WDB
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Post by WDB on May 21, 2017 22:15:48 GMT
Progress on the employment front. A fat envelope arrived on Friday, containing the offer of a job I wouldn't mind doing, and which would certainly keep me in coffee beans until The One comes along. But The One may be closer than that: I have good reason to suppose that there may be another offer this week, for something that applies a fair bit more float to my boat.
That job would be based in London, an easy walk from my mainline rail terminus. I can be there in 50 minutes in the morning and home in 37 in the afternoon. But there is the question of getting to the station and back. Google Maps reckons it's 1.6km to the station, and while I can walk it in less than its suggested 19 minutes, it's still a significant component of the journey time. And it's uphill on the way home.
So, supposing for a moment that I do get this job, how can I save some time? It's clearly not worth driving, and while I might do a frequent-flyer deal with a local taxi firm, that adds expense and is hardly a planet-friendly solution.
So it looks like the solution might have two wheels. I have a serviceable old steel-framed bike with mudguards and a luggage rack, worth nothing and (I hope) of no interest to thieves. I could park it at the station and ride it home in the evening. But I'd have to secure it, which also takes time.
But the London end is 700m, also mostly cyclable. So if I had some wheels there too, I might shave a little off the end-to-end time. And the bike could come with me into the office, and the morning journey would be sufficiently easy to do in work clothes and not to require a shower on arrival.
I've already given away where this is going. So would a Brompton work for me? There's no cost saving for me in London, but there may be one in time and convenience, as I could keep a folder in the hall rather than beginning the morning with a trip to the shed. And there'd be less time finding a rack and securing the bike. But would I find one to fit? And would it get me up the steep hill home from the station? Aw, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on.
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Post by Hofmeister on May 21, 2017 22:31:36 GMT
So it looks like the solution might have two wheels. I have a serviceable old steel-framed bike with mudguards and a luggage rack, worth nothing and (I hope) of no interest to thieves. I could park it at the station and ride it home in the evening. But I'd have to secure it, which also takes time. But the London end is 700m, also mostly cyclable. So if I had some wheels there too, I might shave a little off the end-to-end time. And the bike could come with me into the office, and the morning journey would be sufficiently easy to do in work clothes and not to require a shower on arrival. I've already given away where this is going. So would a Brompton work for me? There's no cost saving for me in London, but there may be one in time and convenience, as I could keep a folder in the hall rather than beginning the morning with a trip to the shed. And there'd be less time finding a rack and securing the bike. But would I find one to fit? And would it get me up the steep hill home from the station? Aw, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on. You cant seriously be suggesting that time to lock a bike up is a component of travel time? come on its seconds!, certainly no longer than folding up and unfolding the brompton 4 times, hauling it on and off the train, not to mention the foul looks and kicks you get from your fellow commuter because your filthy bike is dripping muddy water over their shoes. |
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Avant
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Post by Avant on May 21, 2017 22:53:35 GMT
Congratulations on being clearly in demand! Sounds like good news.
Have you checked whether you can take a bike on the train in rush hour? When I had to go to London, fortunately only about two days a week, I used to catch the notoriously overcrowded 7.58 from Twyford which started at Henley. If you're travelling at that sort of time, there may be restrictions.
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Post by Humph on May 22, 2017 6:48:17 GMT
Clunker to local station, Boris bike in London?
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Post by tyrednexited on May 22, 2017 8:08:23 GMT
Have you checked whether you can take a bike on the train in rush hour? When I had to go to London, fortunately only about two days a week, I used to catch the notoriously overcrowded 7.58 from Twyford which started at Henley. If you're travelling at that sort of time, there may be restrictions. ...quite often there is a dispensation for folding bikes, despite a ban on standard ones. The answer is.......... ............................. a Sparticle! (I obviously knew this question was coming) ;-)  www.electricbikesales.co.uk/Sparticle-Electric-Brompton-System(can't say I've ever really fancied commuting with a folding bike, but if you want to, that's the one! Hills? No Problemo)) |
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Post by Alanović on May 22, 2017 9:17:03 GMT
Just use the old bike and ditch it at the station, and get another old worthless bike off of fleabay to leave at the London terminus overnight/weekends. D lock (even for worthless bikes, puts off the opportunist). Far better than lumping a Brompton around.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 22, 2017 9:24:43 GMT
I hadn't thought of the two-bike solution - nor whether there's anywhere to park a full-size bike at the office. But it could work.
