Dork Discs - The debate

[Anonymous]

We all have that bike we just can't part wit it.

What about saddle bags? Are those in the same category with dork disks and reflectors?

Little undersaddle ones, or panniers..

Both the mountain bike and the wifes bike have pannier racks, but kind of essential.. you ever done a 70km touring ride with the wife, you really have no idea how many changes of clothes, flasks and food they feel the need to take with them, just in case anything happens..

Strangely when i suggested getting a rack for the Kona so if we where going away for a few days i could just fit it on, and she insisted she would carry everything, and that im not allowed a rack on my new bike bless her..

which reminds me, i really must find her a basket for the front, poor lamb so desperately wants one. Weight is no object it seems, checked her tyre pressures the other day, poor girl has been riding at 25-30 psi. Got to give her credit though, anyone who can consistently ride 30-40k over rolling devon hills on a 20kg bike, costing £80 with flat tyres is a toughie.

 

[CycloErgoSum]

We all have that bike we just can't part wit it.

What about saddle bags? Are those in the same category with dork disks and reflectors?

Do you mean the bag attached to the seatpost that carries your spare tubes, Co2 cannisters, keys, money, etc.? How can anyone ride around without that stuff? Oh, sorry, my bad: we all like to pretend we're pros riding the Tour with a team car catering to our every whim and that guy down the road, hell he's Contador and he's going backwards cuz I'm a superior athlete. Man I crushed him when a went past him, he didn't know what hit him. Liggett and Sherwin were screaming my name and at the arrivee every girl wanted to blow my sweaty pennis. Hey-zeus, kid stuff. If I was a guy and I thought that way, I wouldn't feck me in a million years.

 

[ravens]

Little undersaddle ones, or panniers..

Both the mountain bike and the wifes bike have pannier racks, but kind of essential.. you ever done a 70km touring ride with the wife, you really have no idea how many changes of clothes, flasks and food they feel the need to take with them, just in case anything happens..

Strangely when i suggested getting a rack for the Kona so if we where going away for a few days i could just fit it on, and she insisted she would carry everything, and that im not allowed a rack on my new bike bless her..

which reminds me, i really must find her a basket for the front, poor lamb so desperately wants one. Weight is no object it seems, checked her tyre pressures the other day, poor girl has been riding at 25-30 psi. Got to give her credit though, anyone who can consistently ride 30-40k over rolling devon hills on a 20kg bike, costing £80 with flat tyres is a toughie.

I like a simple cordura handle bar bag on very long rides in rural areas. it holds tons of stuff like a frozen water bottle. I do try and move as much as I can out of it early in the ride (in other words, consumables) to reduce weight. its weight up high does unsettle the balance slightly. (center of grav.)

If it's really hot I will also bring it which draws looks on a group ride. I am pretty much a maximalist fred, road morph, bar plug mirror, top tube bag (best thing ever), oversized expandable underseat bag (it holds a windbreaker), extender on handlebars to hold lights and cyclecomp.

I fly my fred flag proudly. Judge me all you want,but...You skinny bazdids line up behind my fullback physique when the wind blows. I'll pull like a malamute in a blizzard.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Do you mean the bag attached to the seatpost that carries your spare tubes, Co2 cannisters, keys, money, etc.? How can anyone ride around without that stuff? Oh, sorry, my bad: we all like to pretend we're pros riding the Tour with a team car catering to our every whim and that guy down the road, hell he's Contador and he's going backwards cuz I'm a superior athlete. Man I crushed him when a went past him, he didn't know what hit him. Liggett and Sherwin were screaming my name and at the arrivee every girl wanted to blow my sweaty pennis. Hey-zeus, kid stuff. If I was a guy and I thought that way, I wouldn't feck me in a million years.

I don't know about all that...

