Discussion Board

What Type of Bike
If you walk into any bike shop the range is bewildering so it is easy to become confused. If one excludes BMX and various specialist bikes then there is essentially a spectrum with mountain bikes and road bikes at opposite ends and everything else somewhere in between.

Mountain Bikes
These were originally designed for off-road riding. They are normally stronger and heavier and with an upright riding posture. The weight and upright posture makes these bikes slow but the upright posture makes them more comfortable.

These bikes usually have some form of suspension either just the front fork or sometimes both front and rear. The advantage of having suspension is that the ride is more comfortable but the downside is that some of your riding effort will go into working the shock absorbers rather than moving you forward. The wider, lower-pressure knobbly tyres also increases the effort required. However, once again these increase rider comfort.

Road Bikes
These are designed for speed with rider comfort being at best a secondary consideration. They have drop handlebars, skinny high-pressure tyres and can only be ridden on a paved surface.

If you want to ride fast then a road bike is the way to go

Flat-Bar Road Bikes
These are essentially road bikes but without the drop handlebars. They are a good choice for riding quickly in an urban environment due to a more upright riding position which increases the rider’s field of view.

Hybrids
These are similar to mountain bikes but without the suspension and usually with wheels of same diameter as road bikes. Hybrid tyres are usually wider than those fitted to road bikes and so give a softer ride, combined with an upright riding posture these are an excellent choice for the recreational cyclist.

Before buying your bike think carefully about the type of riding you will be doing and then visit several local bike shops and discuss your various options. There also some excellent on-line bike reviews and there are also magazine articles. The aim is to buy a bike that is a pleasure to ride and is reliable.

I just yesterday got new tires on my bike. One new tube too. They look nicer and should be faster than my old tires.

I am having problems with my sciatic nerve since I moved a month ago. I'm hoping my Chiropractor will be able to fix it up. But once that feels better, I'm going to ride more. I can ride to the grocery store, the library, and a large natural butte nearby, so I have plenty of places to go.

My bike is a blue 96 Trek, which started out as a mountain bike. Since then though, I've changed the handlebars and now the tires twice.

Barbara

I used to have a Trek had to give it up though because of my sciatic nerve and my hands going numb. I have a Townie Electra now it's a cruiser bike. Not made for the speed the Trek does but my body can handle it.

Tyres

The first and obvious thing is that your tyres must be correctly inflated; on the sidewall of the tyre will be the manufacturers recommended pressure. Normally this is given as a range, on my mountain bike this is between 40 and 80 psi. The tyre will function adequately anywhere within that range but its performance may not be optimal for the conditions you are riding in.

The minimum pressure is for riding on soft surfaces (sand, mud etc) and the maximum for road use. On a soft surface you want the tyre to spread out more so it will get extra grip and not sink. On a hard surface you want the tyre to be hard so that rolling resistance is minimized.

The pressure in road bike tyres should be checked daily due to their higher operating pressure. Mountain bike and hybrid tyres, because they operate at a lower pressure can be checked less frequently but at least weekly.

When you wash you bike and good thing to do is to scrub the tyres with a scrubbing brush and then carefully check the tyre for any embedded glass. This will show-up as a white dot. Use a small sharp knife to flick it out of the tyre. If not removed these small pieces of glass can work their way through the tyre and cause a puncture.

On the choice of tyre choose a soft wide knobbly one for off-road riding but if you will be riding in an urban environment then a skinny tyre with very little tread will make the ride faster and easier. In an urban environment a tyre with a Kevlar belt will greatly reduce the frequency of punctures. Your LBS (local bike shop) will be able to advise what tyre is suitable for your local conditions.

Good advice Hamster,
I guess I should give my bike a bath! I went riding this morning ( I live in Va. Beach, Va), and it is already 90 degrees. No wonder I felt wrung out. My last couple of rides were 20 miles, so I decided to increase by 2 miles. I ended up going 22.4 miles, but is was grueling. I was ever so glad to make it back to my van. I don't understand how people can exercise in this heat (heat index for us today is supposed to be 115+), and here I am dragging at 90. What a difference 10 degrees makes. I'll be so glad when this heat gets back down to normal. Give me 50's, 60's and 70's anyday!
Happy Biking!

I'd like to claim that I knew how to exercise comfortably in hot weather but unfortunately I don't. Obviously one needs to drink plenty of liquids (beer is excellent ), wear sun protection and avoid the hottest part of the day.

Some tricks I have learnt is to wear a sweat band under your helmet to keep the sweat out of your eyes. For those of us who have dispensed with the need for hair, a bandanna also keeps the sweat at bay and also protects against one's head being burnt through gaps in the helmet.

While on the subject of helmets, most have removable pads inside. These should be taken out every so often and washed. Otherwise they become very unpleasant. Also next time you ride in the rain the accumulated salt and dust will wash out and into your eyes .

