File :-(, x, )
Bike Guy Here Anonymous
I'm feeling bored, and thought I'd post up. Any questions you guys have for a cyclist? Feel free to ask about losing weight on a bike, proper bike fitment, and how someone should ride a bike ( Cadence, Some of the stuff like max VO2, lactate threshold I'm less knowledgeable about.) Anything that's related to cycling as a sport, or as a way to get rid of some extra lbs. Feeling helpful, so lets make it a somewhat informative thread.
>> Anonymous
Mhm, and also general bike maintenance questions, and questions about bikes are all welcome. I work in a bike store..
>> Anonymous
secret to manualing?
>> Anonymous
>>418255
Practice... but that doesn't really pertain to my particular interest in the bike industry, I'm more interested in the high end road stuff. But yeah, keep practicing, and it's all about pedal control and center of gravity. That's pretty much what you need to figure out.
>> Anonymous
Whats manualing?
>> Anonymous
>>418262
Essentially doing a "Wheelie"
>> Anonymous
is it hard to get into cycling races? stranded distances? and times for them.
>> Anonymous
>>418269
I don't necessarily think it would be hard, it's just about finding races around your area which you can compete in. In cycling, there are different categories of races, and to get through them, you go from the bottom to the top. You can go to www.usacycling.org, to find a local race near you. Another option you could do if you are just getting into it, is to check out the Team in Training program. They train you for a century ride ( If you choose to do that,) at no expense to you. You pretty much just have to get the couple thousand dollars in donations or sponsorships, which accumulates very fast. But yeah, there are a couple ways to get into the sport more, to tell if you'd like to be more of a time trial cyclist, or an endurance cyclist.
>> Anonymous
Okay, I'm going to bed. If you have any questions, ask over night. I'll be up in the morning checking it if It's still up. Bump it every once in a while, I'd like to see if there are any more questions people would like answered.
>> Anonymous
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I just got a folding bike and I think it's considered a hybrid if it didn't fold. Besides the creaking from the hinges and it looking dirty pretty easily because of its color, I had little problems with it for the past two months on the road. I want to try a light off-road trail. Will I risk serious damage to my bike if I do? The tires do not look like mountain bikes would ever use them and absolutely no suspension. I'm willing to endure some discomfort as long as I don't have to fix anything after I'm done riding. And I'm also thinking of doing a century with its stock parts unless I broke something. Is that a bad idea? This won't happen anytime soon until maybe next year the earliest.

Getting a new bike is an option but I don't have a lot of room here and trying to cut back on spending.

Pic related. That's what I have. Specs here if you need more information. http://www.dahon.com/us/cadenzasolo.htm I just realized this is more of a /n/ question. It's early morning here and won't get to read it until later tonight. Thanks.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>418454

Folding bikes are usually shit unless designed for taking abuse. You will taco the frame at the fold joints and crash if you ride that thing off-road much. Get a decent used mountain bike off Craigslist and go bomb some trails.

If you need folding, get one of these: http://www.militarybikes.com/ Pic related.
>> Anonymous
>>418487

I thought Dahon's were decently engineered though for the price, I've never ridden one though... I'm sure he could at least do some easy Rail-Trail type stuff with that bike.
>> Anonymous
>>418242

To OP and other roadies in general... I was wondering what your bar preferences are, I just ordered some really short and shallow bars and I'm hoping It'll get me to spend more time in the drops... I sometimes get some lower back pain on long climbs.

