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roughster
Dec 28, 2008, 3:06 PM
Post #26 of 47
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Yeah, that is one thing you got to give California....it sure has nice bike commuting weather I guess I would have to look at getting serious about weather commuting if I lived in other parts of the country, but fortunately it just isn't an issue around here! I found Bike Commuting was the 1st step to even less car dependency. I almost exclusively ride the bike to the local stores now too for shopping unless I know I am going to buy a ton of groceries or something big. The only time I drive my truck is on the weekends or trips. I was once asked by a coworker why I rode in to work. I told them the truth, because I can. I takes me literally no more than 10 mins longer (if that) to get to work between driving and biking. I like the time it gives me to change mode from home to work "mode" on the way in, and a de-stress time before I get home. I used to fill up my truck once a week (4 x 17 gallons) and now usually do about once a month. My car insurance went down because I told my Insurance Agent I was now cycling to work. If "we" (meaning people who commuting by bike is a viable option) don't do the things we can do to "help" global warming, gas prices, shit whatever your cause is, how can we expect others to? One of my wife's favorite quotes for her classroom (she's a teacher) is: Be the change that you want to see in the world. Mohandas Gandhi Biking to work is a simple way for everyone to start "helping". Hell even if you do it just once a week! Imagine if everyone did that once a week? I hope that at least one person who sees me every day on my ride in thinks, "Hmm maybe I should do that!" That would be totally cool.
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RyanW2050
Dec 29, 2008, 12:12 AM
Post #27 of 47
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I am definitely aware that I don't need a race bike to ride 6 miles to work. I could probably buy a bigwheel and make it. But I want to go fast and i want the ability to do much more than ride to work with it if i so choose. Anyway, i am mostly decided on the Cannondale CAAD9-7. http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/09/cusa/model-9RA97T.html
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angry
Dec 29, 2008, 12:22 AM
Post #28 of 47
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Not a bad choice. Personally, I'd look for anything with a similar component group that wasn't a C-dale. Its a personal bias but I've always found them to be gag me with a stick ugly. Not a bad bike, just ugly.
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btreanor
Dec 29, 2008, 12:24 AM
Post #29 of 47
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churningindawake wrote: jakedatc wrote: Definitely.. it also makes approaches easier with the increased cardio and leg workout. Definitely helps the approaches. i also found that it helped stemming pitches. Would make it so that your legs did not get so pumped. Unless you stretch very, very regularly, a lot of biking will make wide stemming much more difficult. The way biking builds you legs and hips tightens everything up. I'd still keep biking if I were you. Heck, my rule is I don't use a car for anything under 10 miles (1 way), and I bike everyday as a commuter. I just wanted to point out that while biking will help your endurance, will build your legs, and (at a light pace) will actually facilitate recovery, it will likely make the flexibility part of stemming worse. Brian
(This post was edited by btreanor on Dec 29, 2008, 12:25 AM)
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Hotpies
Dec 29, 2008, 1:08 AM
Post #30 of 47
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For the first time I biked quite a bit this summer, and I haven't noticed any flexibility losses, and I stretch only occasionally. Everyone is different I guess.
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RyanW2050
Dec 31, 2008, 10:33 PM
Post #31 of 47
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Well, I bought the bike yesterday. I went with the Cannondale CAAD9-7. I pretty much devastated my checking account but another paycheck came today, so i still need to buy things (water bottle, bike shorts, pedals, shoes, cyclocomputer, etc) I did 10 miles today and climbed last night. I really thought general fitness from climbing would have helped me, but i needed to take like 3 breaks on those 10 miles, haha. I suppose my cardio is lacking. The only muscle soreness i feel is in my middle/lower back alongside my spine. ... and the ass pain from the seat.
(This post was edited by RyanW2050 on Dec 31, 2008, 10:46 PM)
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churningindawake
Dec 31, 2008, 10:40 PM
Post #32 of 47
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RyanW2050 wrote: Well, I bought the bike yesterday. I went with the Cannondale CAAD9-7. I pretty much devastated my checking account but another paycheck came today, so i still need to buy things (water bottle, bike shorts, pedals, shoes, cyclocomputer, etc) I did 10 miles today and climbed last night. I really thought general fitness from climbing would have helped me, but i needed to take like 3 breaks on those 10 miles, haha. I suppose my cardio is lacking. The only muscle soreness i feel is in my middle/lower back alongside my spine. ... and the ass pain from the seat. [image]http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/885/bike123108jc2.jpg[/image] That means that you need to make some adjustments to the bike. Usually a stem with more rise will help your back (allowing you to sit more upright). you can also tilt your handlebars to help you feel more comfortable. As for your butt, try tilting the seat differently, it will help a lot. You can also try different seats to see which one works the best for you. You pretty much just need to ride a lot to make it so that your butt is not so sore after a ride.
