Bicycle Fans - official thread for people who love riding th

johnwhitent

i'm missing my bike, i think cycling could actually be "my" exercise, as i have previously said i only dusted it down again a couple of weeks ago, but this is the second day i've not been on it and i'm itching to get out on it, i think i may abe able to justify a new bike if this carries on much longer!

Agree! Cycling was my intro to exercise, fitness, health, etc. For me to exercise I had to find something that I enjoyed. I actually started with mountain biking. As a guy it was like being a kid again. I got to go fast, get dirty, and play hard. Then I got into road biking to build aerobic capacity and endurance. But my goal was to have fun! Now I road bike, mountain bike, trail run, and lift weights. But it all started with something that I enjoyed - spending time on a bike. For me it was a life changer, but that was not even my goal. I just wanted an activity that I could enjoy. So glad you are enjoying it too.

ehte_h

I cycle 8 miles a day and I have re-caught the bug I had for it since I was a kid. I also started cycling to the gym !

whiskey9890

knocked another couple of minutes off the run into work avg speed was 11.8mph (10.6 on tuesday) amazing to see what a fresh pair of legs can do, looks like heart rate monitor may need to be invested in.

after discovering yesterday that my thighs are the same size as my 6'2" boyfriend should i be worried about them getting bigger or will they burn some of the flab first? i will be doing some other aerobic exercise starting on the 1st as well as cycling.

jmohos

I started using myfitnesspal right after Valentines day this year. My doc told me to loose weight and get my cholesterol down. At first I went for an hour walk every night after helping to put the kids in to bed. In March I decided to get my old Trek 820 mountain bike out of storage and give it a tune up. New tires, adjust the breaks, replace the bearings and chains (got rusty from sitting in the backyard for 15 years) got it running smooth. I then decided to start riding every night for 1 hour. Initially I only covered about 8 miles a night around my city but then I got better and better. After a solid month I was averaging 13mph and I had found some great routes with few cars and lights. So far, with dieting and riding, I have lost about 26 pounds and my thighs are all muscle.

I now look for more challenges to keep the rides interesting. I use a great app for my iPhone called cyclemeter. I can look up routes others have put into mapmyride.com and import them into cyclemeter. I can record my route and then race myself the next night to see if I can do it faster.

By biking I have found some real gems in my own neighborhood. Parks and shops I never knew existed. I ride regularly through Griffith Park (a major park near my home with the famous Griffith Observatory on top of it) and around Universal Studios. I have discovered some peaceful bike trails along the LA river.

What I love to do now is get stuff to make the ride more enjoyable like a 250 lumen rechargeable bike light, a heart rate monitor, a comfortable seat, good gloves and a good helmet. Once I start riding you can see a great big smile appear on my face. For those that don't think biking is a good cardio workout I suggest they found a route with some challenging hills. I start out with a flat first 15 minutes to get warmed up. By then I am near the hills and I follow a route to get my heart rate into the cardio range and then I start cycling between uphill and level. After 30 minutes I enjoy a bit of downhill and its another 15 minutes of flat to home.

Windi38

I did 20.5 miles on my Specialized Rock Hopper yesterday! Longest ride I've done so far. Have to laugh because last year I was happy to do 8 or 9 miles, and when I started this year I started at that and quickly got up to 12 miles last month. And now I'm up to 20 miles!

of course, I'm starting to understand why people say those dirt bikes aren't made for long distance bike trail riding! LOL I've got 'road tires' on the bike, but they are still fat, and I've replaced the bar to give me a little bit more of a 'hybrid' feel, but I'm starting to think maybe I'm going to have to upgrade to a more road-like hybrid.

One good thing is that the Rock Hopper is aluminum, so it's not heavy at all.

Still, i'm thinking I maybe should have snatched up that $30 Giant Cypress DX at the yard sale when I had a chance! ( I called her this evening and it had sold. Naturally. shoulda woulda coulda! haha

Anyway, my original goal was 30 miles at a time by the end of the season but I'm thinking I might have to up that if I'm already doing 20!

Question: any advice on a good hybrid? I don't like the feel of road bikes, with the handlebars so low and all that, but I also don't care for the too upright position of the cruiser.

I'm 5'2" with pretty short legs. I'm figuring a 15" bike would work. I ride on a bike trail with a couple of fairly steep hills, and lots of little up and down ones.


Any suggestions? I've found all our bikes (except mine, which is a mid 90s that my husband bought new that was supposed to have been fitted for him but actually fits me--he's 5'9" with long legs, go figure!!!) on craigslist, I live in Kansas City and it's FULL of bicyclists so I know I can find pretty much anything. There are always a ton of good quality bikes for sale around here, I just don't know WHICH type to look for!!!

