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• #24676
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Commuter dude on his super blinged out carbon Planet X with TT bars and Carbon Zipps front and rear, looking like an idiot on York Way this morning.
Seriously, who the fuck commutes on full carbon in central london? good luck with those winter potholes mate.
Someone doing a TT after work?
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@BMMF: It's not just the nodders tho', it's a lot of riders... From roadie-douchebags to fixie-skidders to Brompton-folk... 99% of people on London's roads are twats, doesn't matter what mode of transport they choose... I try very hard to let it wash over me now... Agree with wools, time to hit the backstreets...
This.
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Sunday, Chalk Farm Rd Sainsburys, hipster-tastic Lo-Pro.
Front spok, quill stem with about 10cm rise out of the headset, extreme riser bars. It's not a good look mate.
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This
What is it with the tits trying to undertake at the lights, front wheel wobbling all over the place, cranks crunching, gears slipping
Mate, I'm only gonna overtake you again 15yrds up the road so don't be a melt and get the fuck out my way!
Most people taking to cycling come from time-sensitive motorised modes--either private or public. They haven't yet grasped that on a bike even if you don't take such chances you won't take more than five minutes or so more, and that cycling is primarily a distance-sensitive mode in an inner-urban context. It takes time for people to overcome these attitudes and truly enjoy the luxury of cycle travel. Cycle training is the quick way into that, as it helps people understand traffic better, e.g. if everyone's trying to rush, everyone will get everywhere more slowly. Most people just don't understand how traffic works, and it's not as straightforward as it may seem.
Something similar goes for people making the false economy of a poorly-maintained bike. They may think their main reason for cycling is because it's cheap. Well, it costs less than the aforementioned other modes, but there is more of a cost associated with doing it properly than they might think. It's still an incredibly good deal.
As ever, don't be dismissive or discriminatory of them. Have a chat at the lights and tell them about something they clearly don't know yet. Be positive, don't come across as challenging them negatively. If you hit on something that opens the door to them for cycling with some more passion, you will have scored a massive win.
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Them vehicles weren't going anywhere this morning. Rammo!
And this.
My point @BMMF, was that in the specific context of the stretch of road between the Essex Road junction with Upper Street and the lights at Angel/Pentonville it is utter madness at the moment. Cars, vans, motorbikes, buses, lorries are jammed tight. I don't just mean bumper to bumper. It's a narrow stretch of road for two lanes as it is, so the gaps between vehicles are negligible. Personally, I'm more than content to wait in line, as is more often the case I'll take the side streets.
What I'm not so keen on is poor manners and reckless driving by myriad cyclists (as well as other road users but as a cyclist I notice poor cycling more obviously) who scramble past showing scant regard for others only to find themselves with nowhere to go and causing a block for all other road users including cyclists, when they eventually reach the lights. Training seems an obvious solution to this. I'd just like to see a bit more of it.
My earlier reference to "noddy mc nodders" was perhaps a little ambiguous but the implication was "bad cyclists".
It's not a "fixie elitist" remark. It's simply my opinion on the issue of safety and courtesy from other road users, something I was shocked by at the lack of it this morning.
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I hope the self-righteous fixie elite remember their bitching about nodders undertaking/wobbling in front of you at lights when they're filtering past a queue of motorised vehicles that will (in that specific context) obviously be covering ground more quickly than you once the lights change.
Any driver that has to swing out to pass you (having been ahead of you at the lights) is going to have exactly the same irritated thoughts that you have about cuntface nodders.
Don't be hypocritical idiots, please.
[/counter-rant]
Quite. It's not always necessary to filter to the front. Take up your space in the queue (ideally take the primary position and don't wait to the side of cars or even high-sided vehicles) if the queue isn't too long. If the queue is veeeeeeeeeery long, by all means filter, but exercise good judgement about what the best way of filtering is, e.g. inside/outside/speed/style.
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@BMMF: It's not just the nodders tho', it's a lot of riders... From roadie-douchebags to fixie-skidders to Brompton-folk... 99% of people on London's roads are twats, doesn't matter what mode of transport they choose... I try very hard to let it wash over me now... Agree with wools, time to hit the backstreets...
BTW I know, Bike Radar's over there... >>>The often-perceived dichotomy between 'main streets' and 'back streets' is a bit of a red herring, though. People typically travel by the high streets and former roads into London because they are easiest to 'read' and have the longest history as major alignments. Other streets are often derived from field boundaries, from old alignments that have become obscured by time and building activity, or fairly modern residential settlements that weren't built with vehicular through traffic in mind.
