The biking thread

[MadMike'86]

His first bike's a Spesh?!

Awesome.

Oh, and BTW, were not fat, we are stocky

 

[Neal]

His first bike's a Spesh?!

Awesome.

Cool innit There's no way I'd waste my money on a supermarket bought "bike shaped object" that weighs more than my full size bike. He's also got a ridiculously awesome helmet...basically I'm living out my still cool fantasy through him while I do the decent thing and dress in black.

See lid

Oh, and BTW, were not fat, we are stocky

According to my BMI I've always been fat, even when I looked like I'd been on holiday to a POW camp!

 

[MadMike'86]

Freaking awesome.

 

[boiltheocean]

Super awesome first bike! 👍

I'll get back up to speed, I just need to get out more often. At the moment I'm lucky if I fit a ride in once a month which is shocking considering this time last year I was usually going riding once a week and that only kept my fitness at a consistent level.

 

[Aldo]

Aldo, get a superawesome Hong Kong wonderlight so you can blind the bejezzers out of anyone who cuts you up even in broad daylight 👍

I was happy watching his wife berate him tbh... Awesome bike as well! He'll be over the moon with that! 👍

According to my BMI I've always been fat, even when I looked like I'd been on holiday to a POW camp!

BMI doesn't count for athletes like you mate. Doesn't take into account muscle mass. See, I do learn useful excuses things at uni!

 

[Neal]

Super awesome first bike! 👍

Awesome bike as well! He'll be over the moon with that! 👍

and

I'll get back up to speed, I just need to get out more often. At the moment I'm lucky if I fit a ride in once a month which is shocking considering this time last year I was usually going riding once a week and that only kept my fitness at a consistent level.

I'm actually quite surprised how much of a difference my twice weekly 16km inc 90m elevation rides are making, I know I need to increase the distance to start making bigger gains again but as each lap only takes about 13 minutes it's easy enough to do. Shame it's all on road but until I move house that's the best I've got.

BMI doesn't count for athletes like you mate. Doesn't take into account muscle mass. See, I do learn useful excuses things at uni!

 

[Aldo]

👍

 

[W3H5]

I'll get back up to speed, I just need to get out more often. At the moment I'm lucky if I fit a ride in once a month which is shocking considering this time last year I was usually going riding once a week and that only kept my fitness at a consistent level.

I always feel like that after not riding for a while. Getting back into the swing of things takes time. Not cycling for a week is enough to allow fitness levels to drop off! They're easily regained though just by putting in the time and effort.

This weekend on fleabay I have bought my eldest son his first proper bike for his 4th birthday in December

Nice set of wheels for the lad. I don't remember my first bike being anywhere as nice as that. In fact I think my father just bought a stolen BMX from the chav neighbours for £40!

 

[Machate-man]

Is it a bad thing to be able to lock the front tyre and still travel forwards?

 

[W3H5]

Is it a bad thing to be able to lock the front tyre and still travel forwards?

Not really, that would be a 'skid'.

 

[raz_10]

Last week I bought a bike, wanting to start riding to work and get an extra workout going, I also think it will take my mind off "other issues" (if you have read the infield you know what I'm talking about.) Today I went out with my friend for a ride and test out my bike. and we did a short 6 mile ride, and got to enjoy the view and the Blue Angels which were in town.
Not my image but is the same bike Scwhinn Clear Creek

Tomorrow is going to be my first ride to work

 

[Sier_Pinski]

I've been a pretty avid biker all my life. I think of it as my sort of 'answer' to my desire to drive a race car in public. After some training and occasional trips as a child, I began to lose interest.

Much later, I regained interest in biking after playing Formula 1 Championship Edition for PS3, starting off by buying a mountain bike--my first one that included paddle shifters. I put about 600 miles on it, mainly by biking around my neighborhood, exploring new areas, and occasionally satisfying my (stupid) curiosity about the local pesticide truck.

Then I got a Scwhinn Prelude, and while I don't know how many miles I put on that bike, I know that it may have been just as much as the last one, as I began to explore areas much further beyond my house (10 miles away), mainly to find some decent railfanning spots. The Prelude eventually suffered from a defective rear wheel which caused countless rear tire blowouts, forcing me to buy a new road bike.

