{"id":254319,"date":"2026-07-23T12:03:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/setting-the-pace\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T12:03:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:03:42","slug":"setting-the-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/setting-the-pace\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting The \u2018Pace"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

As one of cycling\u2019s preeminent retrogrouches, it is recumbent upon me to rail against\u2026well, everything.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

That is the AI\u2019s take on \u201cA pennyfarthing rider ranting about how safety bicycles are ruining cycling\u201d and I\u2019d say it really nailed the assignment, right down to the notch cut into the cardboard sign to provide adequate tire clearance. (Granted, I did imagine the scene taking place in the late 19th century, not today, but still.)<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more to retrogrouchery than just rejecting stuff. There\u2019s also embracing old stuff that you would have railed against when it was new. Then there\u2019s the most important aspect of all, which is creating an entire identity around that old stuff.<\/p>\n

What do I mean by that? Well, consider yesterday\u2019s ride:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Which was downright bucolic, right down to this deer doing the whole Homer-Simpson-receding-into-the-background thing:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

See?<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

And yes, I am making good on my non-promise to ride only this bike forevermore<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Or at least I\u2019ve ridden it twice in a row.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I\u2019ve had the Roaduno<\/a> for a little under two years now, having received it in September-ish of Two Thousand and Twenty-Four<\/a>. I that time, I have ridden it more or less as it came out of the box\u2013that is to say singlespeed, with Choco bars<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I have ridden it as a double:<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Then a as a double with drop bars:<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Then as a triple<\/em> with drop bars:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

And now I\u2019ve batted around the order and turned it back into a singlespeed (though the drop bars are staying):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

While the fact that the bike is so easy to tinker with virtually guarantees I\u2019ll continue to do so, I really shouldn\u2019t, because I\u2019d say that as of now it\u2019s as close to ideal as I could possibly get it, and the key to it all can be expressed in three words:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Buy<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Oh<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Pace<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I\u2019m only three-quarters joking, too, because I\u2019m now convinced that the Bee<\/em>-oh-pa-chay chainring really does meaningfully improve the singlespeeding experience:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n

    I\u2019ll leave the technical justification to fellow Biopace apologist Sheldon Brown<\/a>, but I think the \u2018Pace is particularly well-suited to pushing too big of a gear, which you invariably find yourself doing on a road-oriented singlespeed bicycle anyplace that isn\u2019t completely flat.<\/p>\n

    And yes, there was a time when I was ashamed of Biopace:<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    In fact, back in the 20th century, I quickly de-Biopaced my Trek 1200 (the original one I had backk then, not its Normcore Doppelg\u00e4nger<\/a>), not because I didn\u2019t like the way it worked, but because it was clear to me it was completely uncool, and if I had a blog when Biopace was introduced I\u2019m sure I would have roundly (well, not roundly, they\u2019re not round, are they?) mocked it.<\/p>\n

    Even today Biopace remains uncool\u2013even though the gravelistas are all over it:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n

    \u201cBut today\u2019s oval chainrings are totally different from Biopace!,\u201d cry the Gravel Freds.<\/p>\n

    Yeah, keep telling yourself that. If your chainring is lumpy, it\u2019s Biopace. I don\u2019t care if the lumps are oriented differently or not. Saying these aren\u2019t Biopace is like saying you\u2019re not a carnivore because you only eat your hamburger for dessert.<\/p>\n

    All of this is to say that the so-called \u201calt\u201d cyclists are constantly reclaiming old stuff (how alt can you be when you look just as alike as the Freds do?), leaving the rest of us with next to nothing\u2013and so I\u2019m planting my flag in Biopace, damn it!<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    Never mind, I\u2019m too late, someone\u2019s already selling stickers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    Okay, fine, then I\u2019m planting my flag in bonded aluminum Treks:<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    [Wait, where\u2019s the Biopace???]<\/p>\n

    And 23mm tires<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    But yes, I do think the Biopace works well for a singlespeed. The only issues are aesthetic: the chainring itself looks wonky, and there\u2019s a little extra slack in the chainring, though the chain stays on just fine and most people tension their chains way too much anyway. And speaking of singlespeeds, could there be better terrain for one than this?<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n

    I can even get up most of my usual paved climbs on the one-speed Roaduno just fine, though I do have to plan my route so that I\u2019m going down this sort of thing and not up it:<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    And no, I did not drop my chain.<\/p>\n

    Finally, further to yesterday\u2019s post, while the most dangerous thing about cycling may be the drivers, the second-most dangerous thing is losing your own mind<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    Yes, every once in awhile a cyclist completely snaps:<\/p>\n

    \n

    Caught on camera blocking a stream of cars in Brighton, the helmeted cyclist could be heard yelling, \u201cThis lane\u2019s closed, sorry. This lane\u2019s closed,\u201d per a\u00a0video clip<\/a>\u00a0posted to social media by digital creator Paul Pasquarosa.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Asked why he was blocking traffic, the cyclist gestured angrily at the bike lane, where a truck appeared to be parked.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n

    A wise person once wrote about this phenomenon<\/a>, and his point is an important one, because you really don\u2019t want to wind up like this:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n

    If nothing else, the fact he\u2019s standing safely in the middle of the street does undermine his message somewhat.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As one of cycling\u2019s preeminent retrogrouches, it is recumbent upon me to rail against\u2026well, everything. That is the AI\u2019s take on \u201cA pennyfarthing rider ranting about how safety bicycles are ruining cycling\u201d and I\u2019d say it really nailed the assignment, right down to the notch cut into the cardboard sign to provide adequate tire clearance. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":254320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-254319","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}