Just bought a bike!

1) & 2) You want to try and maintain a straight a line on your chain as you can.
So, big ring on the front (highest front gear) should be used with the smaller sprockets on the back (highest gears.) If you have a triple on the front, lowest gear (smallest ring) is for climbing steep hills or for a really ferocious headwind, and would be used with the largest ring on the back inwards, plus a few up. The middle ring is "general," i.e gives you the broadest range of gears on the back (you can use most but I avoid the two extremes) and the largest ring would be used with the smallest cogs on the back for straights, downhills and tail winds.
You can use highest on the front with lowest on the back, but it's pulling your chain at the sharpest angle, you'll probably notice the noise and it causes rapid wear on the gear teeth and chain.
It sounds far more complicated than it actually is! There's probably a diagram you can Google that will make more sense than I did.

3) I'd go for what feels comfortable. You don't want too much weight on your wrists, although racing bikes will have a seat position higher than the bars to make you more aerodynamic. (sorry, no idea what bike you have, I don't think we get those in the UK) Again, plenty of advice on Google for getting your saddle at the right height, some of them a bit complex. But, very basically, you want your saddle as high as you can get it without rocking your hips. The more you can extend your leg, the more power you'll get, and the less strain you put on just your quads.

4) Ha! It does take a little while... The correct saddle position helps the most, as well as getting your gears right so that your cadence is higher (try to spin the peddles at 60 revs/min or higher) That will put more fuelling demand on your cardio system, rather than relying on leg muscle which has a very finite amount of energy to give. It does take a little while to build up the muscle, and obviously everyone's different, but you should see improvements in 2-4 weeks.
As you'll be riding competitively though, you'll probably find it takes some Months to really build your legs as you'll constantly be pushing to improve your times.
Interval training is fantastic for that, you can do very disciplined intervals on a turbo trainer, or very flat, quiet roads. Or if you're not as serious about it, make a concious effort when out riding around to try and sprint to the lights before they change before backing off for a couple of minutes to get your breath back.

Good luck!

I have a cheapo mint green beach cruiser from Wal-mart! Bought it a few weeks ago and I've been riding the crap out of it! I usually do 10 miles a day, 5-6 days a week, average 10-12 mph. It is as far away from competitive riding as can be but I have a lot of fun and burn about 500 calories a pop! I just like to meander around town checking out people's gardens, porches full of junk, pets, etc. And riding up to the nanobrewery up the street...that is my plan for tomorrow!

Thanks for the info. I'm starting to look at road bikes, my dh cycles & just did a week of 375 miles to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. I currently have a mountain bike & of course we have hills in & out of our neighborhood. I'm still learning the whole gears thing.

joehempel wrote: »

Great article!!

I guess I'm confused about the higher/lower gear....for my bike, 7 is the harder to pedal for hills and 1 is the easiest....unless I'm just reading it wrong. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon and not screw it up.

My bike doesn't even show 1-3 on the Front, it's just a + and -, so two options, but I have three wheels.

Lol, I have the same bike, though I bought mine used for $50.

Your shifter only has +- on it because it isn't indexed(no set positions). You have to feel out the front shift because you may want to adjust it so that it doesn't make noise depending on what gear you're using in the back.

Also make sure you get your fit right. It'll help with the pain and you may be able to go faster too. Just search for GCN(Global cycling network) on youtube. They have every video you'll need.

https://www.youtube.com/user/globalcyclingnetwork

Where I live I checked 2 fitting options, one is about 10$ other, 100$. So it may depend a lot on the store, or fitting method they use (expensive one means measurements with cameras, lasers, computer, takes an hour or two - it's for more advanced cyclists I guess).

Welcome to cycling, I started 7 years ago, just going to work and back (a distance of about 5-6 km one way). For 3 months I had sore muscles continuously, that was because a) I was 30kg overweight and b) I never did any sports in my life before.
My first trip ever, after buying the bike, was 27km long and by the time I got there my butt really hurt. Then I had to come home as well. I bought a cheap, but more padded / wider seat and used it for a few months until I realized at that time the old, more sporty seat became more comfortable... so it's always a LOT about getting used to it and a little less about the seat itself.

Just so you know what may be ahead, I used a cheaper, quite noname MTB (straight handlebar) for years then last year I upgraded to a Specialized road bike (Specialized Diverge actually) and I'm loving it.

Cycling is great, I use it to go wherever I can - work, smaller errands etc. I hope your experience will be as positive as mine. Don't do too much too fast! other than that, you'll probably come to really like it. I never met anyone that used to cycle and decided it sucks and dropped it.

ps. I was always afraid down hills as well, lol, last week I broke my speed record at 54 km/h on a not-so-good quality road, guess I trust my new bike more

joehempel wrote: »

Will definitely be taking this in for a fit at some point. I don't really mind putting money into it because as long as the parts are replaceable I can go ahead (even though the frame is a bit heavier) and make it a more expensive bike for a little less money (at least that's the idea, I could be very wrong).

Fit's are generally low cost?

You can do it yourself for free.

joehempel wrote: »

Will definitely be taking this in for a fit at some point. I don't really mind putting money into it because as long as the parts are replaceable I can go ahead (even though the frame is a bit heavier) and make it a more expensive bike for a little less money (at least that's the idea, I could be very wrong).

Fit's are generally low cost?

Cheap bikes are great to find out if you enjoy cycling but don't waste your money upgrading it. It will have been built to meet a price point so welds will be weak and the structural integrity poor. Additionally, it will be hugely expensive to replace cheap components with better ones and will actually work out cheaper to buy a better spec bike.
If you take to cycling you could either sell this bike when you buy a more expensive model, or keep hold of it for turbo trainer or roller work (either of which are tough on the tyres and cycles)

Best thing I ever did was hit You Tube. Search for Global Cycle Network and watch their 'how to' videos for all hints & tips.