Cycling UK Forum

colin54 wrote: ↑21 Jun 2023, 9:00pm

cycle tramp wrote: ↑21 Jun 2023, 8:25pm ....Matthias Absolon Shepperton, otherwise known as cycle tramp. You stand accused of the following mechanical perversions;

Ever been tempted by one of these CT ?
https://theradavist.com/just-put-it-in- ... -sundance/
Crust Clydesdale cargo fork conversion, turn that old mountain bike (or spare Thorn Raven Tour frame !),
into a 1960's paper delivery trade bike. The fork would be about 10 times the cost of my Saracen shopping bike...must resist.

Very tempted... if they could guarantee that the handling wouldn't be affected, I'd buy a set.... part bike, part wheel barrow - what's not to love?

Sum wrote: ↑22 Jun 2023, 8:23pm

Pinhead wrote: ↑22 Jun 2023, 2:50pmOMG !

Are you bringing religion to the discussion again?

Pinhead wrote: ↑22 Jun 2023, 2:50pmOMG !

You posted a pic of a customised bike with the forks the wrong way around(!) and no explanation of how they got to be that way so I can see why people are still going on about it.

Set the bike up exactly as you would do for your son to ride it. Imagine he's just ridden with you to a nice little cafe, got off and leant the bike against a wall.
Now take a good side-on pic of the bike.
Then we'll make the appropriate comments.

Define "customise" please.

Same as for a car

So ,having fiddled,changed this that and the other on most of my bikes for 60yrs,I ,ve been "customising" them;fancy that,I would never have known.P.S. I,ve recently changed drops to flat bars,does that count.Just looked up the definition of customise,and ,yes,I have been customising my bikes all my life.

Pinhead wrote: ↑24 Jun 2023, 11:00am Same as for a car

Not an answer.

I have sometimes matched my bar tape to the frame colour, and I once matched the tyres too, if that is what you are getting at.
Most of my bikes have been built up from a frame to my own needs, wheels too.
I don't think that cars are customizable in quite the same way.

cyclop wrote: ↑23 Jun 2023, 4:14pm Define "customise" please.

The debate about what is 'customising' is still going on in the letters pages of Back Street Heroes, and Hot Rod UK, for the last twenty or so years...

..on one end of the scale are people who will take a car or a bike and swap of a couple of components with of the shelf after market parts and claim that they have 'customised' their vehicle..

On the other end of the scale are serious engineers who have shoe horned super -charged hillman imp engines in Norton featherbed frames, who will then advise (other verbs are available) the first group, that what they have merely done is to swap some components on their car or bike for some other shop bought components... and that true customisation involves more thought than just getting out your wallet and buying whatever is next on their 'must have shiny do-dah' list..

Needless to say egos have been bruised, feelings have been hurt, and buns have been thrown at high velocity (even the dangerous ones with a hard crust)...

Customised shmustomise.
I see no go-faster stripes or furry dice.

peetee wrote: ↑24 Jun 2023, 4:56pm Customised shmustomise.
I see no go-faster stripes or furry dice.

Mine got soggy in the rain....
.. .however you know what's hot right now? Gremlin bells. Really, it's a thing.. put one on each of your bikes before the gremlins get you

Is this customising? I don't think the previous owner would recognise it.
Things I've changed:
Frame: satin black powder coat
Wheels: Ryde Andra
Rear hub: Rohloff
Chainwheel: Thorn 40T
Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon E-Plus
Saddle: B17 (from three previous bikes)
Lights: B+M IQ-XS & Toplight Line Brake Plus
Racks: Tubus Tara & Logo
Mudguards: SKS
Stem: Halfords + Satori Stem Raiser
Handlebars: Humpert Trekking
Motor: Tongsheng

Very nice..
You've taken a vehicle and adapted it to your specification. Surely that is the definition of 'customisation' ?

You could probably debate the meaning of ‘customise’ in the context of a bike forever, as per the above with motorised things.

If “individual bike” equals “individual frame”, which seems the generally accepted view, then at one extreme only an alteration to, or custom-building, a frame would constitute customisation.

At the other extreme, changing any part, even the tyres, or adding or subtracting anything, to or from a ‘stock’ bike, even a rack or mudguard, to meet individual needs would amount to a minor act of customisation.

I do fiddle about and alter, add and subtract components, and chop bits off components, and cobble together things, but I’ve never altered or built a frame. So, do I, or don’t I customise. I honestly have no idea!

Yet another post that divides us into groups.
I am not complaining actually about this. Humans group. I find it fascinating.
Newest bike in the household is the wifes ebike. That lasted a whole week before I swapped stems, pedals, and added a Brooks. Most definitely the least altered* bike we have.
*Surely a much better word .