Yes, they do. Cycling shorts are far superior to any other type of shorts.
Cycling shorts have certain advantages over regular shorts. The material they are made of is superior and more durable. They wick sweat better. They fit better. They are more comfortable. They are more aerodynamic.
We personally think that the equipe bike shorts by Corbah are some of the best out there.
No, you don't wear anything under bike shorts. They're meant to fit against the skin.
Yes, you wash after every ride.
Some people opt to wear something like Gym Shorts over their bike shorts. But the best substitute for bike shorts would be as little fabric as possible. Fabric does very little for you. Even running shorts are as light as possible.
Cycling shorts are black because black is the most opaque in the direct sun. Black shorts are typically made from pre-dyed fabric.
Tight shorts are more comfortable and more aerodynamic at high speeds.
Yes, you can.
There is a new trend in cycling shorts for them to be like compression gear. That's fine. They can be tight. But not so tight that they cut off circulation. They should not fit loose, however.
They can be. I've seen people walk in bike shorts. I've seen people do yoga in bike shorts. Personally, I wouldn't do either in bike shorts.
Bib shorts are superior to bike shorts, in my opinion. They are more comfortable. And they don't have elastic around the waist.
Bib shorts are superior. Just look at the pro peloton. Everyone wears bib shorts for a reason.
Yes, bike bibs are worth it. They offer several advantages over regular shorts or even high-end cycling shorts.
They should fit comfortably against the skin.
I wore underpants once under my bike shorts and was made fun of by 20 nerds for 2 hours, up to you.
No. Nothing.
Bike shorts and cycling shorts are the same things. No difference.
Tight shorts are better at high speed. They are more aerodynamic and wick sweat better.
I've never worn Tights WITH cycling shorts. Perhaps leg warmers, but not tights.
One thing I've done to stop butt pain is to put my saddle down 1 millimeter at a time. Usually, my butt hurts when my saddle is too high. A high saddle puts excess pressure on your butt.
Yes, wash after every ride.
No.
The only thing I would consider wearing under-bib shorts is a base layer or, if you're a female, some sort of chest support.
You sure can. Is it ideal? No.
Some do. Some don't. Some trim.
The pockets on the back of a cycling jersey are usually used to hold food, gels, extra water bottle, cell phone, bike pumps, tubes, CO2 cartridge, or many other possible things. The pockets are used like any other pocket to hold stuff.
Cycling bibs are typically the first piece of kit you put on. You put your bibs on, and if you want to wear a base layer, put that on before putting your arms through the bib straps.
The only thing under your cycling jersey is possibly your short bib straps.
While cycling, you can carry things in several ways. You can get a top tube bag, and you can get a handlebar bag, you can get a bag under your saddle, and you can put things in your jersey pockets. For larger items like a spare tire, some people fasten those to the back of their bicycle seat post.
I've always carried my phone in my back jersey pocket.
I think my fastest 1 mile ever is just under 2 minutes. If you're riding leisurely, you could double that time or even more. Just depends.
I've never heard of a cyclist wearing a cup. Some bicycle chamois offer similar but not equal protection.
Yes, they can. Some do.
I would avoid any cotton or unnecessary layers.
You need to see a special bike fitter if you're having groin pain. Or even consult a doctor. It is not normal.
Yes, I would never consider cycling without padded shorts.
Yes, your base layer goes under your bib shorts.
Yes, and also, corbah has a great base layer for sale.
Do cycling clothes make a difference?
Not only do cycling clothes make a huge difference on a per-user basis, but they are also cheaper than using your gym clothes or gym shirt and destroying those with repeated use.
I've had bicycle shorts last years and years with repeated use. If they don't last at least one season, they were made cheaply.
Your best bet is going to be to hang out in the sunlight. A breezy, sunny afternoon should dry your shorts in under an hour. And the sun will also kill a lot of bacteria. If that's not available, the key would be to hang. They are in a place with lots of airflow. And if that isn't available, you can take two towels, and place one flat on the ground. Lay the bib shorts flat on the towel. Then place another towel over top and toll all three layers up like a burrito. Make it as tight as possible. And then unroll your cycling shorts burrito, flip the towels over, and repeat. This should extract a lot of moisture but won't get it all.
Store your bike clothing in a cool dry place.
Most peoples bums get used to cycling.
They should last at least a year if they're made to any standard.
Your typical bike short is not meant to be worn this way.
In my experience, the best remedy for soreness from cycling is very low-intensity exercise, like a walk. Or a massage.
Nope.
