[Closed] Family rides... are men egotists?

For the same reason that stereotypical women like shopping while stereotypical men don't.

I have two bikes and Mrs always bags the full susser when we go for rides together.

I assume everyone will realise that both of the bikes are mine so my ego remains in tact. 😉

No and erm No

[i]does your other half ride a worse bike than you[/i]

yes, on the basis it does what she wants a bike to do and she can't see any point spending more money on something she only uses now and again.

Yeah - my other half rides a Spesh Myka Sport, which on paper is 'worse' than my bike.

But, for her it is perfect. For the riding she does she doesn't even need the Tora forks or the disc brakes, but she insisted on a bike with discs.
She rides it seldomly on forest paths and she doesn't want anything that would require constant fettling & fiddling.
Oh, and it had butterflies on the top tube.

I suspect that with most of the families you see out and about, the bloke on the decent bike is a regular cyclist, whereas the other half perhaps is not as interested and is happy enough on a bike that she can use to get involved in a family activity. No point spending £2000 on a bike that gets used round Rutland water twice a year.

So, does your other half ride a worse bike than you and, if so, does that make you an egotist?

Yes, she does, because I do 10-15 hours a week riding then toddle off all round the country to race, whilst she digs hers out thrice a year and we pootle down some towpaths.

She still has a £700 Rockhopper for doing that. So in terms of £/mile, hers is vastly more expensive than mine.

I know what you're saying on principle, but it's difficult, how do you get your SO into riding without her either feeling (accurately) she's on the inferior bike, or spending a fortune on something that may not be wasted.

I've swapped wheels with my GF when we went out before, made no real difference, but it made my bike about 3lbs heavier, and hers lighter, levelled the playing field a bit!

Edit: good to see a lot of us are on the same wavelength 🙂

Value of OH's bikes = value of Cougar's bikes / 2

Conclusion: [i]some [/i]men are nobbers. Film at 11.

What do you mean by showboat? Is he showing off on his bike or just riding a nice bike? Is it not that he rides a lot so has a nice bike kids outgrow them quick so no point spending a mint and Mrs just goes for a pootle along the fireroads once in a while and wants something basic.

I thought the family had to be riding Dads "cast offs". You know - all the bits that were left over after some essential upgrades had taken place....

my other half rides a worse bike than me cos she uses it approximately 4 times per year on green rated forest trails.. she got really rad the other day and rode a line that passed very near to a pine cone..

with that sort of abuse her parts bin special should last into the year 2789 withe careful maintenance..

I aim to ride 75+ hard offroad miles per week in all weather.. my kit has to be very strong, light and functional.. modern technology is useful for keeping everything the right way up and pointing in the right direction..

for the same reason my wife's TOTR cooker cost 1700 odd quid... mine cost £18 from a camping shop..

your other half is a militant feminist and is probably bumming your sister behind your back..

sorry

on the plus side she sounds quite enthusiastic about bikes so it may be worth your while to get her something half decent.. you may win back her affections..

Always see couples out for rides and the bloke is 20 yards in front. Consistently. Why not just delete the 20 yards and ride together?

If I was any good I'd show off on family rides to impress my son and duaghter, not other riders.

As it is, I do my best not to fall off and hope they don't think I'm an idiot.

🙂

Over biked, under biked. Hmmmmmm

What do you mean by showboat?

When the dude says: "Sheila" (if that's the Mum's name) "I'm off for a blast. Look after Delores, Archibald and 0.4 of Derek, would you? The trails are calling..."

He screams off in a cloud of Delamere dust. She sighs and looks after the family.

This, as far as I can see, happens a lot. Done it myself a few times. 8)

Always see couples out for rides and the bloke is 20 yards in front. Consistently. Why not just delete the 20 yards and ride together?

[i]That's[/i] what I'm talking about.

My missus's bikes are worth a lot more than mine and there are more of them. I bought them for her and she rides them every day. Guess that means that I'm no egotist....

Family rides for us. Me on my On-One Alfine. Son - Isla bike. Wife Orange 5 Diva (XT and Revelevations) 😀

your other half is a militant feminist and is probably bumming your sister behind your back..

😆

* suddenly a whole lot makes sense *

dads are just the same as single blokes that are into mountain bikes but they also have a family 😐

I've never ridden off and left my girlfriend, nor ridden 20 yards infront of her. Running while she cycles works quite well I find.

