madfiNch

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Megan. She loved her bike. It was so useful to her as a vehicle. It had a rack and fenders, fat tires, and mounts for lights on it. Then, one day, Megan decided that she wanted a faster bike. It was summer, and she had a really good paying internship, so she figured why not. She went to the bike shop and ended up buying a road bike. It was a lower-end road bike, but it still had super skinny tires and it was the lightest bike she had ever owned. It felt good to her. It was her first drop-bar bike, but it fit her really well. And it was fast. But it wasn't really a very functional bike. It didn't have braze-ons for a rack or fenders. It didn't even have a kick stand! When she was on the bike, she liked it a lot. When she was off it, it irritated her. What's the point of a bike if you can only ride it on weekends, and you can't even carry anything with you?! So, she went to her LBS and talked with the mechanics. They came up with some mods. And then...



She finally had a bike she could <3 (even though it still doesn't have a kick stand)

paulrad9

>>What's the point of a bike if you can only ride it on weekends, and you can't even carry anything with you?! <<

No truer words have ever been spoken

BTW, nice ride!

FlyingAnchor

Please please please post this in the roadie forum. What a hoot that would be.

As far as your post, I agree completely. Is there such a thing as a roadie fred?

Steven

jaypee

I love your bike. This is awesome!

Cody Broken

Yes! Like a sports car pulling a utility trailer.
You rock.

I can see it: ride your rig to work. Unhitch at lunch and fly! Hitch up, ride home.

vaticdart

Minus the trailer, that looks exactly like my road bike. I take the clip on fenders on and off depending on the conditions, but I love that thing for commuting, getting around in general, and hauling ass on long leisure rides. And I was in pretty much the same position... new job... more money, decided to upgrade from my hybrid to something faster, got a Giant OCR1. Hardly a high-end bike, but way faster and lighter than anything I've owned before.

Enjoy!

madfiNch

Ha! Can you imagine the reaction on the roadie forum? I've probably angered the road-gods enough! Thanks for the positive feedback. It's been a fun summer. Now it's time for me to focus on getting a winter bike set up...

ax0n

Doesn't look much different than mine, either, except I went for a low-end frame that DOES have braze-ons (Trek 1200 and 1000 have them) and opted for panniers instead of a trailer. That thing is mean wicked awesome, though.

Please, please tell me you commute in street clothes or clothes that are functional but not racing-inspired. You could also mount a rear triangle kickstand on it. Get those two things and post away! There will be gnashing of teeth and popping of forehead-veins over in Road Cycling.

DataJunkie

Hmmm... I doubt y'all would get much of a reaction. *shrugs*

That thing is more commuterized than my touring bike. Well... not really. I have all of the same extras on it.
Shame on the op!
j/k

MyBikeGotStolen

I think deserves the "Quote of the Year" award.

Great story

ginsoakedboy

Funny how that logic doesn't occur to most roadies. Meagan is lucky that she had such a sound upbringing -- so she could evaluate her new road bike and say "these are all the things that are wrong with a bike like this, and here's how we can fix them".

biknbrian

I too wanted a faster road bike and was looking into ones that were more towards the practical end and could maybe be a commuter or light tourer if I didn't get into road biking. Then friends and bike shop folk pointed out that I already had a functional commuter, why not get something light and fast. So of course I bought a full carbon Specialized, and of course I bought road shoes with giant plastic cleats on the bottom.

Then realized the only thing I could do with this thing was go out and ride as fast and as far as I could. I couldn't actually ride to get anywhere and I couldn't even stop to walk around. So ride I did (and true Aero wheels I did), until I one day I rode a century. Now I don't know what to do with the thing.

I'd like to set it up so the wife and I can take little day trips now that the kids are in school. I'm going to buy recessed cleat all purpose SPD shoes and pedals. I'd really like to get a rack on it, but I'm leary of even clamping anything onto the carbon. Of course it crossed my mind that if I break it I can slap the components on a LHT or Cross Check frame.

Anyway, what kind of rack is that and is it bolted at the bottom of the legs?

M_S

Most people I know who bike for transportation also do so for recreation, including a guy I knew who was a bona-fide roadie but frequently attached a Burley trailer to the road bike.

Nothing is wrong with road bikes. They are fun. They have their place. I hate when this forum takes this kind of direction.

bigbenaugust 

Carbon stays... and a trailer. Just awesome.

That is the right kind of weird right there.

DataJunkie

+1

Some of us deserve it but by and large most roadies are decent people. So tired of the incessant roadie and spandex bashing.
I would take up fred bashing if I did not look like one half of the time.

mtnwalker

Meh, I have a road bike that is considered by most as a weekend bike but I also use it for commuting. In fact I've gone over 500 miles in commuting miles alone on it in a month. No racks, I use a backpack. No fenders, its not raining yet. It has front and rear lights and the frame is Ti. I wear lycra and jerseys because its whats comfortable for my 22 mile r/t. So there.

robmcl

+2 What a waste of time and energy. Other than the "Dial it up to 400 watts thread." I can hardly remember a roadie posting anything obnoxious on this forum. If anything it is the anti roadie, anti elitist, retro grouch crowd and their prescribed way of doing things that behave badly on this forum. If you have a problem with roadies go to the Road Forum and take it up with them there.

CliftonGK1

My PDG Series 5 has no brazes (except for water bottles) and I choose to ride it only on the weekend (or weekday evenings) when it's nice out and there's no puddles on the ground. My commuter is my fendered, mud-flapped, light-equipped, rack-havin' haul all my stuff bike that I ride no matter the weather. My road bike is my light-as-a-pencil and fast-as-a-bullet bike that I take out only when the conditions permit.
It's kinda like when car guys have their 'everyday car' which might be a station wagon or a pick-up truck, but they've got a really awesome classic sports car that they drive on the weekend, only if it's sunny out, and only a few miles to the diner for lunch.
Not every bicycle needs to be utilitarian in function. The point of my road bike? It's really fast, fun to ride, and I don't worry about too much maintenance because I don't ride it in crummy conditions.


Your setup is really nice, though. I especially dig the trailer. That's one of the things I've been considering for my commuter rig, so I can haul even more stuff.

funrover 

Nice ride!

Podolak

So how does Megan learn to love me?

Flimflam

Gorgeous looking bike, and a great story to boot!

I commute/utiity ride with my roadie, I use a QR seatpost rack to put my luggage on - I've towed my trailer behind it too, but don't like doing that so much. Braze-ons would be nice, but I'll hold out for another more touring-focussed frame I plan on getting.. my roadie will stay mostly as-is.

Good for you!

ontheroadid

"To the (sweet) Fred-mobile!"

What model of Burley trailer is that?

Podolak

it is actually called the Burley Flatbed

Phantoj

Megan's seat is kind of far back. Personally, I have found that if my seat is too far back, I end up perching on the nose, an uncomfortable place to ride.

What kind of bike is that, an Allez?

SmileAndFollow

I recently bought a Raleigh Rush Hour track bike for my commute. It has no braze-ons at all. Not even for water bottles. It still gets me and my stuff where I need it and damn fast too. I carry what I need on my back. I will probably get a rat tail fender and I will definitely be getting some lights on it as well, but thats about it. Everything else isnt a neccesity.