A Mum, Dad and their 2.4 children are on a family ride in, say, Delamere Forest.

Dad uses the opportunity to showboat to the other riders. He’s on a flashy full-suss Lapierre or Orange 5 and he wants everyone to know it.

The kids, meanwhile, happily burn the rubber off their Giants, Islas or baby Konas.

Mum trails behind on her… Trax? 😕

Why, when a family rides together, do the wimmen usually end up with the rubbish bikes?

I asked Mrs 16. Men, she said, love things. Oh, they can love people, too, but most of all they love things. Women usually just want everyone to be happy, even if this means that they’re left with a Trax.

So, does your other half ride a worse bike than you and, if so, does that make you an egotist?

For the same reason that stereotypical women like shopping while stereotypical men don’t.

I have two bikes and Mrs always bags the full susser when we go for rides together.

I assume everyone will realise that both of the bikes are mine so my ego remains in tact. 😉

No and erm No

does your other half ride a worse bike than you

yes, on the basis it does what she wants a bike to do and she can’t see any point spending more money on something she only uses now and again.

Yeah – my other half rides a Spesh Myka Sport, which on paper is ‘worse’ than my bike.

But, for her it is perfect. For the riding she does she doesn’t even need the Tora forks or the disc brakes, but she insisted on a bike with discs.
She rides it seldomly on forest paths and she doesn’t want anything that would require constant fettling & fiddling.
Oh, and it had butterflies on the top tube.

I suspect that with most of the families you see out and about, the bloke on the decent bike is a regular cyclist, whereas the other half perhaps is not as interested and is happy enough on a bike that she can use to get involved in a family activity. No point spending £2000 on a bike that gets used round Rutland water twice a year.

So, does your other half ride a worse bike than you and, if so, does that make you an egotist?

Yes, she does, because I do 10-15 hours a week riding then toddle off all round the country to race, whilst she digs hers out thrice a year and we pootle down some towpaths.

She still has a £700 Rockhopper for doing that. So in terms of £/mile, hers is vastly more expensive than mine.

I know what you’re saying on principle, but it’s difficult, how do you get your SO into riding without her either feeling (accurately) she’s on the inferior bike, or spending a fortune on something that may not be wasted.

I’ve swapped wheels with my GF when we went out before, made no real difference, but it made my bike about 3lbs heavier, and hers lighter, levelled the playing field a bit!

Edit: good to see a lot of us are on the same wavelength 🙂

Value of OH’s bikes = value of Cougar’s bikes / 2

Conclusion: some men are nobbers. Film at 11.

What do you mean by showboat? Is he showing off on his bike or just riding a nice bike? Is it not that he rides a lot so has a nice bike kids outgrow them quick so no point spending a mint and Mrs just goes for a pootle along the fireroads once in a while and wants something basic.

I thought the family had to be riding Dads “cast offs”. You know – all the bits that were left over after some essential upgrades had taken place….

my other half rides a worse bike than me cos she uses it approximately 4 times per year on green rated forest trails.. she got really rad the other day and rode a line that passed very near to a pine cone..

with that sort of abuse her parts bin special should last into the year 2789 withe careful maintenance..

I aim to ride 75+ hard offroad miles per week in all weather.. my kit has to be very strong, light and functional.. modern technology is useful for keeping everything the right way up and pointing in the right direction..

for the same reason my wife’s TOTR cooker cost 1700 odd quid… mine cost £18 from a camping shop..

your other half is a militant feminist and is probably bumming your sister behind your back..

sorry

on the plus side she sounds quite enthusiastic about bikes so it may be worth your while to get her something half decent.. you may win back her affections..

Always see couples out for rides and the bloke is 20 yards in front. Consistently. Why not just delete the 20 yards and ride together?

If I was any good I’d show off on family rides to impress my son and duaghter, not other riders.

As it is, I do my best not to fall off and hope they don’t think I’m an idiot.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2x_DI7tzNQ[/video] 🙂

Over biked, under biked. Hmmmmmm

What do you mean by showboat?

When the dude says: “Sheila” (if that’s the Mum’s name) “I’m off for a blast. Look after Delores, Archibald and 0.4 of Derek, would you? The trails are calling…”

He screams off in a cloud of Delamere dust. She sighs and looks after the family.

This, as far as I can see, happens a lot. Done it myself a few times. 8)

Always see couples out for rides and the bloke is 20 yards in front. Consistently. Why not just delete the 20 yards and ride together?

That’s what I’m talking about.

My missus’s bikes are worth a lot more than mine and there are more of them. I bought them for her and she rides them every day. Guess that means that I’m no egotist….

Family rides for us. Me on my On-One Alfine. Son – Isla bike. Wife Orange 5 Diva (XT and Revelevations) 😀

your other half is a militant feminist and is probably bumming your sister behind your back..

😆

* suddenly a whole lot makes sense *

dads are just the same as single blokes that are into mountain bikes but they also have a family 😐

I’ve never ridden off and left my girlfriend, nor ridden 20 yards infront of her. Running while she cycles works quite well I find.