Anyone else using compact bars or would like to share their bar preferences??
>> Anonymous
Op is back, glad that there was some interest in the subject.
>>418454
No I wouldn't take that off road, folding bikes ( or the majority at least ) are meant to do little more than commute on nice sidewalks, for very little distance. They aren't built to be very rugged, and handle anything more than they're built for. Very much purpose driven bikes.
>>418487
Yeah, this anon has it right. Like I said before, very few folding bikes have the capacity to do anything more than just commute.
>>418524
To be honest I haven't had any issues like you're talking about with back pain. But that might be due to me just getting into the sport, and not climbing too much. Let's talk about pre-bike though, what are you doing? Are you properly stretching out? Also, you don't need to spend all your time in the drops, especially on longer rides you should be changing positions much more.
>> Anonymous
>>418242
Nice. I want to get a bike. I don't have a lot of money, so nothing more than $200. There's a bike trail in my town that goes practically all the way to Boston, and when it starts to get warm again I want to go ride on it for exercise.

What's a decent, but cheap (cost-wise) that'll do the trick?
>> Anonymous
>>419849
Get an old road bike. You'd be able to get one for less than 200 bucks, and you might be able to find one that someone is throwing out for real cheap that has awesome componentry. Just get it serviced and it'd be a lot better than most of the new bikes you can get now for the price. How tall are you?
>> Anonymous
>>419869
I'm 5'9". What's a road bike? Is that one of those things with the skinny tires? I hate riding those. I love mountain bikes. I should have said a lot of the bike trail is literally a a trail; it's not paved in a lot of areas.
>> Anonymous
>>419876
Yeah, a road bike has skinny tires. If it's not paved in a lot of the areas, look around for a used bike on craigslist. You'd probably fit into a 20" or a 19.5 Inch mountain bike. Look around for a while, show me what you see, and I'll tell you which one is the best deal and why.
>> Anonymous
i have an old road bike....right now my seat is lower where i just barely stand over the seat. when i raised it higher it felt more comfortable while riding but i could only get one foot down when stopped and felt awkward. what's best?
>> Anonymous
>>419977
Your frame isn't sized to you well. It sounds like your seat tube needs to be smaller. What you should be able to do, is stand over the bike. That's the most important thing. Next, you adjust your seat hight according to the pedals. You want a slight bend in your knees. If you feel pain at the back of your knees, it's too high, if the pain is in the front, your seat is too low. I would keep the seat where it is, and deal according when you need to stop.
>> Anonymous
what do you ride? I myself have a Giant TCR 2 with profile design aero bars
>> Anonymous
>>420001

well i think the bike fits me well but i see some like the OP's that have such a high seat and wonder if mine is way too low. thanks bike guy!
>> Anonymous
>>420010
I don't want to talk about it lol...It's not about the bike, it's the person behind it. No, but seriously I ride a Fuji Absolute 2.0. I got it a while ago for a present, and it got me into cycling. I'm hitting crazy limitations on it, but I'm I have it. Super heavy bike, the ones around the shop make me weep. I'm going to be picking up a Cinelli that we have, or a Orbea in the next few months though. Didn't have any money to spare on a bike until now.
>> Anonymous
>>420027
I respect that, got to start somewhere. I would check out some LeMond steel bikes maybe if you are strapped for cash. It was my second bike and I beat the hell out of it. Finally made my way up to a carbon Giant, and it hauls ass.
>> Anonymous
>>420053
Nah, I'm not so strapped for cash anymore. I'm saving up for this Cinelli we have at the shop. Campy Chorus, the whole deal. It's sexy light weight. Nothing like the new Ridley Noah my boss is building though :( That thing is ridiculous.
>> Anonymous
Are there any good bikes on this page? http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/search/index.jsp?categoryId=2712462&f=PAD%2FGender%2FMen%27s&a
mp;fr=StorePrice%2FDSP%2F00010000%2F00020000&fbc=1&fbn=StorePrice|%24100.00+-+%24200.00&
fbx=0
>> Anonymous
>>420087
To be honest, I would save my 200$, and buy something in the 300-400$ range. You get exponentially better parts, and something that will last you much longer. Trust me, it's worth it. We see so many of these bikes that are built at Target, Walmart, etc, that might as well have been built by the barbecue salesman. It's really fucked up the condition that some of these brand new bikes come in. Save your money, and support the local bike store if you can. The bike you get will be much more reliable, and most stores do lifetime adjustments if you buy from them.
>> Anonymous
5'7 or 5'7.5 shortfag here with short legs, am I forbidden to ride a road bike?