Ha ha ha ha

My beloved has a very nice bike I bought her. It gets used nowhere near as much as mine does. I can't see what relevance that is at all. When she does use it, its a nice bike with decent brakes and suspension (though bloody awful tyres - must get around to changing them). As Opposed to a BSO. So she's going to enjoy the riding a lot more

I have started to take it out for occasional exercise though. Just so it doesn't feel neglected. I'm good like that 😀

I ride a Cotic Simple with a baby seat on the back, my daugter will be riding a Beinn 20 after christmas, Wife rides a Cannondale Prophet with full XTR and a DT Swiss XCR 150's.

We work hard to have nice things (Okay; the Cannondale is my primary bike - but I wouldn't let my missus ride a shed, i'd use it as an excuse to buy a second bike and stick flat pedals on it).

Personally i think you're all being a bunch of XC jeyers right about now, i zoom off in front of mrsconsequence and its important after i've made her knickers wet with giant leaps off the kerb and riding standing up around the garden... i race off further ahead to gather up all the momentum i can fit in my fake camelback to get up the next/any potential future hill on my (and i think i'm the only one niche/brave enough to ride one) singlespeed with mudguards.

I enjoy waiting for her to eventually catch up to me chilling out at the top of the hill then once she comes into sight (usually around 70% of the way up the hill i set off into the next section as fast as is needed to remind her who's the better rider.

if i let her stop for a breather or some liquid, i'm doing her a disservice by not encouraging her to build up her endurance.

medical FACT.

(her bike isnt as nice as mine, but as she has had to learn (often by the power of greyskull) she's not as good as me and as a result she does not feel worthy of further bikecycle investment at present, an important mindset to re-enforce if you're partner also enjoys riding)

I ride a rather nice bike, my GF rides my play bike. This is becasue she rides it once a year tops and sees no point buying a bike for that.

Re. the showing off, surely it is well known that all girls love skids and wheelies so maybe the man is trying to impress his wife!

So, does your other half ride a worse bike than you and, if so, does that make you an egotist?

yeah, my wife rides a pink marin MTB. she likes it for her little pootles on coastal paths where we live, and she didn't want to spend more than 400 quid. if we go out together I'll be on my genesis SS CX bike.

I don't think my 3 grand carbon road bike would really be suitable for her needs...

My beloved has a very nice bike I bought her. It gets used nowhere near as much as mine does. I can't see what relevance that is at all. When she does use it, its a nice bike with decent brakes and suspension (though bloody awful tyres - must get around to changing them). As Opposed to a BSO. So she's going to enjoy the riding a lot more

You're in a minority, binners, and obviously a caring, giving chap...

... not that I can judge most of the other posters on here. Mrs 16 currently rides some POS Apollo (although we are saving for a decent hardtail)...

if i let her stop for a breather or some liquid, i'm doing her a disservice by not encouraging her to build up her endurance.

😆

if a man can ride towards their family and execute the perfect skid whilst staring into his wife's eyes, its a medical FACT that she'll fall instantly pregnant and all his children will immediately grow full, thick and well conditioned beards.

thank you for reminding me lunge.

My six-year-old's been after a beard for ages.

Phil, you may have saved me a visit to the joke shop. A million thanks.

* slinks off to practice his perfect skids *

my daugter will be riding a Beinn 20 after christmas

I hope your daughter doesn't read STW or the surprise will be ruined.

i got my wifey to buy a commencal which she liked as it was white even if it did have crappy suntour forks

for her birthday i got her some fox float terralogic forks, lopped a load of weight off the bike and much nicer ride

she doesnt like them because they are grey

If I suggested to herself that I was going to buy her a bike to ride, I'd wake up one morning to the smell of mountain oysters for breakfast.
Oh she has her own bikes, which are all pretty nice, which she bought and paid for all on her own.

Junior Consequence earlier:

[img] [/img]

I always use the rule when getting parts for the mrs that if I wouldn't use it why should she, my mrs's bikes are as good or better than mine, although she has no interest in shiny/blingy bits, that's a man thing I reckon..

I bought my OH a Speshy Hardrock with a few 'cast-off' upgrades to see if she liked riding.

I am happy to say that due to her (self confessed) quiet astonishing lack of ability, I will NEVER have to upgrade that bike 8)

Yeah and you all wonder why the missus doesn't want to ride a bike. 🙄

😉

cos they're too busy shaving/trimming their babies majestic beards CG?

erm ... I choose and paid for my bikes myself - consequently have a rather nice Titus Motolite, a 'cross bike, and a mid-range road bike. Can't imagine why anyone would want to have someone else decide what bike they need! Happy to listen to advice, but in the end it's my bike and I'm paying for it, so it's up to me what I want ... but then I'm probably one of those 'militant feminist' types 😉 (Don't have anything to do with your sister though!)

