Love this video, very virtuous, and a good lesson for other aspects of life too, "less is more." It's so easy to go down the rabbit hole of a dream bike or having the nicest and newest parts. I have found I don't get to enjoy my fancier bikes as much as the old, reliable ones. In the end, a bike is meant to be used and ridden.
A lovely traffic-free and scenic ride which was very nicely shot. It was a bit like watching an ASMR cycling video! I'm lucky enough to have a few different bikes now, one of the oldest and cheapest being a 30+ year-old rigid MTB, which has been used over the years for commuting and some memorable trips in the Alps and Pyrenees. It's now my scruffy, dependable "Shopping bike", but I often choose it for longer rides across town, as it's more comfortable on the terrible roads around London and it still rides smoothly and silently. There's something very liberating about riding a scruffy, old bike that's cheap and easy to maintain, but that you don't need to worry too much about. It doesn't matter if it gets the odd scratch or scuff, as the overall visual condition will hopefully make it less attractive to the feral bike thieves that plague our towns and cities.
Thank you for you comment! Sounds like a true less is more bike to me. Such a long shared history full of rides and trips. I hope it will never actually get stolen. Might not have a high value. But lots of memories, probably.
I like this bike. Simple, rugged, durable and cheap…but at the same time practical and efficient. You could happily leave this chained up in a busy city all day and be pretty confident that it will still be there when you get back. If I owned it I think that I’d plan to repaint it at some stage , just to a simple , plain nondescript colour. The frame lugs are great. As an aside , I would just like to compliment you on the video and music choice. I very much enjoyed it. Thanks.
Thank you so much! I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the video and music. I did not only want to share an idea, but also include a nice ride and the beautiful autumn leaves. It is a good idea to repaint it one day, I will give that some thought. At this occasion, I would also change the headset. But I also like this adventurous purple 90s paint.
I fully understand your philosophy towards your bike. Not to long ago i owned a wheeler myself and it was kind of a frankenbike, i decided to sell it in order to buy something new. Now i own a 'better' bike but i miss my rusty franken wheelerbike. I had fun on it, it was allowed to get scratches and it worked very well. Maybe in the future i'll get myself something similar.
Thank you for your comment. I can imagine. My less is more bike has become an essential part of my bike "fleet" and I can't imagine going without it. Nonetheless, I hope you can enjoy your new bike! Let me (or us here) know once you have a new frankenbike, probably as n+1. 🫶🚲
thats a great bike for errands and you got a good price on it. With a studded front wheel it will go easy thru most winter days. yes, less is more here.
I agree with the less is more/simplicity concept. For most rides at the moment I take my Brompton, but if I need to leave a bike somewhere where I don't want to worry about it I have my old mountain bike that I have owned for over 30 years. It is heavy and has nearly all of its original components. It is simple and robust and does exactly what I need it to do as a simple commuter bike That is another nice looking ride!
Another really great video and ride. It’s always interesting to me how familiar different places in the world are.If I didn’t know better I would have thought you were riding through the University of Washington campus on the Burke Gilman Trail,in Seattle Washington. Bike theft here is rampant however. Thanks for sharing with us.
@@joesprague1464 Thank you for your comment. Very interesting to hear that it looks similar thousands of miles away. I can imagine it is nice to ride along the lake. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we are spared from bike thieves. 🔒🍀🚲
I commute three times a week to work in winter. We have a lot of snow, ice and salt here. I came to the same conclusions you did last winter and rode an old mountain bike with studs. I doubled down this winter and bought a $30 old mongoose mtb with a step through frame. Studs and fenders and I'm all set! The step through is key for winter riding.
That bike is chill. Great travel companion for all the reasons you highlighted! I have a “more is more” bike and while I don’t regret it, there’s a level of anxiety involved in that. You don’t have to worry about anything with a less is more bike.
If you would really like to enjoy a Less is more bike try an ADULT-BMX bike. I made mine out of an old bike frame. Just bare minimum bicycle, two wheels, frame, and one brake. OR. A fixed-gear bike. The ultimate less-is-more bike. No brakes, frame and wheels. I have both featured on my channel. Both, home made and not expensive to do.
Wow, these almost sound minimalistic to me! My brother has an awesome fixie (Presto NJS) and it is always a lot of fun yet a bit scary to ride. It feels like it rides by itself. 🚲💨
I worked at a university for decades. I brought a very rough bike to work and chained it up outside my office next to students $800-$1200 bikes and rode it around campus for a few months since parking was hard to get. I came out one day and it was gone. I eventually found it a few buildings away. With all the nice ones why did someone take my old bike? I think the groundskeeper thought it was abandoned and cut the chain to get rid of it. I had reported it missing and the police almost laughed at me when I found it and showed it to them.
Wow, what a funny story (sorry). I agree, why the hell would anyone take the effort of stealing this particular bike amongst all the others (which sound like classic targets for bike thieves)? Probably the mystery will remain unsolved forever. 🤔 I'm glad to hear you got it back in the end.
