tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post4425228404557555625..comments2024-03-27T05:14:23.738-04:00Comments on Lovely Bicycle!: Horsing Around with Brompton Foam GripsVelouriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-76849250895716859412013-12-25T05:56:28.789-05:002013-12-25T05:56:28.789-05:00I feel your pain... my room-mate's bunny tried...I feel your pain... my room-mate's bunny tried to eat my Ergons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-21658036104841595542013-12-24T19:32:21.384-05:002013-12-24T19:32:21.384-05:00How do you feel about the Brompton after riding it...How do you feel about the Brompton after riding it as your main ride (or so it seems) for such a long while. Do you miss your full sized bikes?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-73151819311666155212013-12-22T19:38:33.948-05:002013-12-22T19:38:33.948-05:00Well said anon 2:10,
the things we have to concen...Well said anon 2:10,<br /> the things we have to concentrate on a bit are the things we get satisfaction from and to one degree or other try to do better for the secret joy of it. <br /><br />You're so right about how one learned to ride tubulars, when I ride them even now, which isn't often, I automatically adjust to that alert state of awareness of the road that that smooth feeling of sew-ups unwinding themselves on the pavement brings on. Isn't it nice? <br /><br />I also miss the feeling of a perfectly executed friction shift so much I'm setting my old Road Bike up that way again, I hope it all comes back after 10 years of Ergo-power... <br /><br />Spindizzy<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-11817319134893515622013-12-22T14:10:46.411-05:002013-12-22T14:10:46.411-05:00Jumping back in the old thread here. In days of yo...Jumping back in the old thread here. In days of yore when the only fast tire was a tubular it was also the case that the only rims available were made from rather soft and rather cheap alloys. Ductile rims survived. And flatspotted very very easily. Everyone who rode learned how to "ride light". If you didn't "ride light" you went down the road "thump thump thumpeta thump" on all the flat spots in your rims. Even if you bailed and reverted to clinchers, which were sloooow back then, the rims were soft.<br /><br />No one has to learn much anything anymore to ride. Nice that the sport has been opened up to all comers. Not so nice that grace and form and style and forethought are out the window. No one knows what good form looks like anymore but some riders have it anyway, whether they know it or not. Bella figura just happens for the fortunate few. And the graceful ones get a whole lot of mileage out of their kit.<br /><br />Thank you and Merry Christmas Velouria. I haven't worn out a chain since you posted about NFS but it is now very clear chains, chainrings, and freewheels in this house are going to last longer. My previous record for a chain was 9000 miles. That was with Rohloff SLT-99 chain, no longer produced, retired from service on the good bike at 0.2% elongation. Using NFS I may get that mileage from ordinary chains. We'll see. The lovelybike method of thinking through what you do on the bike will always be a winner.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-32821109464667087282013-12-22T08:47:09.066-05:002013-12-22T08:47:09.066-05:00Black grips don’t show the dirt, brown grips don’t...Black grips don’t show the dirt, brown grips don’t show the mud, green grips don’t show the grass, and white grips... white grips don’t show the bars – just like The Milligan’s white-painted boots didn’t show his feet in Spike Milligan’s classic novel, Puckoon.<br /><br />If you stay in Ireland long enough, Velouria, you might see a church clock stuck at 4:32 and a Roman soldier stuck up a tree, but you’d need to read Puckoon to understand that. :)<br /><br />Actually, when you think about it, white grips won’t show the snow! “I’m dreaming of a...”kylecyclernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-13688600904361455252013-12-20T11:50:10.046-05:002013-12-20T11:50:10.046-05:00Oh wow, Brompton Bumble B! I am honoured by your v...Oh wow, Brompton Bumble B! I am honoured by your visit.<br /><br />What happened to crack the rear frame?..Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-23703009511953696462013-12-20T11:48:20.321-05:002013-12-20T11:48:20.321-05:00Mine re labeled M Type and they are straight. Most...Mine re labeled M Type and they are straight. Most likely, as one of the earlier comments suggests, there has been a change in design. Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-12403041991740189192013-12-20T10:51:54.387-05:002013-12-20T10:51:54.387-05:00Shouldn't be long before Cable TV airs "W...Shouldn't be long before Cable TV airs "When Animals Attack! Bicycle Edition" featuring stalking border collies and vicious bike-munching Shetland ponies. Just a matter of time before the unlucky cyclist is head-butted by a sheep or carried off by an eagle. MT cyclisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17451590809473759574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-8691237335886246992013-12-20T09:58:15.755-05:002013-12-20T09:58:15.755-05:00Rider weight, absolutely, but also sloppy braking,...Rider weight, absolutely, but also sloppy braking, riding over trash, shifting with your brain turned off, lubing your chain once a year whether it needs it or not, etc. etc.