Look what I borrowe...
 

[Closed] Look what I borrowed to ride home from the pub last night

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3-speed hub gears, coaster brake, hub dynamo, basket on the back. Tres chic, non?

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 8:19 am
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Is that a Jones?


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 8:37 am
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where's the monkey then??


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 8:50 am
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did you have to leave your balls at the bar? ๐Ÿ˜†


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 9:24 am
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blimey, is that a full on dh town bike? how slack are the head and seat angles!


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 9:25 am
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Someone's stolen the basket! ๐Ÿ˜€


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 9:25 am
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I've got a bike.You can ride it if you like.
It's got a basket, a bell that rings, and things to make it look good.
I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it.


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 9:28 am
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Your wallpaper looks a bit baggy.


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 9:36 am
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That looks suspiciously like the one I saw Miss Gulliver riding........... ๐Ÿ˜ฏ


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 10:59 am
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postierich will want that back come monday morning...


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 11:24 am
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Thats a horrific mess of a contraption!


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 12:27 pm
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I found an abandoned bike like that, in the street outside my home. Took it in, gave it some TLC, and it was good to go. Proper nippy around town, and a comfy, relaxing ride. And me mate on his MTB with fat tyres found it a struggle to keep up!

Brilliant pub bike. I din't even have to lock it up, as long as I could see it.

I believe it's currently doing service in Brighton, for the young lady I gave it to. She was thrilled to bits.

You're the kind of girl that fits into my World
I'll give you anything, everything, if you want things.


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 12:48 pm
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It's a [url= http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=strike+bike ]Strike Bike[/url].

Fantastically comfortable to ride.


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 6:50 pm
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After 10 pints of anti-gravity water Mike 'borrows' a bike he found outside the pub last night leaving poor old bubbles to make his own way home ๐Ÿ˜•

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 7:04 pm
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Were you hiding in the park with a camera last night? ๐Ÿ™‚

The one I borrowed has a basket on the rack at the back.


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 7:22 pm
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Just found out I can have it for four weeks!


 
Posted : 28/02/2009 7:23 pm
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I rode Fern in today (that's her name).

The basket swallowed up a pile of marking and my bag, so I had no weight on my back.

The coaster brake works brilliantly, so I only touched the brake lever (there's only one) a couple of times.

The upright position meant no weight on my hands at all, so my busted rib (coughing-related) might actually get a chance to heal.

The hub gear has a nice uphill gear and a rolling along gear.

I didn't have to tuck my trouser leg into my sock!

My Endura jacket felt wrong. Anyone got a tweed jacket going spare?


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 11:24 am
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You could put on a nice dress and hat and go for a slow ride around Skerne Park, Branksome, Firth Moor and Red Hall


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 11:34 am
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Is it a Soliturd?


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 12:00 pm
 Olly
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love those town bikes, so comfy and incredibly quick on flat cyclepaths.
not that whippy in the acceleration stakes (more like a hippo, a fat one)
but who cares when your that stylish.
i want one in my fleet ๐Ÿ™


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 12:13 pm
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what on earth is wrong with you ๐Ÿ˜‰


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 12:27 pm
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You could put on a nice dress and hat and go for a slow ride around Skerne Park, Branksome, Firth Moor and Red Hall

I only got one chav comment on the way to work this morning. I think they were confused.


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 12:40 pm
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but who cares when your that stylish

Cuff links for the ride to work today ๐Ÿ™‚


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 12:45 pm
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and *whispers* no helmet.

*runs*


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 12:48 pm
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I think you would need a peaked tweed cap with that bike. Would look out of place otherwise!


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 12:52 pm
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That's a kick-ass piece of machinery, but would it be fun on a commute that was more than 2-3 miles long? I reckon the lack of gear range, the weight and the barge-like steering would make the novelty wear off pretty quickly.


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:12 pm
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There's more of a range of gearing than on my singlespeed, so it was quite a novelty for me ๐Ÿ™‚

If my entire commute were in an urban area, I'd happily use this for all of it, even if it were longer.

This bike is being used for the English end of a documentary examining different attitudes to bike use between English and German teenage girls. At one point in the film, a class of 17 years olds in Germany are asked how many of them rode to school that day - all but one of them raised their hand. They ride up to 10km each way, on bikes just like this (as do their teachers of course).