Windi38

oh also, I'm riding at about 12.5 mph and can't see how I can go faster with my dirt bike. I don't know a thing about the gears but I'm trying to learn about them, and I'm thinking maybe a hybrid would have better gears?

cloggsy71

I'm thinking maybe a hybrid would have better gears?

Its not the gears really, its more your choice of tyres. If you're riding on the road, then you need smooth tyres (that can be pumped up to a higher pressure.) A hybrid would be better as they have thinner tyres; better still would be a road-race bike...

whiskey9890

oh also, I'm riding at about 12.5 mph and can't see how I can go faster with my dirt bike. I don't know a thing about the gears but I'm trying to learn about them, and I'm thinking maybe a hybrid would have better gears?

i'm having the same problem, i'm living in my top 6 gears and although the top three are sometimes hardwork the other three i feel like i'm peddling in thin air, my bike is about 16 years old at least, its what used to be classed as a mountain bike but its nowt like what you buy these days, no suspension either, i ride on roads with it but occaisionally use it in the forest, so have got a deep tread but with a smoother tread pattern (more lines than bumps) with tyre pressure of about 60-65 psi, i'm worried that my last few gears will get too easy for me soon but i can't get much more speed out of it avg is about 11.5 steady peddling (have only been back on the bike a couple of weeks)

i'm at a loss when it comes to upgrading the bike as the roads round where i live are shocking, i know we have a lot of road bike clubs round here but i don't know how they can stand it, the surfaces are just as bad as the dirt track in the forest in places and don't get me started about the potholes. i'm a complete newbie when it comes to bike terminology which scares me as i'm bound to get blinded by it all if i go into a shop lol

janesmith1

Dunno if this helps anyone with their bike tires but mine are a bit fat, with smooth in the middle and knobby on the sides. Worked great when we were off roaded a bit in the park last week. I really want to get to the park, maybe tomorrow

stangma

Love to bike the Cuyahoga Valley National Park - great trails. Just gotta watch out for the walkers.:noway:

Windi38

Dunno if this helps anyone with their bike tires but mine are a bit fat, with smooth in the middle and knobby on the sides. Worked great when we were off roaded a bit in the park last week. I really want to get to the park, maybe tomorrow

that's what my tires look like. They are definitely much better than the ones we had on when we moved here, my husband bought these because of the bike trail and the fact that we are now never on dirt. The most we go on is a 1 miles section that is packed gravel, but can get pretty bumpy in places.

BryanAir

Dunno if this helps anyone with their bike tires but mine are a bit fat, with smooth in the middle and knobby on the sides. Worked great when we were off roaded a bit in the park last week. I really want to get to the park, maybe tomorrow

I was looking at getting some of those when I get my mountain bike up and running again. I have to replace the break/shifter combo unit. I haven't been in much of a hurry since I've been riding my bent.

janesmith1

I have to say that those tires (tyres for UK'ers) - the smooth in the middle with nobbies on the sides were the "#1 most requested tires" at the bike shop. My bike came with them. I absolutely adore them.

cloggsy71

Its the 'fat tires' (tyres) which cause more friction because you have a larger contact patch on the road.

i.e. a 'normal' mountain bike tyre is 26" x 1 3/4" and inflates to approx 35psi. This tyre has a huge contact patch; ideal for off road purposes, but useless on the tarmac really, as you are kinda cycling through treacle. A 'commuter bike' would have 700 x 35 tyres which inflate to around 60psi. these tyres have a much smaller contact patch with the road, thus less friction, which allows you to progress on at a much better pace. Hybrid bikes on the whole have 700 x 28 or 25 tyres fitted to them which have a maximum psi rating of 120psi. These tyres have little on no deflection by the road and have a really low friction patch on the road. These tyres allow you to zip along! Drop handlebar race bikes have 700 x 23 tyres fitted to them (on the whole,) and are normally rated at up to 120psi (but can be as high as 160 psi!) These tyres have an even smaller contact patch on the road, thus less friction still and you can really fly along!

My commute (on my race bike,) is 12.8 miles. I do this journey in 45 minutes at an average of 17mph! I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks now, so this will get better as my fitness improves... I rode over 75 miles last week on my journey to and from work :happy:

bbear690

i am going bike shopping today with my hubby, he has already chose a lovely CUBE bike but i am going for one a little less expensive, his is £550 but i am trying to get one for under £300 if i can

very excited, i am going to use to to get to work and back and also do woodland trails so gonig to get a hybrid bike

rgoodearl

Major bike lover here !!! I try to ride several time per week. I ride a Trek 8500 with road tires.

cloggsy71

CUBE's are nice bikes!

