[Closed] bbc4 now, the ride of my life

Great programme - I would have wanted to build it myself though.

Thought it odd Chris King doesn't do interviews.

Shame the end result was so utterly gopping...

For the roadies me included. Tom Simpson is on. Either a great or a terrible way to go depending on your point of view. Put me back on my bike is a great book.

Great show

great eh. loads of good telly about BIKES! thumbs up 🙂

A great nights TV. And a history programme about the cycle after the Tom Simpson prog. What is the world coming to?

Being a Potter I had goosebumps and my hair was standing on end when he was at Rourkies.

How chilled is Gravy?

Loved what I could see of the paint job on that Pinarello when he was riding with the Cinelli people.

Kelly and Breeze. The guy with the collection of original cruisers. Amazing.

And for the first time I have seemsomewhere that I would love to live. What can you say about Portland. Suddenly need to visit it.

great programme, i used nearly a full box of tissues!

I need to go back to the Welsh borders - awesome scenery and awesome hills. 8)

Ah, there was an article in The Times a few weeks ago by Rob Penn. Really enjoyed the programme, well presented by a pretty natural presenter. How could it not inspire folk to get on two wheels?

Just finished watching it on a bit of a delay... excellent stuff, even mrs dezb was interested!
Nice to see the finished article even if it was a road bike.
Aren't bicycles great?!

I feel ashamed reading this. I'm a roadie...obviously...and I thought it was a dull programme by a dull bloke who eventually made a bike which just didn't look particularly 'together'...it just looked like a mish mash of very expensive components which just didn't sit together so well.

I'd have liked to know more about WHY he chose the bits he did...I mean I know it was all supposed to be 'the best money could buy' for his dream bike but things like DT rims over Mavic...why? Why no ceramic rims if he wanted a bike that would 'last'. Anyway...not my problem, I don't have to ride it so I probably shouldn't be so critical.

I enjoyed the programme & thought the presenter was genuinely enthusiastic about both the hobby & his build.

However, i have to agree that the finished article did look a bit 'dull'.

For £4K i expected something special & unique, what we saw looked rather like any other slightly old fashioned tourer albeit with top end kit.

Thought the brooks looked a bit odd on there, maybe a different style would have been better. I liked the clunkers bit

Just checked this out again on iplayer. Two of my Scottish pals are racing in the clip following repack 34.20 and 34.25. Classic neon tartan lycra and See You Jimmy helmet covers. Got to be about 1990.

Rob has always been enthusiastic - there is a book based on the TV program or vice versa - see [url= http://www.robpenn.net/books.phtml ]here.[/url]

Thank god for iplayer.

That was superb.

roadie_in_denial - Member

I know it was all supposed to be 'the best money could buy'

no, no it wasn't.

he said so at the beginning - he just wasnted the best part for the bike (subtle difference).

but yes, more reasoning would have been good - for example, he chose continental tyres for sentimental reasons.

Great to see 'Breeze and 'Kelly still riding - fast too! and bouncing up from crashes...

Wot no Shimano? 😥 Each to their own, i guess.
Good programme, great to see Rob P wearing a Retrobike T on the box and good exposure for bikes and cycling in general - more please!

OK - I'll say it.

Did you see the skanky helmet he wore at the end? £4k of bike, Rapha shorts and the nastiest old helmet I've seen in years on his head. It looked odd as well - steel frame, carbon front end and the Brooks saddle that'll take him a year to break in.

Still - it made him happy - but the helmet was rubbish.

Wot no Shimano? Each to their own, i guess.

Did you see the guy riding the steel Pinarello when they took a ride past the lake. He had Shimano on his bike and it looked well shonky as well.

I liked the way they made a big play of showing him paying for all of the components, probably to pre-empt whinges about getting a free bike courtesy of the beeb.

Good programme though!

Yes, I noticed the special needs helmet, too. Weird.

Good programme, though - seemed strange that he was going to places and then negotiating for a tour / interview. He does know they have telephones in Italy, doesn't he?

Rachel

[i]Still - it made him happy - but the helmet was rubbish.[/i]

I noticed that, made me smile. I got the impression that the bike he built was slightly out of character to his normal riding persona. (ie. a bit shonky) 🙂

Shonky bike aside I thought the programme was interesting. Loved the bit in Portland. Now why isn't Bristol my 'cycling City' like that and I don't mean the ladies half naked asking for people to draw on her.