Oh, and my Titus was better than my ex OH's full sus bike, but he chose the bike he wanted, plus he was a better rider than me (personally I felt I needed all the 'skills-compensator' help I could get!).

But having experienced it, it was pretty disheartening to always see your OH disppearing over the hill as you trail constantly behind trying desperately to keep up ... and usually failing 😳

My mrs has no technical ability, a few nasty falls on her mountain bike have knocked her confidence, but she does ironman so the second it points uphill she pulls my legs off 🙁
Her favourite saying is 'it's not about the bike, it's the rider' when she sees blingy bikes......I've tried to tell her that's rubbish,.. but she's not having it,,,,,,

My bike is [i]way[/i] nicer than my other halfs 🙂

I have a Whyte 19 trail with bling cobalt wheels, and a Commencal Meta for the occasional Alps trip.

Mr Flowerpower has a 2008 spec rockhopper.

Why is it that way around?? I ride more and have put more money into buying my bikes, he is a closet roadie and spends his money on his two girls...

Not sure its all to do with what sex you are... just how important you bike is to you.

I choose and paid for my bikes myself

Sue, will you marry me?

mrsconsequence chose and paid for her own bike, you can't marry her though... unless you have something to trade?

fenred - only if you stay off the fags 😉

Actually, I love choosing bikes, and can happily spend hours in the local bike shop (... worries about lack of appropriate womanly behaviour ...)

iDave - Member
Always see couples out for rides and the bloke is 20 yards in front. Consistently. Why not just delete the 20 yards and ride together?

For me, its because my GF refuses to ride in front down any trail despite my assurances that she is not spoiling my fun by slowing me down and despite the fact I tell her this isn't the case. I also assure her I won't come thundering up behind her.

Its very difficult to ride trails constantly looking over your shoulder to check she is on your tail, I feel I am going quite steadily and so as a consequence, she is ofetn lagging behind.

I had the same in Morzine. I insisted that she go first down tracks after our first runs so that if she did fall off or struggle, then I wouldn't be at the bottom of the mountain unable to help.
She wouldn't hear of it and so I always had to go first. To be brutally honest, this did spoil my enjoyment a bit as I was stopping every hundred yards to check she was ok and couldn't let things go.
I'd much prefer she was in front, I could wait a bit, then go at my desired pace until I saw her, and then stop and wait a while longer.
Safer, better (except for the times I fall off obviously)

Incidentally, My girlfriend has a fancy schmancy Lapierre Zesty 314 with added pink bits, I just ride a Giant....... 😕

Phil, I'll happily discuss a part exchange deal or a wkend trial with my GF and her Hardrock...S'long as you promise NOT to give her your medusa stare whilst executing a totally rad standing skiddy...Got 3 kids between us, production line is now decommisioned.

Sue, motivation indeed!

if i let her stop for a breather or some liquid, i'm doing her a disservice by not encouraging her to build up her endurance.

medical FACT.

If my mrs properly got into mountain biking I wouldn't mind spending a wedge on her bike, however what's likely to happen is when the boys are old enough she'll accompany us on a flat well surfaced loop round a lake or sommat on the 1 nice summer weekend we get a year. Besides the colour will be much more important than the bikes spec. FACT (as they say)

I was watching the start of the Cooker 29 video and about to reply, "Of course not, look at the lady at the front on this video,"...the one in the nice magenta top.

And then the camera shows her face....with a beard!!!

Tis true, there are mitigating factors alright...

But is it ethically correct for a guy to whack the Singletrack on his fancy schmancy full-suss while the Mrs/GF is struggling on her Trax with the trailer bike tag-a-long attachment?

Suppose the Mrs/GF does catch up eventually, does she really want to hear "well I'm way sicker, radder and gnarlier than you, sweet-cheeks"?

It's amazing that guys will let their OH go on a ride on a POS that they wouldn't get anywhere near. Having a heavy bike with pogo stick suspension and plastic tyres is a sure fire way of putting them off riding. If you can go riding together and she enjoys it, you get to go out more...

Interesting to hear about the different tactics for riding with a slower partner. Mrsbunk always sets off first now, so that I can find her when she's over cooked a section and fallen off into the bushes. I count to 30-60 seconds then see how quickly I can catch up with her. This can get a bit frustrating as it tends to interrupt the flow a bit, but she's getting faster...

sue spells it out perfectly does she not?
surely if a posh bike is needed then she will know what she wants ant what the fek has it got to do with you anyway?

it is how it works in my house thats for sure, my mountain bike is nicer than hers but her road bike is way nicer than mine because thats how our priorities lie.

Mrs/GF is struggling on her Trax with the trailer bike tag-a-long attachment?