Let us know what you decide to buy too!

andyj1984

Whatever you do, avoid Halford's bikes! For £300 you could get an entry-level Giant bike, or another entry-level bike from a good bike manufacturer. I like the look of the CUBE bikes as well!

cloggsy71

Whatever you do, avoid Halford's bikes!

I wouldn't agree with you there... I got my Boardman Team Carbon from Halfords & its an awesome bike for the money! I wouldn't touch their 'Apollo' range or anything like that, but their Carrera range has some good bikes in it...

My missus rides a Boardman Hybrid fi too...

andyj1984

Whatever you do, avoid Halford's bikes!

I wouldn't agree with you there... I got my Boardman Team Carbon from Halfords & its an awesome bike for the money! I wouldn't touch their 'Apollo' range or anything like that, but their Carrera range has some good bikes in it...

My missus rides a Boardman Hybrid fi too...

I meant their cheapy sub £150 bikes... I'm sure they do more expensive bikes, which are probably better. Should have been more clear

andyj1984

Ooops double post!

cloggsy71

This is my bike...

andyj1984

That's a sweet ride! But its not sold exclusively by Halfords is it? That's a "proper bike" which just happens to be sold by Halfords. I was more referring to things like the "shockwave", which is a bike I used to own a while ago (before it fell apart on me, rusted all over, paint work fell off, and generally destroyed itself!). Though if you are on a tight budget I guess any bike is better than no bike. One of the guys I work with bought a bike for £15, stuck some new tyres on it, and uses it every day to commute!

Bailey73r

I'm with you, lovin my cycling at the minute, last three days up at 06.00, and cycling around the countryside near to my home, mileage varies from 15 to 30 miles!!!! Looking forward to next weekend!!!!

cloggsy71

Yes, Boardman's are sold exclusively by Halfords.... Unless you are looking at Boardman's real top end stuff (i.e. £5,000 bikes!)

You are quite right; Halfords do have a bad rep, but there are some nice bikes there... I don't think I'll be taking my bike there for servicing and repair though :laugh:

Evans Cycles is also worth a look, as is the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op...

You can't go far wrong with a Local Bike Shop (LBS) but be warned, there are bad LBS's too!

If money is tight, then eBay/local ads etc. can be your friend; a lad I know got an £1,800 Felt Full Suspension Mountain bike off of eBay for £400 - absolutely mint!

You do get what you pay for, so choose wisely

NiallWallace

I *really* enjoyed cruising past people on their more expensive road bikes. I don't think they much liked being beat by a mountain bike out on the road.

You may wish to investigate the "Silly Commuter Racing" and the Food Chain Number.
http://www.itsnotarace.org/

Winter Commuting FCN: 10
Summer Commuting FCN: 4
Mountain Bike FCN (as if I'm riding it on the road): 10

Here's my route from yesterday,
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/233558

Seem to be doing 25ks everywhere now, used to expect around 19 only lost 8 kilo so far so think it's more due to the winter cycling on a tourer keeping fitness up.

cloggsy71

Here's my route from yesterday,
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/233558

Nice ride... That's a hell of a trip (looking at the climb towards the end!)

NiallWallace

Aye, was dreading that hill, I've been down it before but never up but knew how long and steep it was from that.
Lugging less dead weight around can only help on climbs though :-)

Sad thing was, I believed it would be around 100km, and when I was 4 short I kept going through the village for 2km just to make sure it was over the 100. Nearly dropped the bike on some marbles where I turned :-$

andyj1984

Aye, was dreading that hill, I've been down it before but never up but knew how long and steep it was from that.
Lugging less dead weight around can only help on climbs though :-)

Sad thing was, I believed it would be around 100km, and when I was 4 short I kept going through the village for 2km just to make sure it was over the 100. Nearly dropped the bike on some marbles where I turned :-$

Looks like a great ride, did you do it all in one go, or stop and have lunch along the way? The furthest I've been is one go is about 25 miles, so I've got quite a way to go until I can cover that distance! I would love the tackle the Ouse Valley Way (google it), over a long weekend. It runs right through my town, I cycle part of the route regularly.

NiallWallace

Stopped for a sandwich and sweets at Crail, a couple of rest stops after that just before Largoward and at Dairsie Bridge because I was gubbed, although my longest ride on that bike (road bike) so far this year had been just short of 70km, I did a 110km route on Islay on my Tourer over a whole day.

For Road cyckes don't tend to leave with anything more than 2 bottles in the cages (750ml) with Robinson's Special R and a few quid in cash, anything I need is picked up from shops on route.

40km is decent enough, just keep doing it and then start pushing it out further. I've got a standard 28km loop with 2 short cut options (shortest I've never used and 2nd shortest I've used twice but had intended on doing so when I set off) but I can also extend it out to go over Cuplas/Lucklaw or out to St Andrews and 5 or 6 different options back from there.