.
However, it's very rarely reciprocated. That has nothing to do with the age of the cyclists though, it's because I'm in London. On an aside, it was hilarious trying to explain to one of my colleagues yesterday how I'd transfered money directly into someone's account on the promise that they'd ship my new car, just on trust that they wouldn't ake the money and run: "But there's something I don't understand, you're doing this on trust right, and you've never even met the guy...." "Yeah" "No, that's what I don't understand."
Any sort of faith in human nature is a complete mystery to those within the M25.
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