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jakedatc
Dec 31, 2008, 11:06 PM
Post #33 of 47
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Yep.. what he said. Did they fit you on the bike? if you bought it from any good place they should have put you on a trainer and measured stuff and had things adjusted for you. If not i would call them, tell them your back was bothering you and they should help fix it. You might need a different stem so you're not reaching too far or perhaps your seat is too high and your hamstrings were pulling I would stretch your hamstrings and low back before your next ride and see if that helps. seat looks a touch tipped down.. might cause you to slide forward a bit. if you put the nose up just a bit and level it out it might help the butt situation.. though bike shorts will help the most. have fun.. things will get easier as you ride a bit more. Try to stay in a gear that you can spin pretty easily. these days 90-100 rpm is a good range. (you can count one of your legs downstrokes for 15 sec then X 4)
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churningindawake
Dec 31, 2008, 11:09 PM
Post #34 of 47
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jakedatc wrote: Yep.. what he said. Did they fit you on the bike? if you bought it from any good place they should have put you on a trainer and measured stuff and had things adjusted for you. If not i would call them, tell them your back was bothering you and they should help fix it. You might need a different stem so you're not reaching too far or perhaps your seat is too high and your hamstrings were pulling I would stretch your hamstrings and low back before your next ride and see if that helps. seat looks a touch tipped down.. might cause you to slide forward a bit. if you put the nose up just a bit and level it out it might help the butt situation.. though bike shorts will help the most. have fun.. things will get easier as you ride a bit more. Try to stay in a gear that you can spin pretty easily. these days 90-100 rpm is a good range. (you can count one of your legs downstrokes for 15 sec then X 4) Definitely try different bike shorts. You will find that you like some a lot better than others. Also when you are riding, try to hold the handlebars different ways to get your body in the most comfortable position possible...
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RyanW2050
Dec 31, 2008, 11:17 PM
Post #35 of 47
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I wasn't really measured. I sat on a 54 and he said it looked too long, so we went with a 52. He mentioned coming back and having it fit, which i'm planning on doing after i buy the rest of the stuff (shoes/pedals, bib). I'm also planning on getting a speedometer with a cadence meter. I think that will help me a lot, because i'm sure my rpm was all over the place.
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churningindawake
Dec 31, 2008, 11:26 PM
Post #36 of 47
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RyanW2050 wrote: I wasn't really measured. I sat on a 54 and he said it looked too long, so we went with a 52. He mentioned coming back and having it fit, which i'm planning on doing after i buy the rest of the stuff (shoes/pedals, bib). I'm also planning on getting a speedometer with a cadence meter. I think that will help me a lot, because i'm sure my rpm was all over the place. Definitely a good idea getting a fit. don't really find the cadence thing needed. Just try to push a steady gear, and keep a smooth pedal stroke. The speedometer is nice though. Lets you know all the stuff that you want to know.
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angry
Dec 31, 2008, 11:42 PM
Post #37 of 47
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I'm not going to even pretend I can evaluate your fit over a single picture. There's volumes written about fit online, easy enough for you to google it. Also, this is especially true of someone who hasn't been biking for eons, you might get sore and that's normal. A bike fit helps but there's no way around it most times, you have to break your body into the bike, at least a little.
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jakedatc
Dec 31, 2008, 11:45 PM
Post #38 of 47
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This is the computer i had on my bike all year until i got my Garmin 305. once you get the sensors set up it's good to go. I definitely liked having cadence when i started riding more this summer to get a feel for what worked best for me.. Now i use it for when i'd rather not look at the speed i'm going.. like into a headwind or when i'm not feeling strong. click to cadence.. just roll the pedals. Only thing i'd worry about is if you were commuting and leaving it locked up somewhere.. http://www.nashbar.com/...%3A%20Cyclocomputers Angry.. all i was going off the picture was the seat.. looks a bit tilted. the small things i said are just guesses.. and since he's going to get fit then it doesn't matter.
(This post was edited by jakedatc on Dec 31, 2008, 11:48 PM)
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churningindawake
Jan 1, 2009, 12:05 AM
Post #39 of 47
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What I said is just stuff that many people do that usually helps them.
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RyanW2050
Jan 1, 2009, 12:18 AM
Post #40 of 47
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I was actually planning on getting the http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/407 It looks like it may be the newer version of the Astrale. I'm planning on bringing my bike into my cube until HR yells. It's a pretty big cube though.
(This post was edited by RyanW2050 on Jan 1, 2009, 12:18 AM)
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jakedatc
Jan 1, 2009, 12:33 AM
Post #41 of 47
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the Strada will work too.. i just didnt know what kinda budget you were on. Astrale is discontinued so they are clearing them out places. if they let ya keep it inside then that will be great.