asianfag with baggy jeans riding a road bike, is that weird?
>> Anonymous
>>420137
No you are not forbidden to ride a road bike if you're short. You'll just be riding a bit smaller frame than someone of your height, because your torso is porportionally longer. I have kind of the opposite issue. My legs are of average length for my height, but my torso is 2: longer than the average person of my height (5'11)
Also, you won't be wearing baggy shorts for long on a road bike. The saddle will not be a pleasant experience for your ass. Get some padded biking shorts, wear them under some thin, I repeat THIN, basketball shorts. That is very important because you don't want extra material chafing, or bunching up under your padded riding shorts. Only do the basketball shorts if you're too self conscious to ride in the lycra. Being called a faggot every few hours is a rite of passage for cyclists.
>> Anonymous
>>420140
Excuse me, read shorts. Jeans are a terrible idea, especially on a road bike. They WILL get caught up in the chain, causing you to either rip a nice pair of jeans, or do that while falling off of your bike. It is a horrible idea. It doesn't matter how baggy they are either, I wear fairly straight cut jeans, and I have to wear a couple rubber bands around them if I'm commuting around.
>> Anonymous
>>418242

Does counter-steering make any sense to you?
>> Anonymous
>>420157
This video does a really good job explaining the concept. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C848R9xWrjc
>> Anonymous
how to avoid crushing testicles on long bike rides? are spandex the only way?
>> Anonymous
>>420172
Pretty much. Buy yourself a pair of spandex bike shorts. Also, if you are crushing your testicles you're doing something wrong. Sounds like you may be sitting too far forward on the saddle, and try not to sit directly on top of them..
>> Anonymous
>>419334
Thanks for the input. It seems like every comment in a forum or review tells me not to attempt to use a folder on off-road unless it was specifically built for it. I'll stick with paved roads until I get another bike.

>>418487
I didn't get the Montague because it's heavier and I didn't think I can go as fast on a mountain bike. The frame looks sturdy though.

>>420164
Thanks for the link on countersteering. Maybe I've been doing it wrong this whole time.

OP, I know people that says they suck at running but can last a while on a bike. I know different muscles are being used but wouldn't they be better at running once they start because of the amount of cycling they have done? Some of them tell me their joints hurt if they run so that part I get.

And last question about cadence. I'm on a single speed so going downhill will leave no resistance while pedaling. Should I even bother to pedal when it's not making me move any faster? I do it just for the hell of it but my pace is not exactly the same because I also notice that I sort of lose balance unless I feel some resistance on my pedals. I just pedal slower when that happens so wouldn't that defeat the purpose of a steady cadence?

Hope this thread is still here when I get back tonight. Thanks.
>> Anonymous
>>419334

Woa, didn't realize this thread came back to life... I'm the dude from>>418524asking about the short and shallows.

But yeah I stretch properly before hand and don't generally have many back problems... The real problem is myself, haha, I just wanted opinions on handlebars configurations as I like to hear what others have to say.

But yeah, I just got my new short and shallow bars in, Salsa Poco's and they look like they will help out a lot as far as cockpit comfort is concerned. The only time I really have these back problems is when I'm asking for it though, like anything over a metric century of hard riding. But I also do have a habit of climbing like Marco Pantani in the drops all the time, haha...
>> Anonymous
>>420187
>and try not to sit directly on top of them..
I raffed! but really.... go figure, eh?
>> Anonymous
I cycle hard twice a week for a distance of 15km, one-way. Recently I bought an attachable triathlon elbow rest because my back was really hurting from the cycling. Being able to lean in and relax helped tremendously both to alleviating the pain and allowing me to cycle harder (also obviously improved aerodynamics) and my time improved a whole two minutes.

