[Closed] Only fair to mock this guy.

I feel bad.....but come on 😐

at least he's got a bike that should last him for all his future adventures?

(guessing so.. i dont know road bikes.. but sounds more fancy than an appollo from halfords which i started riding on)

Oh dear... On a Forum years ago a guy asked for bike advice (think it was a games forum) he ended up buying a yellow turner to go downhilling on. He talked of how he got up in the wee hours to phone Mr Turner himself, he became an overnight expert on tyres and he ordered the most expensive fork and wheels his LBS could get and bragged about his £6000 build. He started lecturing me on riding styles and mocking my ride. He didn't mention he hadn't ridden a bike since highschool and 2 weeks later the Turner was on eBay. A few weeks later he was buying a car to go drifting in.

Hmmm... ATGNI... At least they keep the 'pre loved/minimal use' market going 🙂

What size was the Pinarello?

I should add that this little group I ride with occasionally is what you might call a feeder club. There's always a smiling new face willing to come out with no idea of what to expect. And as these aren't training rides we tailor the route to suit. We'll sit with them and perhaps press on with an obvious stop ahead, but they always leave wanting to come back.
This guys face could have removed paint.

What size was the Pinarello?

Couldn't tell you, I don't know my top end kit. It was Campag with carbon chainset levers etc, but I don't know what it was. They all look the same to me.

Der... didn't read that properly totally missed out the word size.

I think people who's memories of bike ridign as a kid don't include the fact it was hard work don't realise how much effort you have to put in to maintain any sort of pace.

The guy should clearly have gone out on his own first but he's had a bit of a tough lesson on the 'How hard can it be?' side of things.

Personally, I hope he's gone off to do a bit of training and wil lbe back rather than giving up altogether.

Personally, I hope he's gone off to do a bit of training and wil lbe back rather than giving up altogether

Me to as I can't even afford second hand Pinarellos.

Oldgit

More common than you think.

Some people really believe that they can get fit through osmosis.

You can see them at most gyms ,swimming pools and bike shops.

They are masters at avoiding effort. 🙂

Couldn't someone have stayed with him and gone on a gentle spin to offer encouragement?

On our Tuesday night ride (mtb) we often have newbies out, they invariable struggle but they don't get dropped, we wait with them or someone rides/walks alongside offering encouragment.

I think you're being a bit harsh on the poor guy, Oldgit. So he's gone out and blown loads of money on a bike way past his abilities? That'd be just like me and Josephine, my Orange 5 then. 😳 Bet I'm not the only one on here who could say that either. 🙂

He's come out on a group ride and been blown off the back almost immediately? Hmmm... I know from my own painful experience over the years that thinking you're 'bike fit' and being 'bike fit' aren't the same. It's one thing to go out and do the miles yourself, at a pace you're comfortable with and easing up or stopping when your body demands a rest. It's a completely different thing to go out on a group ride where the pace and rests are dictated by someone else.

Even if the guy's a bit of a plonker, he's still someone who wants to share our hobby so should be encouraged rather than mocked, don't you think?

Beagy, over biked, over the hill, over weight and over a mile off the back on most group rides. 😉

fasthaggis - Member

Some people really believe that they can get fit through osmosis.

You can see them at most gyms ,swimming pools and bike shops.

They are masters at avoiding effort.fasthaggis - Member
Oldgit

More common than you think.

You see peeps on the machines at gyms reading... How on earth do you read if you're going balls out on something (i.e. training with effect)?

You see peeps on the machines at gyms reading... How on earth do you read if you're going balls out on something (i.e. training with effect)?

Um.... if you are aiming for weight loss then I don't think the idea is to go 'balls out' is it?

Is there any other way...? If you've bandwidth left to read you're not trying hard enough 😀

You're not a closet gym reader are you Grum? 🙂

Nah, I never go to the gym. 🙂

You see peeps on the machines at gyms reading... How on earth do you read if you're going balls out on something (i.e. training with effect)?

Better that they're on the machines reading and getting some exercise than sat on their backsides doing nowt. Some people just want to keep active. What on earth does "training for effect" mean anyway?