Thanks for pointing that out. That is something I should appreciate more next to my complaints about cycling infrastructure. But I picked a rather nice route. There are also street bumps around here. Luckily almost no holes. Talking about shit: That was indeed in the video, horse shit at 10:31.
I love my old vintage road bikes. I ride them every day even in the winter. I have two mountain bikes both of them are 7 speeds. I have an 18 speed commuter bike. I have a 10-speed vintage road bike. I have a 21 speed vintage road bike. You might think less is more but I don't I need the more gears on my bicycle.
Wow, sounds like a nice collection you have there. I am also happy with the 7 gears on the less is more bike and the 6 gears on my Brompton in 99% percent of situations.
@cycgeist I own a 1983 Schwinn sprint 10 speed road bike. A 1996 trek aluminium 21 speed a gold eagle 18 speed hybrid bicycle, Genesis Genesis is a buy the brand Kent mountain bike in a mongoose maneuver mountain bike
I appreciate you talking to me if I see any more of your videos are comment. I also wanted to tell you one more thing. It was like 30° today and I rode my bike like for miles. I appreciate it thank you
Yes, right? It's probably only 3 to 4 links missing. But it works.. At one point, I will change to a slightly larger cassette (up to 34T) and a longer chain.
I see, do you have hydros or cable dic brakes? The brakes on this bike are totally fine for what I use it for and maintenance is easy to do. I also love the power, self-adjustment and modulation of my XT disc brakes. 💘 But I fall out of love with them once I have to work with the brake fluid. 💔 Then I tend to prefer cable-actuated brakes again, which are so much easier to handle. 💝 I would like to know how the Growtac Equal would be on my Surly.. ❤️🔥
@ currently I have Avid BB7 cable disc brakes with compressionless cable housing so it works well, I’m not riding super fast so they are adequate. Grotacs? Yes if I could find some I’d like to try them, but I also have a set of Paul Klamper brakes still in the box, I should try them soon.
Love this video, very virtuous, and a good lesson for other aspects of life too, "less is more." It's so easy to go down the rabbit hole of a dream bike or having the nicest and newest parts. I have found I don't get to enjoy my fancier bikes as much as the old, reliable ones. In the end, a bike is meant to be used and ridden.
100% agree. Thank you so much for your comment.
A lovely traffic-free and scenic ride which was very nicely shot. It was a bit like watching an ASMR cycling video!
I'm lucky enough to have a few different bikes now, one of the oldest and cheapest being a 30+ year-old rigid MTB, which has been used over the years for commuting and some memorable trips in the Alps and Pyrenees. It's now my scruffy, dependable "Shopping bike", but I often choose it for longer rides across town, as it's more comfortable on the terrible roads around London and it still rides smoothly and silently.
There's something very liberating about riding a scruffy, old bike that's cheap and easy to maintain, but that you don't need to worry too much about. It doesn't matter if it gets the odd scratch or scuff, as the overall visual condition will hopefully make it less attractive to the feral bike thieves that plague our towns and cities.
Thank you for you comment! Sounds like a true less is more bike to me. Such a long shared history full of rides and trips. I hope it will never actually get stolen. Might not have a high value. But lots of memories, probably.
I like this bike. Simple, rugged, durable and cheap…but at the same time practical and efficient. You could happily leave this chained up in a busy city all day and be pretty confident that it will still be there when you get back. If I owned it I think that I’d plan to repaint it at some stage , just to a simple , plain nondescript colour. The frame lugs are great.
As an aside , I would just like to compliment you on the video and music choice. I very much enjoyed it. Thanks.
Thank you so much! I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the video and music. I did not only want to share an idea, but also include a nice ride and the beautiful autumn leaves.
It is a good idea to repaint it one day, I will give that some thought. At this occasion, I would also change the headset.
But I also like this adventurous purple 90s paint.
I fully understand your philosophy towards your bike. Not to long ago i owned a wheeler myself and it was kind of a frankenbike, i decided to sell it in order to buy something new. Now i own a 'better' bike but i miss my rusty franken wheelerbike. I had fun on it, it was allowed to get scratches and it worked very well. Maybe in the future i'll get myself something similar.
Thank you for your comment. I can imagine. My less is more bike has become an essential part of my bike "fleet" and I can't imagine going without it. Nonetheless, I hope you can enjoy your new bike! Let me (or us here) know once you have a new frankenbike, probably as n+1. 🫶🚲
thats a great bike for errands and you got a good price on it. With a studded front wheel it will go easy thru most winter days. yes, less is more here.
Good point, I will think about a studded tires if there is more snow in Munich. Why do you recommend studs only for the front?
I agree with the less is more/simplicity concept. For most rides at the moment I take my Brompton, but if I need to leave a bike somewhere where I don't want to worry about it I have my old mountain bike that I have owned for over 30 years. It is heavy and has nearly all of its original components. It is simple and robust and does exactly what I need it to do as a simple commuter bike
That is another nice looking ride!
