Not disappointed with Downtube
 

Ordered Monday, delivered Wednesday. The faster orange colour. Emails to Yan were answered within 45 minutes. Thanks also to Velo Chocolate for some patience during my house move.

Bike perfect out of the box. Even the gears index ok. First ride - snappier acceleration than a Speed D7. Eye-searing orange paint adds 10 mph, and means even Blind Pedro in his Fiat Panda cannot miss it.

Now Mulleady and 'Black Bart' - his hopped-up Downtube will have some reckoning.

Congrats, I personally like the finish on the bike. I removed the stickers and used polish on the paint and it looks great. Will you be personalizing your pumpkin?

If I had lotsa time, I'd take a can ' o paint stripper, strip it, and polish the alloy frame. Or, I have a can of NATO Green metal paint, so I could make a sort of Army Bike with a MASH Huey paint job.

But time is short, so I'll just ride the thing. I was pleased with the 'carbon fibre' dérailleur and twisty shifter - it adds a sort of geeky charm. Bike rides very well though, so as soon as the weather clears up I'll be out on it. I thought the adjustable stem a good idea too, but have left it flat. Everything worked out of the box, which was nice.



Neighbour's comments: "the rear dérailleur is too near the ground. "

Part of the fun in riding off-road is going back to collect the bits that got knocked off.

"The paint's very orange."

Yes, that's because it's orange paint.

"Don't you have to pedal too fast to get anywhere on that"

Yes. It only goes downhill, hence the name.


And: "Really nice bike"

Yup.

Patience on our part? I should be thanking you for your patience during the now-finished era of ridiculously long delivery times. Now I want to see it. And I have my own Black Bart, with with an oh-so-sexy Brooks B17 Champion Special with the nice copper rivets....

Those black ones - sheesh - orange paint is so much quicker.

Copper rivets are electromagnetically conductive, and focus toxic inter-stellar long-wavelength rays into the sensitive Downstairs Department. I'm not sure whether that's a bonus or a deficit. :D

I'd cover it with tinfoil, just to be on the safe side..

Darling, when I ride EVERYTHING is covered in tinfoil. Except that one time on the naked bike ride.

I would have preferred an orange, but since the bike is theoretically for press and publicity as well as riding, I thought black would go over better with business folk.

We need pictures!

Oh. Okay. I have a new Nikon D45/76-B with seven rinse cycles. I'll try tomorrow..

I think Vik is referring to pictures of Sammyboy in tinfoil. :p

snafu21, from memory you got an HH7 as well? Aint that just a little bit, you know, greedy ?

Jealous, moi?

I had many thousands of bicycles in my summer palace on the Balls Pond Rd. But I had a sit-down Serious Meeting with the g/f tonight.

She claims custody of the Hammerhead, I retain the Matrix, the cat, and the new orange Downchoob. The D7 I sold on Ebay, to fund the Choober, so I'm down to just TWO bicycles with occasional Hammerheading thrown in for good behaviour.

The Downchoob will live in the planet-wrecking 4x4 for silly jaunts to race Mulleady and his evil Black Bart, the Matrix is my offroad fitness bike, and currently covered in mud and horse poo.

We are undecided who should get custody of the Elton John CD's. Mulleady, I think, if he loses the 100 metre sprint next Hyde Park meeting.

I have noticed collecting silly bicycles is more economical than collecting silly motorcycles, though. My total spend on cycles this year is less than a grand. When I had the moto fetish, I spent rather more.:twitchy::twitchy::twitchy:

So am I.

Now we will need counseling to get that visual out of our heads. :)

Anyway <sniff> I burned 6000 calories unpacking my Downtube today.

excellent! welcome to orangedowntubeland! :thumb:

Congratulations on your new bike! The orange is, in fact, one of the fastest colors. Lance Armstrong was almost able to keep up with me riding an orange downtube. I was lucky and had my naked, I mean, Raw Lacquer with me (which studies revealed a +14.7% speed increase).

Got pix yet?

Of course, Eddie Merckx was riding orange when he broke the hour record.....

Hahaha - that "unpacking a downtube" video was hilarious!

It was obviously meant to depict a smoooooth peformance, but what with the box sticking to the bike when trying to lift it out of the box, then the bloomin box flaps closing perversely, causing the unpacker's hand to get stuck in it, and the box getting over blown against the chap, it was an absolute hoot! Not sure if the intrepid unpacker is Yan, but he sure had his job cut out to make it look easy.

:roflmao2:

Sure was Yan but you better not laugh too much or he might toss you in the sea Jur lol See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu4RH...eature=related
I believe Yan burnt 600,000 calories doing this. He is trying to show that the Downtube is lighter than the Dahon Mu SL and to scare off any whining customers at the same time with those biceps of his!

I see you have been finally TANGOED Sue! However, if you harbour any ambitions to outdo Black Bart the pimped up Downtube you'd keep Tango Tim in the boot (trunk in American) and race the 100m in your 4x4. You could claim you won using the bike that way :p Otherwise I can only see you mistakenly chasing Mulleady's shadow into the Seperntine lake and causing severe rust damage to your bright machine or getting eaten by the local sharks in there.

Elton John CD's? I might even let you win Snafu, claim the prize and flog them to passers by in Hyde park and raise enough for a nice cup of tea and buns in the cafe just for myself. I just hope you don't have any Britney Queers CD's in your collection as a prize because i just might have to leave Tango Tim trailing in the Hyde Park Dust!

Let's see some pics of your K-type star unpacked and your new modelesque figure standing beside it -6000 calories later. If not just the bike in middle England somwhere. It would be a bonus to see if you could do more than 5 sit ups with Tango Tim in your lap swinging from a tree and upload it to Youtube with the link. Can you beat Yan the Yeti Man's Downtube challenge? I'll buy you the Victoria Beckham's Greatest Hits if you can!

Sammyboy in tinfoil? British beef at its best? We could barbecue him over the spit in Hyde Park to provide 600,000 calories for Snafu before her Yeti and Black Bart challenges. Rumours abound she does have quite an appetite. Or we could all play Wizard of Oz with Sammyboy as Tinman and Snafu as the wicked witch of the East with her magic orange bike. Mulleady as the wizard aided by his black stallion Bart.

Pix:

http://i38.tinypic.com/555r2w.jpg


Objects of Desire:

http://i37.tinypic.com/24oc3o9.jpg

http://i33.tinypic.com/mrp6p5.jpg


Lee on Solent, Hampshireville. Force 6 Wind, lashing rain....

Trying to make me don my shades to see this pic eh?

Like your home Snafu, where do you park the 4x4?

No wonder you got the orange FS to match your house and also you can fold it and only take up 50% of your living space.

I expected the 4X4 to be yellow! :D

Once the jeep is inside my magnificent palace, there is little room for anything else. Hence the folding bicycles.