THE DIRECTIONS TO ME COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ANY clearer: If John Kerry's people called, I should transfer them directly to Steve. Steve managed the D.C.-area bike shop where I was a college-aged sales urchin. It was the early 2000s. Kerry, then a Senator from Massachusetts, was licking his wounds after his unsuccessful presidential bid in the most relatable way: buying a custom titanium Serotta. The knowledge that a celebrity purchased the bike, and its high price tag, helped forge my early internalized biases about titanium bikes. Simply put, they were nice, but not for me.
My next job was at a triathlon-specific store with a rack full of titanium-framed Litespeeds. And though none of them were as spendy as Kerry's Serotta, I wasn't allowed to ride them. I wouldn't throw a leg over a titanium bike until the store's owner called in sick one day. A colleague double-dog-dared me to secretly take one around the block. I was out the door seconds later.
Immediately, I loved the bike's lively and warm timbre as I furtively cruised the suburban Virginia streets around the store. Again, nice, but not for me, I thought as I wiped the bike of any clues it had been ridden and slid it back onto its rack.
It's been nearly two decades since these experiences. Despite owning a fleet of bikes worth well more than my 401k in those years, I had never considered a titanium rig. Titanium is for politicians. Titanium is for dentists. Titanium is for people who, you know, actually have a 401k.
Then, Bicycling asked me to review a titanium bike that (honestly) would fit into my woman going-through-a-catastrophic-divorce budget. As I assembled the Riverside GRVL900, I wondered: What other things have I assumed were not for me but maybe actually are?
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2023-Ausgabe von Bicycling US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2023-Ausgabe von Bicycling US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
ONE MAN'S OBSESSIVE CRUSADE TO Take Down Zwift Cheats
Indoor cycling and virtual racing are booming, and so are the ranks of digital dopers abusing the platforms.
WHAT I LEARNED WHEN LOST IT ON A MOUNTAIN BIKE
A lifelong roadie tries singletrack for the first time. It did not go as planned.
THE UNLIKELY HERO WHO RECOVERED OVER 200 STOLEN BIKES IN ONE AMERICAN CITY
It was a sunny day in the summer of 2022. There were some things I had to move into the house, so I left the garage door open. I was gone less than 15 minutes.
YOU CAN BE MORE THAN JUST A CYCLIST
I'VE ALWAYS HAD A LOVE FOR SPORTS, starting with the usual team ones such as football and baseball. But that faded in favor of more individual pursuits. Watching my dad roll down the driveway to go for a ride, I wanted to do the same. The bike was my first taste of freedom, a freedom to do it my way.
THE RIGHT SADDLE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
UP UNTIL RECENTLY, I WAS, AT BEST, A TWICEa-month cyclist.
HOW TO SAY GOODBYE TO THE RIDER YOU USED TO BE
CYCLISTS OF ALL LEVELS GO THROUGH various phases or eras over the years they spend in the saddle. For the vast majority of riders (myself included), these things happen privately, without fanfare.
BIKES MAKE THE WORLD A MORE INCLUSIVE PLACE
LIFE'S A BEAUTIFUL PUZZLE THAT COMES in all sorts of shapes, colors, and sizes.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CYCLING SCENE, ANYWAY?
I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF INVOLVING myself in a few populous and dramatically different cycling communities.
CHOOSE GEAR THAT INSPIRES YOU TO HAVE FUN E
EVEN THOUGH I TEST LOADS OF CYCLING gear for a living, sometimes I get locked in on particular items and find it difficult to enjoy competing products, even if those products have obvious advantages.
WHY YOU DESERVE A CUSTOM BIKE
Custom. The word evokes passionate opinions about what constitutes a custom-made bike and who gets to ride one. There's this idea that they're wildly expensive pieces of functional art meant only for the fittest, fastest riders.
