The clubs having it's open day this Sunday and I'm leading a 40 mile intermediate ride
The idea of our open day is to let folk join in on what would otherwise be a normal riding or training day. The difference is that we are open to anything newcomers want to ask, and we ease the pace off a bit.
Anyway, we have a guy turning up on Sunday on a eliptigo. I don't mind admitting that this doesn't sit well with me.
Views?
at least it's not a 29er
What sort of ride are you doing?
Providing you are not all stopping to let him catch up anymore than you would with say a novice then where is the issue?
also at least you'll all have something to talk about in the pub after
I've just had a look at the video on their website, it looks like the faster you go the more wayward you are.
Could be a nightmare on a group ride.
Hopefully you can all drop him in the first mile and enjoy a proper group ride.
I take it he's an attention seeker.
I've just had a look at the video on their website, it looks like the faster you go the more wayward you are.Could be a nightmare on a group ride
Exactly. Some of the things new riders want to learn is positioning, following a wheel and etiquette. I'd have trouble sitting on the wheel of one of those, and the two abreast bit.....shudders.
Tell him he needs to stay at the back until you as ride leader are satisfied he can hold a line, brake at the same rate and generally be safe around the other bikes and them around him, new riders about and a novel cycle could lead to distractions etc.
Googling suggests that cruising speed is 15mph which would prob match other new riders.
How long has he been riding one? 40 miles on one of them looks tough, Kudos to him if he performs on it.
Let us know the outcome and good luck with the ride in general.
They go pretty darn quick, but spoon...knife fight!
Just seen the video, and not quite so enthusiastic now... I'd like to see how quickly he can stop under control and if the roads are anything like ours round your way I'd be very wary of him swerving to avoid potholes with them tiny wheels, so the rest of the group are going to have to be pretty good at pointing and calling them out.
When do you reckon they will do the mtb,29er and BMX versions?
small wheels, upright position, no gears/hub gears, heavy(?), 40 miles...
rather him than me.
[s]quoting[/s] paraphrasing the elliptigo website: "at least 30% more effort than riding a bike"
I thought at first this was a posh brand of bike and I was confused
but I've googled it
I think that there is a case for saying no or offering to lend him a bike. It is a bike ride. You wouldn't allow a micro scooter, skate board, moped etc. I'd be tempted to allow an electic assisted bike for a person with a valid reason for a lower output or a 2 wheel recumbent if it had the rider well off the ground.
The people on the ride will make their choice if they want to stay on it.
I used to abandon group rides if there were too many triathletes present !
Safety first. I wouldn't be sticking about if that turned up. There are enough dangers on the road without that in the mix.
And the guy bringing it along is probably a selfish dork with not very good chat.
As great as it is to be open minded, you ought to be careful about letting weirdos join your ride group. It'll end up like this eventually:
[img] 
[/img]
The guy won't have an issue with the distance, I notice that he has done the Chiltern 100 on one. Though the pictures show him in a group of these things, not with other bikes.
Don't like those two bits that stick out of the back past the rear wheel.
I'm all for inclusion but this takes the urine.
I lead rides occasionally and I wouldn't let him on one of mine, probably through my own ignorance of what he/it does.
The stuff you want to demonstrate/teach/explore with newbies/intermediates won't apply to him, so why is he coming along on a 'normal' ride. If he just wants a ride, mark up a map and tell him to get on with it!
Your call but personally i would do a risk assessment when they got there as it may hamper your aims re new cyclists.
Can you chat to them first?
If he's already done 100 mile rides he's likely to be far less of a liability than the other novice riders.
I wouldn't be encouraging close riding on a ride like that anyway.
Did he show up? What was it like?
Did he show up? What was it like?
Yes he did and he was fine. He tended to stay at the back or front, the other riders felt uneasy if he was next to them.
Though the main thing, being a terrible old fashioned snob was the aesthetics