I have a confession. For some years I was a dedicated, spandex-wearing road cyclist (basically until I moved to Austin 8 months ago). Since I came to Austin, I've spent a large amount of time tooling about town, flirting with the city itself from the back of my bike. Saturday, I brought back a piece of myself I'd started to forget.
Before work that morning I attached a small bag to the underside of my saddle. I put on cycling shorts, a jersey, a watch, gloves, sunglasses, cycling shoes. I attached my frame pump to its bracket, mounted my lights, filled bottles with water. I filled my tires with air and last but not least, put on my helmet, and set off the whopping 3.5 miles to work. I worked several hours and then at last, Shadow and I set off into the heat of the day towards downtown Austin.
On my arrival, in a delightful twist of fate, I ran into a dear friend of mine. After some time spent socializing later, Sunshine McSparklepants, her boyfriend Mr. Sunshine McSparklepants, and myself set off on our roadbikes for A Ride. A real ride. One like I haven't taken many of in the time since my move.
Rolling hills. Quick descents leading immediately into steep inclines. And not a damn bit of practicality in all of that. It felt awesome. In that spirit, I am registering for the Wurst Ride. I need something to train for. I need some speed, and some impracticality in my life. I need to road ride.
Showing posts with label Road Cycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Road Cycling. Show all posts
Monday, July 4, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Sport vs Transport Part Deaux
My criteria for what constitutes an awesome bike is highly variable. This is largely because I take a "Tool for the Job" approach to cycling, where no one bike is ideal for all tasks, though certainly some bikes are more ideal for most tasks than other bikes which are excellent at one thing, but suck at anything else.
There are no better examples of the two sides of the coin than a cyclocross bike and the downhill full-suspension mountain bike. For reference, I will choose two bikes I consider to be fairly representative of each type of bike. I'm going to go ahead and admit a huge personal bias towards smaller, quirkier manufacturers whose work is primarily in steel.
So check it. This is the Soma Double Cross:
This picture comes from the website for Soma Fabrications. However, when I googled this bike, most of the pictures of it came up tricked out as a commuter. For those not totally immersed in bike dorkdom, cyclocross is a sport that is basically centered around taking roadbikes off-road. This has created bikes which are fairly fast, handle very well in a variety of conditions, and tend to be tough as nails. They are versatile by their very nature, and as such, it's a bike you can ride for road rides, can do some trail on, and does just as well getting you to work. A lot of manufacturers have noticed this and include a lot of commute friendly features like braze-ons for racks and fenders and all the other goodies people like to put on their rides.
To contrast, this is a full suspension mountain bike, the Cannondale Claymore:
This bike is an amazing over-mountain bike. It will roll over just about anything going down a hill and you can do some incredible rides on it. But here's the thing - even going uphill on this bike is a bear of a task, due to the weight of the suspensions which make hillbombing at questionably intelligent speeds possible. If you tried to ride it on a normal trail with some people riding hardtail 29ers or god forbid, on the street with a few people riding hybrids, it would feel about like dragging a ball and chain up a hill. A squishy ball and chain.
The point I'm getting at here, is when someone asks me what constitutes a "good bike" or "the best bike", the first thing to ask is, "Well, what are you going to use it for?" because there is no one right answer. A good transport bike has a very different criteria from a road racing bike or a full suspension downhill bike.
For my money, versatility and practicality always win. Maybe I'm insufferably boring (not to mention preachy and arrogant), but if I'm blowing the equivalent of a month's worth of life on a bicycle, I like to be able to use it for more than just buzzing around looking cool. I also like using it for buzzing around looking cool while crossing things off my to-do list. Even if all that's on there is "Go to the pub for beerskis".
There are no better examples of the two sides of the coin than a cyclocross bike and the downhill full-suspension mountain bike. For reference, I will choose two bikes I consider to be fairly representative of each type of bike. I'm going to go ahead and admit a huge personal bias towards smaller, quirkier manufacturers whose work is primarily in steel.
So check it. This is the Soma Double Cross:
This picture comes from the website for Soma Fabrications. However, when I googled this bike, most of the pictures of it came up tricked out as a commuter. For those not totally immersed in bike dorkdom, cyclocross is a sport that is basically centered around taking roadbikes off-road. This has created bikes which are fairly fast, handle very well in a variety of conditions, and tend to be tough as nails. They are versatile by their very nature, and as such, it's a bike you can ride for road rides, can do some trail on, and does just as well getting you to work. A lot of manufacturers have noticed this and include a lot of commute friendly features like braze-ons for racks and fenders and all the other goodies people like to put on their rides.
