Volunteering at parkrun and The Cycle Show 2016
Last weekend, was another busy one. On Saturday, Stuart and I were Run Directors at Southampton parkrun.
Volunteers from University of Southampton
It was a special event as we had encouraged members of staff from the University of Southampton to take on the majority of volunteer roles. In some ways, I would have loved to get a run in, but as I work at the Uni, I felt that I shouldn’t shirk my duty.
The Cycle Show 2016
On Sunday, Stu and I had another early start as we had decided to go to the Cycle Show. We thought it would be a good opportunity to check out a wide range of bikes, which might help us to decide what we want to get to replace our stolen bikes. (I think we’d both love to have identical replacements, but they’re not available any more, so that’s not an option).
I won’t give a full commentary, but here are some of the bikes we looked at…
Ridley bikes
I have been looking at the Ridley website quite frequently, as I’m a bit tempted to get a Ridley and I like the customisation options.
I prefer the Ridley Jane to the Ridley Liz as it’s more aero. The men’s aero bike is the Ridley Noah. Apparently, it has exactly the same dimensions as the Jane, but annoyingly it has far greater options for custom paintwork. Why aren’t women given the same deal?! I could order the men’s frame and customise it, but I’d then have to spend more on changing the saddle and adding narrower handlebars 🙁
Boardman bikes
Stu and I spent quite a lot of time at the Boardman stand. Some of the bikes looked really gorgeous (like the £3k Boardman Air below). There are also lots of customisation options available. Chris Boardman sold the brand to Halfords in 2014. It has struggled with a poor reputation (rather like Skoda) but seems to be turning that around as the top end bikes are really rather nice. Unfortunately, I still wouldn’t trust most bike mechanics at Halfords to correctly assemble a bike, so if I were to buy one, I’d want someone reputable to check it over.
I also spent a bit of time at the Cycle Show looking at cyclocross bikes as I’d love to take part in some cyclocross races this winter. Sadly, a lot of the bikes look really dull. I loved the look of the Cannondale Super X 105 disc… but it’s well out of my price range!
I’ve seen some Cannondale ‘Lefty’ bikes online before, but this was the first time I’ve seen these strange bikes ‘in the flesh’.
I’ve still got a lot of thinking to do before I get a new bike, but this show really inspired me.
My beloved Kuota Kharma
There haven’t been any updates on our bikes that were stolen, but I have identified where the photo of my beloved Kuota Kharma that was on Gumtree was taken:
It was outside the Bright Water Inn (Wetherspoons Pub) in Shirley, Southampton.
If you happen to see this bike (or any of our other bikes), please do get in touch.
Have any new 2017 bikes caught your eye? Which ones? Why?
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