This happens a lot in the bikebouy household.. hahaha

[img] [/img]

It's a rather good likeness of us that too.. Phah.

surely if a posh bike is needed then she will know what she wants ant what the fek has it got to do with you anyway?

Uh, don't most families have joint bank accounts?

In which case the quality of a family member's ride is a joint decision, no?

That's the way it is in the 16 household and - I'm guessing - in many others too.

His bikes are nicer than my one, because I don't have any interest in bike parts, or maintaining them, whatsoever. Having said that my bike is good enough that he'd still steal it if he could fit it. This is why he has lots of shiny parts and I have lots of money 😐

But is it ethically correct for a guy to whack the Singletrack on his fancy schmancy full-suss while the Mrs/GF is struggling on her Trax with the trailer bike tag-a-long attachment?

Camo, absolutely this is not right on any level! However there's no chance of me ever clamping that HUGE tag-a-long bracket around my lovely Thomson seatpost when she has a crappy stock oem jobby that welcomes gargantuan hunks of scratchy metai with open arms 😉

Jude (mrs mitch) isnt really that bothered about 'stuff' (bloody hippy), and wasnt really into bikes until we had a family day out at Clumber Park a couple of years ago and all hired bikes / trailers, etc.
She then wanted to buy herself a bike, but was quite happy to go for a cheap model from Halfords. That's when my own snobbery kicked in, and I persuaded her to get a nice Cannondale hardtail. She has since (reluctantly) admitted that she prefers and can tell a real difference between her bike and the one she hired at Clumber, but I suspect that without my interference / influence, she would have been just as happy with a cheaper model. As far as riding off in front goes, I usually have a trailer attached to my bike, so am quite happy to potter, and riding behind Jude, who, it has to be said, has a particularly nice bottom, is hardly a hardship. 😀

In which case the quality of a family member's ride is a joint decision, no?

the point was a simple one 16
if she knows what she wants the conversation will go along the lines of this i ride as much as you and would like a bike like yours?

no darling this is a joint decision and you are not having it?

she can get what she wants. 🙄

Uh, don't most families have joint bank accounts?

In which case the quality of a family member's ride is a joint decision, no?

I guess I wasn't trying to comment on how different couples should decide on expenditure (another often heated debate!), but to say that when I have wanted a bike (or camera, car etc etc) that I have thought about what I want myself. Part of that is listening to the opinions of others who know more, but in the end making the choice myself. In some ways that's easy as we had a joint account for all shared costs, and then our 'own' money for spending on anything we liked. But I would no more tell him what bike to get than he would tell me.

Barsleymitch - ah yes, following a nice bottom! I think I might remain riding slower than most chaps ... 🙂

I like to think of it as the Simon F Barnes legacy!

sue delivers the point far better than i do but it's about the same i think. 🙂

I told my wife if her assessment for this year goes well, then I'll let her have a nice bike.

Sadly she's not achieved her performance objectives. Again.

I can't be seen to be rewarding her for poor performance now can I?

When we rode Passporte de soleile last year we saw this attitude taken to a ridiculous degree by a gang of French lads and one solitary girl.

It was obviously one of their GF's. They were all on 6 inch all-mountain GNAAAAAAR. And Mr thoughtful had obviously said "why not come along. You can use my old bike"

This poor girl was on an old (and I mean old) GT Zaskar. V brakes, Judy's,. I mean FFS! They went hooning off. She pottered off behind them

Can't remember the name of the run. But its the one with the corkscrewing berms through the forest. Silly steep. As I was hooning down I saw her struggling in front of me, then just disappear off the top of one of the berms. A few of us stopped to see if she was ok. She wasn't.

Her BF and his mates eventually came back. She was helicoptered off the mountain

****ing idiots!!!

This ^^^^^ is kind of where I was going with the OP, although it's an extreme case.

Of course many women choose their own bikes. My point was merely observational. This year I've seen loads of women riding complete POS bikes next to their SO's bling-bling sex-machines. That is all.

Many of the women seemed to be struggling with their POS bikes and putting a brave face on.

Her BF and his mates eventually came back. She was helicoptered off the mountain

maybe he'd gone off her and didn't have the heart to say..

we can't all be gentlemen you know..

It was only when the BF and mates realised that there was nobody there to applaud their sick moves 😉 that they sensed something was up.

My wife still hasn't forgiven me for insisting she buy a Hardtail bike with discs and all those confusing gears when she wanted something with a basket and a 3 speed hub. When she does go on any singletrack she will absolutely not go first...

