You know the type, it’s hyped in all the magazines, loads of people buy one, then you try it and ……. mehhh.

I’m going with fixed gear.

Freehubs are pretty reliable, so there’s no gain there.

Spinning at 160rpm downhill isn’t the problem, but my brain can’t cope with trying to slow down even with brakes. Trying to transition from soft pedaling to soft braking or letting my legs ‘freewheel’ just results in the bike bouncing about all over the place trying to throw me off. So I end up soft pedaling against the brake!

At anything above walking pace or a very long run-down trying to slow with the cranks is difficult (think about how much effort is required to skid under acceleration, that’s roughly how much force is needed to lock the wheel, at which point you have as much braking effect as braking with the rear brake only) so I’m still getting through brake pads at the usual winter rate.

You don’t feel “more connected with the road”. Except when it’s trying to kill you, maybe more connected is a polite way of saying it’s an abusive relationship.

Drive chain wear, I can live with the extra £15 every 3000miles for a halo clixter Vs track sprocket.

Ohh, and the thing no one ever mentioned. You can not fart! Not until you’ve built it up to uncomfortable stomach cramping levels.

I’m persevering, I’ve put 500 miles on it so far. I’ve got a nice 20 mile loop from my door which I can do in lunch breaks and evenings, but it’s not anywhere near as good as anyone says it is.

Maybe it’s the trough of disillusionment, or maybe it’s just not all that, but what have you tried and just found it not as good as the alternatives?

I’d add monstercross, it’s just making a cross bike slower or a rigid hardtail harder to ride.

You do get to tell everyone you ride a fixie though. To some people, that’s priceless.

Fixed is fine for track …

and that’s it. You should try a “gentleman’s adjustment” at speed on a fixie! Actually don’t, it’s unlikely to end well.

For me, and I realise this is going to wind some folk up, it’s trail centres. I. Just. Don’t. Like. Them.

I want to try a fixie now so to see if I can fart whilst riding it. I reckon I could.

I converted an old MTB to fixed gear for a while. Tried it off road, no way; it was actually quite a hoot as a training road bike with slicks. It was bloody hard work; single speed was easy in comparison. Agreed with a lot of what you’ve said though. Do *kind of* miss it.

Not a fan of trail centres either whitestone but then fortunate to be able to pick singletrack outdoors riding from the door. Others of my peers seem to never actually do any just riding a bike outside stuff..

Things that some people say are great, but actually aren’t great for everyone*

Gosh, where to start.
How about single chainrings.

*People are just weird, apart from you and I .
We are perfect.

For me, and I realise this is going to wind some folk up, it’s trail centres. I. Just. Don’t. Like. Them.

Amen brother. They’re just sort of soulless.

I realise this is going to wind some folk up, it’s trail centres.

Nah, everyone says TCs are shit and they prefer the steep off-piste nowadays.

I secretly love a good TC now and then. But not a boring one.

As I’ve been beaten to single chainrings (except on a fixed wheel bike which are ace) I’ll nominate…

Dropper posts

(expensive, heavy, ugly, unreliable)

Interesting – one of my mates won’t shut up about dropper posts! – goes on and on about them, best thing since sliced bread etc.. mind you he says that about a lot of stuff that comes out – single speed, hard tail, full suspension, wider bars, bigger wheels — that and “if I had to keep one bike, it’d be this one..” 🙂

Drop bars
Bikepacking

Dropper posts

I’d give up my front and rear suspension and my disc brakes before I’d forego my dropper. 😊

The graph!!!

I really enjoy my fixie. Been riding it for nigh on 15 years now I think, so its pretty instinctive. Does take some learning, and it is possible to fart and pedal, you just need to focus… Off road forget it – singlespeed is shite enough. Climbing is fine (within the limit of the gear), but I agree big descents are hard work. As a commuting tool though – ace.

