Managed to find ebay bargain in the shape of a virtually unused Pinnacle Sentinel. 200 notes later and she was mine. I whacked some mudguards and a pannier rack on, and hey presto my commuter/hack/winter trainer/utility bike was born. Then in a moment of bike snobbery I covered over the Pinnacle logos with some Animal stickers to try and salvage some 'street cred'.
Mates ribbed me as to whether it came with a free pair of SPD sandals and brown flares, or if I might be making a career change to become a librarian. But between me and you I love her. She's already saved me a fortune in diesel with various commuting roles, and the other day to truly embrace the beardie, ale drinking, elbow patch wearing, map pinned to handlebar way of life I took her for a ride on the National Cycle Network. Turns out that if you don't mind the odd towpath and gravel track you can string together a fairly decent training route. And the 'Animal' did me proud, 93 miles and not so much as even a puncture.
Yes I may be getting old, and yes it's maybe not as cool as my carbon race bike or full susser MTB, but I'm telling you when you stop mid ride and pull sandwiches, sausage roll, and a flask of coffee out the old pannier bag your mates begin to stop laughing (or at least you don't notice them as much as you revel in your utilitarian comforts and consider what colour corduroy flares to buy next)......
Dave.
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