Little Things, Good and Bad
02-12-16, 02:30 PM
#1
52psi
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Little Things, Good and Bad
I'd like to hear about the little things that we love and hate while riding. Could make for an entertaining read. 
Me?
I love diving into a right hand turn like a fighter jet and feeling like I'm leaning at 45 (or 60) degrees, even though it's probably more like 30.
And I hate when I run over something I didn't see and get a solid clunk! followed by a metallic cling cling cling. Even though I built the bike and I know it isn't the case, my first thought is always that I've had a catastrophic failure and some piece of my bike is tumbling down the road behind me. And I do a quick check as I continue, just to be sure.
Me?
I love diving into a right hand turn like a fighter jet and feeling like I'm leaning at 45 (or 60) degrees, even though it's probably more like 30.
And I hate when I run over something I didn't see and get a solid clunk! followed by a metallic cling cling cling. Even though I built the bike and I know it isn't the case, my first thought is always that I've had a catastrophic failure and some piece of my bike is tumbling down the road behind me. And I do a quick check as I continue, just to be sure.
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A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
02-12-16, 02:38 PM
#2
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Love a quiet, smooth shifting drivetrain.
Hate traffic at commute times.
Hate traffic at commute times.
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Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
02-12-16, 02:52 PM
#3
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love when you are zipping along on an efficient gear, feels like flying, and you pass someone on 26'' mountain bike with knobby tires, chugging away agains all the resistance.
i hate having to leave my bike at work because our plans change. or forgetting a lock. getting rained on.
i hate having to leave my bike at work because our plans change. or forgetting a lock. getting rained on.
02-12-16, 03:28 PM
#4
Sunshine
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I love pulling my youngest in her WeeHoo so we get to participate in the ride, we see things together, and talk.
I hate pulling my youngest in her 40# WeeHoo up a mile long hill while she asks me questions and spins her pedals...backwards.
I hate pulling my youngest in her 40# WeeHoo up a mile long hill while she asks me questions and spins her pedals...backwards.
02-12-16, 03:33 PM
#5
Senior Member
Love the feeling when a newly built bike just clicks with me
Dislike pass someone going the other way and them not acknowledging my salutations.
Dislike pass someone going the other way and them not acknowledging my salutations.
02-12-16, 03:48 PM
#6
Senior Member
I love conquering a hill, riding it while standing , and feeling like I'm in the tour.
I dislike riding a hill seated and feeling defeated, and wishing a had one more smaller gear.
I dislike riding a hill seated and feeling defeated, and wishing a had one more smaller gear.
02-12-16, 03:49 PM
#7
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I hate a 20+mph headwind. I love a strong tailwind at 7am in the country on a Saturday morning with zero cars because everyone in the area is still passed out drunk.
02-12-16, 03:50 PM
#8
Senior Member
I love conquering a hill, riding it on my hoods while standing , and feeling like I'm in the tour.
I dislike riding a hill seated and feeling defeated, and wishing a had one more smaller gear.
I dislike riding a hill seated and feeling defeated, and wishing a had one more smaller gear.
02-12-16, 03:58 PM
#9
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I love it when I catch and hook up with a racer in training on the road, especially women racers........
I hate it when the racer just easily sprints away from me, leaving me in the dust, embarrassing me for thinking I had even a chance to even keep pace......especially women racers
I hate it when the racer just easily sprints away from me, leaving me in the dust, embarrassing me for thinking I had even a chance to even keep pace......especially women racers
02-12-16, 04:05 PM
#11
Bar Ends Forever
02-12-16, 04:22 PM
#12
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I love getting out for a ride on a bike I haven't ridden in a long, long time
I hate having the sidewall of the front tire on the same bike begin to fail on me about 5 miles into the ride
DD
I hate having the sidewall of the front tire on the same bike begin to fail on me about 5 miles into the ride
DD
02-12-16, 04:31 PM
#13
Senior Member
I find it quite Zen when I'm riding to nowhere in particular, with no specific agenda or intent. Riding in silence with just wind in my ears. Feeling my breath in my lungs. Being at peace and "one" with nature, humanity, and the universe.
I know, that sounds all "woo woo" or whatever, but I am sincere. It's like being one with your bike and with nature. Just simply "being".
I know, that sounds all "woo woo" or whatever, but I am sincere. It's like being one with your bike and with nature. Just simply "being".
02-12-16, 04:39 PM
#15
Senior Member
I find it quite Zen when I'm riding to nowhere in particular, with no specific agenda or intent. Riding in silence with just wind in my ears. Feeling my breath in my lungs. Being at peace and "one" with nature, humanity, and the universe.
I know, that sounds all "woo woo" or whatever, but I am sincere. It's like being one with your bike and with nature. Just simply "being".
I know, that sounds all "woo woo" or whatever, but I am sincere. It's like being one with your bike and with nature. Just simply "being".
Wish Dave M could have kept that feeling when he got off his bike. Sorry, OT.
02-12-16, 04:44 PM
#16
Senior Member
I love early morning rides during the summer. I hate the flat, straight boring country roads I have to ride on. But I love that there are rarely any cars on them.
