• Hi Richard,
    I was wondering if I can attend this session and the other rides with a Buzzbike:

    https://www.buzzbike.cc/cty-city-bike

    I'm confident cycling in London, however at the moment I wouldn't be able to fix a puncture. I could use the Buzzbike repair service, and would like to learn once I commit to the club. Is this kind of training provided?

  • Hi @elecipollina,

    Some club members ride city hybrid style bikes and manage very well, though 90% + ride road/gravel style bikes.

    For just Group Skills in the park you will be fine with the Buzzbike.

    Later if joining a club ride you will find the three gears and general geometry of Buzzbikes limiting on hilly sections and at higher speeds. You would likely be limited to Green rides which are the slowest paced banding of rides. I have ridden this style of bike on Green rides ok (but with 8 gears).

    Perhaps after Group Skills you could try the social chat-paced laps at Regent's Park (8am Saturdays) to see how you keep up with the group, where you would easily be able to drop off if necessary.
    And if you haven't already I would recommend trying out a hillier ride outside central London solo, maybe even part of the Intro Ride route - at least up to Highbury and ideally past Mill Hill (so the first 15km or so). If you can manage this without being stuck on hills and at a reasonable pace (>18kmph on average) you should be ok for Green rides.

    While you should be able to fix a puncture, again for just Group Skills in the park this is ok, then ideally you could learn before a club ride. While there are always people willing to help, of course if everybody relies on others then there is nobody :)
    The club occasionally runs maintenance training sessions, but these are not regular enough for all new members, for example the next session is in January.
    This video is quite good: https://youtu.be/Suh1-o6KBo8

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