You do not typically wear shirts under your bibs. However, I have worn a base layer under my bib straps.
Chamois are the pads that protect your rear end that is sewn into bib shorts.
I love my cycling vest. It's my most versatile piece of kit.
This could be due to a medical condition, and you need to consult a doctor. However, when I would ride 100+ miles with friends, we would usually stop around mile 60 for a snack and drink. We would intentionally keep this rest stop short so that our legs wouldn't feel fatigued. You're breaking down muscle when your cycling, so you need to make sure you're not letting crap build up too much in your legs. You need to rest and recover them.
Consult a doctor, but when my legs are sore, I usually do a 1-hour bike ride to get get my heart pumping and blood circulating. I do this at a very slow speed. Maybe 12-15 miles per hour.
This might sound funny, but in the winter, I would apply a nice thin coat of Vaseline on my legs and arms to help hold in the heat. I found that Vaseline is great for trapping the heat. You can also apply some to your lower back and rear end in order to protect against spray for your wheels. It's a great weather sealant.
This is not a recommendation I would make.
Cyclists wear arm warmers to keep their arms warm but also have the option to remove the arm warmers when the temperature or pace rises, and their body no longer requires the additional warmth.
Cyclists wear leg warmers to keep their legs warm but also have the option to remove the leg warmers when the temperature or pace rises, and their body no longer requires the additional warmth.
You will get in shape most likely. No guarantees. No refunds.
Yeah, most people will lose weight from cycling. It's low impact and can even burn muscle.
Bike shorts that go below the knee are called Bib Knickers.
Yes, bike shorts help a lot!
Not usually, but you can.
]]>What kit do I need for cycling?
When I was racing regularly, I remember the final check loading my car up to go to the race was as follows and in this order of importance:
In my opinion, if you're going to do a hard ride, that is the bare minimum you need to have. Everything above that is a nice-to-have.
What is cycling gear?
Cycling gear is just a phrase that cyclists use to describe their stuff. Without the gear, you can't go cycling.
What is a cycling pack called?
Those cycling packs you see people wearing are typically something like a camel pack. It's filled with water. Or some other sports drink.
What is special about cycling shorts?
Cycling shorts are form fitting to prevent two main problems. Problem #1 is chaffing. Problem #2 is the flapping in the wind. If you wear regular shorts, they will absolutely come apart faster than a nice set of cycling shorts. Also, cycling shorts will be more comfortable.
Do I have to wear cycling clothes?
You don't have to do anything. But if you want people to take you seriously and not look at you like a liability, you need to take cycling seriously. Cycling can be really, really dangerous if the person you're riding with isn't taking it seriously. It's a group sport where everyone's safety is dependent upon one another.
Why do you need cycling shoes?
Cycling shoes are one of the most important pieces of kit. Several reasons make them important. Regular shoes will wear out faster. Cycling Shoes will allow you to Clip-in which gives you the ability to engage many more muscle groups and extend your endurance and increase your power.
What should you not wear when cycling?
Cotton or anything cotton based. Cotton is not a great fabric for cycling. It is also not a great fabric for the new york Yankees uniforms.
Are cycling shorts necessary?
If you are doing frequent long rides, yes, they're pretty essential.
Can I wear shorts over cycling shorts?
I've done it before. I've worn shorts as undergarment underpants or something like that when I was commuting by bike to work.
Do you wear pants under cycling shorts?
No, you wear nothing under cycling shorts. Cycling shorts are supposed to fit tight against the skin, like a glove!
Why do cyclists wear tight clothes?
The number one reason cyclists wear tight clothes is the aerodynamic advantage. They also hold up to the elements better. They wick sweat better. And generally are easy to clean, wash, and don't stink after a few rides like a cotton shirt might.
Can I swim in bike shorts?
Corban makes triathlon apparel and cycling apparel. The main difference between a cycling skinsuit and a tri-suit is the chamois. The chamois is thinner for triathlon and will not soak up the water as bike shorts will.
What is long-distance cycling called?
There are several different types of long-distance cycling. Some may call it Endurance Riding. Some may call it a multi-day or 24-hour event. It depends on the specific event. There are also things called Braves. There are C2C rides in Florida that stand from coast to coast.
What does RP mean in cycling?
RPE is an old training metric before cycling computers were really popular. It means the Rate of Perceived Exertion.
What does HD mean in cycling?
HD means Hors délai, which is French for "out of time." This is a designation for when a rider finishes after the allotted time and is eliminated from the competition.
