bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
Minty in the quantocks
30 years since I first rode this bike here
Incredible low bright sun through the bare trees, why i love cycling
Today's Ride
- Thread starter FairfaxPat
- Start date
Minty in the quantocks
30 years since I first rode this bike here
Incredible low bright sun through the bare trees, why i love cycling
PhillB
GT Fan
Weather has been amazing here tis weekend, So managed to fit in a couple of rides. First to on a familiar route, but with my coffee stop at a bench that I've not stopped at over the winter.
The Park was quite busy, so mainly rode on the tracks to keep away from the kids, pets etc... Thank fully there is room enough for everyone!
Next ride was this morning. They've closed a couple of junction on the M25 this weekend so traffic is being re-directed round my neck of the woods and it is utter chaos. So, running a few errands on a bike was the way to go.... this one is not really built for off-road, even in the relatively benign park, but I stopped off for a rest, sit in the sun in the small park/sports pitches near my house.
Not to many photos of this one, although it's one of my favourite riders.... It was put away for the winter.. Lovely to ride it again!
The Park was quite busy, so mainly rode on the tracks to keep away from the kids, pets etc... Thank fully there is room enough for everyone!
Next ride was this morning. They've closed a couple of junction on the M25 this weekend so traffic is being re-directed round my neck of the woods and it is utter chaos. So, running a few errands on a bike was the way to go.... this one is not really built for off-road, even in the relatively benign park, but I stopped off for a rest, sit in the sun in the small park/sports pitches near my house.
Not to many photos of this one, although it's one of my favourite riders.... It was put away for the winter.. Lovely to ride it again!
Just a short shake down ride today around the local roads trying out my newly finished Raleigh Triathlon that I spoke about in an earlier thread.
The bike rode really well and the mechanics and frame have been nicely restored for me by a really nice chap down on the South Coast with a liking for dark beer! Seriously he did a fantastic job and the bike itself was a revelation in how well it rode, lively and responsive I would say and I enjoyed the short ride immensely.
My gardener sent me a message asking if I wanted a bike, he was clearing out the barn on another property he works at. A proper barn find! The owner had told him to take it to the tip!
He says the 80+ year old owner had bought it in the 60s but with the full Shimano 105 I doubt that, maybe he had it upgraded in the 80s/90s. Lovely San Marco Rolls and the thinnest tyres I have ever seen...20c!
No model name though, does that suggest a repaint at some stage?
He says the 80+ year old owner had bought it in the 60s but with the full Shimano 105 I doubt that, maybe he had it upgraded in the 80s/90s. Lovely San Marco Rolls and the thinnest tyres I have ever seen...20c!
No model name though, does that suggest a repaint at some stage?
The bike rode really well and the mechanics and frame have been nicely restored for me by a really nice chap down on the South Coast with a liking for dark beer! Seriously he did a fantastic job and the bike itself was a revelation in how well it rode, lively and responsive I would say and I enjoyed the short ride immensely.
PhillB
GT Fan
It's always awesome when a bike that has been neglected gets a new lease of lifeJust a short shake down ride today around the local roads trying out my newly finished Raleigh Triathlon that I spoke about in an earlier thread.
My gardener sent me a message asking if I wanted a bike, he was clearing out the barn on another property he works at. A proper barn find! The owner had told him to take it to the tip!
He says the 80+ year old owner had bought it in the 60s but with the full Shimano 105 I doubt that, maybe he had it upgraded in the 80s/90s. Lovely San Marco Rolls and the thinnest tyres I have ever seen...20c!
No model name though, does that suggest a repaint at some stage?
The bike rode really well and the mechanics and frame have been nicely restored for me by a really nice chap down on the South Coast with a liking for dark beer! Seriously he did a fantastic job and the bike itself was a revelation in how well it rode, lively and responsive I would say and I enjoyed the short ride immensely.View attachment 937661View attachment 937663
moonlite
Kona Fan
Large chunks of Australia's East Coast are feeling the impacts of the worst cyclone in decades, including flooding, high winds and the associated losses of power, roofs etc. Here, though, we're on the very fringes, so it's been a bit windy and a little rainy, but overall we have escaped scot free. So today I took the '98 Explosif for a little ride in light drizzle, which would drift over and be replaced by bright sunshine, only for the next wave of drizzle to replace the sunshine ten minutes later.
