Learn me: bicycles

Going from my winter mountain bike on studded tires to the first ride on the road bike every year was always a revelation. I could feel the bike accelerate under me. A big part of that was the tires - as I mentioned, my city bike was a top-of-the-line Specialized that was a few years old, so it wasn't a heavy, nasty department store special.

But if you're commuting or running around the city, you want a bike that can take a pothole strike or hop a curb. Sure, you can bunnyhop or swerve, but it only takes one "I have no other option" moment to do some damage. You can get away without suspension, but you'll want some strong wheels. The more upright position makes for better visibility around you, too. Riding for fun on the open road? Go for the road bike. But you don't take a formula car to the mall.

My current road bike is a Giant (I think it's a TCR with a retrofitted triple crank if memory serves) that was reasonably priced and used from my local bike shop. I've got a set of aero bars on it and have used it in a tri. My previous road bike was a Bianchi that I built up from found parts when I worked at a bike shop. I'm not a super-serious rider, but even when I was young and fast they stood up to what I wanted.

I should build myself a roadbike.. it's been 30 years since I built a bike, so this might be a nice change

Tires make a huge difference in terms of survivability and comfort in city/utility riding. Going up a few sizes gives so much more air volume. A lot of modern pure road bikes have super skinny tires; one advantage of older bikes is that they tend to have larger clearances for upsizing tires.

02Pilot wrote: Tires make a huge difference in terms of survivability and comfort in city/utility riding. Going up a few sizes gives so much more air volume. A lot of modern pure road bikes have super skinny tires; one advantage of older bikes is that they tend to have larger clearances for upsizing tires.

I put a set of 700x35c hybrid tires on my singlespeed and it was a night and day difference on the bike. It's a converted 27" road frame, so it could accommodate them.

The roads in my town are rough and they just glide over everything--on or off road.

I'm interested in the responses about weight loss on a bicycle because I tend to think that weight loss and physical excretion (ie heart rate) have a lot to do with the type of riding.

Most road riders I know brag about mileage. "I rode 60 miles today in 3 hours" ...ok...woop dee doo. I can ride 100 miles in a day with a wind behind me and on a smooth surface. Most people could.

The best riders are the guys who ride 100 miles a week of mountain, 100 on road, run a few, swim a few. Thing is, they push it.

Instead of focusing on distance, focus on average speed and heart rate. I know that when I ride mtb on the average summer night I may only ride 15 miles in two hours, but by the end of those 15 miles I hurt and by the end of the summer I've lost 10lbs. 6 hours a week, tops. I gain it back in winter though.

No question that a mile of singletrack is WAY more challenging than a mile of road.

I cross-train with (road) hill intervals on my singlespeed because sometimes spinning in the flats doesn't do all that much.

That said--I'm a wholly unimpressive cyclist. I'll never be fast/competitive. I just like riding.

for those watching CL... http://bikepedia.com/ is a great resource... you can figure out how old a bike is... how much it was when new, and what kind of componets it has on it (or came with)... its not 100% accurate but a good start. (look under the bikes tab and then punch in the year>brand>model it'll give you other year options that bike was around

ya you can fit pretty large tires on older (80's to early 90's) road frames... I think I could have fit 35's on my '92 (?) trek road bike... also because it was steel I could stretch the rear out the few MM it took to fit a modern road wheel (mine was 126mm hub width and modern road is 130mm) but even if you go further back you can spread a steel frame to fit properly http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

today there are even a few companies that make the hub spacing a little "off" (surly cross check) at 132.5mm so it will take a tradiational road wheel @130mm or a MTB spacing at 135mm

but you can also fit 29er wheels with 700x38 tires on most 26ers made after the late 90's (rigid fork required) enough tire and strength you can ride mild singletrack with it (they even sell 26" to 700c brake adapters)... but its not going to be as fast as a real road bike (every time I ride a road bike i'm amazed at how fast I am lol)... right now i'm building a surly 1x1 with "29er" wheels and 700x38 tires...

basically Keith hit the nail on the head... so go re-read his post :) a little volume goes a long way... there is a reason you have to run 100psi or so in a 28c tire (considered VERY wide for most roadies) and only 60 or 70psi in a 38c... that lower pressure also gives a lot more comfort... but all at the cost of weight (wider rubber weighs more)

also... for those that have't... take some time over at http://sheldonbrown.com and enjoy :)...