But I still don't feel quite comfortable doing the trip. Obviously I'll get tired since I'm pretty much going for a near-maximum performance but that shouldn't cause my arms starting to hurt when I'm leaned in. I think perhaps lowering the handle bar below the saddle might help, although since I'm leaning in, it would take me even lower.

How should I position my arms on the elbow rest? Should my elbows be wider than my shoulders? At what angle should my forearms be and at what part of my forearms exactly should I be resting on?
>> Anonymous
>>420383
Okay, so the position I have on single speeds going down hill is, pedal when you feel you can. The reason being is if you can possibly keep your cadence up ( Remember 65+ is ideal to prevent joint damage) it makes the speed transition from slope to the VERY rapid decrease in speed once you get on the flats. That and it's nice to be able to keep your heart rate up.

As far as running goes, they are completely different muscles, and like everyone here can attest to, running is much harder on the joints. The only real correlation between being a good runner and being a good cyclist is cardiovascular strength. If you look at the types of bodies professional cyclists have, versus professional sprinters or long distance runners, it's a completely different game.
>> Anonymous
>>420412
Yeah, the best advice I can give you is to switch up your position more than you think you need to, which can be hard climbing, but it is feasible.
>> Anonymous
>>420916
Your arms should not be hurting. What you want is for your forearms to be resting on the pads, with your hands gripping the bars lightly. That is important because I know some people who grip so hard their hands go numb. It is not necessary. As far as seat tube height, it is all dependant upon your leg length, and the bend of your knee at the bottom of your pedal stroke. To be honest, I really wouldn't worry too much about going as hard as possible for 15km. Move up your distances, and you will probably be having better, more enjoyable workouts. Throw up some different cycling with altitude, and be sure to change your hand positions often. It'll save your back, and possibly your hands from the strain they're under.
>> Anonymous
get a dirt bike, better exercise than a normal bike, i think
>> Anonymous
>>421677
Depends all on what you're doing with the bike. If you're trying to ride a dirt bike on the roads, it's higher rolling resistance and weight will get you better exercise, but it definitely won't be fun to ride. Also, try doing some serious climbing on road with a heavy dirt bike.
>> Anonymous
how do I build up my butt muscles so it doesn't hurt when I go for long rides?

what's the best/top of the line bike you can think of?

what's your opinion on lance armstrong's comeback? douche move?
>> Anonymous
General care for a trek 1000? Website or videos or anything as a mechanifag I am not.

I'll be doing duathlons (maybe a triathlon if I can figure out how to not drown in 3" of water) next year. My first duathlon was rough, transitions killed me, legs just didn't work. Anything I can do to help that other than just doing it over and over?
>> Anonymous
>>421824
Ride a lot. Take aspirin so it doesn't hurt while you are out on the ride. The more you ride the less it'll hurt until your seat is starting to feel too soft. That is when you become a masochistic cyclist.

Best bike IS the new 09 Ridley Noah. The thing is insane. Full Aero design, dimpled paint and resin covering the whole thing, works like a golf ball. They have it down to where it's drag is so low it actually can be measured in grams. Sexy lateral stiffness, the whole deal. The boss is building an 08 Noah.

I'm actually really interested in seeing the turmoil that it is going to cause. It's not that I am going to root for Lance, as I enjoy seeing some of the fresh faces on the tour, but I want to see the struggle that will ensue. For those of you that don't know, there is already quite a bit of inner team turmoil. Alberto Contrador, winner of the 2007 Tour de France, and a fellow Astana teammate of Lance's has expressed a ton of dissatisfaction in his return to the cycling world. He said he will quit the team if he can't have the leader position. Problem is his contract doesn't expire for another 2 years. It will be interesting to see these two duke it out, and although Armstrong has professed to be way past his peak, I can't help but think he's going to pull out a trump card.
>> Anonymous
>>421826
As far as general maintenance out while you're competing in the event, I would definitely learn how to change your tire and tube and adjust your rear deraileur. If you do not know how to do these, just check up on youtube, as there is a plethora of how to videos there. It's all about figuring it out for yourself, so have your bike with you so you can feel what you're doing. Also, change your tire all the time, even when it is unnecessary. Get the tire change time down to under 10 minutes.

