My least controversial opinion is that Five Ten are perhaps the most emperors new clothes bit of riding gear ever. Fit inconsistencies, no feedback, sweaty bulky and heavy, made from the wrong material for UK biking, cold and let water in, waay too expensive for what they are, owned by a sweat-shop mega corp, and last ten minutes
Agreed, I think they rested on their laurels for too long when they were the only game in town. Their current "freerider pro" while a great improvement on the historic "freerider" (terrible name choice in the age of the google search), is inferior to my Foxes (sorry Matt) and my girlfriends Ride Concepts.
The Adidas branded ones are better - and more aimed at the backcountry adventure rather than ultimate handling performance.
Front mechs & qr's keep me rolling along 🙂
I love Sram AXS drivetrains paired with Shimano cranks
Until very recently I had been running positive angled stems (point-uppy) on my road and gravel bikes. Still do on my gravel bike.
I think it's better looking than a pointy-downy stem with a stack of spacers beneath it, not to mention mechanically being a better solution also (marginal gainz right enough).
Single Leg Pedalling Drills- totally useless waste of time IMO. Source: its just what I think.
I've recently learned exactly why I SHOULD be doing them, but I still don't because they're awful. Had realised how little work my left leg actually does in comparison to my right, probably why I sit so squint and my right hip is always sore 🙄
A left sided power meter worked better for me
I wave to everyone, according to friends this includes motorbikes, presumably cyclists when I'm on my motorbike 🙄
Try driving a VW T4/5/6 camper. I tend to be the secondary waver though - which isn't really a wave, it's a raised finger off the steering wheel and a nod.
You should nip over to the Cycling UK forum and post that.
I reckon it should be good for four pages of arguments, alongside prophecies of your imminent demise due to spontaneous drivetrain combustion.
Just throw in the same conversation that you also wear a helmet - boom, 23 pages of argument.....
not getting a boner over seeing an Atherton in the wild (my mate has one, so maybe i am numb to it. And i dont think its all that good).
You're numb to your mates boner? You can get lube for that.
not getting a boner over seeing an Atherton in the wild (my mate has one, so maybe i am numb to it. And i dont think its all that good).
I agree with you on that I've seen a few and just assume credit card debt, same if I see someone driving around in an Audi RS3 I think PCP, high monthly payments, grey living room with a media wall
Full lycra and road helmet on the mtb, it is a carbon xc bike but it was still enough for my friend to screw his face up a little when he saw me on it.
Lycra is definitely better when riding, it fits better, it doesn't catch on the bike or bike bags and feels faster.
I wouldn't wear lycra on my burlier mtb though. Weird I know.
I want a full sus gravel bike, and would have one if I had the money. Sorry.
I'm too tight to buy sports/cycling specific foods, jelly babies and plain water all the way for me.
I ride off road on something that isn't long, low or slack - and I still enjoy it!
I think I'm beginning to realise that a couple of my biggest cycling faux pas are strange desires not to confirm or own the latest 'must have' trends.
I don't own a single item of FOX gear.
I own, and frequently wear, multiple Fox tee shirts but I my bike uses Rock Shox fork and shock. And I don't have Rock Shox branded tees...
2 bikes now.
1 is 3 x 9
other is a 1987 tourer running flat bars, sram gripshift on 3 x 8 and cantis.
if it aint broke.............. ;o)
I don't know if it counts as a faux pax or not but I regularly cross the chain and nothing bad ever seems to have happened.
I don't even know what this means ? Guessing it means being in small \ small or large \ large cassette ring \ chain ring on a 2x or 3x road bike.
I still have tubes in some of my bikes. Which I suppose is an improvement over having them in all my bikes until quite recently
Whatever rule it is that says that the arms of your sunglasses should go over the helmet straps.
Nope. They go under.
That surely depends on the helmet. Straps running inside the helmet, nearly always better with glasses over the top. Straps anchored to the bottom edge of the helmet, glasses better inside.
This entirely depends on if you put the glasses on first or the helmet.
I wear full lycra and roadie helmet on MTB but use Time MTB pedals and stiff xx shoes on road, gravel and MTB. Never understood the point of single sided road pedals, riding in a road group and watching them all struggle to clip in and out at the lights makes me think I have it right
That reminds me, I always use roadie helmets instead of mtb helmets (except full face).
I generally find them more comfortable. That and the fact I've hit my head on low branches several times over the years wearing mtb helmets because the peak means I don't even see the branch.
That reminds me, I always use roadie helmets instead of mtb helmets (except full face).
*Points and laughs at Bruce riding past
I don't even know what this means ? Guessing it means being in small \ small or large \ large cassette ring \ chain ring on a 2x or 3x road bike.