Good on that bloke with the fancy bike. If'd he bought a supermarket special some of us would be mocking him too. If he's got money to spend let him spend it.

Me neither, it full of ****ts reading books 😆

'Training for effect' is a phrase I just made up (can't you tell?). It means trying hard enough to make a difference rather than sitting posing and poncing just enough to impress your colleagues via your Bannatyne's or whatever membership and/or personal trainer. HTH 🙂

they stumble into spinning sometimes. it's really quite funny.

how they don't get the impression sooner that they are in the wrong place when a load of lycra clad people are pouring with sweat and having 96% of a heart attack every 20 seconds i don't know.

still some of them are quite hot looking in their gym bunny outfits with iphones strapped to their arms. beats looking at the local CC vet's bums

Hora ?

I think if any of us wanted to try something new, like road riding, we'd buy some cheap £200 road bike and give it a go. If however you're a millionaire, blowing 6 grand on a pinarello isn't going to matter, so why not? If he's not stupidly rich, then he's a bit of an idiot.

Booking a place on the etape is a bit selfish, as that could've gone to someone who actually could ride it. I think a lot of decent cyclists miss out on things like that from places being taken by people who will get swept up in the first hour.

All just ignorance really, but how else is he going to learn?

we should set up a before bike purchase police unit!

anyone any ideas on the criteria?

NICK +1

we should set up a before bike purchase police unit!
anyone any ideas on the criteria?

A jury made up of "12 STWers, good and true" will assess and pass judgement afetr a series of probing questions and a lap of the red route at a trail centre (or in the case of roadies, a lap of the Fred Whitton route).

If said newbie can keep up with the awesome Gods of Riding on here (you know, the ones who average 23mph or who smoke DHers whilst riding their rigid steel singlespeed) then said newbie will be issued with a formal invitation to wave their willy on STW.

😉

Does that just about cover it?

Surely there should be a multiple choice tyre quiz?

They must also like coffee, have strong views on cars and car tyres and be neither mysonginist nor sexist... 😉

I say - how dare a newbie buy anything else than a Boardman HT!

if your a millionaire and spend more than a grand - your simply a fat flash git and deserve everything that comes your way!

+1 Nick and Beagleboy.

I expect we all buy the best bike we can afford and/or can justify, even as newbies. If this guy can afford to drop 6k on his first bike then fair play to him.

Rather than take the p!ss and drop him I'd be giving him encouragement - if he eats a bit of humble pie and enjoys the ride enough to continue then that's a win for the cycling community. If he's still a knob then at least you've been friendly and might get first dibs on his bike when he decides to sell it cheap.

I - for one - would find everything a lot easier if the above mentioned STW Jury could just issue a list of STW approved items/clothing/devices - shorts, jerseys, hoovers, washing machines, coffee machines & the like - it would save me so much having to scour these forums for the correct ones 🙂

I've had the opposite experience to oldgit, guy turns up on a s-works sl3 tarmac, carbon wheels etc, guy looks fit, all his kit is immaculate, we set off, he goes straight on the front and stays there all day, coming back he ramps the speed up to 25 mph, I say to him was that hurting you, he say's not really, fair play to him, been out a couple more times as well, nice fella.

must be a loser who spends all his time training (get a life - theres more to life than bikes) 😆 🙄

How much the guy paid for his bike isn't relevant, as said he could be loaded so why not buy a good bike even for rides around the park.
But why join a group untill your at least up to speed a little bit 🙁
What did he think was going to happen !! Even the most social rides require a certain abillity. I must have ridden for at least a year before I was confident enough to ride with other people, for some it seems like its the first step.

TBF we didn't blow him out at all, far from it. I suggested that as we had two newcommers we take it easy 34 or 39 ring steady. Within a mile he must have been 1/2 mile back. So we re grouped. That went on and on until it became silly, and we didn't have lights!
It was way under ten miles before we put him on a route home.

This isn't a club as such, it was sort of set up under the cycling town thingy. Si if he had checked he would have seen there is actually a group that goes out a little later called the 'All the gear and no idea' group. whilst this one points out that averages can be 20MPH

a [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10965608 ]MAMIL [/url] Apparently...

