Just before Christmas I had my bike stolen. You might remember me waxing lyrical about the wonderful chain wear gauge. Inevitably I had just finished fitting the new cassette, chain and middle chain ring. Of course this means the bike got a thorough clean, and a chance to make good all the little niggles. So it was absolutely perfect, my Trek 5000. And then it was stolen.
So I get to have a brand new shiny bike! Because we buy all our Chain Gang bikes from Trek, I took advantage of their ‘Staff Purchase Scheme’ and traded up to a Madone 5.1.
As Janice might say in the sitcom ‘Friends‘: “Oh. My. God”. I was looking to replace my Trek 5000, which was pretty special. Unfortunately as Pete says, it had “Steal me” written all over it. The guy I spoke to at Trek told me to trust him, take his advice, get the brand new 5.1, even though it was more expensive.
I don’t think it’s any lighter than my old bike – it may even be slightly heavier. But it goes so bloody fast! I don’t know why – I’m not expert enough to understand these bike reviews when they talk about frame stiffness, and the advantages of aluminium, steel or carbon. But is just feels so fabulous to ride.
This week, since Sunday, I’ve had 2 punctures. They’re not exactly the world’s heaviest-duty tyres, but I remember a comment I read by one of the columnists in Cycling Weekly, writing about using puncture-resistant tyres when riding in London. His view was ‘why would you buy a bike designed to go fast, train to ride it fast, and then deliberately fit tyres to slow it down?’ I’m with him.
Tonight was very windy, and pretty cold, but I was able to listen to The News Quiz on my radio while sat in the pitch black and the screaming wind, fixing my puncture. And when it was finished, there it was again. Beautiful. Well, not actually that beautiful, but bloody fantastic, and fast! Have a look.
