That's the quote. True.

I stopped owning suspension not because of the service needs, they were generally easy to work on - I just didn't like seeing exposed stanchions covered in crap and water, just seemed like a system designed to be needy and guaranteed to deteriorate and get looser through wear. Yet essential or very influential to ride quality. Fitted a rigid fork one Chilterns winter and with the right bike geometry, I don't miss the suspension for XC stuff. It limits things at times but it always a simpler bike for the lack of it.

James wrote: I like quality products that are taken back to the basics, with the basics done well.

Yes this does it for me too. A lot of pleasure can be gained from using such an item, aside from its functionality. I must admit I quite like a touch of artistic embellishment to enhance the pleasure, maybe a bit of scrolling or something. This attitude may cost more at the outset - but not necessarily - but generally the item lasts longer. I'll bet Stu gets the same pleasure that I do simply picking his handsaw up and just holding it, never mind using it.

Bob wrote: "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away" - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Nice one Bob. Perhaps we should have this as the main quote at the bottom of our front page . The nirvana of bikepacking .

I must admit I quite like a touch of artistic embellishment to enhance the pleasure, maybe a bit of scrolling or something.

Ooh yes. Nice lug work or shaping, Rivendell style, always works for me.

whitestone wrote: ↑Sat Nov 18, 2023 11:20 am

jameso wrote: ↑Sat Nov 18, 2023 10:56 amPerfection comes from removing complexity, etc.

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away" - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Going *slightly* off-tangent - the recommended service interval of many suspension forks and shocks wouldn't get you round the HT550, completely ridiculous.

Hence why I ride rigid. Modern bike suspension is shockingly rubbish - and they had it right back in the '90's!
Overall I'll use tech if I think it offers genuine benefits (eg 200g's of Garmin dakota versus 2kg of map) but most tech these days seems to be about selling your personal data rather than offering actual useful stuff. I'm also a bit fed up of the increasing rise in sprocket numbers with a need to go to electronic shifting to make 12 speed work. Hence use of one sprocket!

I'd also like car with a petrol engine, carbs and points. But some of the simpler safety stuff would be useful to....

Like my cycle, I'm "bi"

Grew up in the pre-internet world, and hadn't even seen a computer until after I left school.
Have, however, spent most of my working life in software development, so very comfortable in the digital world.
I'm equally at home fixing/making things from scratch with manual tools.

I am concerned about the generations who have grown up in a purely digital world and have been somewhat sheltered from the more practical side of things (but acknowledge that I may be overthinking things)

We're all different - but some of us are more different than others.


(There are 10 kinds of people - those who understand binary notation, and those who don't)

darbeze wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2023 8:09 am I am also on the look out for a Series III Land Rover to embrace a more simple way of motoring (simple means sh1t and unreliable, but with soul)

Analogue Land Rovers are currently very overpriced and, as you say, corroded and unreliable .

If you're looking for some minimalist, classic British fun consider a Caterham 7, or one of the various 7-type sports cars .

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/search? ... eLowToHigh

whitestone wrote: ↑Sat Nov 18, 2023 11:20 am

jameso wrote: ↑Sat Nov 18, 2023 10:56 amPerfection comes from removing complexity, etc.

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away" - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Going *slightly* off-tangent - the recommended service interval of many suspension forks and shocks wouldn't get you round the HT550, completely ridiculous.

"Simplify, then add lightness" - Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars

(but then again, he also said that if a car is able to make it from the finish line to the pit, it's over-engineered ).

Sus' forks - in my experience the manufacturers have usually left a couple of zeros off the end of the service interval .

whitestone wrote: ↑Sat Nov 18, 2023 11:20 am I'm also a bit fed up of the increasing rise in sprocket numbers with a need to go to electronic shifting to make 12 speed work. Hence use of one sprocket!

3x7 (22/32/42 & 11-32 on 26" wheels) gives me all the range I need. Any lower and I'd be too slow to stay upright .
Just gone back to thumbies too, for perfect shifting every time .

MuddyPete wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 2:02 pm 3x7 (22/32/42 & 11-32 on 26" wheels) gives me all the range I need.

I hereby relinquish my coveted position as "most old-fashioned old fart on BB"

RIP wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 2:05 pm

MuddyPete wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 2:02 pm 3x7 (22/32/42 & 11-32 on 26" wheels) gives me all the range I need.

I hereby relinquish my coveted position as "most old-fashioned old fart on BB"

Cheers!
Do I get extra points for using a Karrimat and Buffalo bag for winter bivis, too?

MuddyPete wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 5:04 pm

RIP wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 2:05 pm

MuddyPete wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 2:02 pm 3x7 (22/32/42 & 11-32 on 26" wheels) gives me all the range I need.

I hereby relinquish my coveted position as "most old-fashioned old fart on BB"

Cheers!
Do I get extra points for using a Karrimat and Buffalo bag for winter bivis, too?

Got a pic pls Pete

I'm definitely an analogue (in my own way). Don't know how to adapt/change much when it comes to tech.

Today I was told I need to send an uodated CV as work is scarce. I've tried to go and edit using WORD or PDF but both are paid versions now. Stuck trying to figure out how to make a simple word file, without Microsoft WORD, for free.

Progress... I think not!

redefined_cycles wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 6:57 pm I'm definitely an analogue (in my own way). Don't know how to adapt/change much when it comes to tech.

Today I was told I need to send an uodated CV as work is scarce. I've tried to go and edit using WORD or PDF but both are paid versions now. Stuck trying to figure out how to make a simple word file, without Microsoft WORD, for free.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

Boab wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 7:14 pm

redefined_cycles wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 6:57 pm I'm definitely an analogue (in my own way). Don't know how to adapt/change much when it comes to tech.

Today I was told I need to send an uodated CV as work is scarce. I've tried to go and edit using WORD or PDF but both are paid versions now. Stuck trying to figure out how to make a simple word file, without Microsoft WORD, for free.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

Thanks so much Bob. Going back to me/here being disnosaur era. Well, I just discovered Google Docs (again) and it has a CV template inbuilt. Wonder when they'll start charging, or do they just steal our info!

My work is 100% digital. At play it's a mashup.
I'll read maps at home but use GPS in the field.
No eeb...just a bunch of analogue bikes...and I'll take XTR cabled gears over electric all day, every day.
My oscillator modules are analogue...but I sequence in digital realm.

Greetz

S. : )

The bike that I ride the most is fully rigid with mechanical disc brakes (gotta move with the times) and 2 X 9 gears with a friction shift thumbie for the front. It's like going back to the 90s with better geometry and brakes that actually work in the wet. I've barely touched my hard tail since I got it it.

Scattamah wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 12:16 am My work is 100% digital. At play it's a mashup.
I'll read maps at home but use GPS in the field.
No eeb...just a bunch of analogue bikes...and I'll take XTR cabled gears over electric all day, every day.
My oscillator modules are analogue...but I sequence in digital realm.

Greetz

S. : )

Nice to see you

Probably somewhere in the middle. I use a lot of hand tools for DIY stuff but I'd still reach for the battery drill where it would make life easier.

Likewise at work, I wouldn't spend hours fileing a block if I could mill it in a few minutes. That said, I'd almost always use a manual machine over a CNC machine.

I also like AutoCAD, but rarely draft without making a pencil sketch first.

Bikes? Mechanical. I wouldn't entertain a bike without a threaded BB and external cables, but I prefer riding more with a GPS than paper maps. (Running/walking with maps is a different story though, much better than GPS )