Yeah, Shimano for instance suggest you shouldn't use the little ring and the smallest three sprockets (more to stop the chain catching on the inside of the big ring). Can't remember what they recommend with regards big ring and big sprockets but I think everyone strays up there once in a while.
I definitely saw a Youtube vid (GCN I think) testing the efficiency of dirty chains vs. clean chains and they actually showed that the bigger losses were from larger chain angles (i.e. as it departs from a straight line between cogs) and from chain wrap e.g. wrapping the chain around smaller sprockets.
Whether it matters depends on whether you're princess-and-the-pea enough to notice it! (I just hate the extra drivetrain noise from being crossed over but I'm very precious 🤣 )
I recognise myself in several of the posts above, and more 😄
2 bikes loosely described as off-road, both 26", one's 3x8, the other 3x10. Both have bar ends (which are really quite handy when it comes to turning the bike upside down) although only one's got a riser bar. I only converted one to tubeless last autumn. Oh, and one's even got a Brooks saddle on it. Couldn't give a shiny sh1t about logos and valves. Cateye computers on them both. If I'm in an unfamiliar area, there'll be a printed map in a case slung round my shoulders, none of this £300+ Wahoo or Garmin nonsense.
I have tubes in all my bike wheels.
I have also converted my Sonder Frontier to a 2x setup, which so far seems to work really well for everything I use it for.
Helmet straps go over spec arms too,but this is mostly because they're vision corrected, not just shades, so it's nice being able to still see when taking my helmet off.
I also recognise myself in many of the above (flat pedals, lycra (though not full) and glasses under the helmet straps). In addition most of the time I use a rear mudguard on my hardtail, and I log all my rides on my phone but never upload any of them to social media (I don't even have a Strava account).
I am another person who wears roadie lycra when out on the MTB (it is an XC bike at least). Extra pockets for PB butties etc rather than a bumbag
I also have a super-compact 46/30 oval front rings on my road bike which is a bit jessie
Oh yeah, I haven’t ridden a bike since October, and having a chat with a doc today, there’s a very real chance it might be October ‘27 before I do again.
New bike arrives in 3ish weeks 😫
I mostly wear normal clothing on my bikes.All this lycra nonsense is not for me.
Often wear a roadie cap and old road helmet when I ride XC MTB, partly habit and comfort also because the peaks on MTB lids are hopeless in the rain.
Pretty much the same clothing whether I ride road, gravel or MTB. Trail trousers in winter, slim fit shorts in summer.
Don’t own a pair of Lycra shorts.
Cycling clothing is weird 🙂
re cycle clothing.
i truly think it is horrible even if i was a perfect bodied adonis i would still not wear it.
columbia or decathlon walking clothing is my go to for clothes to cycle in.
comfort, ok quality and mostly, it looks ok in the pub post ride
TBH, these days it's basically a noise issue with a side order of _very_ slightly faster wear. The big problem BITD was old 5/6/7 speed systems where the chain would try and force itself off the sprockets if you cross chained, or start a crappy half shift at the front if you were small/small. These days we have *much* more flexible chains that'll run happily at a bigger angle, better chain retention on (most) groupsets, and chainstays on road bikes starting at 405-415, even on the most racey geos. My favourite road bike has 395, and i've seen shorter (385 on a couple of my old race bikes). Don't even get the chain catching on the back of the big ring in small small on most current bikes.you're princess-and-the-pea enough to notice it! (I just hate the extra drivetrain noise from being crossed over but I'm very precious 🤣 )I don't even know what this means ? Guessing it means being in small \ small or large \ large cassette ring \ chain ring on a 2x or 3x road bike.
I wave to everyone, according to friends this includes motorbikes, presumably cyclists when I'm on my motorbike 🙄
Try driving a VW T4/5/6 camper. I tend to be the secondary waver though - which isn't really a wave, it's a raised finger off the steering wheel and a nod.
-nods-
Oh dear:
i don't always wear a helmet and when I do I have removed the stupid peak thingy
I often just wear ordinary clothes
I don't log my rides
I tow a bob trailer for my offroad touring even tho I have superlight kit ( its bikepacking anyway 🙂 )
I buy my cycling specific kit from aldi and lidl
i don't always wear a helmet
Me too - pub, shops, down the cycle track to the gym will generally be sans helmet.
Proper MTB ride I'll always wear one though
I tow a bob trailer for my offroad touring even tho I have superlight kit
If I could afford a BoB I would do this also! Have decided I just really don't like strapping things to my bike, and having a BoB trundling along behind you is just fun 😎
I don't log my rides
I log mine because the nerd in me likes to see how far I've gone. I couldn't care less about average speed or metres gained or HR or any of that crap.