If your main goal is to lose weight, bike riding, while wonderful for your overall fitness and cardio, does not lend itself to fat burning. You want to spend the majority of your fat burning workouts in a fairly low intensity zone, where the body will readily burn it's fat reserves for fuel. If you are in the mid to high intensity range, your body wants to burn fast carbs and sugars available in the stomach before utilizing fat.

Walking and swimming are excellent workouts to include in your cycling routine to really bump up the weight loss. Stay hydrated.

I haven't jogged since 1994, but I'm considering doing it occasionally again. I've lost 10lbs since 1/2/12 and I'm hoping to lose another 10 before my 40th birthday in May. That would still have me 20lbs heavier than when I last ran.

The cardio engine is there from riding/skipping rope. I'd just have to get used to the impact again. I stopped because I kept hurting myself.

We'll see...

I prefer mountain biking over road riding because it's just plain more fun I like the challenge of picking my line and doing whole-body moves to deal with obstacles. It's like the difference between rally and a track day. I actually find fast singletrack to be great practice for rally, actually, as it works the same mental processing. Throw in other riders and it gets more interesting, such as the difference between a track day and a wheel-to-wheel race.

From an exertion standpoint, trail riding is going to be more anaerobic than the more steady road riding.

Keith wrote: I prefer mountain biking over road riding because it's just plain more fun I like the challenge of picking my line and doing whole-body moves to deal with obstacles. It's like the difference between rally and a track day. I actually find fast singletrack to be great practice for rally, actually, as it works the same mental processing. Throw in other riders and it gets more interesting, such as the difference between a track day and a wheel-to-wheel race. From an exertion standpoint, trail riding is going to be more AEROBIC than the more steady road riding.

fixed that for you... nobody wants to exercise with a lack of oxygen

I will add that there are other old Schwinns to look out for, and they look just like their electro-welded frames, so a lot of people don't know that they're good bikes. Look for Super Sports, Sports Tourers, and Superior bikes. They are fillet brazed chrome moly bikes built by hand in the Chicago factory. I have a '73 Super Sport that I love to death. It rides as nice as any other $500 bike out there. It's a bit heavy, but it's a steel frame, which is what I prefer to ride, so any frame I like will be heavy.

90's and early 2k schwinn MTBs where AWESOME... especially when you got the homegrowns... I still want one...

I had a very early 90s Schwinn High Sierra. The first Generation with the cambrakes... I would have another in a heartbeat if I wanted a full non-suspension frame.

Sadly, mine got stolen and "recycled" by a scrapper

PHeller wrote: I'm interested in the responses about weight loss on a bicycle because I tend to think that weight loss and physical excretion (ie heart rate) have a lot to do with the type of riding. Most road riders I know brag about mileage. "I rode 60 miles today in 3 hours" ...ok...woop dee doo. I can ride 100 miles in a day with a wind behind me and on a smooth surface. Most people could. The best riders are the guys who ride 100 miles a week of mountain, 100 on road, run a few, swim a few. Thing is, they push it. Instead of focusing on distance, focus on average speed and heart rate. I know that when I ride mtb on the average summer night I may only ride 15 miles in two hours, but by the end of those 15 miles I hurt and by the end of the summer I've lost 10lbs. 6 hours a week, tops. I gain it back in winter though.

I'd say that a road bike on slightly hilly terrain at a medium pace would burn the most fat but mountain biking would be a better overall workout. I plan on adding a MB to my stable this year just to vary my workout. It will be nice to get away from cars.