@@fishbert17 Wow, it is so nice to hear that you have had this bike for such a long time. What a trusty companion!
And thank you. :)
Another really great video and ride. It’s always interesting to me how familiar different places in the world are.If I didn’t know better I would have thought you were riding through the University of Washington campus on the Burke Gilman Trail,in Seattle Washington. Bike theft here is rampant however. Thanks for sharing with us.
@@joesprague1464 Thank you for your comment. Very interesting to hear that it looks similar thousands of miles away. I can imagine it is nice to ride along the lake.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that we are spared from bike thieves. 🔒🍀🚲
I commute three times a week to work in winter. We have a lot of snow, ice and salt here. I came to the same conclusions you did last winter and rode an old mountain bike with studs. I doubled down this winter and bought a $30 old mongoose mtb with a step through frame. Studs and fenders and I'm all set! The step through is key for winter riding.
Thanks for sharing! I can imagine that the studs will become essential as soon as there is a lot of snow. Let's see what the winter brings in Munich.
That bike is chill. Great travel companion for all the reasons you highlighted! I have a “more is more” bike and while I don’t regret it, there’s a level of anxiety involved in that. You don’t have to worry about anything with a less is more bike.
@@Leviajohnson Thank you! I agree. In fact, a „more is more“ bike is what my next video will be about. 🚲🤔
@@cycgeistjust noticed your post haha! I’ll watch that one now too
If you would really like to enjoy a Less is more bike try an ADULT-BMX bike. I made mine out of an old bike frame. Just bare minimum bicycle, two wheels, frame, and one brake. OR. A fixed-gear bike. The ultimate less-is-more bike. No brakes, frame and wheels. I have both featured on my channel. Both, home made and not expensive to do.
Wow, these almost sound minimalistic to me! My brother has an awesome fixie (Presto NJS) and it is always a lot of fun yet a bit scary to ride. It feels like it rides by itself. 🚲💨
@cycgeist The more you ride a fixie the more skilled you become and fear is no longer a factor.
I worked at a university for decades. I brought a very rough bike to work and chained it up outside my office next to students $800-$1200 bikes and rode it around campus for a few months since parking was hard to get. I came out one day and it was gone. I eventually found it a few buildings away. With all the nice ones why did someone take my old bike? I think the groundskeeper thought it was abandoned and cut the chain to get rid of it. I had reported it missing and the police almost laughed at me when I found it and showed it to them.
Wow, what a funny story (sorry). I agree, why the hell would anyone take the effort of stealing this particular bike amongst all the others (which sound like classic targets for bike thieves)?
Probably the mystery will remain unsolved forever. 🤔 I'm glad to hear you got it back in the end.
How nice must be to have that kind of streets with no holes and bumps and shit
Thanks for pointing that out. That is something I should appreciate more next to my complaints about cycling infrastructure. But I picked a rather nice route. There are also street bumps around here. Luckily almost no holes.
Talking about shit: That was indeed in the video, horse shit at 10:31.
I agree with you. 👍
@@fatimaSM236 Thank you! 🫶🚲
I love my old vintage road bikes. I ride them every day even in the winter. I have two mountain bikes both of them are 7 speeds. I have an 18 speed commuter bike. I have a 10-speed vintage road bike. I have a 21 speed vintage road bike. You might think less is more but I don't I need the more gears on my bicycle.
Wow, sounds like a nice collection you have there. I am also happy with the 7 gears on the less is more bike and the 6 gears on my Brompton in 99% percent of situations.
@cycgeist I own a 1983 Schwinn sprint 10 speed road bike. A 1996 trek aluminium 21 speed a gold eagle 18 speed hybrid bicycle, Genesis Genesis is a buy the brand Kent mountain bike in a mongoose maneuver mountain bike
I appreciate you talking to me if I see any more of your videos are comment. I also wanted to tell you one more thing. It was like 30° today and I rode my bike like for miles. I appreciate it thank you
I can't imagine wanting to own a bike which I was unable to leave parked up somewhere for fear of loosing it.
It is a struggle sometimes. And makes me appreciate the less is more bike even more.
I think that you need a little longer chain.
Yes, right? It's probably only 3 to 4 links missing. But it works..
At one point, I will change to a slightly larger cassette (up to 34T) and a longer chain.
If it had better brakes it would be perfect for me. I like my disc brakes too much. 😂
I see, do you have hydros or cable dic brakes? The brakes on this bike are totally fine for what I use it for and maintenance is easy to do.
I also love the power, self-adjustment and modulation of my XT disc brakes. 💘 But I fall out of love with them once I have to work with the brake fluid. 💔 Then I tend to prefer cable-actuated brakes again, which are so much easier to handle. 💝 I would like to know how the Growtac Equal would be on my Surly.. ❤️🔥
@ currently I have Avid BB7 cable disc brakes with compressionless cable housing so it works well, I’m not riding super fast so they are adequate. Grotacs? Yes if I could find some I’d like to try them, but I also have a set of Paul Klamper brakes still in the box, I should try them soon.
AAA