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Any advice on getting a tandem across London on the tubes then? It's new, don't want to make a seventy-ish mile trial run...
Go way off peak and avoid any of the deep lines if possible. Get a friend to help you as the stairs will be an utter bastard with something that length.
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I'm definitely getting better at riding it now...
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Great little videa that, well done :-)
Where did you shoot it?
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It's weird. Yeah, it's not easy to ride and if you think a brakeless fix is a bit daft, this is a whole new level of stoopid. But I'm so used to riding a regular fixie round town and being on the defensive that I'm totally attuned to bigger vehicles being a threat to me. If I hear a revving engine or a horn, I make the assumption that it could mean danger and I react accordingly.
On the penny, it's great. I get waves and smiles, applause from pedestrians, people leaning out of car windows with cameras - everything. If I hear a horn, it's always someone saying hi and grinning at me. When I'm stopped at lights, everyone wants to talk and nobody ever gets frustrated at me if they can't overtake. When they do pass, it's wide and slow, 'cos they want to get a good look.
If you're getting pissed off with always being treated like shit by London traffic, get an Ordinary!
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Great video, Charlotte!
Now ... why did you need to get your bike home on the Tube again ... ? ;)
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Ah yes, and this thread is useless without a route map.
What are your
gearwheel inches, by the way? Your rear wheel looks extra tiny, but perhaps that's only the perspective of being filmed from the front. -
Great video, Charlotte!
Now ... why did you need to get your bike home on the Tube again ... ? ;)
Erm, 'cos I couldn't ride it a month ago and I was shitscared...?
Can you trackstand an ordinary, and why no bottle cage?
I can't trackstand a regular fixed wheel bike, so no chance on an Ordinary. There are no cages, 'cos riding one-handed isn't really possible. I'll keep my drinks in my bag.
What are your
gearwheel inches, by the way? Your rear wheel looks extra tiny, but perhaps that's only the perspective of being filmed from the front.The big wheel is 49". The little one is Brompton-sized. Both with solid tyres, of course (so the back one looks even smaller...)
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Erm, 'cos I couldn't ride it a month ago and I was shitscared...?
I was just alluding to the apparent ease with which you were piloting it!
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It looks fantastic Charlotte!! :-)
Perhaps it's the sunshine in so many of the shots, perhaps it's your smile, but you make that look like BIG FUN. And I can completely ID with passing cars smiling - I was a little surprised not to see peds staring after the two of you in half the shots.
Couple of questions for you though...
What's the ride like, in terms of (dis)comfort?
And how much is a new wheel set, if you had a spill? -
It looks fantastic Charlotte!! :-)
Perhaps it's the sunshine in so many of the shots, perhaps it's your smile, but you make that look like BIG FUN. And I can completely ID with passing cars smiling - I was a little surprised not to see peds staring after the two of you in half the shots.
Couple of questions for you though...
What's the ride like, in terms of (dis)comfort?
Since I bought one of these, not so bad at all. You're very upright and it's quite tough on the sit-bones. Mind you, it's a very involving ride - you're using your arms, your legs and your whole body to muscle the thing along the road. Ten miles onna penny is hard work!
And how much is a new wheel set, if you had a spill?
It would have to be a pretty bad smash to bend up the wheel so bad that it couldn't be repaired. I think if I had that sort of spill, I'd be more worried about mending me first.
Either way, less than an Arraspok I'd have thought...
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I really want to see your ordinary in person. Where are you based?
Whats it like up hills?If you can't make it to West Drinks one evening, come on the Dunwich Dynamo! Me and some other people on pennies are going to see if we can ride it.
Hills are... difficult. But not impossible. It's descending that's the real problem.
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You could even have gone homemade.
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Apart from the fact that it's a proper old-style HOOGE penny, what made you pick that monster in favour of one of the 36" front wheel moden-style ones with pneumatic tyres etc? Did you try them both and prefer the old one? Authenticity? Quirkiness?
Enquiring minds need to know... :-)
The "modern" ones are just horrid, for so many reasons. The small wheel means you can't really pedal fast enough and they just look wrong.
My one looks fairly authentic, but it is in fact quite up to date in the way it's built. Original Pennies would have radial spoking (yes, really). Mine has sixty four spokes and is built five-cross for strength. The modern alloy rims and Greentyres mean that it rides well and is much more durable. It even has an inch and a quarter A-headset... The bloke who built it rode round the world on his!
If you want a homebrew Penny on the cheap, you could always do what my mate Andy did...
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You look
ARROWSPOK
The_Seldom_Killer
badtmy
recon
31trum
Pistanator
VeeVee
Oliver Schick
fruitbat
Tea_Bee
Jacqui
benana
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About
Getting my new bike home on the tube
Posted by
@Charlotte
How appearances can deceive. Joff is a very nice man with a lot of talent for doing extraordinary things and quite a few cracking stories to tell. ;)
Joff on CM:
http://www.londonfgss.com/post438174.html