Cycling UK Forum

The route to work was 15 uphill miles almost always into a prevailing south-westerly, therefore generally hard work. I bought an HP Velotechnik Speedmachine and never struggled again, headwind, what headwind?

You mean there's kinds of wind other than a Headwind?
I look forward to meeting one of those one day.

Just gone from a pair of 30 schwalbe spicers to 32 marathons on the hybrid.
Seems some POS is going round smashing bottles deliberately on cycle lanes around Leeds, so lots of glass usually on the entrance to cycle lanes.
Picked up 3 punctures in 2 weeks on the old tyres.

32 and lower psi and crossed fingers I can put an end to rush-hour roadside tube changes.
Making sure I pull over after riding through another smashed bottle to check nothing got stuck.

willp01908 wrote:Pretty much this - in the fortunate position of living just over a mile from work - either road or canal towpath depending on the time of day. Old ally hybrid frame, tattily sprayed in BRG, drop bars, bare bones apart from a rack. Love not having to worry about it being a thief magnet or about dings and scratches. Single speed.
It seems to encourage a faster riding style too - on my tourer which I`ll sometimes use if I have to shop on the way home, I seem to saunter along a lot more.

The only things that differ from me there are the canal and living two miles from work. I think the only new components I've ever put on a work hack are brake blocks, chain and freewheel. Everything else gets downgraded to the hack until it dies.
Some things, like a Turbo saddle, just don't know when they're beat though. My rear light is sellotaped to the seat tube because the rubber clip broke, and sellotape works pretty well. Rear mudguard (not shown) is actually two bits of mudguard gaffer-taped together.