A friend of mine recently had a new bike and we had said we would meet up for a ride but for one reason or another (weather) it never materialised. He's a pretty new convert to cycling getting bitten by the bug after riding to work every day on Cannondale Hybrid, so he thought he'd get all serious and buy a nice lightweight racer.
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| Rose Xeon RS |
He had said he wanted some help looking for a bike because he's not to sure what to look for when trying to get the best bang for your buck, but out the blue he said he'd bought an aluminium framed Rose. I must admit I thought he'd dropped a clanger. I'd seen a few Rose mtnbike's and knew they were German and had a reputation for delivering good value for money but that was about it. I was pleasantly surprised though as I think it's a lovely looking bike and he's upgraded some of the basic spec like the Mavic wheels, Prologo saddle and Shwalbe tyres to get the black and yellow colour nicely coordinated. The triple butted aluminium frame would give any carbon frame a run for it's money in the lightness stakes and is really finished beautifully. It's got a full a Shimano Ultegra groupset, inhouse carbon seat post and an aloy bar and all in all for £1,500 English pounds it's a lovely bike. He has now realised though he's on the slippery slope to empty wallet syndrome as he now needs new pedals/shoes, helmet, new kit and that list will just keep growing. Welcome to our world !
We finally got to go for the ride yesterday. As I would be on my steel framed single speed cx I was feeling a little bit of trepidation at the pain that no doubt I would soon be feeling. We criss crossed a lot of the roads that my local road/offroad loop takes but we were hitting the climbs that I try to avoid, one brute is 11% but not wanting to show my arse I just gritted my teeth and sucked it up. I think I will start fitting one or two into my rides from now on as i wasn't in to bad a shape after. When i got home the clock said 38km 1hr36min which isn't too shabby but i don't think I'd like to go much longer with him unless I was riding gears myself. My friend says he wants a new bike for work now and I've told him to get a single speed then I can give him some punishment. Fingers crossed.
Excellent blog, Dave! Even as a non-fanatic I found it enjoyable and well-presented - especially loved your photos. I might be a bit thick regards cycling, nevertheless I'm still impressed! It's nice to have someone representing us Stokeys in style!!!
ReplyDeleteI still love your blog over a year on and even though I know a titchy bit more of what you're actually talking about now (er, yeah, I might be a little bit of a fanatic now too) but that just means that I know even better just how great your little blog really is. The only thing I can add is - do more!!! xxx
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