Still disappointed that only T&E has made any effort to sell me the thing - and then only with a very expensive accessory; I'd get a lot of taxi rides for £2,000!
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Post by Alanović on May 22, 2017 9:32:17 GMT
My Missus had a Brompton for the same needs you are outlining. We've ended up selling it. Too much hassle.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 11:47:25 GMT
My Missus had a Brompton for the same needs you are outlining. We've ended up selling it. Too much hassle. For £299 buy a Rohan long raincoat. It is very light, breathable and most importantly, very waterproof. I have one and I can walk almost everywhere, even in heavy rain and emerge from it dry. Walking is just as good for you as cycling; a mile walk if taken briskly will take under 15 minutes and I really don't fancy cycling uphill on a wet, windy and cold night coming home. Walking will probably be safer. Paired with a hat and decent shoes you can remain dry all day and also look smart. I wear mine on a Saturday walking to the synagogue (we don't use the car on the Sabbath) and it's perfect. Easy to wear over a suit; a quick shake off and its 99% dry. |
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Post by Humph on May 22, 2017 12:28:56 GMT
Folds up too I suppose?
🤔
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Post by tyrednexited on May 22, 2017 12:35:39 GMT
...put electric assistance on it, and job's a good 'un.  |
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Post by Humph on May 22, 2017 13:37:51 GMT
Tee Hee! You've now just given me a mental picture of Espada swishing down to the synagogue doing a Dalek impression in his electrically powered long overcoat !
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 22, 2017 13:55:34 GMT
Tee hee indeed, Humph. If the coat is long enough, it could easily conceal an electric scooter.
I do play Sabbath in the car. Is that not the same thing?
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Post by bromptonaut on May 22, 2017 14:01:17 GMT
Apologies for delay in responding. I was wondering why there were no new posts here for 24+ hours. Turned out a CC cleanup had deleted the cookie and logged me out.
In your circs I'd probably think of the clunker to station solution first. Thirty years ago Mrs B and I lived in Watford and both worked in London, we were perhaps a mile and a half from junction station. Had pair of seventies 20" wheel (or rather 500A) step through commuter bikes - Trusty Spacemasters. Three speed Sturmey hub gear and a rack on back for briefcase etc. Maintenance was a squirt of oil now and then and we locked them to railings with a padlock + chain encased in retired inner tube. Only issue with them was lamps in winter that were like glow worms and ate D cell batteries but modern LED jobbies solve that. Lasted three years until we moved up here.
The only way you'll find if a B fits you is to go to a dealer and try one. Extended seat posts and a range of handlebar options mean most people can adapt. If you want to climb hills you really need the six speed. Mine, with standard 6 speed set up, manages the local 1:10 OK but I have the build of Millar or Pantani. Optional lower ratios are available for those whose maillot might be vert rather than chifres rouge.
Definitely worth having the rack (ie R rather than L model). You'll probably never carry anything but it makes manoeuvring the folded package much easier.
There are almost no restrictions on folding bikes in rush hour and those that exist apply to gatefold MTB type folders, not Bromptons. There may however be an issue with space and other passenger reaction on a truly crush loaded service.
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WDB
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Posts: 7,352
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Post by WDB on May 22, 2017 15:03:07 GMT
OK, it's the clunker. I've not actually ridden it since the seat broke off (honest, I'm not that heavy.) I found a replacement seat a while ago, so I'll get it recommissioned, spray some lube here and there and give it a try out when it doesn't matter.
I suspect I will actually find myself taking Esp's advice and equipping myself to make the walk more comfortable. I missed an opportunity in the winter to have one pair of black Loakes resoled in Dainite but I could pay quite a bit of attention to my shoe cupboard for the price of a Brompton.
On the train out of Paddington at the moment, learning some interesting stuff from the man in the seat behind about post-Brexit auditing arrangements for the UK fisheries fund. I think he's from a firm of auditors, not the actual David Davis Flying Circus, but all the same...
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