Van Nicholas Deveron Pinion Belt Drive 18spd Disc
Now, before we start talking bicycles. There’s been an interesting post on the Turf website about a mysterious prize for the turfer who takes the 100,000,000th zone. The count at the moment (12.30 pm, 25th January) is about 99,912,000 and rapidly growing, and going by the rate of takes over past few days, I suspect it will reach the 100 million target within a day or two.
It’s going to be a tricky one to actually win. Firstly, you cannot see the count on a mobile phone, so will need a laptop, Surface or iPad with you on location. Add to that there may be hundreds or even thousands of other turfers doing exactly the same thing and you have quite a challenge. Then you’ve got the potential delay between the actual take and the counter shown on the web page.
Having any firm strategy is going to be difficult. Unless I’m missing something obvious, the only way to try for this is to keep an eye on the take count, jump in a take a zone just before the 100 million is reached and hope for the best. May the force be with you. Now onto equally important matters. That of bicycles.
Oh dearie, dearie, me. I had been thinking about getting myself a nice toy to play with, most likely a BMW Z4, a Mini John Cooper Works or even a Land Rover Defender, using some pension money I have burning a hole in my pocket. However, I came across a company called Van Nicholas, from The Netherlands, who specialise in titanium framed bicycles. Their range includes two models that are both my dream bicycle, the Deveron and the Pioneer. Any thoughts of purchasing a car have gone out the window, across the street and over the sea to Skye.
Yes, I realise this is supposed to be a blog about turfing but what better way to turf than on your dream bicycle. The Deveron comes with aerospace grade 3Al/2.5V Titanium frame, 18-speed Gates belt-drive Pinion gearbox and disc brakes. It also has mounts for the usual racks, mudguards and bottle cages. The Pioneer is exactly the same but with a Rolhoff 14-speed Speed hub and the same Gates belt-drive instead of the traditional chain. Wonderful. I probably won’t sleep at all tonight for thinking about these two beauties.
But. And it’s a rather large but, with a capital “B”. The price. Now, are you sitting down? Better still, sit on the floor, because you might fall off your seat. Ready? Here’s goes. £6000. Yes, that’s six thousand pounds and a lot of money by any count. And it doesn’t even come with an electric motor or even has pedals. Is it worth it you may ask? Does it matter I would reply? You only live once and you will be dead for a lot longer than the time you were alive. And there’s another big but. Would it really be any better than my trusty humble Surly Ogre? I suspect not. And anyway, all bikes in my size are out of stock. Oh well, never mind. We can but dream the dream.
Van Nicholas Pioneer Rohloff Belt Drive 14spd Disc
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