THinking of getting a slow/heavy bike

outfox

A few of use are thinking of doing a week's cycling tour up the country this summer. Some of the group are likely to be slower than the rest of us, and will be happy to cruise along on their hybrids at probably 20-23 km/h. Which is fine. I was thinking of bringing the slower of my 2 bikes (a cyclocross which I use for winter rides), and putting one of those seat mounted carriers on it for a small bag.
But now I'm thinking that my bike will be much faster than the others, and it might get a bit boring. So it crossed my mind to get a slower or heavier bike. That way, I might get a bit of a workout. Any excuse to go bike shopping of course. Some of the route could go along trails or along one of the canals, so maybe a mountain bike might be good.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Does one get bored when consistently holding back to stay with the slower members of the group? BTW, I've ruled out the obvious option - me carrying their bags.

quozl

I don't know what kind of piece of crap bike you'd need to slow a regular club cyclist down to comfortable beginner on a hybrid pace. I don't think that bike exists and if it did, why would you want it!

Put it in the small ring and work on your cadence for the week is the only thing I can think of.
Or get a set of rims that you don't like and slightly over-tighten your rear brake

endacl

Get a trailer. Don't carry their bags. Pull them!

daragh_

Take a Dublin Bike for the week.

dave_o_brien

Start a diet consisting of eating anything non-toxic within sight. The extra fat will help slow you down.

Also, prepare a training plan of no cycling, running, walking, swimming, or much of anything really, with less and less doing of stuff tapering towards the event. It will help make you fat, which will help slow you down.

Do you like reality tv? If not, start liking it. It's always on. It provides ample focus for not doing anything.

Do you like fudge? It goes great with the reality tv.

rckfld

I think using your normal bike should be fine, it is likely set up correctly for you, comfortable and familiar. Perhaps the following could help:

• Simply add a parachute to the back of your seat post and you should be fine.
  
• That or replace your good wheels with a slightly more square version

petethedrummer

1. Put some big knobbly tyres on and sit at the front of the group for the entire holiday.

2. Split in to two groups.

3. Cruise along enjoying the scenery and do some 4-5 min intervals at your destination.

Jabel

Have you seen BILLYCAKE'S post OP?

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/01/how-to-be-a-road-bike/

bogmanfan

Buy a mountain bike. That should slow you down on the road, and at the end of the week you'll have a nice bike for hitting the trails.

BadCharlie

Don't cycle your bike, but sling it over your back. Should slow you down enough.

bambergbike

Prediction 1: It's not the slow pace you'll find tiring, it's the countless stops. There are too many people out there who can't munch and cycle at the same time or last for a few hours without munchies.

Prediction 2: Work will be found for you. You've rejected the role of pack donkey, but there's another important job. You can be be a mantrailer. Somebody has to find the people who have jumped off the front and gotten themselves lost (or gone 5 miles past the official lunch stop) and bring them back to the group. And the people who dawdled at the back, lost sight of the group and missed a turn.

I would take the cyclo-cross bike. If evening comes round and you haven't broken a sweat all day, you can always go and blast out a quick set of hill repeats before putting on your smug face in the shower before dinner.

petethedrummer

Just dial back the awesomeness setting for a week.

Cee-Jay-Cee

You can be the 'scout' for the week. Bomb off at your usual break neck speed and once you e gained maybe 5 or 6kms turn back and cycle towards them. You can then give them a run down of the road type/gradient ahead and head off and do the same again. You will end up cycling nearly twice the distance they will but at your own pace. They'll love you for it.

quozl

CJC999 wrote: »

You will end up cycling nearly twice the distance they will but at your own pace. They'll love you for it.

I dunno, I think I'd be thinking "what a knob!" in those circumstances

happytramp

Either go slow on your regular bike or do a different sort of cycling trip.

browsing

Why do you not want to carry their stuff? If you have/put on a pannier it would be ideal as it would slow you down. Fair enough if you don't want a bag(s) on your back though-that's horrible.

You could try bigger "slower" tyres but this probably won't be sufficient.

Failing the pannier if that's not for you, you could just take a wrong turn, cycle for about 5 min, then, turn back and try and catch the group at full tilt. If you do a few of these it would tire you out.

You could also try mashing a big gear which would make you work and feeling like you're doing something. This is a good idea for mentoring beginner groups as you're getting a workout too. However, doing this for hours on end might not be great as I think you're supposed to spin for a while to break it up. You could maybe mix this in with the wrong turn and catching back on at a normal cadence.

Also, you never know, if they are beginners on hybrid you might end up helping push a few up hills!

outfox

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Lot of options there. My dog likes the suggestion of cycling ahead, then coming back, then cycling ahead again etc. It's exactly what he'd do.

outfox

Jabel wrote: »

Have you seen BILLYCAKE'S post OP?

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/01/how-to-be-a-road-bike/

Yeah, that post is class. I tick about 12 of the steps!

outfox

petethedrummer wrote: »

Just dial back the awesomeness setting for a week.

Dial broken. Stuck on 'extreme awesome'.

browsing

i don't know if you're joking but just so you know, it can be seen by some as bad etiquette to cycle ahead and then come back as it can hurt egos! I think it's better usually to turn off or slow down and chase back. Just be careful how long you turn off or around for, it can be surprising how long it might take to make up just a few minutes!

endacl

browsing wrote: »

i don't know if you're joking but just so you know, it can be seen by some as bad etiquette to cycle ahead and then come back as it can hurt egos! I think it's better usually to turn off or slow down and chase back. Just be careful how long you turn off or around for, it can be surprising how long it might take to make up just a few minutes!

Absolutely. The worst of bad manners. The done thing in this scenario is to pretend there's a problem with your headset and that you can't avoid steering right. The conscientious rider proceeds to describe a continuous series of right hand turns, keeping pace with the group in a never ending horizontal 'loop the loop' along the road. Don't forget to shrug the shoulders and mutter 'must get that fixed' at regular intervals.

Not a popular move with drivers, especially on narrow single carriageway stretches. However, manners come first. They will generally understand and be extremely patient once they realise what's going in.

Rambling Man

Simply attach some billboards to your speedybike, slowing down to the pace of the slowbikes AND pulling in some much needed advertising revenue.

mamax

Why not keep an eye out for the slower members of your group and get them tucked in behind you if they are struggling a bit and also help them out with some encouragement and advice, use your experience to help them, you never know you might enjoy it and they will appreciate it big time

ohhh and don't forget to enjoy the scenery

Rambling Man

mamax wrote: »

Why not keep an eye out for the slower members of your group and get them tucked in behind you if they are struggling a bit and also help them out with some encouragement and advice, use your experience to help them, you never know you might enjoy it and they will appreciate it big time

ohhh and don't forget to enjoy the scenery

...... which is probably the right answer.

Daroxtar

Bring your fastest bike, identify the slowest member of the group and switch bikes with him....

Unknown Soldier

Get a Euro Trek Boss.

FirstinLastout

Roll of Bounty crammed in the bottle cage and a well-thumbed fraying copy of Voluptuous in the pocket.
Stop every 10k and knock one out. :cool:

kuro_man

FirstinLastout wrote: »

Roll of Bounty crammed in the bottle cage and a well-thumbed fraying copy of Voluptuous in the pocket.
Stop every 10k and knock one out. :cool:

Hilarious!
Did you type that with one hand?