On Friday I met up with another old work mate and cycling buddy John Donoghue known to his friends as JD.....
JD has ridden with me on numerous long distance cycle trips and it is always a lot of fun to go out on a ride together..... You never know what to expect when you are in the company of JD...
Having acquired a new touring bike in the last six months he was keen to use the new bike on our planned ride together as I had not seen it in the metal yet.....
In theory it seemed a great idea but the reality meant that the two bikes were a bit of a mismatch for a ride.... We had to laugh when we saw our two bikes together as they really were at opposite ends of the cycling spectrum....
Two very good bikes but built for vastly different disciplines.....
Check for yourself below......
My Felt was basically built for speed....it's full carbon frame and top end components and wheels reflect that....
John's bike is built for comfort and rough stuff touring .... But it's weight even makes my Revolution Tourer feel like a racer...
It's a Thorn Mercury and built up to his specifications...it is a great bit of kit... It sports hub gears...a rear disc brake... built in dynamo for his fitted lights.... Good solid mudguards....Racks fore and aft... etc..etc... and most importantly JD has always wanted one and now he has one.... that makes him happy......
I won't go into blow by blow details of our ride together....you can probably imagine what it was like....... it must have seemed as if I was floating up the hills compared to JD but all credit must go to him as he guided his sure footed HGV of a bike up the hills....slow ...but always confident that he would get there in the end......
It was a most unusual choice of bikes to ride but that's what made it a very interesting ride out together.... Riding the new bike obviously gives JD a lot of pleasure.. however I won't be trading in my own touring bike for one anytime soon...
One thing that we did both agree on was that next time we have a ride together (unless we are touring) JD will ride his Specialized Road Bike......
JD has ridden with me on numerous long distance cycle trips and it is always a lot of fun to go out on a ride together..... You never know what to expect when you are in the company of JD...
Having acquired a new touring bike in the last six months he was keen to use the new bike on our planned ride together as I had not seen it in the metal yet.....
In theory it seemed a great idea but the reality meant that the two bikes were a bit of a mismatch for a ride.... We had to laugh when we saw our two bikes together as they really were at opposite ends of the cycling spectrum....
Two very good bikes but built for vastly different disciplines.....
Check for yourself below......
 |
| A Bit of a Mis-Match for a Ride..... |
John's bike is built for comfort and rough stuff touring .... But it's weight even makes my Revolution Tourer feel like a racer...
It's a Thorn Mercury and built up to his specifications...it is a great bit of kit... It sports hub gears...a rear disc brake... built in dynamo for his fitted lights.... Good solid mudguards....Racks fore and aft... etc..etc... and most importantly JD has always wanted one and now he has one.... that makes him happy......
I won't go into blow by blow details of our ride together....you can probably imagine what it was like....... it must have seemed as if I was floating up the hills compared to JD but all credit must go to him as he guided his sure footed HGV of a bike up the hills....slow ...but always confident that he would get there in the end......
It was a most unusual choice of bikes to ride but that's what made it a very interesting ride out together.... Riding the new bike obviously gives JD a lot of pleasure.. however I won't be trading in my own touring bike for one anytime soon...
One thing that we did both agree on was that next time we have a ride together (unless we are touring) JD will ride his Specialized Road Bike......
The phrase "stately as a galleon" springs to mind looking at JD's bike.
ReplyDeleteJason
*Jason*
ReplyDeleteA very stately galleon Jason and steered by a very happy and proud Captain.......
Both are great bikes. Like you say, for different uses :)
ReplyDeleteThe touring rig reminds me of my own Touring Bicycles.
No matter what, a ride with a friend is worth its weight in gold.
You may just want to trade your bike for his, when it comes to 'getting the weight in gold', you know? :)
Have a Happy Day, Trevor!
Peace :)
PS. You buddy's bike has a SON hub dynamo, Edelux light, and a Rohloff or some such Internal Hub. Wow!! Neat bike. Kinda like my Thorn Nomad MK II :)
ReplyDelete*GreenComotion*
ReplyDeleteA ride with a friend is always golden and as I said a ride with JD is always fun..
JD has had a yearning for a Rohloff hub geared bike for about five years so I am pleased that he has finally achieved his desire..... It is a great specced bike but is just a bit too heavy for my style of riding...... However as you say a "neat bike" and the most important thing is that JD loves it......
Of course, had the route gone through muddy fields, the story would have been swapped. It's why cyclocross bikes are the bike versions of the Swiss Army Knife.
ReplyDelete*Steve A*
ReplyDeleteYou are right about cyclocross bikes being the bike versions of the Swiss Army Knife....
However, none of my cycling routes would ever include Muddy Fields I have a real aversion to the muddy stuff when it comes to cycling...
The thought of all that muck covering a nice shiny bike and mechanicals is a total turn off for me Ha..Ha....
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