Ha ha ha ha

My beloved has a very nice bike I bought her. It gets used nowhere near as much as mine does. I can’t see what relevance that is at all. When she does use it, its a nice bike with decent brakes and suspension (though bloody awful tyres – must get around to changing them). As Opposed to a BSO. So she’s going to enjoy the riding a lot more

I have started to take it out for occasional exercise though. Just so it doesn’t feel neglected. I’m good like that 😀

I ride a Cotic Simple with a baby seat on the back, my daugter will be riding a Beinn 20 after christmas, Wife rides a Cannondale Prophet with full XTR and a DT Swiss XCR 150’s.

We work hard to have nice things (Okay; the Cannondale is my primary bike – but I wouldn’t let my missus ride a shed, i’d use it as an excuse to buy a second bike and stick flat pedals on it).

Personally i think you’re all being a bunch of XC jeyers right about now, i zoom off in front of mrsconsequence and its important after i’ve made her knickers wet with giant leaps off the kerb and riding standing up around the garden… i race off further ahead to gather up all the momentum i can fit in my fake camelback to get up the next/any potential future hill on my (and i think i’m the only one niche/brave enough to ride one) singlespeed with mudguards.

I enjoy waiting for her to eventually catch up to me chilling out at the top of the hill then once she comes into sight (usually around 70% of the way up the hill i set off into the next section as fast as is needed to remind her who’s the better rider.

if i let her stop for a breather or some liquid, i’m doing her a disservice by not encouraging her to build up her endurance.

medical FACT.

(her bike isnt as nice as mine, but as she has had to learn (often by the power of greyskull) she’s not as good as me and as a result she does not feel worthy of further bikecycle investment at present, an important mindset to re-enforce if you’re partner also enjoys riding)

I ride a rather nice bike, my GF rides my play bike. This is becasue she rides it once a year tops and sees no point buying a bike for that.

Re. the showing off, surely it is well known that all girls love skids and wheelies so maybe the man is trying to impress his wife!

So, does your other half ride a worse bike than you and, if so, does that make you an egotist?

yeah, my wife rides a pink marin MTB. she likes it for her little pootles on coastal paths where we live, and she didn’t want to spend more than 400 quid. if we go out together I’ll be on my genesis SS CX bike.

I don’t think my 3 grand carbon road bike would really be suitable for her needs…

My beloved has a very nice bike I bought her. It gets used nowhere near as much as mine does. I can’t see what relevance that is at all. When she does use it, its a nice bike with decent brakes and suspension (though bloody awful tyres – must get around to changing them). As Opposed to a BSO. So she’s going to enjoy the riding a lot more

You’re in a minority, binners, and obviously a caring, giving chap…

… not that I can judge most of the other posters on here. Mrs 16 currently rides some POS Apollo (although we are saving for a decent hardtail)…

if i let her stop for a breather or some liquid, i’m doing her a disservice by not encouraging her to build up her endurance.

😆

if a man can ride towards their family and execute the perfect skid whilst staring into his wife’s eyes, its a medical FACT that she’ll fall instantly pregnant and all his children will immediately grow full, thick and well conditioned beards.

thank you for reminding me lunge.

My six-year-old’s been after a beard for ages.

Phil, you may have saved me a visit to the joke shop. A million thanks.

* slinks off to practice his perfect skids *

my daugter will be riding a Beinn 20 after christmas

I hope your daughter doesn’t read STW or the surprise will be ruined.

i got my wifey to buy a commencal which she liked as it was white even if it did have crappy suntour forks

for her birthday i got her some fox float terralogic forks, lopped a load of weight off the bike and much nicer ride

she doesnt like them because they are grey

If I suggested to herself that I was going to buy her a bike to ride, I’d wake up one morning to the smell of mountain oysters for breakfast.
Oh she has her own bikes, which are all pretty nice, which she bought and paid for all on her own.

Junior Consequence earlier:

I always use the rule when getting parts for the mrs that if I wouldn’t use it why should she, my mrs’s bikes are as good or better than mine, although she has no interest in shiny/blingy bits, that’s a man thing I reckon..

I bought my OH a Speshy Hardrock with a few ‘cast-off’ upgrades to see if she liked riding.

I am happy to say that due to her (self confessed) quiet astonishing lack of ability, I will NEVER have to upgrade that bike 8)

Yeah and you all wonder why the missus doesn’t want to ride a bike. 🙄

😉

cos they’re too busy shaving/trimming their babies majestic beards CG?

erm … I choose and paid for my bikes myself – consequently have a rather nice Titus Motolite, a ‘cross bike, and a mid-range road bike. Can’t imagine why anyone would want to have someone else decide what bike they need! Happy to listen to advice, but in the end it’s my bike and I’m paying for it, so it’s up to me what I want … but then I’m probably one of those ‘militant feminist’ types 😉 (Don’t have anything to do with your sister though!)

Oh, and my Titus was better than my ex OH’s full sus bike, but he chose the bike he wanted, plus he was a better rider than me (personally I felt I needed all the ‘skills-compensator’ help I could get!).

But having experienced it, it was pretty disheartening to always see your OH disppearing over the hill as you trail constantly behind trying desperately to keep up … and usually failing 😳

My mrs has no technical ability, a few nasty falls on her mountain bike have knocked her confidence, but she does ironman so the second it points uphill she pulls my legs off 🙁
Her favourite saying is ‘it’s not about the bike, it’s the rider’ when she sees blingy bikes……I’ve tried to tell her that’s rubbish,.. but she’s not having it,,,,,,