To contrast, this is a full suspension mountain bike, the Cannondale Claymore:
This bike is an amazing over-mountain bike. It will roll over just about anything going down a hill and you can do some incredible rides on it. But here's the thing - even going uphill on this bike is a bear of a task, due to the weight of the suspensions which make hillbombing at questionably intelligent speeds possible. If you tried to ride it on a normal trail with some people riding hardtail 29ers or god forbid, on the street with a few people riding hybrids, it would feel about like dragging a ball and chain up a hill. A squishy ball and chain.
The point I'm getting at here, is when someone asks me what constitutes a "good bike" or "the best bike", the first thing to ask is, "Well, what are you going to use it for?" because there is no one right answer. A good transport bike has a very different criteria from a road racing bike or a full suspension downhill bike.
For my money, versatility and practicality always win. Maybe I'm insufferably boring (not to mention preachy and arrogant), but if I'm blowing the equivalent of a month's worth of life on a bicycle, I like to be able to use it for more than just buzzing around looking cool. I also like using it for buzzing around looking cool while crossing things off my to-do list. Even if all that's on there is "Go to the pub for beerskis".
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sport vs Transport
There is a powerful distinction to me between riding for sport/recreation, and riding a bike as a way to get from A to B. Not least in the bikes best suited for the activities. I ride for both, and enjoy both uses of my bikes very much.
For transport I ride a fairly heavy touring bike and most days put anywhere between 7 to 30 miles on it, depending on how much I have to do. I am often contrary, and for transportation, I like my bike to be a tad heavy. Obviously not excessively so - that's a waste of energy. But.....sturdy. Solid. Not going anywhere. I often carry large amounts of stuff on my bike, and having a heavy bike capable of getting a load home gives me a certain amount of security that no matter what I have to get done, it's not outside the realm of possibility. Behold a fairly sizeable grocery haul I brought home on the bike.
However, that's not to say I'm not all about sport riding. Last summer I was training for a century (which I admittedly never got to ride). I was doing large amounts of mileage every week, anywhere between 70-150 miles, with individual rides as long as 50 miles. My roadbike and I fused to become one creature with a fluid sense of cadence, shifting, and where turns felt more like instinct than a conscious movement of my handlebars. I also commuted on this bike 1-2 times a week, 15 miles in each direction. Earth's best commuter, it is not, but for those distances speed was the order of the day.
But this year for me has been the year of the commuter. I have the bike I've always wanted for it, set up exactly how I've wanted it. On my heavy bike I often feel like I can do anything (albeit at a slightly slower pace than on my roadbike). Ride any distance, go anywhere, and bring back almost anything I please. So they represent two totally different types of freedom to me. One of the freedom from my car, which I more or less regard as a gigantic four-wheeled ball and chain. The other is the freedom of the open road, the wind in my hair, and the feeling of invincibility of conquering a ride that once defeated me.
I don't know if sport or transport, if one is better than the other. I obviously on a personal level lean towards transport cycling for every day, but who am I to make that call for someone else. At least they ride a bike.
For transport I ride a fairly heavy touring bike and most days put anywhere between 7 to 30 miles on it, depending on how much I have to do. I am often contrary, and for transportation, I like my bike to be a tad heavy. Obviously not excessively so - that's a waste of energy. But.....sturdy. Solid. Not going anywhere. I often carry large amounts of stuff on my bike, and having a heavy bike capable of getting a load home gives me a certain amount of security that no matter what I have to get done, it's not outside the realm of possibility. Behold a fairly sizeable grocery haul I brought home on the bike.
However, that's not to say I'm not all about sport riding. Last summer I was training for a century (which I admittedly never got to ride). I was doing large amounts of mileage every week, anywhere between 70-150 miles, with individual rides as long as 50 miles. My roadbike and I fused to become one creature with a fluid sense of cadence, shifting, and where turns felt more like instinct than a conscious movement of my handlebars. I also commuted on this bike 1-2 times a week, 15 miles in each direction. Earth's best commuter, it is not, but for those distances speed was the order of the day.
But this year for me has been the year of the commuter. I have the bike I've always wanted for it, set up exactly how I've wanted it. On my heavy bike I often feel like I can do anything (albeit at a slightly slower pace than on my roadbike). Ride any distance, go anywhere, and bring back almost anything I please. So they represent two totally different types of freedom to me. One of the freedom from my car, which I more or less regard as a gigantic four-wheeled ball and chain. The other is the freedom of the open road, the wind in my hair, and the feeling of invincibility of conquering a ride that once defeated me.
I don't know if sport or transport, if one is better than the other. I obviously on a personal level lean towards transport cycling for every day, but who am I to make that call for someone else. At least they ride a bike.
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