<br /><br /> We've all seen it and heard the rider of the bike that's constantly in need of attention declaim, "S%#t wears out, nothing you can do". Sometimes that's also the person that says chains never last 1000 miles and you have to change the cassette every time you replace that chain, or, "X" brand tires are always crap and wont last a season, blah blah blah.<br /><br />Some one who pays attention gets 2 or 3 times the life out of the same stuff. Oh well, as long as we're having fun and the bikeshop stays in business it's all good. Right?<br /><br />SpindizzyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-64380180386146585152013-12-20T08:13:33.297-05:002013-12-20T08:13:33.297-05:00The biggest single determinant in how long a bike ...The biggest single determinant in how long a bike or part of a bike lasts is rider weight. Light riders, which includes Velouria, normally get trouble-free mileage beyond the imagination of heavier riders.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-87830570194897780592013-12-20T07:40:10.396-05:002013-12-20T07:40:10.396-05:00From a quick trawl of internet shops, there appear...From a quick trawl of internet shops, there appear to be several varieties - the bellied grips are consistently labelled 'M type' but I have found the straight (coloured) ones labelled both HB and S, and (confusingly) one shop at least has black bellied grips as 'S type'. I know that M and S are varieties of Brompton Handlebar, and I suspect HB is an abbreviation for HandleBar so perhaps the shops are just inventing their own terminology - colour seems a surer guide - all the coloured ones I've seen on offer are straight, the plain black ones bellied.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-16943026917673662622013-12-20T06:38:16.378-05:002013-12-20T06:38:16.378-05:00Thank heavens I read this in time before money exc...Thank heavens I read this in time before money exchanged hands for a similar "watch my ponies" arrangement!Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-90956566952329134942013-12-20T06:27:40.107-05:002013-12-20T06:27:40.107-05:00I've put a lot, and I mean a lot of miles on m...I've put a lot, and I mean a lot of miles on my regularly-ridden bikes, in all weather conditions, and have been surprised by how little component wear and tear I experience. I've worn through 1 set of tires and brake pads, replaced a chain, and rubbed holes in bar tape, but that's about it. I know riders who put far fewer miles their bikes and need more frequent component/ accessory replacements. Then again I know riders who've ridden on the same components for years and years and years. I think some people are just harder on their equipment than others, and - considering my fairly tame style of cycling - I may fall into the latter category. Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-82302360614648223332013-12-19T21:33:03.077-05:002013-12-19T21:33:03.077-05:00This post is kinda funny because with all your exp...This post is kinda funny because with all your expertise in bicycles now, and being an insider and all, it's also clear you haven't been riding enough to really wear out stuff and have to constantly replace components/parts. Growing used to things and having to change them with something different...well, that's it...it's always adapting from what we want to what we have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-54701111800204808322013-12-19T18:17:44.216-05:002013-12-19T18:17:44.216-05:00Hah. Ours was shred between my two cousins, my bro...Hah. Ours was shred between my two cousins, my brother and me, and kept at the grandparents' spread<br />along with grandpa's hunting trained Arabian/quarter stallion and grandma's Appaloosa. That horse was gentle and sweet, the stallion was high spirited and a truly skilled branch-wiper with a sense of humor, but only Spot the Shetland would bite three kids in a row and then wipe the fourth off on barbed-wire. No one put up a single word of protest when my grandparents sold him on to a neighbor when I was in my early teens.<br /> <br />I swear, that cute little horse used walk up and nip roosters. Corey Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15381826721030941179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-68366338811383974682013-12-19T17:12:58.593-05:002013-12-19T17:12:58.593-05:00First, the grips, you can take emorycloth or plumb...First, the grips, you can take emorycloth or plumbers sanding strips and make those grips any contour you want. Just put them on and with a firm shoe-shine type scrubbing you can do what MTB Racers and BMX slackers have been doing for a generation. If you use clean strips and are careful (do a bit at a time) it comes out looking factory.