Full Size Bikes

So now I’ve settled down and moved into my flat and tidied up a bit, I’ve got my full size bike back.

I spent today getting it roadworthy again so I can take it out this week whilst I’m off work. It’s been in storage for the past nine months and it wasn’t really used much before it went into storage so this mainly consisted of getting the saddle sorted again and sorting out the brakes.

I then took it for a quick spin into town - I’ve a three year care plan on it with Halfords, so I took in for a quick check over my changes and why I couldn’t get the front brake back on.

A few thoughts that ran through my mind were:

Why are my arms so far apart?

How do I get on the bike with this cross bar?

Why aren’t I turning as quick as I’m used to?

The gearing on this is fairly low…

It seems I’ve got so used to the Brompton, I’m unused to the unresponsiveness of the larger wheels!

It’s not all doom and gloom though - I was less affected by the road surface and potholes I would avoid on the Brompton weren’t to bad on the 26" wheels (though I only hit them because I didn’t avoid them quick enough!)

I’ll be using this full size one more for weekend rides now where I’m staying at home, rather than in Wimbledon and the aim is to keep the Brompton for commuting and Brompton club rides. Or for when I just can’t take a full size bike with me. However, I’m looking at using the full size one of a number of rides this year - potential weekend tours. I think I may repeat my Loughborough - London ride this year as it was fairly enjoyable last year (amongst others planned).