My third (and current) bike is a Raleigh Sport. It is the highest-performing bike I have now, combining the quick shifting of the mountain bike with the thin tires and handlebar of the Prelude. I have put well over 1000 miles on the bike so far, since I am now using it for transportation in my university. Last week, I have also completed what I called a "Calorie One" session, where I biked 30 miles straight (1000 calories) in 2 hours and 41 minutes around my neighborhood sidewalk turned imaginary racetrack.

 

[W3H5]

Last week, I have also completed what I called a "Calorie One" session, where I biked 30 miles straight (1000 calories) in 2 hours and 41 minutes around my neighborhood sidewalk turned imaginary racetrack.

That's quite a good time for the distance.

When you say side walk, do you really mean to say that you ride on the path? Isn't that a bit dangerous?

 

[MadMike'86]

Is it a bad thing to be able to lock the front tyre and still travel forwards?

Depends if your tyre is bold?
If not then it probably isn't a very good tyre, unless it only does that in thick mud ect?

 

[Neal]

Nice set of wheels for the lad. I don't remember my first bike being anywhere as nice as that. In fact I think my father just bought a stolen BMX from the chav neighbours for £40!

Ta 👍

My first bike was a Raleigh Budgie which snapped in half when I was riding round the back garden, I wouldn't have minded if I'd been jumping off the garage roof but it happened on flat ground and the front of the bike just came away!

For nostalgia...

Last week I bought a bike, wanting to start riding to work and get an extra workout going, I also think it will take my mind off "other issues" (if you have read the infield you know what I'm talking about.) Today I went out with my friend for a ride and test out my bike. and we did a short 6 mile ride, and got to enjoy the view and the Blue Angels which were in town.
Not my image but is the same bike Scwhinn Clear Creek

Tomorrow is going to be my first ride to work

Nice one Raz 👍 Expect to be a sweaty mess when you get to work

 

[W3H5]

Last week I bought a bike, wanting to start riding to work and get an extra workout going

Ah, on that subject......

Does your office have a shower? If not prepare to have some wet-wipes in your draw to have a tramp wash with and a can of deo.

Also, rather than carrying you stuff to work in a bag it's easier to just leave it at your desk/ locker. That's what I do anyhow.

 

[raz_10]

Ah, on that subject......

Does your office have a shower? If not prepare to have some wet-wipes in your draw to have a tramp wash with and a can of deo.

Also, rather than carrying you stuff to work in a bag it's easier to just leave it at your desk/ locker. That's what I do anyhow.

Yes we do have showers, otherwise I don't think I would do it Yes I an getting those travel size to keep them under my desk.

Ta 👍


Nice one Raz 👍 Expect to be a sweaty mess when you get to work

Well I woke up today and it's raining. I chickened out!
The rest of the week I have to travel so will put the ride on hold at least for this week.
I also wanted to repaint the bike, wonder if I should start taking it apart now or wait to when it really starts raining every day. 💡
It is really foggy and nasty where I work so not sure if it will make a difference if I wait. I really got my mind set so might as well start now.

 

[W3H5]

Well I woke up today and it's raining. I chickened out!

I rarely ride to work in the rain, unless it's light showers for which times I have a light weight plastic poncho in my little waist pack (fanny pack )

 

[chuyler1]

I just got back from a mtb ride. It's indian summer in new england, 80 degrees but it was still a very wet ride. I tried to follow some access roads under power lines to my local conservation area. Most of the road was bone dry but then I'd come across 1' deep pools of water with no way around (swamp and tall grass on either side). I was able to ride through a few but I caught something under the water on a big 30' long pool and needless to say, my feet were wet for the remainder of the ride. Once I got to the conservation area the trails were still pretty muddy despite having dry weather over the weekend. By the time I made it home I had to hose off before walking in the house.

 

[MadMike'86]

^ That's a good ride then!

With MTB no dirt = no fun 👍

 

[chuyler1]

Yeah. One of my longer rides since I picked up the bike. I was gone for about 1hr 20 minutes...although I did ride on the street the last bit as a cool down. Which wasn't much of a cool down since there is a huge hill. I estimate about 8.5 miles but that's just a guess based on the map I have, combined with mapmyrun.com for the parts not on the map.

I've been slowly building up my endurance. That combined with knowing which trails I can ride without stopping has gotten me from doing 30 minute rides to over an hour. That's about all the time I have during the week (I use my lunch break when I'm working from home).

