For reasons too boring to go into I spent the first four months of this year settling on a plan to do a big, multi-day, solo ride next year. And having been 'bent-curious for a few years, combining it with learning to ride a new type of bike seemed like it'd give me something to scratch for the next twleve months. So, reading, reading and reading I get to the decision that what I'd really like is a Grasshopper. Plan A was research market over summer, buy bike in September, learn to ride in the run-up to Christmas, get 1,000+ miles under my belt Jan-May, do big ride in June. Plan B is bike becomes immediately available in the exact spec I want, buy bike -1 week, learn to ride bike starting now, see how it goes.
So I had my inaugral wobble in Richmond Park on Sunday morning. Fell off once on the RAB near Robin Hood gate, and headed over the grass a couple of times following wobbly starts. Anyway, I think I got the hang of starting. Stopping's a bit undignified at the mo, but hopefully next Sunday'll sort me out.
I'm surprised:
1. How bloody hard it is control
2. That it's not knife-through-the-air fast
3. How little clearance there is (knees/bars)
4. How sore I was on Sunday afternoon
5. How chilled I felt afterwards
6. How cool my kids think I am
6. How keen I am to get back on it in view of points 1-4
In any case, not wanting to shoulder my way into your club, I have a couple of questions that I hope more experienced riders might be able to help with.
The rubber tube that connects the two halfs of the upper chain tube (this is the folding version, so it needs this rubbery bit to allow the fold) is split, which allows the front half to travel forwards and venture round the chain ring. Not much - it happened once in my 10 mile trial and it was easily sorted. Do I have to buy a manufactured part to replce it, or will anything that looks like it fits OK do?
The chain jumps a bit. I tried tightening/loosening the cable in case it was actually the chain trying to change up or down, which had little effect. The bike's done 2,500 miles and the chain looks in good(-ish) condition as do the sprockets. Any other avanues of investiagtion I could try? I'd have throught that the chain would wear a lot slower than a chain on a DF bike simply because it's so long. Is that right?
And finally, how many miles/hours before you felt ready for not-too-busy roads in London? Is there a skill (setting off in a big gear, riding clipless for 100 miles without falling off, etc) that I ought to have licked before I attempt this?
Thanks for reading, and maybe answering.