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:20 pm
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How much can you do me a bag of your finest onions for ? ๐Ÿ˜€


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:34 pm
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I'd be vaguely interested in seeing that documentary, although I would expect the English girls to come out with a range of well-informed arguments along the lines of "Bikes are crap, and that particular bike is ultra-crappy". There seems to be a perception in the UK (which I share to some extent) that you need an MTB or a road bike to get anywhere efficiently, a hybrid or town bike just won't cut it.


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:35 pm
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How much can you do me a bag of your finest onions for ?

It's German; I can do you some saurkraut.


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:37 pm
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The English girls love the bikes ๐Ÿ™‚

[b]English:[/b] I couldn't ride in high heels
[b]German:[/b] What, like these? My feet would have hurt if I'd walked.
[b]English:[/b] What if it rains.
[b]German:[/b] If it rains, I get a bit wet. If it rains a lot, I carry an umbrella.

Some of the English girls are going to Germany soon, to see what riding a bike is like over there. Some of the German girls are coming over here in July (we need to get some post-traumatic stress counsellors on stand-by).


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:40 pm
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blimey, is that a full on dh town bike? how slack are the head and seat angles!

It is very slack, but the picture above is distorted a bit (the wheels don't look right).


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:42 pm
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There seems to be a perception in the UK (which I share to some extent) that you need an MTB or a road bike to get anywhere efficiently, a hybrid or town bike just won't cut it.

It's German. Of course it's efficient! ๐Ÿ˜‰


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:43 pm
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I have a bike just like it (but from the Austrian brand Puch). They're great for getting around town on as long as it's not too hilly and so much more practical than a mountain bike or something. It's amazing what you can carry on them - the most I've managed is a BBQ and required food, but my aim in life is to manage to cycle it in skiboots whilst carrying my skis...


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 1:51 pm
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Have none of you seen Copenhagen style? It's all beautiful stylish Scandinavian girls riding bikes like that one. They can't understand why anyone would ride anything else, even the bloke who runs the site. I think they're wonderful, meself.


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 2:40 pm
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Here you go:
www.copenhagencyclechic.com


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 2:49 pm
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This is the film project: [url= http://bikebeauty.mediaworkshop.org.uk/ ]Beauty and the Bike[/url]

The home page has some photos from the filming in Germany, so you can see the kind of bikes used all the time over there. The 'Dream' section has a slideshow of the English girls taking part in the project. The 'Reality' section has a film of my UK-style commute (hi-viz vest and all).


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 4:07 pm
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My mum had a bike like that. When we were kids, every-one wanted to ride it come the "How long can you skid" competition. Coaster brakes win hands down, every time....


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 4:13 pm
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Cracking bike. ๐Ÿ™‚

Does it have a dynamo? My current project on the cargo bike is to get it dymano'ed up.

Incidentally, I once rode my then girlfreind's 3-speed shopper 70 miles or so from Bristol to central Shropshire in a day. Heavy, hard to accelerate, some puching on the steep hills, but no big stress. You just can't be in too much of a hurry.


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 4:19 pm
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It's got a Shimano hub dynamo. There's no noticable drag and the front light's bright enough to ride through an unlit park and nature reserve at midnight after half a bottle of wine and a couple of pints ๐Ÿ™‚


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 4:32 pm
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[i]Does it have a dynamo? My current project on the cargo bike is to get it dymano'ed up.[/i]

I got one on my lovely commuter, dynamos are unbelievably useful on a useful bike like this, and modern ones are properly bright. No more having to charge lights or remember to bring lights with me if I'm going out at night, and I can have unexpectedly late nights without worrying about getting home. That and the almost permanently fixed big saddlebag make it so much more practical.

Still not found a way to get a chain guard that works with a big triple chainset though.

I commuted for a bit on the raleigh version of this kind of bike - it was quite convenient, went okay on the flat, but darned hard to get up any kind of hill.

Joe


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 4:37 pm
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dynamos are unbelievably useful on a useful bike like this

It's even more useful to have a mate with nine of them in his sheds, five minutes walk from the pub. That way you don't even need to remember to bring a bike ๐Ÿ™‚


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 4:41 pm
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Still not found a way to get a chain guard that works with a big triple chainset though.

My wife's bike has a triple and came with a chainguard, so it's possible.


 
Posted : 02/03/2009 4:41 pm