Bike Riding Virgin

Rogersmomof4

Hi everybody,
I started my weight loss journey about 11 months ago. I have lost 50.8lbs since then but still have about 33 more lbs to go to be at my "dream weight". I have been running and I think that has helped me lose my weight (and of course diet). I have totally turned my diet around and love it...my kids on the other hand...not so much. But it's ok. They are very proud of me.
Ok, so I think I am getting bored with running. So I thought about maybe start riding a bike. Does anybody else ride for weight loss? What kind of bike would you recommend for somebody like me that doesn't want to spend a lot of $$ for a beginner bike. Where should I go to get one? What KIND of bike should I get? ANY help would be greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to hearing for you all.
Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

NorthCascades

What type of bike you want depends where you plan to ride it. On the streets - get a road bike. Hiking trails - mountain bike.

Bikes depreciate like cars but hold up better, so used bikes are a great value. If you have a friend who knows about this stuff use Craigslist, of not go to a shop that deals in used bikes so you'll get some assurance and warranty.

The most important thing is that it fits you.

A lot of cyclists used to be runners, and do just fine on the bike.

MeanderingMammal

Cycling and running are very complementary to one another, with the the differing emphasis on muscle usage helping to mitigate overuse injuries. With cycling being much lower impact, unless something goes wrong, it has much less benefit in terms of osteoporosis risk.

As above, the best type of bike depends on what type of riding you're intending on doing. Whilst my primary sport is long distance running I have five different bikes each for a different purpose.

• Road bike - Quite aggressive positioning but fast and comfortable for long distances, but only for roads, and even then only a subset as it's very uncomfortable on poorly maintained surfaces
• Hardtail mountain bike - Offroad; mud, forestry etc. Very hard work onroad due to the gearing and the nature of the tyres - This one is quite old now
• Cyclocross bike - Similar styling to a road bike but suitable for some offroad use, a bit of an all rounder. Not as fast or efficient as the road bike, but a more relaxed ride and it has space for panniers so suitable for touring.
• Turbo - An older road bike that I dedicate to my turbo trainer,
• Brompton - A folding bike with smaller wheels that I use for multi-mode commuting. Probably not what you're after as a fitness bike

As well as the bike bear in mind that there are some accessories that you'll need to budget for:

• Essentials - Helmet, glasses, gloves
• Non-essential but helpful for comfort - Bib shorts/ bib-tights/ bib-capris depending on climate considerations
• Non-essential but useful for technique and efficiency - clipless pedals and compatible shoes

canadianlbs

i bought my first bike about 15 years ago, out of fury because rheumatoid arthritis made walking and standing a pain in the . . . feet. i did ride a lot when i was a kid, but it was the first bike i'd ever been on as a grownup. so my thoughts:

- it's more of a drip-feed kind of way to lose weight unless you change other things in your life. otoh, i just started bike commuting without the changes, and one of my son's baseball coaches embarrassed himself to death when the new season started by involuntarily calling me 'hot' like something completely unexpected had happened during the year so i guess . . . idk.

- personally, riding a road bike would have been beyond me at first, and i still feel uncomfortable with the steeper angle and those dropped handlebars. i don't think i'll ever be as safe as i should be with that kind of geometry. i ended up in the 'hybrid' niche once i'd ridden enough to know what i preferred. i have a louis garneau urbania and i'm on my third or fourth jamis coda, if the specific brands interest you. these would have been good starter bikes for me too, but after doing the huge shop a couple of times i think that is very much a matter of personal preference.

- i'm not a fan of cheap bikes. at all. on the other hand, my first two or three bikes were bought almost blind and two of them were from sportchek and cost about 125 (one got stolen, and i got mad and stubborn and went and bought another one on the same day). dropping a lot of money before you've had time to work out your preferences isn't a great thing either. i guess my suggestion is that you learn the most about what works for you when you learn the hard way. and in those terms, cheap forms of 'the hard way' are better than expensive ones. visiting a couple of real bike shops can help to jump-start the process though. my first shopping trip was a nightmare as i didn't even know the terms or the concepts that i was groping for, but it did totally eliminate a few ends of the spectrum for me. no armstrong-wannabe road bikes for me, and none of those upright dutch-grandmother tank things either. and gears. me and my joints need a huge number of gears.