Trail centres I agree with. I have Lady Cannings just up the hill from me – Blue Steel is just a nice trail, fair enough but I really dislike Cooking On Gas. Hated Leeds Urban Bike park, the one time I went there. Playpen riding of the worst kind. I can’t believe the number of people who will drive (quite some distance) to Cannings and spend a morning lapping the place, when there’s SOOOO much good natural riding around it.

Droppers posts you’ll take from me over my dead body, and I think single ring is a massive improvement (outside of a pure tarmac context.

My nomination – drop bar gravel bikes. Flat bars at least mean you can make an attempt to ride off road properly, and IME there’s very little in it on road.

He beat you to it there Colin 😊

He beat you to it there Colin

Yeah. My job here is done.

Bikepacking

It might be awesome but I have no interest whatsoever in finding out.

Maybe in another 10 years.

Dropper posts

(expensive, heavy, ugly, unreliable)

Do you ride any technical MTB? Have you owned any recent droppers that weren’t Reverbs?

Trail centres – I lost interest when I tried one in Wales and saw all the PET drink bottles that mountain bikers had scattered beside the trail for the first mile out of the centre. Less than a mile later I got bored and headed off into the hills. Never been on a man-made trail since.

Trail centres – I lost interest when I tried one in Wales and saw all the PET drink bottles that mountain bikers had scattered beside the trail for the first mile out of the centre. Less than a mile later I got bored and headed off into the hills. Never been on a man-made trail since.

Could replace tc with local roads. Litter at side of roads, dull as ****…. 😂

Love a wee day at a tc, just canny be arsed wi the drive these days..

Sliced bread

You should try a “gentleman’s adjustment” at speed on a fixie! Actually don’t, it’s unlikely to end well.

Yarp. Did that twice on my track day at Lee Valley – still not sure how I didn’t kill myself. Also the hilarity of ‘stopping’ after my first ever practice lap, and the instructor saying “its OK, you can try harder the next time round.” it is a weird feeling!

I want to try a fixie now so to see if I can fart whilst riding it. I reckon I could.

Nope, I reckon the higher cadence (meaning the opportunity to relax at your preferred point in the pedal stroke is shorter), combined with the fact you have to at least soft pedal meaning you can’t relax anyway means the only option is discomfort for an hour followed by an almighty release.

Group road rides, and road events.

The differences between any ride I’ve done in a group of people, and those I’ve done either alone or with up to three other fairly close acquaintances, are astonishing. Pretty much every group ride has featured at least someone in the pack getting into a shouting match with a driver, or in many cases worse. I’ve often stared open-mouthed in utter embarrassment at other riders trying to get themselves into some sort of fight, yet I’ve never had any of that in many years of riding solo or with one or two others.

I don’t do it any more. I went through the phase of only doing them if good friends had organised them, to always hanging 100 yards off the back so I wasn’t being passed by drivers who’d already been infuriated by the others, to just giving up on them altogether. There are so many ways in which a group—even a disciplined one—inherently can’t avoid triggering idiot drivers and it’s just not worth it.

TCs are great for a lower effort, relatively weather proof ride. If I rode my local OP trails now they’d be getting a trashing and / or I’d be getting killed to pieces by leaf covered death roots.

I’m going to nominate strapping stuff to your frame like tools and tubes and generally things that are better kept in a bag. It looks rubbish and you’re probably going be carrying all the unstrappable things in a bag anyway, or not carrying what you need because freedom, minimalism and fashion.

bikes Made In Yorkshire.

Bez +1

Amature group road rides I much dislike. All that shouting ‘clear’ etc, the lead guy getting grumpy with ‘lesser’ riders, drivers have a greater dislike for you than riding solo. all that FTP talk, the lead guy’s ego.
Many tell me it’s great, but it’s actually not.

SKY TV. It’s expensive and mostly rubbish.

Graphs to illustrate a point nobody cares about.

Amature group road rides

They are clearly wound up.

VW’s

Synthetic down jackets.

The Revenant.

Chaingangs?