<br /><br />Now, the Pony. <br /><br />Ponies are not nice, they are bullies, grifters and the worst kind of opportunists you'll ever have the misfortune to meet. We were "gifted" with 2 of the nasty buggers by some friend of a friend of my Mom's when I was about 8 or 9, the deal was that since we had a few acres of fenced scrub, they would leave them with us for a couple of weeks and when they came to get them they'd pay my sister and me for taking care of them(Gee Mister! $20?! That would be swell!). Alas, some misfortune must have befallen the FOF as he never returned. <br /><br />Franny and Flaxie were absolutely adorable from about 10 yards, eternally juvenile looking and with that tousled mop of mane and tail that made you want to just squeeze them and love on them till you passed out. Buuut, when you got closer they had more of the middle-aged streetwalker about them. Many's the time I was out in the pasture goofing off and Franny would just appear behind me and whisper, "Don't turn around, gimme your watch". and then bite me in the back when she realized I still didn't own a watch. <br /><br />Flaxie was the one who would be all sweet and persuasive, "C'mon, let's go for a ride! Just you and me sweety, out along the road..." And as soon as you closed the gate and untied the reins she would bolt for town, trying to scrape you off under every low branch, against any barbwire fence, whatever. She got me 29 stitches the first day of summer vacation the year I was 10. I think she was hoping to find somewhere they'd sell her beer. <br /><br />I always wanted them to be my friends you know, to be able to go chasing sunsets and rainbows and tell them my secrets while staring up at the clouds from their back while they quietly munched daisies... Never happened. They were both just like that girl in 8th grade that one day asks you to be her boyfriend and then on the walk home tells you to go steal her some smokes if you want to go home with her and make out. <br /><br />We kept them for 8 or 9 years before we passed them along to some people from church with a little land a daughter who "Just loves her some Pony". <br /><br /> I wonder how that all worked out.<br /><br />Spindizzy<br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-4800569533582701142013-12-19T15:27:09.972-05:002013-12-19T15:27:09.972-05:00Some unidentifiable rodent scarred my lovely Ideal...Some unidentifiable rodent scarred my lovely Ideale saddle, love bites .ofoabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02145180145442539127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-8846569758591019302013-12-19T12:28:45.660-05:002013-12-19T12:28:45.660-05:00Yep Ergons here on my S bar. Std brompton grips no...Yep Ergons here on my S bar. Std brompton grips no better than pipe lagging. Sihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08234024740588182547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-75350676115077349872013-12-19T12:24:46.568-05:002013-12-19T12:24:46.568-05:00I got the Yellow Brompton grips back in February w...I got the Yellow Brompton grips back in February when I had to send BumbleB back for a warranty claim (cracked rear frame no biggy) and Brompton upgraded the grips. I was never a fan of the original foam grips but I have to say I liked the new foam ones for a good 6 months or so. <br /><br />Only thing is that with the light colour they get dirty QUICK. In the end I changed and got the Grip Rings in black and yellow ;)Brompton Bumble Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00383160432145828484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-87274810598178491352013-12-19T12:18:45.456-05:002013-12-19T12:18:45.456-05:00I originally learned English the British way, then...I originally learned English the British way, then moved around enough times to turn my spelling into a messy Anglo-American hybrid, with German and Slavic influences thrown in for good measure. Not sure to what extent that explains "chewn," but hey - it felt right. Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-60769820688618173422013-12-19T12:10:58.942-05:002013-12-19T12:10:58.942-05:00no relationno relationVelouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-14963133499029519192013-12-19T12:09:57.613-05:002013-12-19T12:09:57.613-05:00The inside feels straight to me, but the belly dev...The inside feels straight to me, but the belly development theory is an intriguing one.<br /><br />There are <a href="http://instagram.com/p/h0vRr3j7mx/" rel="nofollow">lots of Shetlands</a> hanging about these parts, which makes me wonder what they are for. As far as I know, these little ponies are no longer used for farm work - but it is rare to keep animals frivolously or as pets here. So maybe they do help out after all. Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-16353123881318210852013-12-19T11:59:18.382-05:002013-12-19T11:59:18.382-05:00My gears have needed adjustment a couple of times ...My gears have needed adjustment a couple of times and the chain has been cleaned/oiled, but that's the only tuning that's been done on mine so far.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-67198553711678827222013-12-19T11:57:57.732-05:002013-12-19T11:57:57.732-05:00I was hoping the same thoughtful engineers might h...I was hoping the same thoughtful engineers might have made the white grips magically dirt resistant? Will report back.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-67629546976383519482013-12-19T11:57:25.251-05:002013-12-19T11:57:25.251-05:00I considered that, but it would change the firmnes...I considered that, but it would change the firmness of the bump.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.com