Tell me about bicycling

[nanovapr]

I haven't ridden my cheapie Walmart bike much (a $20 double-sprung MTB spare, for potential 'guest riders') but I notice that the rear wheel is not straight in it's dropouts. It's not a QR, it's a nutted axle. One side has to be a little off of full in the slot, for the wheel to fit the brakes. Careful eyeballing doesn't show any extreme bends the frame, but I know it can be out some and you can't see it. No signs of big crashes, it still has the rubber molding marks on the tires.

By very casual measuring (straightedge on the frame), it doesn't seem out of true very much. the wheel could be dished. I haven't expended any effort to check, but a good way would be to flip the rear wheel momentarily to see if it goes the other way.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

Yeah, I know the rear is harder to true than the front because of the cassette (gears). One side of the spokes should be at less of an angle than the other, but I don't remember the whole rim favoring once side... Could have been what caused me to fall (and smash my bananas ). Because I can't see my front tires coming close enough to touch the fork even being deflated. That's pretty much the part I'm most concerned about. But being unemployed, I'd rather save for a few Darwin's... LoL!

Oh, and I had an old co-worker true my wheels last year. He mentioned he worked on bikes a long time ago, and bmx raced a bit... But maybe he didn't have much experience with road bikes. I didn't ride much after that and didn't settle in after being true'd until just before the fall.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

hmmm, any idea how much a bike fitting like this would cost?

Bike Fit - YouTube

 

[nanovapr]

Skratch, that is old tech from 2004 as far as movies go. I would imagine that a bike fitting like that is beyond my price range.

 

[mostapha]

A good bit. The motion capture stuff still isn't cheap. I'd imagine on the order of hundreds……but the harder part will be finding a place that has it. Only places I know of off the top of my head are the Olympic Training Centers…and they're not exactly the kind of place you just walk in and ask for a fitting. They won't laugh or throw you out, but they'll be really confused.

Funny story, I know one of the guys who taught American female Olympic figure skaters to do triples back in the 80s……using a very similar motion capture thing and computer modeling to figure out the problem was that their arms weren't strong enough to hold their arms in and they were losing rotational energy as a result. His name's Bob.

Also, don't worry about feelling like you need to stretch. It happens. Just stretch before you ride and gently as you need it. You get to the point where you can do it while riding by coasting, standing up, and adjusting the angle of your feet on the pedals. But, again, that's not something I'd try without clipless pedals.

But, I'm weird. Platforms scare me at least as much as clipless pedals scare people who've never ridden them.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

Haha that's funny, i first bought clipless to feel more risky... Turns out I have a lot more control. Most times if I fall, my feet come out by itself, and I can stumble on my feet... Last time, I guess I was dozing off or whatever. And didn't realize I was falling until I felt smashed bananas... Lol.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

Oh, one thing you have to be careful of is having bad ankles or anything if you use clipless pedals... Not sure how but a few times, my ankle started feeling really sore (the ankle I clip out first at stops), not from cycling but some people said I may have gout. I'm not sure I have never been diagnosed or anything but if it happens I'll get it checked. Anyways, at the time, a few people with gout said I should try biking/or running to get the uric acid out. So I put my shorts, jersey and shoes on and tried to take a few laps around the school, got around the block when I realized it hurt too much to clip out, and even if I used my other foot, just having my foot lower than the rest of my body with the added increase in heart rate made it extremely uncomfortable. So I went home clipped out with one foot, and sort of laid down a bit with my other foot still attached, until my heart rate went down enough that it was possible to undo my shoe.

That all happened a few years ago, but lesson learned.

 

[mostapha]

It depends a lot on which pedals you use. Something with a decent amount of "float" (letting your heel move side to side without much resistance or clipping out) can help that.

I'm a huge fan of Crank Brothers Egg Beaters pedals and use them on my road bike. They're mountain pedals, but there's basically no resistance to light movement (easier on your ankels/knees) and they always clip out at the same point because of how they work. My ankles hurt the first time I used no-float Look pedals as well, probably because I just wasn't used to it yet (it was the first time I was on a bike in 10 years) and I kinda wanted something different.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

I currently have look pedals... They were on sale and I was on a budget. I didn't want to invest too much into it when I didn't know I'd fall in love with it. Mine do have a lot of play with them, it was just the fact that my ankle was so bad at that time, sitting up would cause it to feel like it was going swell up and explode.

 

[mostapha]

I can see that. The ones I tried were a friend's crit shoes. Fast, short races -> zero float.