How do you wear cycling pants?
Cycling pants are put on like any other set of pants, one leg at a time. You pull them up and make sure that the leg grippers are seated properly. If the leg grippers come down too close to your knee or are fitting over your quad loosely, you can fold them over one time or get them hemmed.
What should I wear for cycling in summer?
You should wear light-colored clothing. You should cover your body to prevent the sun from damaging your skin.
Why do cyclists wear jerseys?
Cycling jerseys offer the following benefits over a regular cotton shirt:
I cannot speak for everyone, but cycling for me has improved my mood. Cycling gives you a good thing to focus on. It's fun. It is good to take out your stress.
Are 30 minutes of cycling a day enough?
Many sedentary people will see great improvements by cycling 30 minutes per day. That's 3.5 hours per week. I think that you could get the performance of a category five bike racer with 30-60 minutes of hard work per day. I've tested it before, and I've seen great improvements when mixing weight lifting in with it as well. My opinion was that if you're not doing huge volume, your body has tons of reserves left for recovery and repair. You're not depleting all your vitamins and minerals, and your body is in a happy state.
It's well known that cycling improves blood flow. I assume that it has many cognitive benefits.
In my opinion, cycling will not give you a traditionally well-sculpted body. In fact, my years of cycling have left my quads over-developed and my arms underdeveloped.
I've never heard of this being a requirement for cycling. I'm sure some do, and some don't.
There are several types of cycling tops. You have base layers, and you have short sleeve jerseys, long sleeve jerseys, and sleeveless jerseys.
You can't look at temperature alone. Humidity can hurt your body's ability to regulate temperature with sweat. So humidity and the sun play roles in how your body handles the heat.
My guide is as follows.
This is how you look cool on a bike. Whether or not this is smart or a good way to cycle is a different discussion.
The same thing as men, but the female versions.
Padded shorts will be far more comfortable than any other type of shorts.
When you see people with what looks like tights coming out of their bike shorts, those are usually just Leg Warmers, and they do not go all the way up to the crotch.
DNF means Did Not Finish.
Two people riding one bike is called Tandem Cycling.
Grinding is when you're cycling and spinning your legs under about 60 RPM. You are gear grinding at that pace.
Many studies show that cycling between 80-90 RPM is the most efficient. You can spin faster when you're racing so that you can keep your torque up on the rear wheels.
Anywhere between 80-100 is good. It will depend on the situation. Sometimes I like spinning under 80RPM just to switch it up. There are no hard and fast rules.
Depends on the terrain. A 10-mile ride can be a very hard workout if it's very inclined.
Distance is not relevant. Thinking "what is a good distance" is a beginner thought. Distance means very little.
The most I've ever ridden is 150 Miles or 241 KM in a day. That was quite difficult.
I do. I wash my shorts after every ride.
After 10+ years of selling bicycle clothing online, the number one reason I've encountered for people's shorts being too long is that they have a weight that isn't proportionate to their height. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. We only have six different sizes, and some body types are more difficult than others to size. My advice to anyone who feels like their shorts are too long is to have them altered by a tailor or seamstress.
To show off their muscles better. After many years of pondering this, it's really just that. It makes your legs look more muscular.
It makes their legs look better and not as skinny.
There's nothing physically preventing you from biking in jeans; however, it is not ideal. I would not recommend it.
Cyclists wear gloves for two reasons primarily.
Trial and error
There has been a recent trend in bike shorts to fit more like a girdle and suck in your fat. In my opinion, cycling shorts should fit skin tight and no more tight than that.
Black is the most opaque color for cycling shorts. When it comes to manufacturing, any other non-pre-dyed fabric besides black is going to be somewhat see-thru.
I sometimes cycle in gym shorts, but I don't find it comfortable.
To me personally, sometimes it feels like a solid 20% difference in my cycling speed and definitely way more comfortable for long distances.
You might look at cycling clothing as expensive but understand this, from an economic perspective, a cycling kit that lasts four times longer than your standard gym outfit is going to be far cheaper on a per-use basis than anything else.
Sure, you can. You can also mow the lawn without pants. But what would you?
I've never heard of a cyclist wearing a cup.
I prefer specialized bike shoes.
In road shoes, I would advise against walking. In mountain bike shoes, I think walking short distances is okay.
Buying cycling shoes changed my whole idea of cycling when I first bought my first pair in 2008.
Avoid cotton. Avoid loose-fitting clothing. Underwear is not needed if wearing proper bike shorts.
Cyclists call their clothing Kit.