I've been trying to get my wife into it as well, but its a slow process. She used to ride horses and she has no issues on a road bike...but despite her claims of having good balance, she isn't able to maneuver the bike through technical terrain at slow speeds without toppling over. Last time out I had her stay on the fire roads and basically told her to stay in one gear the entire time. Simplifying things helped immensely. We worked one section of a fire road several times and each time she lost momentum I pointed out what happened and how she could avoid it. I had her alternate between avoiding every rock in her path and trying to roll over every rock so she'd figure out which ones were easy to get over and which ones should be avoided at all cost. Each time out I've had her try some single track, but no matter how easy I think it is, she can't handle it. She'll go for a little bit and then get stumped on something and stop...then she can't get moving again. Hopefully a few more lessons on the double track will help her build confidence and speed so she can maintain momentum on the single track.

 

[boiltheocean]

Try link it in with horse riding, I always find beginners sat down on singletrack as if it were flat, they are flung all over the place! Tell her to stand up slightly and let the bike rise and fall below her central position, much like you allow the horse to move independently from yourself. It's so important that the bike rotates around the rider and not the other way around offroad.

 

[chuyler1]

Thats great advice...and we've talked about centering her body over the pedals (forward for uphill and backward for downhill). However i think she just needs to get used to powering over obstacles and maintaining a decent pace. When to pedal and when to coast is something she hasnt quite grasped yet, so when it gets technical she stops pedaling completely and her balance goes out the window as soon as she encounters something that is rough enough to stop the bike in its tracks.

 

[alpacaflip]

*Note I'm not the best rider due to I just started downhill back in May*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpLN6P-DXKk
Cheesey video I did for fun lol.

 

[chuyler1]

This may sound like a silly question, but do you see riders with hardtails at free ride parks? There is one about an hour from me that I'd like to check out...but I'm not going to spend big money on a bike just for the occasional trip there. My hardtail has 4" of travel.

 

[MadMike'86]

Yes, you do see them.....crash....alot

Downhill you just can't keep the pace, when your rear wheel is suspended it absorbs big dips, jumps, rocks ect, on a hardtail you are bounced around everywhere, and landing jumps is a spine rattling affair, that trust me, hurts!

And can be done, but in short you would have alot more fun fully suspended, and alot less crashes lol

 

[chuyler1]

That's what I was thinking...thanks for confirming. I think they have rentals so I could always rent a bike for the day. I do plan on eventually getting a full suspension bike...but since most of my riding is XC, it still wouldn't have the amount of travel required for DH/freeride.

 

[Neal]

*Note I'm not the best rider due to I just started downhill back in May*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpLN6P-DXKk
Cheesey video I did for fun lol.

Looks like you're having fun to me which is what it's all about and IMO that is pretty decent riding 👍

This may sound like a silly question, but do you see riders with hardtails at free ride parks? There is one about an hour from me that I'd like to check out...but I'm not going to spend big money on a bike just for the occasional trip there. My hardtail has 4" of travel.

Dirt jump bikes are mostly hardtails and they jump pretty big but the below video shows you can do reasonably nuts stuff on a hardtail trail bike. You can't rely on many bikes to completely deal with the landings so a lotof it is down to the rider so if you're hardtail is fairly tough you should be able to have a go at the free ride park...just make sure you get the landings right



Also if your other half is struggling to stay off the brakes and keep her speed up and your instructions aren't helping I'd encourage her to go on a women only beginners skills course. It can be easier to take on board what a qualified professional is telling you than someone you know plus it helps to be doing it with other people who are at the same level as you.

 

[chuyler1]

Yeah, there is a series of "Ride like a Girl" events that the local MTB association conducts. They start up in the spring so I'm going to force my wife to go to a few so she can get pointers from women her size. The events get progressively harder and the final event of the season is at a free ride park. Downhill stuff doesn't erk her as much as rough terrain and

As for free-ride. That's a great video and definitely motivates me to at least try it on my hardtail and just take things easy until I feel I've reached the limits of what I can do with it.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Silly question, but I'll chip it in anyway:

Is it adviseable to warm up before a ride? Like stretches...💡

Oh and Neil, those sponge grips haven't arrived from the US yet