Looked like it was a 953 frame - should have left it raw IMO. Overall an interesting programme though.

Chain looked too long.....

didn't like the wheels, spoilt the bike. black groupset = black rims. I liked the brooks though,thinking about getting one now, and what a place for a first ride!!!!

excellent programme overall I thought.
agreed brooks saddle looked a bit 'heritage' next to modern stuff.
didnt catch what forks he got or what hubs- dont think they were record but could have been???
the old dudes from klunkerz were still ripping the corners pretty well.
did anyone else think that art student's puppies looked rather fake?

I mean I know it was all supposed to be 'the best money could buy' for his dream bike

I've just bought the book - and really enjoying it.

Personally, I'd have gone for Phil Wood hubs...

Was a tidy little programme I thought. Even the missus enjoyed it.

I agree the end product seemed a bit "out of sorts," but if every part is genuinely his choice then that's his prerogative, and surely he has his reasons. Especially if he's going to cycle round the world again.

[i]didnt catch what forks he got or what hubs[/i]

Front hub was a Royce. British made I believe. So he probably bought it here and took it with him and they edited that bit out.

I'm not a roadie, I don't know much at all about road bikes, but I know the carbon bars on a retro-style steel frame looked very wrong.

Didn't spoil my enjoyment of a nice show though.

That wheelbuilder had better be good if he's going to compare himself to Michelangelo though!

I forgot to check if he alligned his logos and valves...

As Allthegear has said, the only disappointing thing for me was the lack of seeing around the Campag and CK factories. Surely it would have been quite easy, with a little bit of planning, to have shown a bit more without jeopardising 'secrets' - or do they have something else to hide? Big as they are, I can't believe either company would pass up a golden marketing opportunity like that unless they had been given virtually no notice.

I have a feeling that there was a lot that had to be left on the cutting room floor to to fit into an hour and interest a wider audience. Maybe there could be an extended 'geek' version?

Still really enjoyed it though and I would like to see more from Mr Penn as his enthusiasm and obvious enjoyment of cycling is infectious and judging by the climb he did he's obviously bloody fit. I wonder if the Italians tried to drop him ?

^
yeah, I would have liked to have seen hubs factory, or at least some emphasis on how key they are to a decent ride, could have put a bit of that in an cut out a bit of the nodders in blue bibs going round portland

custom steel road bike? yes please
campag? ok well I understand the attraction
cinelli likewise, not sure about carbon on that bike
king? yes I suppose
brooks? hmmm not my taste

But

orange and blue?

What was he thinking!!!!!!!

I thought that - shocking choice of colours!!

The Cinelli guy persuaded him to get carbon bars instead of alu as he originally planned. One aim was to build a bike that'll last so maybe carbon is expected to last for longer than alu bars? Or just prefers to comfort?

I was surprised that Chris King wouldn't be interviewed. I've met and spoken to him a couple of times on Cycle Oregon. He serves coffee in the mornings and he keeps cickens. Top bloke.

Charlie Kelly and Joe Breeze are great guys too, met them on Mt Tam and at a friends wedding in Marin. Shot the breeze with Gravy too without knowing who he was. He was building up some wooden rimmed track wheels. Fairfax is a great town for anyone visiting San Francisco.

I have to say I did think Chris King & company didn't do themselves too many favours there. Refusing to be interviewed and being a bit sniffy about the tour with the cameras makes you look a bit silly when your "secret" product is headsets and hubs! I've got a video I use with the kids at work (Design teacher) that shows some pretty in depth filming of Shimano & Campagnolo production lines. Their work force having a break looked exactly how I thought they would mind!

I thought that - shocking choice of colours!!

I liked the colours - blue and orange are complementary colours - check the colour wheel if you don't believe me. 🙂

They also missed out the visit to the DT Swiss factory for the rims and spokes, based on the sort of receptions he got, I wonder if he was frog marched to the DT gates at gun point.

Wot no Shimano?

Liked the 2 colours. Just not together. Although it does have that retro feel.

The other 2 progs about bikes that followed were OK too.