It's been a long long time, well over a year and in truth I think I'd forgotten about this blog. Cycling doesn't really move on much does it, especially road cycling. Things just get lighter and more aero ow and maybe electronic....then hydro discs or discs in any format initially.
I had a Raleigh (didn't we all?!) I'm not now referring to the bike we all had as children, I had a Burner (just to be clear) but I had one recently, in the last few years a cross bike. It had huge 38mm Schwalbe Durano's and heavy ass TRP mechanical disc brakes. Felt like it weighed a tonne/ton.
It was a cracking bike but took a real effort to get going. The weight of it eventually got to me. To be fair, I never used it for its intended purpose. It was a cross bike which I only ever used on a 25 mile road commute. It was heavy and slow for the job I was using it for.
Anyway, I got rid of it because it bugged me. Got an Allez, cracking bike, rode 16,000 miles on it in just over 2 years. Sold that for a Cannondale Super Six Evo. I've just summed up 4 years in real time in about 11 words. I bought the Cannondale off my brother, he got it from a mate who was heading overseas, never told me what he paid. £250 he wanted for it, I couldn't say no. I sold the Allez for about £500 and that was that. A no brainer. I sold an alu road bike for a full carbon road bike and cash in the pocket. Win.
What.A.Ballache. S**t.
That's where it all went wrong. Carbon on carbon, who's idea was that?! Carbon paste on the seatpost, stem/steerer tube. It turns out that maybe i'm not the most sympathetic of riders. I don't really want to maintain anything, I just want to ride it and expect it to work, constantly. I'm a break/fix kinda guy. I wrote a previous post dated 19/02/2019 about the issues the bikes headset caused me. I think I fell out of love with cycling because of that bike.
Just sold the bastard, for a nice profit I might add. It was a good bike but just not with me on it. I'd added decent wheels and made it lovely and then covid f**king 19.
Lets breeze over that shit show. Actually, the pandemic added to the cause, the lack of bikes available online, the lack of ability to visit the highstreet all added up to an over inflated 2nd hand bike market. As my wife says "it's only worth what someone is willing to pay" amen.
I bought another cross bike and its pissing awesome....It's got Hyrdo disks and Sram Rival 22 and I've moved jobs (loooong story) and reduced my commute significantly and I can ride to my new place of work off road! (90% off road, 10% on really quiet B roads)
It's a world apart from a lightweight carbon road bike. I don't want lightweight, I'm not chasing KOM's, I want robust, I want versatility and I want something that works, just gets on with it. I want to change my stem position without the poxy thing coming lose, alu against alu works right! BUT more than all that, I want a bike that just goes anywhere I fancy, whenever I fancy it. Wherever I may Roam.
