Just before lockdown Mrs RVL and I had our grubby noses against a local mamilemporium admiring a Moots
By no means verbatum, the conversation ran something like: Mrs RVL: Could you be tempted....? Moi: I wouldn't buy OTP for custom money. Mrs RVL: Why don't you go custom, get a bike you really like and stop filling your life with ratty crap? Moi: I'm not serious, old or confident enough for custom, I wouldn't know what to choose Mrs RVL: you're a bike-obsessed engineering director in your mid-forties - what exactly are you waiting for...?
As a woman of wisdom and clarity Mrs RVL makes a good point and I mused on it over January....
For most of my life I've been doing 100+ utility miles a week , locking in the street etc so rat bikes meant liberty. Nowadays, my round commute is 30 miles with a secure lock-up.
Through lockdown my commuting milage dropped significantly and I've discovered the joy of early mornings in the Chilterns or Surrey hills...
This has changed what I look for in a bike - when you're grinding up staple lane, a shitty old tarck bike starts to feel more like the shackle than the liberation... as a result, I'm riding on my old race bike a lot more which is rather enjoyable too and got me back into the idea of gears...
Lockdown has also left me craving adventure so whereas a gravel bike might previously have elicited snort of derision, when I look at one now, I'm seeing it in the context of a bivvy night on the downs.....
Lastly, My current job does not include a workshop in which to squirrel/conceal projects so I'm limited to home workshop (space for 5 bikes + 2 for fam). Right now there are 10 full builds (+4 frames) in there so something's got to give...
I'm thinking that I might be able to combine my Winter/Roughstuff/Vintage MTB/Gravel Fixed bikes into one. This will get me down to the magic number 5+2, liberate some workshop space and conquer my fears of custom-build
Just before lockdown Mrs RVL and I had our grubby noses against a local mamilemporium admiring a...
Hahaha, I already knew where you were talking about before clicking the link! Run out of time on the loo now, coming back later to read the rest of the thread.
Just before lockdown Mrs RVL and I had our grubby noses against a local mamilemporium admiring a Moots
By no means verbatum, the conversation ran something like:
Mrs RVL: Could you be tempted....?
Moi: I wouldn't buy OTP for custom money.
Mrs RVL: Why don't you go custom, get a bike you really like and stop filling your life with ratty crap?
Moi: I'm not serious, old or confident enough for custom, I wouldn't know what to choose
Mrs RVL: you're a bike-obsessed engineering director in your mid-forties - what exactly are you waiting for...?
As a woman of wisdom and clarity Mrs RVL makes a good point and I mused on it over January....
For most of my life I've been doing 100+ utility miles a week , locking in the street etc so rat bikes meant liberty. Nowadays, my round commute is 30 miles with a secure lock-up.
Through lockdown my commuting milage dropped significantly and I've discovered the joy of early mornings in the Chilterns or Surrey hills...
This has changed what I look for in a bike - when you're grinding up staple lane, a shitty old tarck bike starts to feel more like the shackle than the liberation... as a result, I'm riding on my old race bike a lot more which is rather enjoyable too and got me back into the idea of gears...
Lockdown has also left me craving adventure so whereas a gravel bike might previously have elicited snort of derision, when I look at one now, I'm seeing it in the context of a bivvy night on the downs.....
Lastly, My current job does not include a workshop in which to squirrel/conceal projects so I'm limited to home workshop (space for 5 bikes + 2 for fam). Right now there are 10 full builds (+4 frames) in there so something's got to give...
I'm thinking that I might be able to combine my Winter/Roughstuff/Vintage MTB/Gravel Fixed bikes into one. This will get me down to the magic number 5+2, liberate some workshop space and conquer my fears of custom-build