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I like the bell

16km each way, about 10 miles, I do that in less than 30 mins on a folding bike, but then I'm the 'energizer bunny' innit..;)

face it anyone who is fit enough to ride a 100 miles on a bike
is going to be the bleedin 'energizer bunny' in the sack

I am betting money that next time you will use hairspray just like everyone told you too...LOL

GrandeAnse2Grenville What Buffalo Bill said was what I believed in. If my company's work dried up, I was off to another company. No salaries back then. What you carried, was what you got paid. Accidents - why were they never little ones. I almost killed a young lady, she stepped out on a Red Man at the traffic lights on Euston Road, without loking, and I hit her at more than 30mph. Probably quite a bit more. I was fit then. Her skull cracked open, honest, and the police were going to do me. Luckily, all the people at the lights, who were waiting for the Green Man, told the police what really happened. I spent the night in my bed, not the nick. Couldn't sleep though.

I knocked down Sir Ralph Richardson on a zebra crossing on the kings road, the shame has never left me

Hyde park has a 'loop' and you get the added bonus of the 'loons' on speakers corner

Paris has routes along the seine, the marne, the ourq canal plus a cycle track at the hippodrome

Jontyponty yeah bill for sure, I know this is one of your bugbears. Is it totally rose tinted lies then? so many old dudes claim to have comfortably made loadsamoney back in the day.

I loved being a courier, I loved it for the freedom, not for the money

Eventually I had to get a 'proper' job of sorts

But I walked away from being a courier

with a lifelong love of bikes and riding bikes

For at least the last five years if I want to post something to the UK

and expect it to be actually delivered it has to go registered

Considering the shambles of the Royal Mail

I would not use them if my business depended on it

GrandeAnse2Grenville I was "24" almost everywhere I went. Papa24, Zulu24, etc. Yes, the family at Vanguard were ok people; no problems at all. I remember the younger son being a bit of a "lad"; didn't he have a Lotus or Ferrari, or somesuch mularkey? Yes too, I was a pushie during those years. And rider196, I probably know you. Wasn't Superchrome the biggest account? Or was that for Hornets? I think Terry Wogan was a whippersnapper on the wireless, and dinosaurs roamed Brighton?

I slept on it, I was rider 136 (not 196), "136,136, where the fuck are you.!!?@!!! and the lad at Vanguard had a black Porsche, they were jewish gentlemen from golder green, I think they quite enjoyed hanging around with the hoy paloy, queue up to get paid on a friday night then straight round the pub for a few bevies

The secret was to get in favour with your controller so that you spent all day going W1 - WC1 - W1
even so I rarely ever made a monkey in one week although the postal strikes were good though

GrandeAnse2Grenville I used to ride for Chain Gang (ask Dinky, if u know her), Hornets, Vanguard (Adam used to pay in cash on Friday nights), Mercury Despatch (just off the roundabout).

Rider 196 Vanguard and then Booker Bikes 1985 - 92 ish, it was an awfully long time ago

Its so long since I was a courier I can't remember
but I do have a lovely 'is that all you got' smile
as I over take slow folk

http://www.supersizedcycles.com

you are not alone

Dahon do 'suspension' folders you won't break one of those

Not the fastest bike I own but it is alot of fun this one

Yes a custom fit
my bareknuckle is 54cm, this one is 55.5cm (I measured it)
I totally get your drift dogsballs
if this were a vintage 'road' bike
the frame ought to be bigger
I guess that Mercian are infleuenced
by the more modern smaller frames
I don't mind as I like the mix of old on new on this bike
although I am now pondering if the 56 cm
de Rosa SLX sitting in my bedroom is going to be too small
for a classic Italian road bike

Its glorious when you discover that you can actually ride, sssssshhhhhh don't tell anyone, OUTSIDE of the city...!!! good lad

Sheldon, died, BLIMEY, who are we going to ask now...? RIP SB

Thank you very much for the comments
I really appreciate everybodies input
Its fun to listen to my peers
Some comments of my own

The bars are super comfortable
You can ride them as straight bars in the city
Or lean into them for the b-roads and long straights
At my age I have no need for sprinters drops
and I can't really see the benefit of road bars without hoods
If I were to get a nasty headwind
I can always drop my bars using my ergostem

"grip" is a very interesting point
I have never ridden without grips so this is a bit of an experiment
I have got my heart set some rather expensive Rapha gloves
so I don't think numbness will be an issue
it really comes down to whether my hands slip in the wet
and rather like having a beautiful girlfriend
I think we will be staying in when it rains

The saddle matches the frame, white will work also, but I wear jeans
So white might not be very practical, the ergostem I like
but these stems are very much 'you either love them or you hate them'
I love them..!!!
I am wondering about the seatpost though
The orginal seat post was a Campagnolo Record with the louvres
at 180mm it was too short hence the Nitto Jaguar post
maybe I need to swop this out? suggestions are always welcome

Ultimately beauty is in the eye of the beholder
If I was to build a bike for beauties sake
I would build a track bike with sprinters drops sans brake
when I first came to this forum that was my intention
to build a Keirin
It was you guys (&gals)that switched me on
to the possibility of building a bike that I could ride all day

My aim this summer is to ride Paris - Chartres - Paris in a single day ~ 100 miles

& now I have the bike to do it...!!!

they look the biz an all

I have never ridden tubs before they 'roll' along very nicely

This is how a Paul lever looks polished

Shimano BL-R550 brake levers work with everything

the tyres are tufo s33's

RPM looks pretty tight

what are the rims?

French 1970's super competition, running tufo tubs with a latex sealant