Who rides with people like this?

[android]

So today, I decide once again to head out with a regular group ride in town. A mix of riders on mostly new expensive bikes. But one guy's chain is squealing up a storm because it probably hasn't be lubed since he bought the bike. We got one lady whose bottle cages are all bent and her bottle fell out at RR track and then we got one guy whose bottle cage actually broke off the bike. On another ride, we had a guy who ran over one of those surveying flags on the way to the start of the ride. It somehow wound up in his RD and bent it all up. Rather than go home like he should have, we're stopping every 10 miles to nurse his RD along.

Is it normal for people to have this many mechanical issues? I take care of my own bike and always give it a look over the night before. Is this too much to ask?

[Steve in SLO]

I'd have to really like the group to continue ride with it, if that's the norm.
OTOH, it's early spring...perhaps by midsummer they'll have their bikes dialed-in.

[SadieKate]

The next to the last time I was on a ride like that someone took a ride in an ambulance. The last time someone showed up in in cotton longjohns for a winter mtb ride in the Cascade mountains. I ended up babysitting him back to the car, riding laps back and forth on the trail because he kept stopping (without telling me) because was cramping so badly from lack of condition and cold. This only seems to happen on club rides, not with my friends, so I've gotten very hesitant to ride anyplace at all remote with people I don't know.

On the other hand, one of these friends who does maintain his bike won't deal with his ski equipment. Every time we go backcountry skiing his boots rub his feet so badly he gets incredibly cranky plus his boots squeak on the 3-pin bindings. Monday we were in the back of beyond in the heavenly silence of a high Cascade snow storm and huge hemlocks. Squeak, squeak, squeak. I wanted to slap him upside the head. Dude, use a dremel tool and take off 1/64th of an inch of that binding. Better yet, get new boots. I'm sick of your consistent crankiness. And he brought adjustable poles that he knew would un-adjust at regular intervals.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by android

Is it normal for people to have this many mechanical issues? I take care of my own bike and always give it a look over the night before. Is this too much to ask?

I'm constantly running into people on the road or in group rides who don't have the slightest mechanical clue. The lady riding with the old guy I posted about yesterday had a rear brake rubbing and didn't know from the barrel adjuster or from an allen wrench. Her pads were misaligned, were off-center, and the brake was closed up too tight. I grabbed an allen wrench and adjusted the shoes so they were both hitting the same part of the rim (one had been almost on the tire, the other hanging off the bottom of the rim), got the shoes adjusted so the rim was centered between them, and loosened her barrel adjuster. It was the one minute job it sounds like. She thought I was some sort of genius. At the beginning of group rides, there's almost a mini-mechanical seminar as some of us fix the myriad little issues that have come up on the bikes of folks who don't do their own work. I don't mind really - I'd be equally clueless on lots of other stuff, like cars! And I remember how mysterious it all was when I was new to it. But I don't do a lot of group rides so I don't ride with people like that very often.

-Ray

[toaster]

Seems to me mechanical problems plague a group ride vary rarely. It usually has the effect of magnifying the issue where the victim gets it fixed out of embarrassment and others pay attention to pre-ride maintenance even more.

Tire/wheel problems and flats are usually more common.

[BumbleBeeDave]

Originally Posted by Ray

. . . She thought I was some sort of genius. . . .

You ARE a genius. We just haven't wanted to tell you because we were afraid you'd get a swelled head.

BBD

[GregL]

The organized group rides I participate in don't seem to have these problems. Most people who are serious enough to regularly ride with the local clubs or teams keep their bikes in good working order. Of course it's likely that in a very large group (50+ people at a summer club ride), somebody will have a mechanical of some sort. But the number of mechanicals is not very large. Usually, a "good Samaritan" will stop and help the person with the mechanical.

An anecdote from yesterday's ride. A solid group of cat 2s, 3s, and masters met for a 60 mile training ride. Almost everyone was in winter training mode, full fenders and 25-30 width tires. The only mechanicals? Two flats for the same guy who decided the roads were clean enough to break out his summer racing wheels and tires (Michelin Pro3s). He profusely apologized for his error in judgment .

Regards,
Greg

[terry]

here's a good one: ran across a guy who had a flat and didn't have a spare tube or a pump/co2. i couldn't help him cause i ride tubulars but i couldn't help not feeling sorry for him. he kept raving about his new trek, cost him $3K but he didn't even have any idea how to change a tire.

