Diggdydog
Muddy Fox Fan
Hello all - I thought I'd take the time to share a bit about my experience having moved to Madrid a couple months a go, and all the wonderful well priced bikes there are to find here!
The retro MTB trend hasn't quite taken hold here, with most riders either commuters on e-bikes or decathlon completes, or are extremely into their hobby with fancy titanium gravel bikes, MTBs, carbon track bikes and full team lycra. I have seen a couple cool bikes here, but not so many.
Upon arriving I knew I'd need a bike, for commuting but also having moved to a city with a desert climate. So I started scouring marketplace and found this old comfy aluminium Orbea. Orbea being a fairly big Spanish brand who have a huge share of the ebike and MTB market here. The frame was solid, nice chunky old school aluminium. It was the first bike I'd owned in years that was a bit ratty and left me unworried as I rode it on tough trails and down multiple sets of stairs coming home from my Spanish classes in the city.
It WAS a fun bike [for the two weeks I had it]. Then, perhaps predictably, it cracked. Right on the head tube.
In those two weeks, I got used to cycling in the streets here and also a huge sprawling park with some incredible trails (Casa de Campo).
So, I set about stripping it down and replacing the frame. However, having started to love cycling here, doing more miles in a week here than a month in London, I had become impatient and ended up buying a Giant that was already built. It ended up taking ages, but it eventually arrived. I love how the frame looks, especially the old colourful decals. However, on my first ride I could tell it was slightly too small for me and felt a touch uncomfortable to ride. However, I still took it out on a few big rides outside of the city, on some pretty rough but fun trails, and it performed well.
However, I still had an itch to build up all those components that were just missing a frame. Especially since the Giant, as fun as it was to flick around, was cramped.
Around this time @Obi-Juan told me about "the mythical Spanish brand", Razesa. I didn't know much about them, but I ended up reading up about their history (along with Orbea + Otero, the other main Spanish frame builders) and set about finding out. I found a beautiful red+black splatter frame in mint condition for only €60. I was a bit apprehensive after accidentally buying a bike a touch small for me before, but luckily this one fit perfect (once I built it up with some recycled components and a few newer ones).
I only finished it a few days a go, and still need to change a couple parts (namely the ugly decathlon saddle) but I've already put 60km or so on it, and I absolutely love it. Fantastic geometry, comfortable, exciting, and fast. And it looks phenomenal. It's also the first bike I've built in a few years, and I really enjoyed the process of taking it all apart and putting it all back together again. Especially that first ride when everything clicks and turns as it should!
Attached a few pictures from a 60km ride outside of the city yesterday. I can highly recommend Madrid as a base for some great ride outs.
To many more!
The retro MTB trend hasn't quite taken hold here, with most riders either commuters on e-bikes or decathlon completes, or are extremely into their hobby with fancy titanium gravel bikes, MTBs, carbon track bikes and full team lycra. I have seen a couple cool bikes here, but not so many.
Upon arriving I knew I'd need a bike, for commuting but also having moved to a city with a desert climate. So I started scouring marketplace and found this old comfy aluminium Orbea. Orbea being a fairly big Spanish brand who have a huge share of the ebike and MTB market here. The frame was solid, nice chunky old school aluminium. It was the first bike I'd owned in years that was a bit ratty and left me unworried as I rode it on tough trails and down multiple sets of stairs coming home from my Spanish classes in the city.
It WAS a fun bike [for the two weeks I had it]. Then, perhaps predictably, it cracked. Right on the head tube.
In those two weeks, I got used to cycling in the streets here and also a huge sprawling park with some incredible trails (Casa de Campo).
So, I set about stripping it down and replacing the frame. However, having started to love cycling here, doing more miles in a week here than a month in London, I had become impatient and ended up buying a Giant that was already built. It ended up taking ages, but it eventually arrived. I love how the frame looks, especially the old colourful decals. However, on my first ride I could tell it was slightly too small for me and felt a touch uncomfortable to ride. However, I still took it out on a few big rides outside of the city, on some pretty rough but fun trails, and it performed well.
However, I still had an itch to build up all those components that were just missing a frame. Especially since the Giant, as fun as it was to flick around, was cramped.
Around this time @Obi-Juan told me about "the mythical Spanish brand", Razesa. I didn't know much about them, but I ended up reading up about their history (along with Orbea + Otero, the other main Spanish frame builders) and set about finding out. I found a beautiful red+black splatter frame in mint condition for only €60. I was a bit apprehensive after accidentally buying a bike a touch small for me before, but luckily this one fit perfect (once I built it up with some recycled components and a few newer ones).
I only finished it a few days a go, and still need to change a couple parts (namely the ugly decathlon saddle) but I've already put 60km or so on it, and I absolutely love it. Fantastic geometry, comfortable, exciting, and fast. And it looks phenomenal. It's also the first bike I've built in a few years, and I really enjoyed the process of taking it all apart and putting it all back together again. Especially that first ride when everything clicks and turns as it should!
Attached a few pictures from a 60km ride outside of the city yesterday. I can highly recommend Madrid as a base for some great ride outs.
To many more!
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