Depending on the ride, I put that stuff in my back jersey pocket. If I do a metric century, century, or any ride out of town, then I will use a saddle bag because I'll carry more. The 50 mile or less rides around my town, I don't use it. I throw a multi tool, two tubes, co2 cannisters, a red zeppelin inflator (the best ever), and a little zip wallet with cash, credit card, and DL in it, and I still have room for a Blackberry with no bulge in the pockets. The reason I asked is because somebody made a comment to me using one at a century. Judging from his set up, if your riding anything less than a Pinnarello Prince and wearing anything but Castelli, you're a Fred.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

You skinny bazdids line up behind my fullback physique when the wind blows. I'll pull like a malamute in a blizzard.

At 6'2" 155lbs, I LOVE drafting guys like you. Thanks in advance.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Little undersaddle ones, or panniers..

which reminds me, i really must find her a basket for the front, poor lamb so desperately wants one. Weight is no object it seems, checked her tyre pressures the other day, poor girl has been riding at 25-30 psi. Got to give her credit though, anyone who can consistently ride 30-40k over rolling devon hills on a 20kg bike, costing £80 with flat tyres is a toughie.

I felt the same way when I checked my girlfriend's bike after a race. She said the bike felt like it was dragging. Turns out the shop she took it to, tweaked the rotors too much that the pads were actually applying slight pressure. She finished a 18 mile MTB race with about 10 miles of climbing, essentially with the breaks on. I guess that what happens when some noob use to fixing hybrids works on your bike. I would have looked it over before the start, but we were running late....

 

[ravens]

At 6'2" 155lbs, I LOVE drafting guys like you. Thanks in advance.

I have been thanked by many of you in the past and hope to get back into my old form again soon and go off the front.

Cycling has finally afforded me that most sublime of compliments, to have young athletic women stare lovingly at my absurdly flat backside for long periods of time. And then thank me when they are done with me. It's fun to be used for my body.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you mean the bag attached to the seatpost that carries your spare tubes, Co2 cannisters, keys, money, etc.? How can anyone ride around without that stuff?

I dont, i have camelpak with just enough room in it for the essential tools. no difference having 2l of water on your back, as 2litres on the bike..

No room under my saddle in the winter. there will be in the summer once the lights gone..

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I have been thanked by many of you in the past and hope to get back into my old form again soon and go off the front.

When you do, somebody like me will be ready to take your wheel.

Cycling has finally afforded me that most sublime of compliments, to have young athletic women stare lovingly at my absurdly flat backside for long periods of time. And then thank me when they are done with me. It's fun to be used for my body.

Ha!
My friends and teammates often joke with me because in non-race events, I always seem to find a young woman to trade pulls with. Really it's just a coincidence, but it's happened on more than one occasion. I just find a rider going at a similar pace and help out.

 

[ravens]

When you do, somebody like me will be ready to take your wheel.



Ha!
My friends and teammates often joke with me because in non-race events, I always seem to find a young woman to trade pulls with. Really it's just a coincidence, but it's happened on more than one occasion. I just find a rider going at a similar pace and help out.

we are going to get slapped for going off topic. I'll try and get back on topic in a sec, but first, I start group rides out front with the fast guys, then glide back through the pack, the fast women, the not so fast women (female freds are nice, but I have had too many close calls with them, erratic! They probably haven't seen a man as handsome as me in a while), moving back through the pack we see the slightly out of shape guys, guys on 'bents, older women, tandems, old men, old women and children, the feeble and infirm, drifters, hitchhikers and hobos. I pretty much can witness the entire cycle of life in a 2-3 hour ride, but I will always take a turn or 3 at the front and happily blow myself up on any hill or headwind. Whenever I get someone on my wheel I feel a dedication and loyalty to that person that drives me to dig up the reserves I never knew I had. Kids on kick scooters and skateboards are the most grateful.

Back to the topic......
But I think the last bike that I had with a dork disc was an '81 schwinn mirada upright that I thought at the time was the very cutting edge of technology. It was an anchor with 3X5 friction sugino shifters. What a POS. that was probably the last bike made that really needed a dork disc. But I may be wrong. I have never, in 5+ years on 9 speed 105, popped the chain off there.

I don't have all kinds of experience with many different types of bikes, but is it really necessary with the current technology?

 

[philcrisp]

Trek Livestrong

Was it just my failing eyesight or were Trek Livestrong running dork disks in Qatar today?