I get bunch slipstreaming makes you quicker but put your safety in someone elses hands? Nope nope and thrice nope. I want a decent gap between me and any other vehicle

Non cycling

Friends / big bang theory or any other similar american programme – just awful

Jeans

They are either too hot or too cold, don’t ever dry, have rubbish pockets, make you look fat unless you are a 17yr old, wear through quicker than anything despite having a ‘workwear’ history, fade, heavy, and usually scruffy. Why they became so popular I will never understand.

Alcohol.

Gravel bikes . They fill a niche that was already filled .

If I’m allowed 2 then Carbon bikes with holes in the frame to put your tools in .

You do get to tell everyone you ride a fixie though. To some people, that’s priceless.

This whole thread is, IMHO, a roundabout way of doing exactly that.

I found the problem with SS/fixie was that I broke so much stuff it never saved me money, and the breakages were more dangerous than stuff wearing out. Only threw me off into a hedge once, but could have been far worse if it had been at speed in traffic. You do get used to slowing on the gear and stuff though, and you will save pad wear (only need to brake when you’re feeling lazy or it’s quite urgent). You’ll possibly master farting too, although you sort of have to let it out bit by bit in time with pedaling like when running. Adjusting gentleman’s assets has to be done whilst stationary though.

I’m not sure I’ve ever tried something and found it utterly pointless though, not bike related anyway. Gogglebox is probably about as close as I get. It’s kind of watchable, but I like to heckle my own telly, thanks.

Oh actually, “enduro”/DH tops with no pockets (except, I guess, for DH racing). I wish I’d learned to use pockets more when I was younger, it’s surprising what will fit and stay in them, ancient roadies are onto a good thing and I could’ve used a backpack a lot less. The number of products which are basically back pockets (undrshorts and enduro bum bags, I’m looking at you) that aren’t part of your top illustrates how crap the tops are (although I still wear one sometimes cos I take the back pack or just because loose stuff does kind of give a sense of a younger, simpler time wit more freedom).

Bikepacking… I quite like watching some of the films, but I’ve really no interest in strapping expensive bags to my frame and pretending to have fun after a day in that saddle trying to sleep on a slowly deflating air mat, freezing my nuts off after an undercooked boil-in-the-bag meal and crappy spirits drunk from a hip flask. There is more than a whiff of the hipster about it.

Short chainstays.

Bikepacking… I quite like watching some of the films, but I’ve really no interest in strapping expensive bags to my frame and pretending to have fun after a day in that saddle trying to sleep on a slowly deflating air mat, freezing my nuts off after an undercooked boil-in-the-bag meal and crappy spirits drunk from a hip flask. There is more than a whiff of the hipster about it.

Can totally understand why you wouldn’t want to do it, but I love it – pub grub and chippies are available, I can’t be bothered taking a stove much of the time, or will do a cheeky ride after work/dinner. When it goes right, it goes super right. It’s not gone wrong for me yet… And I’ve spent minimal amounts on bags as I can’t fit much in the frame or onto the dropper post :D.

I quite like trail centers, but it’s a bit like comparing motorway driving and go-karting or track days. There’s probably more corners in the first 200m of Swinley than in a 40 mile day out in the Lakes, OTOH I agree they lack any feeling of going anywhere.

I get bunch slipstreaming makes you quicker but put your safety in someone elses hands? Nope nope and thrice nope.

Says TANDEM Jeremy

Bikepacking

I think you have to find a point to do it, in it to see the point. Just going out from your door for the night is fun, doing a 200 mile loop (5 miles Friday night, 100 miles Saturday, early start and back for brunch on Sunday) feels like an adventure and you get to ride places much further from home.

Also like most things, good kit helps. My kit weighs a ton. I’ve only got one heavy sleeping bag, a mid weight bivi, quite a heavy mat, etc. It all works, but it’s kinda slow uphill and very limited off road. A quilt, downmat, cuben tarp, lighter bivi, would halve the volume and weight and result in a ~30lb bike + gear.