Jeez, no way could I put up with some bloke thinking he knew what bike would be best for me. 🙄 Sticks two fingers up at the ex Mr C_G, no cheap tat for me and yes it's a Litespeed cos I'm worth it. 8)

Binners - blimey 😯

(Although Yunki - 😆 Sorry, shouldn't laugh, not funny ...)

I guess what you're saying is that there seems to be a lot of guys sticking girls on basic bikes on unsuitable terrain, which either puts them at risk of injury or is likely to leave them struggling to keep up.

Both of which probably puts them off biking altogether!

So why do some guys do it? (Obviously not you lot who are all either lovely or AWESOME!) And why do they ride off leaving someone who's not as good as them struggling to keep up? Is it cos they don't care? Only think of themselves? Or don't think at all?

I think there needs to be more of a focus on appreciating girls on bling bikes and admiring from behind (Not that I'm feeling unappreciated or anything ...)

Edit - c_g: yey!

I think there needs to be more of a focus on appreciating girls on bling bikes and admiring from behind

I think that's something we can agree on, Sue!

Mrs 16, BTW, has asked for a Carrera Kraken. So that's what we're saving for...

For mountain biking the OP is talking about me! If we go for a ride off road (Mrsnacho hates roots and rocks so tow paths, green runs only) with the kids, I will be on my nice Whyte 19 she will be on her old Spesh hardrock with the trailer and kids. Sometimes we may swap bikes if it's a steep hill or she fancies a break.
BUT if we were on the road I would attach the trailer and kids to my old Gary Fisher Kai Tai 29er hybrid jobby whilst she showed off on her new bling £1000+ Trek WS road bike.

Mrs 16

You do know how wrong that sounds?

Also, a Kraken was my first mtb. I swear it tried to kill me several times - they're evil.

Mrs 16

You do know how wrong that sounds?

Uh-huh. 😳

Also, a Kraken was my first mtb. I swear it tried to kill me several times - they're evil.

This could end in tears. I sense a "what ladies' hardtail" thread coming on... for advice purposes only, you understand. 😉

I still ride the mothers of my childrens' bikes (bought by me) more than they do despite not living with them.

I don't think the hubby / dad is being an egotist. Perhaps he just can't resist the temptation to demonstrate his fitness / skill while all the family are together. In some way to show something for all those hours spent riding and fettling.

This is just an opinion - I don't have kids and Mrs. S doesn't ride.

MrsH has more bikes than me and they are all better than mine too. 🙁

So, does your other half ride a worse bike than you

Mrs carlos has 2 bikes.A Cannondale F700 from around '02 and a ladies Raliegh tourer. When we bought her main bike we had a budget of £1700 and she liked the 'Dale best out of the 20 or so bikes she tried out (at the time the F700 was £1250).

My bikes are an '00 P7 and an '06 Spesh sx trail , both were bought as frames only and built for their intended purposes ,i.e. riding everywhere and riding mostly down.

I wouldn't say theres a massive performance difference in the 2 hardtails despite the better spec being on my bike.One of the main criteria for me was that we wouldn't buy her a bike that I wasn't prepared to ride myself(and get a kicking for the day she got home early and caught me playing trials in the garden on it 😳 )

Mrs Dom has a Giant HT that she chose, its been tweaked to fit her better, with Saddle / stem changes now.
I also fitted a pair of Reba Teams to replace the dreadful Rock hard Dart3`s.
Whilst the time spent setting them up wasn`t understood or appreciated at the time, as soon as we went on our first ride afterwards she was a very happy, smiley person !!
It also gets tyres appropriate to what she`s doing with it too....

TBH its been used a handful of times due to Juniors arrival but I`m happy that my OH has a nice bike to ride when needed, I work on the principle, that the easier/nicer the bike is to ride, the more she will enjoy it and consequently want to do more of it.

I do have more / better specced bikes but then I ride a lot more too.
I would be happy riding my other halfs bike any day (And its great for just messing about in the street on) so I often do 😀

I stole Mrs Clubber's tyres off her bike this morning. Mind you they're slicks and she's pregnant and hasn't ridden her bike more than four times a year for the last few years by my reckoning 🙂 She did love it when I gave the bike to her to replace the Raleigh barge that she could barely lift up the stairs to our flat... (that was 2001ish IIRC so clearly she's having to make do with her bike compared to mine)

As to the blokes who ride with their much slower wives/gf/bf/whoever and race off, I just read it as insecurity and a need to prove their worth to themselves. YMMV.

my wife has a marin east peak FS with 20mm psylo fork on the front

I'm just off to mumsnet to see what penance I should undertake 😳

(she does have hydraulic brakes though, and I don't)