I'm sure that other cleats with more float would have been fine. I also got the egg beaters because I found "city shoes" that kept the cleats recessed and looked like sneakers, so I can commute on them. Still wouldn't want t walk around all day on them, but they work better for commuting than real cycling shoes.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

yeah, i sound like a horse walking in my cleats and i look weird walking. unless i walk on the cleat... but it'll look like i'm wearing high heels. haha, i also slipped a few times walking normal because i don't have the covers for the cleats yet. didn't think i'd need them when i bought the pedals/cleats.

have you noticed how comfortable the jersey/bibs are? sometimes i suit up to ride, and sit around for an hour because it's so comfortable lol

 

[nanovapr]

I rode last night, and for whatever reason? My knees did not bother me. I did two things different. I stretched before I rode, and I also tried to spin more in lower gears. Thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't stretched before, because I am riding so casually and non-strenuously, I didn't think it would matter.

I waited till after 7pm and it had cooled down some (103 here today, back to hot). I rode 13 miles, and was not sore last night, nor this morning. The first few times I rode that was *not* the case. I have a bad posture thing going on I notice, I sometimes have my right heel too far in, and I touch the frame coming around. It's not twisted enough to be my knee thing (that was in both knees anyway), so I made conscious effort to keep it straight.

I had another milestone in my fledgling biking career? I ACTUALLY PASSED SOMEONE. They were just sightseeing more than I was. Here's some pics. I know this is not a special river by any means, but I spent most of my life on the prairie, where everything was pool-table flat. This section of the trail I ride just goes along right beside the Missouri River. I've lived near this river now for 9 years, and I am still just fascinated by it.

This is a good representation of what most of the trail looks like. The tracks and ties are all gone, just this very finely crushed limestone. While it's along the river it goes through several tiny towns, but it's mostly rural like this. The river was a major transportation thing before the railroad came through in 1870, so there's lots of little river towns. Some are gone, some cater to the hikers and bikers on the trail with lots of shops, restaurants, B&B and camping. It's kind of funny, every restaurant has tubes and water bottles for sale...There's one town with a population of 17, but has a great bar and grill, and draws people from all around. A few weeks ago they had a band outside with BBQ, there was a hundred people there easily.

About 6 miles up, there is one sign of civilization, a highway bridge. It's just a bridge that I have driven on for years. This is the first time I've ever seen it from the side. The sun's getting low at this point, time to head back.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

Nice! So glad you got that going!

 

[mostapha]

Nice. Looks like a really pretty place to ride. I'd love to take a cross bike around there for a while.

About spinning. I have a cadence meter on my bike computer. I usually ride around 100 to 110 RPM unless I'm riding really easy.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

I should get a cadence meter, but I only have a speed one for now... And I mostly use use my iPhone to keept track of it. The app is called RunKeeper.

 

[mostapha]

Cadence meters are awesome and not much more expensive……I think my cateye dual sensor was like……$27.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

Cadence meters are awesome and not much more expensive……I think my cateye dual sensor was like……$27.

Where do the sensors go? I think there might be some accessories for my cyclometer to add a cadence meter... The cyclometer I have had that option, so if I get one, I'm going to try to combine it with my current cyclometer

 

[mostapha]

The cheap ones are the same as speed sensors. A "receiver" goes on the chain stay near the crank and a you zip tie a small magnet onto the crank arm near the pedal…it counts every time the "receiver" detects the magnet and calculates your cadence.

They get erratic if you ride too close to a power transformer or ride in places with a lot of RF interference, but they do work the vast majority of the time.

I do kinda wish I'd sprung for one with a back light, though.

 

[LuV2SkRaTcH]

I know what you mean! LoL I ride in the evening, a little before sunset, and can't see my heart rate monitor or my cyclometer... LoL! I do have a very nice front light though so I can see the road pretty well, my dad says I look like a car. My rear light is a decent Walmart one. Maybe in the future I'll get some lights for my wheels for fun. Saw some on ThinkGeek that can show designs and stuff. LoL! They also have a helmet attachment for the front light that I might get once I get a job and maybe a few Darwins lol.

 

[nanovapr]

Back home @ 3:30 am, played a band gig. I am a severe gadget freak, but for the bike? I have no electronic ones. I've been a GPS hobbyist for ten years, but don't have a bike-specific one. I don't want the battery drain for any phone programs. This is a rural riding area for me, there are other riders, but never any gas-powered vehicles (for 250 miles). If riding alone, I want to know that I can always phone out in case of a problem that wasn't allowed for.

I do carry a standalone GPS, I can export the track to a PC and review peaks and averages.

I did find a backpack I like for biking that is only sporadically in stock in Target stores, not online. I try to keep tubes/tools/pump/water on the bike, yet I carry other stuff, just in case. It's very small and light (laptop bags are too big and square), and it has a sternum strap so you don't have to keep wiggling it up on your shoulders. A ten-year warranty is hard to find, and that company has been in business for a hundred years or so.