Early morning in the cool is a lovely time to ride and watch the sun come up - beautiful .

Just curious, but what type of handlebars did you change to. On my road bike I changed the alloy handlebars to carbon fibre to eliminate some of the jarring.

This is a very minor point, but one that could save you an unnecessary repair. On the rear axle of your bike you will find a cluster of gears and just below them is the derailleur which is what causes the gears to change. The derailleur is usually mounted on an aluminium hanger which is designed to bend in a crash. The purpose of this is to protect the derailleur and also the frame of your bike. If either of these are damaged the repairs are likely to be costly.

What we have is a derailleur mounted on a weak hanger which is prone to being bent which will cause the gears to malfunction. The most common reason why these hangers get bent is by people leaning their bike against a wall the wrong way - I did say that this was a minor point. The correct way to lean your bike against anything is with the chain side to the outside so that pressure is not applied to the derailleur.

Numb Hands

This is a common cycling problem for which there are a number of possible reasons and possible solutions.

A simple solution could be to buy some cycling gloves with padding in the palms. Even if this does not solve the problem of numb hands wearing gloves is a good idea as in a fall the hands are often the first thing to hit the ground.

Another good idea is to regularly change your grip and also to hold the handlebars lightly. There is no need to ride with white knuckles. At the base of the palm there are two fleshy pads with sort of a valley between them. Pressure should be kept off this valley as through it runs several major nerves and pressure on these nerves causes numbness.

If your riding style is to crouch over and then place much of your upper body weight on your hands then this too can cause numbness. Solutions can be as simple to ride with a more upright posture so that more of your body weight is taken by the saddle. Developing core body strength, principally in the adnominal muscles may also help so that they can support your upper body so that your weight isn’t transferred to your hands.

More expensive option could include replacing your alloy front forks, handlebars and stem with carbon ones. Carbon is more flexible than alloy which means that they will transfer less road noise to your hands.

Your local bike shop may also be able to offer more specific advice.

Thanks Hamster for the numbness advice. My hands do tend to get numb, although I don't hold on tightly I do place a lot of weight on my hands. I do find myself crouching, so I will try to sit more upright.
Do you have any advice on bruising? I love my clipless pedals, but they don't love me. I have had 4 falls since getting them. No sooner does one set of bruises start clearing up when I get the next set. My left leg looks so bad. All of this bruising isn't going to hurt me in the long run, is it?
Speaking of long runs, I finally was able to ride 25 miles this morning. I'm still slow, it took me 2hours and 5 minutes. I see these cyclists just breezing by me, making it look so effortless and here I am really working at keeping my speed at a consistent 13 mph. I really want to be able to ride faster. I've been told that once I start riding with a group I will be able to draft and go faster (seems like cheating to me).

I think how your bike is set up makes a difference as well. If the seat is too far back and the handlebars too far forward, you really have no choice but to support much of your upper body weight on your hands. I have noticed much less of an issue when mountain biking than road riding. I think the constant change of terrain keeps you moving around enough where you don't spend a long time in one position. Riding on the rode is more monotonous and you don't naturally shift your weight or change your hand positioning as often.

Michael

You haven't rode in my neck of the woods. There is no mercy for bikes.

I agree and two very good points that I had overlooked. If the saddle is too far back it is a simple matter to loosen the retaining bolts and slide the saddle forward on its rails. If the length of the bike is still a problem the handlebar stem can be replaced with a shorter one. This is a simple thing to do but if in doubt your LBS should be able to advise on a suitable replacement stem and also how to fit it.

Numb hands are (IMO) less of a problem on a mountain bike than on a roadie. The main reasons are that the front suspension and the wide low-pressure tyres soak up much of the constant jittering. Roadies go faster and Hamster likes going fast.

Hi Goal,

Sorry to hear about the bruises - ouch.

Are you forgetting to unclip or are you unable to unclip? If you are forgetting to unclip then the solution is practice, followed by more practice followed by still more practice. At first while you’re holding securely onto a fence of something similar. Then practice clipping in and unclipping along a quiet cycle path that has nice soft grass beside it (less chance of bruises).

If you are unable to unclip then perhaps your pedals need adjustment. There should be an adjusting screw on the pedal that can tighten or loosen their grip. Did an allan key come with the pedals? If it did then that is the tool to use. Your LBS may do this for you but if not it’s a simple matter of turning the adjusting screw a small amount (1/4 turn) then testing and then making further adjustments as necessary. When adjusted correctly you should be able to unclip easily and without the need for a violent twist and yank.

Perhaps, but with Hamster’s vast bulk coupled with the many sharp pointy things on the bike most of the caged-ones keep away. Impact with Hamster would severely crumple the plastic bumper on most modern cars plus the bike would leave many deep and nasty scratches .

Indeed the caged-ones in their smoke boxes fear and dread the mighty Hamster .