In that case fair enough, sounds like he got the wrong group. I'd still be uber-friendly with him though in case he decides cycling isn't for him 🙂

Now I think about it we started a small cycling 'club' a couple of years ago on my estate - nothing serious, just a bunch of middle aged blokes who wanted to get a bit of exercise on a Sunday morning. It did get a little frustrating having to stop every mile or two to regroup, and there was never a good enough turnout to split out into two groups.

We had a guy like that turn up on the university club ride a couple of years ago. He was banging on about how he was super fit from rowing, and he'd ridden loads on his own. And he was trying to get his flying licence and he was a medical student, but that's by-the-by.

Anyway he did well for about 10 miles, then started to slow down, then started to *really* slow down and we had to push him up hills. He was so buggered he stopped at a pub to call a taxi back to Sheffield, even though Hathersage train station was about 3 (downhill) miles away.

Never saw him again. In his defence he was a bit embarrassed at the end.

That's the danger isn't it.
When I was 15 just about five miles from home my body stopped working. I can recall it vividly, sat on the verge of the A41 while they fed me dextose tablets and Mars bars.
And we have had to actually push a guy along on one occasion to get him home.

I would say and it's a massive generalisation that those that start humble endure.

Oldgit: I was once that person - I remember being pushed home by a clubmate when we were out on a (very cold) winter clubrun, very early in my road biking career. In fact it may even have been my first ever road ride, I was about 17.

On the other hand at least I a) hadn't turned up on the worlds flashiest bike and b) hadn't banged on about how amazing I was. Another plus point was that I'd been in the club for a while as a MTBer so everyone on that club ride knew me. And I never made the mistake of not eating/drinking on a ride again...

Turning up on a top end bike is fine if you say that it's your first time, you'd like to learn the ropes, meet new people etc then most road clubs will be very welcoming and patient.
Turning up on a crap bike is fine.

Turning up on a top end bike telling all and sundry how great you (think) you are, get dropped and you've got to expect people to take the piss or at least make you eat a bit of humble pie.

I'm sure he's googling interval trainings etc etc right now...might be back in a year to drop you all 😉

That guys sounds like a complete joke, I mean what an idiot!!!

By the way, I know this should probably go on the classifieds, but anyone want to buy:

Pinarello Dogma, full carbon everything.
HTC team bibshorts, size XL
HTC team jersey, size XL
HTC team gilet, size XL
HTC socks
HTC aero overshoes
HTC cycling cap
Giro Ionos Livestrong Helmet
Garmin 8000000 Sat Nav

...oh and two HTC 500ml bottles

All reasonable offers considered

EDIT: and a pair of HTC team race mitts

Oh dear, in a similar but less extreme vein one of the senior managers at my work has just made his first 'proper' bike pruchase a Pitch for commuting to work.

A Pitch, for commuting, on the roads.

He lives about three miles from work and likes to ride in during the summer, i did a comedy double take when i saw it in the shed. I asked him how he was finding it and apparently its a bit heavy but the suspension is good for potholes, the bikeshop said it was a good mountain bike so he bought it.

I have a nice bike and love riding but I'm not fit, I ride on my own mostly for that reason, go at my own pace, have a rest when I feel like it.

But on the few occasions I have ridden with others off here some kind soul has helped pull me along and the group has never left me behind - immediate thoughts go to Junkyard, Simonfbarnes, EZAKIMAK, Lowey, Steve, Deejay etc

A Pitch, for commuting, on the roads

Full marks.

They are masters at avoiding effort

Sounds like me.

S'OK though - I ride a Five. 😉

I have a nice bike and love riding but I'm not fit, I ride on my own mostly for that reason, go at my own pace, have a rest when I feel like it.

If you fancy a more sociable ride some time - I must be somewhere near you and am also very unfit 🙂

A Pitch, for commuting, on the roads.

Wow. Get him out on the trails on it!

There is a massive differential between thinking one is fit for the bike, and actually being bike fit.

I've had the ignominy of being given a shove, and I've also coaxed plenty of riders home. We do all have to learn somewhere.

