Cycling UK Forum

This is a recent Guardian article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... city-bikes

Scroll down to the Roberts. AFAIK, a Roberts frame alone is £1250, not the whole bike. Is that not a really silly mistake or have I missed something?

But more to the point, they say this:

A good place to start is Roberts of Croydon where Chas Roberts, the proprietor, will create you a timeless beauty. Expensive, but it'll last a lifetime

Actually that's also silly. It isn't expensive because it will last a lifetime (lots of cheaper frames will do that) but because it's a good frame. Even more to the point, the bike as such won't last a lifetime, only the frame will. Nearly everything else will need to be replaced, some bits quite soon and many bits over and over again. The saddle, handlebar tape, the whole drive train, tyres, rims, BB, hubs - and that's not even allowing for the inevitable upgradings. Even the frame will need a paint job at some point.

Finally, to describe the Roberts Audax as a city bike is IMV breathtakingly silly.

So: is the Guardian silly?

YES it is, or rather many of it's writers are lazy and sloppy and do not research topics sufficiently rigorously and as such the papers' opinions on more weighty matters tend to be sniffily dismissed by "snobs" who value good journalism.

Still better than the Times though!

I agree its always been a very silly newspaper. Now with a miniscule circulation.

Al

horizon wrote:So: is the Guardian silly?

In this case yes,I don't read "news"papers so I can't say if everything in the Gaurdian is silly though.

horizon wrote:..........Scroll down to the Roberts. AFAIK, a Roberts frame alone is £1250, not the whole bike. Is that not a really silly mistake or have I missed something?.................

Have you seen this thread:- viewtopic.php?f=1&t=76670

The churnalist in question is Martin Love, the Observer's motoring correspondent

Once or twice a year he'll review some posh bike (often badged by a car builder) and completely mis-describe some function. It's very obvious he doesn't ride.

On the other hand, I think the Guardian's regular cycling correspondents do a fair job at promoting cycling.

Ant wrote:YES it is, or rather many of it's writers are lazy and sloppy and do not research topics sufficiently rigorously and as such the papers' opinions on more weighty matters tend to be sniffily dismissed by "snobs" who value good journalism.

Still better than the Times though!

They're having a hard time sniffing at Prism, though. Well done Grauniad there.

CREPELLO wrote:The churnalist in question is Martin Love, the Observer's motoring correspondent

Once or twice a year he'll review some posh bike (often badged by a car builder) and completely mis-describe some function. It's very obvious he doesn't ride.

On the other hand, I think the Guardian's regular cycling correspondents do a fair job at promoting cycling.

It looks like this explains it - thanks crepello. The worst thing is that there really wasn't even a single useful bike in the line-up - it was all for posers (nothing wrong with that, just don't head it up as a list of good city bikes).

Ant wrote:YES it is, or rather many of it's writers are lazy and sloppy

its

(sorry, couldn't resist )

If it drums up a bit of business for Roberts well good.

And it seems to have provided something for people in need of something to hurrumph about with something to hurrumph about. So it can't be all bad.

andymiller wrote:And it seems to have provided something for people in need of something to hurrumph about with something to hurrumph about. So it can't be all bad.

There was a certain amount of hurrumph about it but it also got me thinking about the way these sentences such as "last a lifetime" are bandied about. Roberts might have a busy Monday morning fielding calls from hopeful buyers though. I'm no expert either but the journalist wouldn't have made the mistake about the frame price of he really knew his stuff.

for those of you who can't be ..ed to read the offending 'article' here's a taster..

the Grauniad wrote:As cars become ever more homogenous, cyclists have taken it upon themselves to fill our streets with colour. Stop at any junction and you'll see a two-wheeled cavalcade, from moustached tweedy types on butcher bikes and Lycra loons on carbon racers to dreadlocked urban warriors on skip-find frames covered in stickers. Here are seven very different bikes for the budding hipster. They're all high-quality with an emphasis on design, because that's the way we roll…

etc etc....

pass the sick bucket, eh....

cheers

Martin Love has form. He seems to be a bit of an idiot and/or lazy.

But don't tar the rest of the Grauniad journalists with the same brush.

Audax67 wrote:

Ant wrote:YES it is, or rather many of it's writers are lazy and sloppy and do not research topics sufficiently rigorously and as such the papers' opinions on more weighty matters tend to be sniffily dismissed by "snobs" who value good journalism.

Still better than the Times though!

They're having a hard time sniffing at Prism, though. Well done Grauniad there.

Indeed. and they also made things quite uncomfortable for some current and ex News International employees, Police and Polititians with the phone hacking. How is Rebekah Brooks's case progressing?

Nah, the Guardian has it right, tourers are the new fixies. Total hipster mobiles

The UK appears to have gone mad for two of my favorite things, ale and bikes. Good times

Richard Fairhurst wrote:its

(sorry, couldn't resist )

Ahem. You missed the opportunity to correct papers'

(sorry, couldn't resist )

Yes it was a mistake. I just checked The Roberts Website and the price is £1295 for the Frameset.

Personally living in a large city I found that an Audax bike was the best all round solution for what was needed.
I do not need to carry large loads from shops as I use the Motto Give us this day our daily (fresh) bread and other stuff.
I felt that the speed and comfort was a good compromise.

The reason for the past tense was the frame was bent to the left by a car, just over a year ago.