With better knowledge of London, a rider will easily work out routes that aren't on main streets, but happen to be preferred by them--it can be factors such as wanting to see a tree you like, or a particular building, or something else that gives you a feeling that this is the way that you want to travel. It'll generally be a mixture of 'back streets' and 'main streets', and you can vary your route depending on how the mood strikes you.
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Top-tip: escape the madness, do a cheeky left into Duncan Street by the Foxtons at the end of Camden Passage, left by the York. Go right onto Colebrooke Row, cross City Rd and Goswell Street with the nodders using the bikelane/crossing and sneak left back onto St John Street and you've skipped the whole gridlocked mess in a few seconds.
That's good if you're coming down Upper Street, although you can also turn down the streets around Cross Street and get onto the Essex Road earlier, and the best place to turn into Colebrooke Row is then via St Peter's Street. (I don't like the blind corner outside the arts shop in Colebrooke Row itself.)
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The often-perceived dichotomy between 'main streets' and 'back streets' is a bit of a red herring, though. People typically travel by the high streets and former roads into London because they are easiest to 'read' and have the longest history as major alignments. Other streets are often derived from field boundaries, from old alignments that have become obscured by time and building activity, or fairly modern residential settlements that weren't built with vehicular through traffic in mind.
With better knowledge of London, a rider will easily work out routes that aren't on main streets, but happen to be preferred by them--it can be factors such as wanting to see a tree you like, or a particular building, or something else that gives you a feeling that this is the way that you want to travel. It'll generally be a mixture of 'back streets' and 'main streets', and you can vary your route depending on how the mood strikes you.
Interesting perspective. I like :)
I flit between tending to go for the longest stretches of uninterrupted road or going for quieter residential streets depending on severity of traffic, light and time of day.
For example the choice between Essex Road and Balls Pond Road or taking the very cycle-friendly routes through "Debeauvoir Town" -
That's good if you're coming down Upper Street, although you can also turn down the streets around Cross Street and get onto the Essex Road earlier, and the best place to turn into Colebrooke Row is then via St Peter's Street. (I don't like the blind corner outside the arts shop in Colebrooke Row itself.)
You mean Dagmar Terrace I think. An excellent, excellent shortcut.
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You mean Dagmar Terrace I think. An excellent, excellent shortcut.
Yes, also Florence Street.
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Commuter dude on his super blinged out carbon Planet X with TT bars and Carbon Zipps front and rear, looking like an idiot on York Way this morning.
Seriously, who the fuck commutes on full carbon in central london? good luck with those winter potholes mate.
Spotted a man last week coming out of his office near convent garden in khaki shorts and a t-shirt riding a pink carbon TT (quintana roo?) bike at rush hour.
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Commuter dude on his super blinged out carbon Planet X with TT bars and Carbon Zipps front and rear, looking like an idiot on York Way this morning.
Seriously, who the fuck commutes on full carbon in central london? good luck with those winter potholes mate.
Spotted a man last week coming out of his office near convent garden in khaki shorts and a t-shirt riding a pink carbon TT (quintana roo?) bike at rush hour.
I actually like this. Okay, it sucks to be them, but they probably have the money to piss away anyway. These are the type of people who drive Lambo's and Ferrari's around the cobbled, roadhumped, traffic congested streets, too. It's their money, remember.
I mean, it's harmless, infact, it's good news. I worked in a carclub for 2 years and the most annoying thing from (male) car-owners, were comments along the lines of "My car represents me", "I earn enough to drive better" etc.
If this is filtering into bikes, we're the better off for it, no? If it stops him racing around in a lambo i'm all for it, even if it does mean excessive bike-envy.
Besides, if more city-boys buy high-performance kit, which undoubtedly breaks easily, they are buying a lot more of it than would usually be shifted. Eventually, that'll bring the price down.
It's win win.
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If one of them was Chickin he only responds to DASL:
Do A Skid, Lad.
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It's win win.
Agreed, it's pretty stupid—*but at the end of the day it's these people who support the bike industry. Not us poor bastard riding 80's steel track frames with 2nd had components!
fuck, if I had the money I'd definitely own some kind of carbon bike with jazzy components, in fact when I do have some disposable income that will be my first port of call.
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