[Onno]

It is really irritating riding with folks who don't take care of their bikes, and then in a sense force their problems on you. This is partly why I almost never ride in large groups.

On the other hand, weren't we all like this once? These folks are just new to the sport, as I was a few decades ago, and I remember being awed by those who knew a lot about bikes, and could quickly help me adjust or fix mine. I certainly felt guilty when I held others up, and learned quickly how to take care of my own bikes through the thoughtful and ungrumbling help of others.

[thwart]

Well, all of these folks are light-years ahead of the idiot in the SUV who goes by way too close...

Because they've never been on a road bike and have no clue...

[Ray]

Originally Posted by BumbleBeeDave

You ARE a genius. We just haven't wanted to tell you because we were afraid you'd get a swelled head.

BBD

Oh yeah, I'm frickin' EINSTEIN when it comes to getting a rear brake off of the rim. Relativity, however, I suck at. Relatively, of course. Some people are worse.

-Ray

[caleb]

Originally Posted by terry

he kept raving about his new trek, cost him $3K but he didn't even have any idea how to change a tire.

There's a good chance that guy went back to the shop where he bought the bike and insisted they "warranty" his flat tire.

To the OP, no, I don't ride with the sort of people you describe. I know there are rides like that, but I wouldn't go on one to save my life.

As someone above mentioned, team training rides seem to not have mechanical issues. They do tend to have other issues, but at least the bikes work.

[Chad Engle]

Originally Posted by Onno

It is really irritating riding with folks who don't take care of their bikes, and then in a sense force their problems on you. This is partly why I almost never ride in large groups.

On the other hand, weren't we all like this once? These folks are just new to the sport, as I was a few decades ago, and I remember being awed by those who knew a lot about bikes, and could quickly help me adjust or fix mine. I certainly felt guilty when I held others up, and learned quickly how to take care of my own bikes through the thoughtful and ungrumbling help of others.

I know of folks who bring the cell phone instead of spare tubes and a pump. I don't feel bad not helping them if they're not even going to try.

Kind of my job as a dad to teach my child to change a flat on his/her bicycle isn't it?

I don't mind helping out along the bike path/road but I would find a new group to ride with if the ride was spent fixing bicycles.

[rugbysecondrow]

Group rides are hard because they each have their own culture and norms. Some are more prone to beginners and others are tight knit and have been riding together for years. I attended a group ride once where the guys were nice and accommodating, but didn't obey traffic rules and blew through stoplights, snaked through traffic at intersections etc. Not my crowd.

There was LBS shop here in Maryland that had a huge Tuesday night supported ride that brought lots of beginners out. They canceled it due to beginner type issues (etiquette, mechanical etc.). Not certain if it is strictly a rider or an organizational issue, but I like the idea of newbies getting out and learning how to ride and tend to their equipment. These were typically new folks training for triathlons, not cyclist per se so that also impacts their level of knowledge and learning.

Cheers and enjoy the weather today!

[Ti Designs]

The question is what is your expectation of the people you ride with? I split the rides into two categories, ones with high expectations of the other riders and ones with no expectations.

Every September the new riders for the Harvard team show up. Many of them don't have their own bikes so they borrow something, probably from someone who isn't even close to their size. They show up without air in their tires, with non-functioning bikes, dressed for weather that's long past in the season. One guy was lent shoes for clipless pedals and decided that it would be a good idea to try them out on his first ride. He fell over a lot, sometimes just on the ground, mostly on other riders, once right in front of a bus... This is what I call my Harvard education - how to deal with a hundred cycling disasters at the same time. In the end there isn't much riding going on, but it is what it is. Two weeks later we have most of the problems ironed out...

On rides with high expectations I see it as a show of respect. Being late or showing up with a bike that doesn't work means the group has to wait - there's no respect for the group in that. My bike is never in perfect working order, but ask anyone I ride with or coach if they've ever had to wait up because I had a problem with my bike - few people have even seen me get a flat tire.

I had one ride this fall that was a mix of the two types. I was back with the slow group on one of the Harvard morning rides. There were only three of them, I was riding with my hand on the back of the big guy going up the hills, just to even out the power/weight ratio of the group when my pedal spindle snapped. I quickly changed tactics and slowed down the fastest rider, and the group stayed together. The spindle had broken at the outer bearing, so as long as I didn't try to push it would stay. At the end of the ride none of them knew I had any sort of mechanical problem.