I have been a big cycling fan for many, many years, both watching the grand tours and Olympic track meets on TV, as well as having been a cycling commuter for many years. Since 2012 I have been riding single speed, and since 2015 I flipped that to fixie. Whilst I ill-advisedly rode that Glasgow to Edinburgh charity ride on this bike, most of my bike envy was towards cool hipster fixies. That being said, Edinburgh is hardly a practical place to get about without gears, and as time went on I started to consider making the jump to road bike.
Towards the end of my time at The Stand I started looking at road bikes and was very taken by some lovely looking steel Genesis bikes. At this time I was also considering a career break from PR and communications to take up a considerably less well paid job working with kids. Those with common sense would have bought the road bike before watching their bank balance diminish, and if I’d have thought of it I’d have done the same. The next couple of years I’d dive wholeheartedly into the world of bike porn, and by that I mean looking at lovely bikes online rather than folks having sex on or with bikes (dare you to Google it, I’m sure it’s a thing!). Now that I’m actively looking to get myself a job that pays better I was thinking that one of the first things I’d do is buy a flash new road bike. On a Christmas night out a friend of mine with a several level of bike fanboyness told me that he had bought a really cheap road bike as an entry into that world and was really getting into his cycling. This rather inspired me and I thought it made sense that I do something similar, no point splashing the cash if I end up not enjoying road cycling, and my meagre wages could stretch to a beginners’ bike enabling me to get on my bike sooner rather than later. After looking at pretty much every list of the best cheap bikes 2017/18 I decided to plump for the BTwin Triban 500SE, which Decathlon had on sale. Whilst I’m sure bike snobs might dismiss it as mass produced pish from the Primark of sports shops, reviews suggested otherwise, and that fact is I’d never actually been on a road bike, so splashing any cash would be a risk purchase.
I got the tram out to Decathlon at Hermiston Gait to collect the bike, the tyres were quite slick so I made the decision to get a more ‘everyday’ multi surface road tyre fitted thus allowing me to go on cycle tracks with my daughter and not be paranoid about getting a flat tyre. With said slick tyres around my neck I set off for the first time ever on a road bike.
The riding position felt a tad weird but I soon got into the swing of things, although the brakes were initially awkward, and it’s very wobbly trying to hold the drop bar one handed. I was flying along the road, although when I got to town I realised that I cycled the whole way without even thinking about changing gears, freewheeling was enough of a novelty. When I went to try out the gears I realised that I had no idea what I was doing, but the road from town to Leith is downhill, so it’d be an easy ride either way. With a less robust bike I now have to be even more mindful of potholes and uneven road surfaces, so I opted for Easter Road over Leith Walk, turns out that a driver didn’t notice my lovely new set of wheels and was inches away from christening my new steed with a crash.
I made it home in one piece, very happy with my new bike, and with the Aldi padded cycle trousers I got for the charity ride dug out from the drawer under my bed, I appear to be a dubiously clad middle aged man on a racer. Things can only get better!
noisy little words 