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Semper fi
Semper fi
02-12-16, 04:51 PM
#17
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I love riding during a snowfall in the morning The fresh snow helps my tires grip better and I don't need any coffee to get going in the morning.
I hate coming home after there is a heavy dusting of snow. The lugs on my studded tires get full of snow and I start to lose traction.
I hate coming home after there is a heavy dusting of snow. The lugs on my studded tires get full of snow and I start to lose traction.
02-12-16, 05:09 PM
#18
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I like a steel build with a dead quiet freewheel, no sound but the tires, until you shift, and once the shift is over, it'd dead quiet again.
I dislike riding behind another that has the brake QR wide open and a wheel so out of true that's the only way it's rideable.
I like to watch stainless spokes glittering in the sun.
I dislike the whir of a carbon disc and a three-spoke carbon bike going by. Doesn't sound like a bike.
I like watching the sun come up on a morning ride, in the short period of time before it begins to bake me.
I dislike watching the sun go down while I'm riding, and trying to get home before I get hit.
I like the feeling of fixing a flat and not pinching the new tube, a simple 5-10 minute break in the ride.
I dislike pumping up my only spare tube and realizing I pinched it.
I dislike riding behind another that has the brake QR wide open and a wheel so out of true that's the only way it's rideable.
I like to watch stainless spokes glittering in the sun.
I dislike the whir of a carbon disc and a three-spoke carbon bike going by. Doesn't sound like a bike.
I like watching the sun come up on a morning ride, in the short period of time before it begins to bake me.
I dislike watching the sun go down while I'm riding, and trying to get home before I get hit.
I like the feeling of fixing a flat and not pinching the new tube, a simple 5-10 minute break in the ride.
I dislike pumping up my only spare tube and realizing I pinched it.
02-12-16, 05:16 PM
#19
All Campy All The Time
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I love riding my Colnago in the neighborhood and seeing my neighbor drive by in his stunningly perfect AC Cobra (replica) going the other way with its side pipes thumping. As he passes, we trade waves. 
I hate being passed going up a hill by a school bus or trash truck that is barely faster than I am.
I hate being passed going up a hill by a school bus or trash truck that is barely faster than I am.
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My C&V Bikes:
1972 Bottecchia Professional, 1972 Legnano Olympiade Record,
1982 Colnago Super, 1987 Bottecchia Team C-Record,
1988 Pinarello Montello, 1990 Masi Nuova Strada Super Record,
1995 Bianchi Campione d'Italia, 1995 DeBernardi Thron
My C&V Bikes:
1972 Bottecchia Professional, 1972 Legnano Olympiade Record,
1982 Colnago Super, 1987 Bottecchia Team C-Record,
1988 Pinarello Montello, 1990 Masi Nuova Strada Super Record,
1995 Bianchi Campione d'Italia, 1995 DeBernardi Thron
Last edited by CroMo Mike; 02-12-16 at 05:22 PM.
02-12-16, 05:24 PM
#20
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Five am in June, the sun is just coming up, dew is on the grass and pushing off from the curb and knowing I have 4 hours to ride before I have to be anywhere. I love those first few minutes of a ride, especially in June, July and August.
Same ride but 5 miles later the anxiety of realizing my cell phone is still at home. I can live without it, but will the kids be ok?
Same ride but 5 miles later the anxiety of realizing my cell phone is still at home. I can live without it, but will the kids be ok?
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80 Mercian Olympic, 92 DB Overdrive, '07 Rivendell AHH, '16 Clockwork All-Rounder
80 Mercian Olympic, 92 DB Overdrive, '07 Rivendell AHH, '16 Clockwork All-Rounder
02-12-16, 05:25 PM
#21
Full Member
I love the smell of napalm in the morning. (You knew somebody just had to say that.) OK, I like when everything just "clicks" and the bike feels like an extension of my body.
The bad? Why mention them?
Bob
The bad? Why mention them?
Bob
Last edited by engineerbob; 02-12-16 at 05:28 PM.
02-12-16, 05:56 PM
#23
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I love hammering a 23lb vintage bike with down tube shifters in a 25+mph paceline with the carbon fiber boys.
I hate eventually getting dropped by said paceline and having to push same 23lb bike solo into a Texas headwind.
I hate eventually getting dropped by said paceline and having to push same 23lb bike solo into a Texas headwind.
02-12-16, 06:15 PM
#24
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I love it when I catch and hook up with a racer in training on the road, especially women racers........
I hate it when the racer just easily sprints away from me, leaving me in the dust, embarrassing me for thinking I had even a chance to even keep pace......especially women racers
I hate it when the racer just easily sprints away from me, leaving me in the dust, embarrassing me for thinking I had even a chance to even keep pace......especially women racers
its all the rage...
02-12-16, 06:17 PM
#25
Bike Butcher of Portland
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I love feeling "in the zone", not looking at my cyclometer, perfect cadence.
I hate really hot days, no water left, and miles to go before I can refill.
I hate really hot days, no water left, and miles to go before I can refill.
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If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.