I just swapped the old dryrotted knobbies on my MTB to a more "hardpack" friendly tyre today.. tomarrow I will give them a try and see how they feel.

To be honest, I should have done it before. Most of my rides are on pavement, broken roads, and hard dirt fireroads.. I did not need the knobbies

gamby wrote: Gangsta. I have an MS150 teammate who is doing and around the world trek. They're paused in New Orleans until it warms up.

Sweet! Do they have a web site? I've covered Santa Cruz to Boston and Beijing to Amsterdam, spending three months crossing Russia. I think Russia was better than the alternative - four thousand miles of desert crossing the Gobi and Kazakhstan.

mad_machine wrote:

Keith wrote: I prefer mountain biking over road riding because it's just plain more fun I like the challenge of picking my line and doing whole-body moves to deal with obstacles. It's like the difference between rally and a track day. I actually find fast singletrack to be great practice for rally, actually, as it works the same mental processing. Throw in other riders and it gets more interesting, such as the difference between a track day and a wheel-to-wheel race. From an exertion standpoint, trail riding is going to be more AEROBIC than the more steady road riding.

fixed that for you... nobody wants to exercise with a lack of oxygen

No, anaerobic. Short duration, high intensity - such as climbing the short, steep hills often found on singletrack but much less common on engineered roads.

My MO is to ride to the trails. So, it's usually 5-10 miles road, five miles of trail. Sometimes 15 miles to the trail, 10 miles of trail, then 10 miles home . With a few thousand feet of elevation change. It's nice to be able to mix up road and trail. Trail riding is so much fun, too. I also poke at my trials bike (really fun, really hard, really aerobic) and five to six miles of running. Plus practicing my balance, which I think is pretty important in general. Not sure, but I think that applies to being able to control a car, too.

Keith wrote:

mad_machine wrote:

Keith wrote: I prefer mountain biking over road riding because it's just plain more fun I like the challenge of picking my line and doing whole-body moves to deal with obstacles. It's like the difference between rally and a track day. I actually find fast singletrack to be great practice for rally, actually, as it works the same mental processing. Throw in other riders and it gets more interesting, such as the difference between a track day and a wheel-to-wheel race. From an exertion standpoint, trail riding is going to be more AEROBIC than the more steady road riding.

fixed that for you... nobody wants to exercise with a lack of oxygen

No, anaerobic. Short duration, high intensity - such as climbing the short, steep hills often found on singletrack but much less common on engineered roads.

what he said. that's why road riders who want to get faster do hill repeats and sprint intervals.

All I will say is this... there's something really enjoyable about single speed bicycles. Will a geared bike always be faster/more efficient? Yeah, I'd say so. But I don't like riding geared bikes.

I think it's similar to people who like simple older cars over newer ones with crazy bells and whistles.

Give me one speed and a good front brake and I'm happy.

Taiden wrote: All I will say is this... there's something really enjoyable about single speed bicycles. Will a geared bike always be faster/more efficient? Yeah, I'd say so. But I don't like riding geared bikes. I think it's similar to people who like simple older cars over newer ones with crazy bells and whistles. Give me one speed and a good front brake and I'm happy.

I've played with the idea of building up a single speed bike, but the terrain around here is quite hilly, which certainly makes gears a nice option. But I've got a couple frames sitting around waiting to be built up, and the simplicity appeals to me; I suppose I can always sell it if I can't make it work. Got to finish a couple other builds first, though.

Just pick a gear from your stack on the cassette, make up some spacers and center it. No need to spend lots of money to try a single speed.

Taiden wrote: Just pick a gear from your stack on the cassette, make up some spacers and center it. No need to spend lots of money to try a single speed.

Or you could just, you know... not shift.

tuna55 wrote:

Taiden wrote: Just pick a gear from your stack on the cassette, make up some spacers and center it. No need to spend lots of money to try a single speed.

Or you could just, you know... not shift.

Not at all the same. Not having the option is what makes the difference.