CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Are there more roadies commuting?

(47 posts)
  • Started 12 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from Uberuce

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  1. steveo
    Member

    So it is perhaps not so surprising that people stick to a rucksack (which can be used in other contexts as well, unlike a saddlebag).

    Right tool for the job though, saddle bag for the saddle, panniers for the pannier rack, rucksack for walking or where there is no other choice.

    You have to admit that flexibility means they are a compromise on the bike and made doubly uncomfortable on a road bike due to rider position.

    I do have a Carradice but they are expensive (compared to a rucksack)

    Depends on the rucksack, the price overlap between tiso's range or rucksacks and carradice's range of saddle bags is very small. Tiso's cheap rucksacks start about the same level as the larger saddlebags.

    But to each their own.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. paul.mag
    Member

    I always think of my rucksack as part of my safety equipment. I got car doored a few years ago and somehow flipped (i'm not the most acrobatic person) and landed on my back which my rucksack took most of the impact, plus it kept my head higher off the ground so that my helmet took the blow higher up as well. My pack also acts as my high viz as it's luminous orange with the high viz bands and since i'm on my hybrid it's at windscreen height. Also the number of commuters I see with black packs covering most of their high viz jackets has always puzzled me.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. Baldcyclist
    Member

    I'm on my fancy carbon bike at the moment. Not sure if I really count as a 'roadie', or a worthwhile 'target' for hybrid/commuter bikes, although, if I somehow make you all feel better for taking my 'scalp', you're more than welcome ;P

    Mind you on the flip side, I did the short mute from Barnton this morning, and I was almost embarrassed pulling the bike out of the car incase I got caught.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. ruggtomcat
    Member

    rucksacs are fine for commuting, its when you have to spend longer than about 1/2 hour in the saddle they become tiresome, but for bombing into town? yeah sure.

    It is in fact the one niggle of recumbentry that you cant sling extra load on your back.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. crowriver
    Member

    @fimm, maybe one of these SQR bags would work for you?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. fimm
    Member

    @crowriver maybe, but it costs £75!!!

    Rant aside, another thought I had was that in winter one can be bundled up in all manner of stuff (ronhills over lycra shorts in my case), whereas in summer the shorts and cycling top are on display...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. SRD
    Moderator

    I could be wrong but I rather think wilmington's cow was (a) assuming they must be roadies if they passed him or (b) hoping we would re-assure him that there are a lot of new commuters out there who are only fast cause they are roadies.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    More (b) than (a), as I said I'm well aware of my pace limitations... ;)

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. wingpig
    Member

    "...I'm not sure my ego can take any more of this..."

    The simplest solution is to stop telling your ego about it and just get on with going wherever you're going at whatever pace you were getting their at, not adjusting it or judging it relative to the paces of others, instead optionally merely observing when others' paces are adjusted upon observation of your own.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. Dave
    Member

    I rode bike 4 to work today to ensure my legs had a rest (courtesy the twiddly gears, not the huge knobbly tyres!) and had to put up with everyone and their dog overtaking me.

    I have gone one step more crazy than the rucksack posse though by bringing a cotton supermarket bag.

    When semi-full I've discovered you can put one loop over each shoulder as a sort of bag (but on the way in empty, it just folds and goes down the back of my shorts).

    Compromise?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  11. amir
    Member

    I dress/ride as a roadie, in part because it enables me to commute longer distances in more comfort. But I am a cyclist ....

    Posted 12 years ago #

  12. amir
    Member

    ... and a pedestrian ...

    ... and a motorist, bus and train user.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  13. amir
    Member

    ... and, maybe one day, a tram user.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  14. bdellar
    Member

    I've certainly noticed a big increase in cyclists generally this year on my route, including roadies. In years past, I would almost never see another cyclist along London Road. Now I'm routinely sitting in a big bunch of them at lights, and there are lines of us along the road.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  15. Uberuce
    Member

    I was behind a young woman on an knobbily shod MTB this lunchtime. She was only a teensy tiny bit slower than my natural pace, except I was in a hurry so would have preferred to overtake her. I didn't because it'd look so much like I was a sexist pig who couldn't abide being slower than a girl, even one in superb athletic shape. She was like totes buff girlfriend bro hoof lawl.

    Plainly she'd have been a speck in the distance if she'd been on a road bike.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  16. chdot
    Admin

    "so would have preferred to overtake her. I didn't because it'd look so much like I was a sexist pig who couldn't abide being slower"

    Not sure I'm buying that...

    I think the rest of your post might have exposed other motives.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  17. Uberuce
    Member

    Oink.

    Posted 12 years ago #

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