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tigerlilly
Jan 1, 2009, 12:34 AM
Post #42 of 47
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blu3d0g wrote: Cross bikes use cantis because they are more powerful than anything other than disc brakes (or hydraulic brakes of any form). I'd like to see a reference for that statement. I've had center-pulls, side-pulls, roller cams, cantis, V's, hydro rim brakes, hydro disc brakes, drum brakes and cable disc brakes on various bikes, and wouldn't put canti's on a mtn bike if you paid me to. On the road, they'd be ok. Maybe.
blu3d0g wrote: V-brakes mostly exist because they give much better tire and mud clearance than cantis. Ya' got this one backwards, friend. Look at a V brake and look at a canti. The V-brake has way more metal a lot closer to the tire. The canti's got nuthin' but the pad and carrier. V-brakes exist because they are much more powerful than the best-adjusted cantis. Canti's only still exist because of mud clearance and retro geeks. Edit: Canti's work better with road bike brake levers than v-brakes do. V-brakes need a fiddly, PITA adapter to get enough cable pull. V-brakes are so powerful that on some low-end bikes, you'll find a little spring damper on the front brake that actually reduces braking force so inexperienced riders don't fling themselves off over the bars. I had a tough time explaining that to a buddy who bought an inexpensive commuter bike a bunch of years ago. Kathy
(This post was edited by tigerlilly on Jan 6, 2009, 9:15 PM)
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blu3d0g
Jan 1, 2009, 1:54 PM
Post #43 of 47
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tigerlilly, you are absolutely right, I was totally backwards with that. That's what I get for trying to be authoritative about a type of bike I've never owned and a type of riding I don't do I also haven't touched a V-brake in years, as all the bikes I have now either have disc brakes or side pulls. Sounds like you've had had quite the collection of bikes, but what did you have hydro rim brakes on? you a trials rider?
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greatgarbanzo
Jan 1, 2009, 3:06 PM
Post #44 of 47
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I do at least 30K on climbing days. Usually is more around 75K on rest days. I really dont think that 12M every other day will do any harm.
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tigerlilly
Jan 1, 2009, 4:25 PM
Post #45 of 47
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blu3d0g wrote: Sounds like you've had had quite the collection of bikes, but what did you have hydro rim brakes on? you a trials rider? I'm really a cyclist with a climbing habit, and kinda' just a gear whore in general. The current collection is down to 7 bikes. I put the hydro rim brakes on one mtbike before good discs were available, but have since switched to discs. I'm not a trials rider, but did buy a beat-up 2nd-hand Monte mod trials bike with the intent of honing my bike handling skills. Unfortunately, I got it about the same time the climbing addiction started, so I have done very little with it. It needs a new rear wheel, or at least new bearings. To the OP, my first season of climbing, I alternated between riding days and climbing days with no issues and little overlap, but still gave myself a full rest, minimal activity, day once a week. Your body will tell you if you are doing too much. If you feel tired, or lose interest in either activity, take a break. Kathy
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rockie
Jan 1, 2009, 6:06 PM
Post #46 of 47
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Registered: Sep 18, 2007
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tigerlilly wrote: blu3d0g wrote: Sounds like you've had had quite the collection of bikes, but what did you have hydro rim brakes on? you a trials rider? To the OP, my first season of climbing, I alternated between riding days and climbing days with no issues and little overlap, but still gave myself a full rest, minimal activity, day once a week. Your body will tell you if you are doing too much. If you feel tired, or lose interest in either activity, take a break. Kathy I second that, though this is the best bike, and fine to use with slicks too: http://www.mtbr.com/...RD_349500_91crx.aspx And here's what you wear to stop your butt getting sore, even on the more slim race bike saddles which I prefer, never had a problem myself and no fat on me: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/...le/7/Shorts_-_Lycra/ http://www.aerotechdesigns.com/...D67ZcCFcse3godVTQwCw
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AlexCV
Jan 6, 2009, 8:54 PM
Post #47 of 47
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tigerlilly wrote: V-brakes are so powerful that on some low-end bikes, you'll find a little spring damper on the front brake that actually reduces braking force so inexperienced riders don't fling themselves off over the bars. I had a tough time explaining that to a buddy who bought an inexpensive commuter bike a bunch of years ago. First time I needed to do an emergency stop with a V-Brake equipped bike, I kinked the front brake cable and the rammed the pads under the rim. Those things are fscking powerful. Oh yeah it also lifted the bike in a wheely and I got a nice slo-motion over the handlebar (actually off to the side) experience, it was fun.
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