905 

Math is fun! though if that really was a hypotenuse she'd be very uncomfortable


My first road bike was… a hybrid. The one underneath me in the picture here. I rode it everywhere. Rode it across a country or two, if Scotland counts. [Note to self: insert pic of angry Scot. Shouldn't be hard to source.] I wasn't even thinking in terms of hybrids or road bikes; I just divided 'em into bikes with curly bars and bikes with straight ones. Oh, and bikes with fat knobbly tyres, but I didn't want one of those.

Probably I went for the straight barred one because it seemed better suited to London, my chief pleasure ground.

Although I've picked up a bit more technical knowledge since then, to be honest my philosophy remains KISS.


No. Keep It Simple… Sam.

If it rides nice, and it looks nice, I'm happy. Maybe shallow, but smiling. (Having said that, one of my bikes was not pleasing to the eye at all when I first saw it on the showroom floor. Seduced by its other charms, I took it for a test ride. It felt great, so needless to say I was stuck with it. Funny how it gets better looking every year.)

I was thinking about this stuff today as I cheerfully dodged everything the city could throw at me and my little folder. On paper it's less than ideal for the urban landscape, with its tiny wheels and wide handlebars seemingly antithetical to the potholes and compact spaces which abound. Yet it works perfectly. The tiny wheels launch me from traffic lights like nobody's business, and the wide bars (they really are scary wide; the pic on that thread doesn't do them justice) provide awesome leverage and balance for all the twists and turns.

What I'm getting at is, when you go shopping, ride with a blindfold on. Use echolocation or something.


Some bike companies encourage it.

hueyhoolihan

okay...

Road Fan

From the Emily Dickinson Cyclery.