I would have had sympathy for oldgit's rider but for the fact that he shot his mouth off. I've never met a decent rider who tells anyone how good s/he is - they just batter you from beginning to end and then do another 40 miles home after the ride.

I've just bought a beautiful, expensive road bike. While I'm not the fittest or fastest in the world, I'm by no means the slowest (did 96 miles yesterday at 17mph avg (on the winter bike, it was raining)) and I'm feeling really strange about going out on my new bike, like if I'm not caning it people will think what an idiot, All the gear no idea.

so going back to the OP, do these people not have any shame? or are they oblivous to it all?

C'mon 17/96 is fast.

A Pitch, for commuting, on the roads.

There's a guy in Leicester who commutes on a Stinky.
I wish I had his thighs.

I turned up on my 3rd club ride back in december. It was a cold winters day and there was a guy waiting who i hadn't seen before. Had no club kit on and had winter bike with mudguards etc.

I asked him if he was with the club and said no but a mate in the club had invited him along. I asked him if he rode much and he said "a bit"

Found out when i got home he was a masters road race champion, National Expert MTB series winner (2004), top 20 in World masters road, tt & cross championships and has held and Elite road licence for 8 consecutive years!!! 😯

grum - sounds good, been off the bike for a while due to a 'medical thing' - I'm in to see a consultant at 10:45 today.......will mail you after that although I'm expecting some sort of small operation in the near future - well I'm hoping its small 😐

You see peeps on the machines at gyms reading... How on earth do you read if you're going balls out on something (i.e. training with effect)?

Whilst I completely agree he shouldn't have gobbed off about his brilliantness, maybe he was over compensating for being a bit nervous. If it really is a friendly ride shouldn't someone should have dropped back and at least offered him a wheel?

I did my first ever bash last night and was bricking it before hand.

I find these 'more money than sense' people very depressing actually. You just know they'll end up disappointed.

OK - What should he have done? & what bike should he have bought?

OK - What should he have done? & what bike should he have bought?

It's not a case of "he should start on a cheap bike" cos that's clearly rubbish. The guy can buy whatever bike/kit he wants. Turning up and shooting your mouth off about how great you are though deserves some contempt, especially when you're out the back within a few seconds.

Turning up, explaining that you're new to all this and would welcome some advice and I'm willing to bet that he'd have been helped round or at least offered some useful advice.

ok fair point - he needs some good advice followed by years of piss taking "remember the first club ride you came to"? haha...

I bought a PL X SL Red for just over a grand - I posted (on another forum) how to adjust the Sram rear mech - there was a few posts with "sram red/newbie" 🙄 I felt I was tarred with the all gear no idea brush.

truth is I'm relatively fit, bits of fell running, mountain biking etc & had a grand for a road bike (how dare me for not buying a 105 groupset)!

aracer - Member

You're a "no pain no gain" sort of person aren't you? It is possible to train without going balls out you know.

That'll be the one 🙂 Yes you can but shirley such low intensity to be able to sitand read a book is going a bit too far? Next we'll have 'training by laying on the sofa eating biscuits' or 'I did 10 miles medium intensity....on the BUS!' 😆

aracer - Member

You're a "no pain no gain" sort of person aren't you? It is possible to train without going balls out you know.

That'll be the one 🙂 Yes you can but shirley an intensity so low as to be able to sit and read a book is going a bit too far? Next we'll have 'training by laying on the sofa eating biscuits' or 'I did 10 miles medium intensity....on the BUS!' 😆

Just joshing, I like watching (read letching) gym bunnies it's just the bullshit that's hard to swallow 😉

shirley such low intensity to be able to sitand read a book is going a bit too far?

I can quite happily read a book whilst level 2 training on the turbo (determined using a HRM). Plenty of training effect there.

The thing I like about road riding is it's brutally honest.
ie: if you're good, you're good and people will respect you for it (so long as you're not a pr*ck about it)
If you talk a lot, have the kit but can't ride, it becomes clear. You can't blag it.
If you're in the latter group but learn how to ride your decent kit and learn to give it a bit less chat, you get the respect that's due.