- on riding in general: terror is understandable when you start out. road sense comes with experience, so don't let fear stop you. but maybe stay within the limits of where you feel safe to start with. experience itself tends to widen those lines organically. big things that help: stay visible, get familiar with the road rules etc where you live, and helmet helmet helmet.

Rogersmomof4

Thank you so much for your input. I will start looking around and see what I can find.

__TMac__

Everyone in my family rides a hybrid style. You can ride on roads and paths, but I wouldn't recommend technical trails. They're comfortable and can accommodate various racks and baskets if you're interested in running errands. Here's mine in its new winter home -- on the enclosed porch on a trainer set-up.

Jax67

I would recommend a Hybrid bike too, i have 2 .. a Trek and a Scott. The Trek is a sturdier bike, a more comfortable ride, but, the Scott has better gearing for going up those damn hills
I would also recommend a decent pair of padded bottoms, be it a pair of under shorts or a cycle specific legging. A helmet, gloves and glasses are a given.
Happy cycling

unrelentingminx

I've just taken up cycling again to complement my running too. I got a Pendleton Brooke hybrid bike which was under £200. I have tested it on both roads and light trails, up and down hills, and it managed it all fine. Longest ride so far was only 15 km so can't comment on how comfortable it'll be on long jaunts but it was fine on the shorter stuff.

unrelentingminx

Oh and expect some saddle soreness your first few times out. Your body will get used to it eventually.

cwolfman13

When I first started riding, I dusted off my old hybrid that I used to use in college to commute with as I didn't have a car. My biggest issue was with it was that the more I got into it, the more I really wanted to start doing cycling events and whatnot and the hybrid was just too heavy and clunky for me to really do anything, or at least to do anything very efficiently.

My first bike purchase was a cyclocross bike...I bought it because I wanted more performance, but I also wanted versatility as I live in a semi rural area with a lot of dirt singletracks, etc. I also liked that it has places where I can attach racks and saddle bags for commuting. I still use it a lot when I'm wanting to go ride around in the dirt and I use it for trailering my kiddos and for the occasional work commute, but ultimately I upgraded to a carbon road bike as I was mostly riding road and doing endurance events.

Road bikes can vary from pure racers (pretty uncomfortable) to endurance specific, which is what I have. My positioning isn't quite as aggressive as a true racer and it is designed to be more comfortable on less than optimal road surfaces and to be more comfortable on long rides because I'm a bit more upright. I could slam the head tube if I so desired, but as of yet I haven't had any reason to do that.

canadianlbs

two things to keep an eye on are frame length - it's usually given as a single number so when people say "18-inch frame" that's what they're talking about. too 'long' for you can become uncomfortable because you have to stretch to reach the handlebars. that makes your t/l zone in particular vulnerable to irritation in the long term. i don't know your dimensions but at 5:3ish i probably shouldn't have bought my first coda 19.5. 17 is more copacetic for me.

other thing is 'standover'. it's not the be-all and end-all, and it's getting much less relevant than it used to be now that things aren't as rigidly divided into Girl and Boy bikes. but fwiw, it's all about whether you can comfortably stand 'over' the bike without getting too intimate with the top tube. i've slipped off the pedals once or twice so i'm here to tell you that hitting that thing with your bits is a Very Big Deal, even if you're a girl.

MissMaggieMuffin

Great advice from @canadianlbs. Also second (or third, or ??) the recommendation of a hybrid. My go-to bike is actually a touring bike which, for me, is everything I'm looking for from a bike. Use it for work-commuting, weekend/evening errands, and some road riding.

I had to downsize from 4 bikes :-( and the touring bike was the one I chose to keep.

Feller58

....save the knees. From a former runner whose knees are gone and forced onto a bike, I should have transitioned in the bike years earlier.

mph323

I second paying attention to the length of the top tube. I'm 5'3" with a short upper body and for years rode in pain from stretching to reach the brakes. I finally broke down and bought a women's specific trek with a shorter top tube and slightly smaller wheels, and I can't tell you what a difference it's made. Have fun with it - when you get into the zone (whatever your zone is) it's utterly exhilarating

ladyreva78

@Rogersmomof4 Thanks for posting this! I'm planning on starting to bike again as well and it's exactly the kind of advice I've been needing.