If you know me, you know I have a knack for choosing expensive hobbies – like photography for example – or turning inexpensive hobbies, like running, into very costly ones. Biking, until recently has been on the back burner. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a big cycling enthusiast for years, but it has been more of an exciting commuting method than something I do for training. But here we go, I got myself a fancy new road bike and I think it may be all downhill from here…
You see, I biked pretty much every day in London, commuting to work, going on fun rides and I even did an occasional longer trip on it. However, I’ve been more or less content with my rusty old fixie bike, with a rattle-can paint job I did in a dark shed (not kidding). It had a bent fork from an uncomfortable encounter with a Toyota Yaris, well worn parts, and… uuuuhm, lots of character! I’ve owned this bike since early high school and later I’ve used it while at university as well, riding several thousand kilometers on it. But, as it happens with these old DIY bikes, it was on its last legs by the time I got to London with it.
After daily commutes over 6 months, I’ve decided that it was time to upgrade. Another good bit of motivation was my brilliant failed plan to bike down to Brighton – turns out hills are not that easy when you are on a single speed bike, plus the storm was so bad that trees were falling down and roads were getting flooded. I did end up doing a Gran Fondo (a 100 km ride) on my fixie in the end, but I knew I needed something with gears and something that was better put together for regular longer bike trips and training rides, not just for commuting. However, that upgrade never happened in London. Coronavirus hit and we rather hastily returned to Hungary, leaving my rusty fixie as a “gift” to my unfortunate coworkers.
Returning home, both Aisling and I felt the itch to get on our bikes – it gives you a range and freedom that you don’t have with walking or running as a method of transportation. Not to mention it is really damn fun! So, the search began for a new bike…
Choosing a New Bike
Having bought a new bike in Granada, I certainly knew what I didn’t want – there, I ended up buying a cheap trekking bike, which was great fun, but it managed to combine all the inconveniences of a mountain bike (weight, lower speed) and a road bike (lack of offroadability). I don’t go off road much, so there is no point of getting a mountain bike, so the route was simple: I needed a good road bike.
A little side note here, I was also tempted by a brilliant new category of bikes: gravel bikes. For those of you who don’t know, gravel bikes combine road bike-like frames with slightly beefier wheels and tires to allow for very fast biking on and off-road as long as the trails are easy. However, gravel bikes are still a bit too expensive, plus in the end the bike I got can be very easily converted into a gravel bike.
On to the forums and into the dark corners of the internet then! The search was on for a nice, used, modern road bike that’s not too expensive. Preferably with disk brakes. In my size. Yeah, I know, I was asking a lot – in the end I just decided to suck it up, pay a little extra and get a new bike from Decathlon. I did a good bit of research on it, and for the price, the Triban RC 120 Disk bike that I ended up buying is pretty much the best option out there for a budget road bike. There was a bit of competition from a cool Hungarian company’s offering (Csepel’s Torpedal), but its cool looks didn’t make up for the lack of disk brakes.
Well, okay Marci, you got yourself a new bike, what’s so bad about that? I hear you say to yourself. Well, unfortunately the rabbit hole is deeper than that. You see, I also got a bunch of extra tools beyond my already pretty extensive kit. I ordered a pile of spare parts. I started renovating my parents’ old bikes. I watched a million Global Cycling Network videos. I even got myself one of those ridiculous lycra biking pants. So yeah, it’s pretty bad...
What Now?
Running is still the main focus, with training ramping up to well over 60 km/week at this point. The plans are definitely to do a first ultramarathon (50-55k) by the autumn. The bike will be a great way to cross-train for that. But most importantly, it is a fun thing that Aisling and I do together, because she also just got herself a beautiful new bike, which also happens to be way more stylish than mine. Once restrictions are being lifted, some long-distance bike trips are in the plans! Or who knows, maybe I should also try some triathlons? Oh-oh, the rabbit hole is endless…