As far as pre-competition maintenance go to your local Bicycle Mechanic. I stress this heavily. Find some guy who's probably being overrun by the shit chains that sell cheap bikes, which also offer cheap, and consequently shitty service. It's really important to have a good relation with one of these guys. You really do get much quality of work, and they will check every single bolt on your bike before the event. Your biggest challenge is having the bike crossing the finish line, because is is very rare that someone will let you ride on their saddle as they carry your extra weight.

Fitness before the tri-or duathon. Get your ass climbing. Work on intervals. Really work on whatever you feel you're going to be a bit weak on. Even overprepare for that stuff. Preparation before the event is paramount. If you're getting fairly competitive, a coach might be suited to your needs. He can definitely tell you your weak points better than some guy over the internet.
>> Anonymous
Since wintertime is kicking in, and i don't have the spare money for a weight vest, i'm thinking about just wearing chainmail and a jacket over it while riding my bike.

Will that help in weight loss, muscle gain, making me feel and look like a psycho?
>> Anonymous
>>421856
I have a better idea. Don't look like a psycho, don't wear any sort of vest. Get a backpack. Fill with heavy shit. If you're so inclined to weighing yourself down... I wouldn't even do that though. I'd get an indoor trainer, or roller off of craigslist, and focus on efficiency, how you ride the bike, and focusing on minimizing your lateral sway while riding the bike.
>> Anonymous
Going to bed. Ask any questions you have overnight, and hopefully the thread will be up in the evening when I'm back to check it. So far it's been good, with I hope some good advice given out to people. Keep up the good questions all.
>> Anonymous
>>421654

The distance isn't something that I choose, I started cycling to save money from not having to use the bus or train to go karate club. The seat tube height is just fine, it's the height of handle bar that I'm thinking about. Like in the OP pic, the handles are lower than the seat but my bike is a city bike (I'm quite poor) so the default height was set so that the riding posture would be pretty straight and your head high, which is best for visibility and maneuverability.
>> Anonymous
>>421942
For visibility and heads up, change the stem º. I'm a commuter too and that is best to keep your heads up, reduce neck pain. The 0º stem you see in the OP pic is considered racing or as most would say, more aerodynamic. IE: Butt up in the air and head low.

This is not OP. However, I used to work in a bike shop but I'm a very serious rider (roadie).
>> Anonymous
>>422030

Word, there are many good adjustable stems on the market too so you can play with angles to your hearts content. Once you find the sweet spot you can buy a fixed stem at that angle and then sell the adjustable one... I keep an adjustable stem around for this very purpose.

Fitment is key to being able to spend time on bike...
>> Anonymous
>>422030

Yes, as I was saying my the stem angle for my bike is now normal, as in head up. What I was wondering is whether the stem angle like in the OP pic is only for riding with you arms extended and not for resting on an triathlon style elbow-rest.
>> Anonymous
>>422050

Well, in reality Tri and TT purpose bikes have completely different geometry than a road bike has. Tri and TT bikes move the body more forward with a steeper seat tube angle. This results in a more powerful platform and more stable ride, however less agile and less climb friendly. So in reality to be completely comfortable on aero bars one would probably favor a shorter wheel base frameset then one would normally ride as too move more of your body weight onto the aero bars.

So moving the stem angle upward and shortening the stem length would seem like common sense when trying to stay on aero bars with a road bike geometry... Although I could be completely wrong as I've never ridden a proper time trial machine, hahah...
>> Anonymous
>>422154

Right, I guess I'll try a configuration like that then.