tl;dr: 2008 entry-level Time carbon bike with 10-speed Ultegra groupset. DTSwiss R1900 wheels. Maybe a rare bike, I just know I love it.
After spending 16 years as an adult, I decided to continue my fat loss journey by mounting the mighty steed that got me anywhere and everywhere in my childhood and teen years.
Decided to have a bike fit (for measurements) before hitting the used market and while chatting with the shop’s manager he told me he had a used bike that happened to be the right size for me. The price was a bit higher than someone else would’ve bought it for but it did come with (supposedly) only 2000kms and the sweet deal of a free maintenance (new cables, tires and adjustments) by the shop’s mechanics (and in his mind hopefully a new regular customer). He brought it to the shop a few days later, I tested it and felt it was good enough and convenient enough not to hit the online ads.
I feel like I came upon a bit of a Unicorn in that there isn’t much information out there about this bike other than it’s an entry-level Time, which by itself is already a mid-high tier bike for its time and built on their tried and tested carbon braiding and resin transfer molding process. It seems to have only been produced in 2007-08 and comes with a 10-speed Ultegra groupset. The wheels are a pair of solid DTSwiss R1900 that don’t complain about having to carry my big butt.
After three months of owning it I just want to shout to the world I love my bike. It’s a bit on the nervous side, but that’s mostly me still getting used to how reactive it is.
Location - Luxemburg City’s promenade along the Alzette river between the Hamm and Pulvermühl neighbourhoods.
PS: Yes, I know my front light is supposed to point down :P Yes, the stem is high, Comfort > Aero. I have the original stem for when I get used to riding lower and I stop kneeing my belly. xD
Seems to me we’re just gonna transfer the car problem to boats. People worried about all those sports boats mowing over us poor kayakers and row boaters, and even worse, disregarding paddle boarders crossing at designated points, but it’s our fault because they have big boats that can’t stop, forcing us to row down small canals or risk being stranded on a narrow river arm with a hole in our hull and no flex tape to at least get to a repair shop. But maybe we’ll start getting protected rowing lanes and not just a line of buoys that tell us where to be.
But I do like the idea of the Venetian solution from another comment. Build bridges low enough to block boats from coming through but high enough to let rowers and paddlers through. And if we need a place to pass on foot on busy places, we can always build drawbridges, but those would get pushback due to the danger they’d cause distracted boat drivers.
The future is wet, but not so different.