My usual dirt road out of town was being graded, which, combined with the rain, made the surface very claggy and mushy. It was interesting trying to pick out the most efficient line through it. Once down in what I fondly call the Badlands, it was clear that some work is ongoing to ready the land for development -- some of the rough surfaces had been levelled and some efforts made to mark out boundaries etc. This made some bits easier to ride on and opened up others, so it was fun to tool around there for a while, looking for new parts to explore. I startled some damp kangaroos and vowed yet again to set up my GoPro so I can video them for these posts. One day, maybe.
While I was down in the valley and among trees, the wind came up and I had to slog home into the teeth of it -- not overly challenging, but enough to make the return rather tiring. After all that, it was only 21km with 240m climbing. And a very muddy Explosif to clean.
It's such a nice bike to ride -- I'm cynical about some of the more poetic descriptions of well-riding bikes (man and machine as one, etc) but this one is so easygoing and willing -- it doesn't get in the way of having a bit of fun, climbs nicely, seems pretty fast, and doesn't beat up my geriatric body. Definitely a keeper.
My usual dirt road out of town was being graded, which, combined with the rain, made the surface very claggy and mushy. It was interesting trying to pick out the most efficient line through it. Once down in what I fondly call the Badlands, it was clear that some work is ongoing to ready the land for development -- some of the rough surfaces had been levelled and some efforts made to mark out boundaries etc. This made some bits easier to ride on and opened up others, so it was fun to tool around there for a while, looking for new parts to explore. I startled some damp kangaroos and vowed yet again to set up my GoPro so I can video them for these posts. One day, maybe.
While I was down in the valley and among trees, the wind came up and I had to slog home into the teeth of it -- not overly challenging, but enough to make the return rather tiring. After all that, it was only 21km with 240m climbing. And a very muddy Explosif to clean.
It's such a nice bike to ride -- I'm cynical about some of the more poetic descriptions of well-riding bikes (man and machine as one, etc) but this one is so easygoing and willing -- it doesn't get in the way of having a bit of fun, climbs nicely, seems pretty fast, and doesn't beat up my geriatric body. Definitely a keeper.
Betsy
Old School Grand Master
Just a typical day in the north of England..
In all seriousness, my kid showed me some TikTok videos yesterday.. walls of water just flooding into people’s houses through the windows.. it was incredible!
N-plus-one
Old School Hero
I do love to see a Bianchi in a colour other than Celeste Blue. I also think that 10% ascent/descent of the length of the ride is a good ratio for a decent Zone 2 training. I'm fortunate that in the Pyrenees, it's not difficult to achieve that ratio (even on the so-called flats). My Bianchi also not Celeste Blue ;-)Third try's the charm! Finally got a ride out on the Bianchi with no mechanical failures doing around 64km/30 miles with 660m/2165ft climbing. 12c and a slight breeze made a nice change from getting battered by the wind like we have for the last few weeks. Definitely took it on some routes it wasn't made for but all good fun, got my first Strava KOM too
Yeah, it's nice to see some variation! I liked what they did a few years back for Greenedge with the black/teal/celeste colourway, or Pantani's 98 celeste/yellow fade job which was then replicated on modern frames for the 20th/25th Giro anniversary.
Strangely from looking at Strava logs it looks like I've somehow adhered to that 10% rule, from some recent rides; 112km 1311m, 38km 383m, 47km 475m, 66km 654m, etc. Fortunately most of the hills around me are the steep short kind as opposed to long slogs though I'll definitely have to work on finding some harder climbs prior to doing the C2C as Hartside pass looks painful.
Strangely from looking at Strava logs it looks like I've somehow adhered to that 10% rule, from some recent rides; 112km 1311m, 38km 383m, 47km 475m, 66km 654m, etc. Fortunately most of the hills around me are the steep short kind as opposed to long slogs though I'll definitely have to work on finding some harder climbs prior to doing the C2C as Hartside pass looks painful.