Cycling shoes allow you to engage more muscle groups and therefore go faster.
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What I mean by this is you need to create in your mind what exactly is a road cyclist. What are some metrics that YOU must satisfy in your mind to say, "I am now a road cyclist." If you're looking for examples of some of those goals, keep on reading. Satisfying these goals will mean you've made it.
Being a road cyclist is all about bringing the right tool to the job. Are you naturally trim, lightweight, and skinny? Perhaps consider being someone who specializes in hills and mountains. Are you 200 pounds or ~90kg and have no interest in losing weight? Guess what? You might be a force to be reckoned with in crosswinds and the flats. Focus on big power numbers at all costs. Eat whatever you want! Have more of an all-arounder physique? Kind of the jack of all trades and master of none? Well, maybe consider being good at everything. Regardless of your riding style, eating healthy will go farther than anything else.
Nothing worse than being held back by your gear. So be sure to invest in a decent road bike with at least ten speeds, some proper clipless pedals, a nice helmet, gloves, bib shorts, and a jersey from your favorite team. After you put some miles into your legs, you will probably realize that comfort is key, and having a nice set of tires will make a day in the saddle much more pleasant. Make sure everything fits!
You cannot exercise your way to being in shape. Really, it really really is a fact. In my life, I've done a lot of cycling and a lot of training. And your diet is the foundation from which you develop all fitness. Here is some advice I've picked up along the way. You cannot really go wrong with fruit. You can 100% overdo carb intake. What you eat during your ride is not all that important, but there are things that can sit in your stomach like lead. Inflammation is your enemy.
Get in the good habit of getting good sleep. Your performance will be bottlenecked by this.
You need to understand what is half-wheeling. Half wheeling is when you're in a double paceline, and you're going just a little faster than the person next to you. Typically by about half a wheel length. You need to learn how to read the wind. The wind and terrain dictate how you should flow in the paceline. If you're rotating, you must always rotate in the direction of the wind.
There is no better way to become a real roadie than to talk to friends about bikes. They will give you feedback and advice on what to wear, how you look, what you're doing wrong, etc.
Try gravel cycling, cyclocross, or mountain biking. Cross-training in these categories will add to your repertoire, and the gains you get will be amplified.
Consistency is absolutely key. Whenever I've truly been a good rider is when I was getting on the bike every single day and riding. You don't even have to do much. Just keep your body and your training moving forward.
You absolutely cannot rush fitness. You just can't. You can't cram in training before a race, and you cannot enslave yourself to training. It all comes from balanced progression and overload. I recommend using a power meter and taking your training load up a few points a week.
If you want to get into cycling, you need to know the sponsors, the riders, and their fashion cues. All of it. Just enjoy watching the classics at first, then move on to the more obscure races.
I've watched many people get into cycling. If you're completely committed and ride every day, I think you could become a decent cyclist in 6 months. I don't think you could do that on your own. You will need a mentor or group of friends that are pseudo coaching you. But if you took it seriously and trained every day, I don't see a reason why you couldn't become a good cyclist in 6 months.
20 minutes per day. In the beginning phases, consistency is more important than duration. And as a more advanced cyclist, I can tell you that if you gave me 20 minutes per day of cycling, I could accomplish quite a bit. In 20 minutes, I could do an all out effort with a sprint at the end that would really be a great workout.
If you cycle every day and titrate it properly, you will get optimal gains. There is a reason why pros don't take days off, they just go easy. The general consensus is that if you're not cycling that day, your body is actually "switching modes" from improvement to recovery and when you do come back after the day off, you'll be sluggish. I agree with this sentiment. Yrmv.
Yes, a gravel bike can keep up in some scenarios. A gravel bike is best suited to beat a road bike on a ride that has similar terrain to something like Paris Roubaix. The good thing about gravel bikes is that they typically have longer wheel bases than road bikes and often times, as low or lower bottom brackets. These two features make gravel bikes great for Roleur type rides where you're just sitting at high speeds. Where a gravel bike will be left behind is in any of the extreme conditions. For example, a tight technical crit will get really old really fast on a gravel bike. On a ride with tons of sharp climbs or switchbacks, a road bike will be way better suited.
Yes. Everyone has abs, it's just hidden by fat. And cycling is a great way to shed that fat. It's even better if you live by mountains and steep climbs as these climbs require tons of core strength.
The physical transformation of your leg muscles are going to depend on a couple of things. Cleat position: if your cleats are farther back, your calves will shrink. Seat position: if your seat is farther back, your hamstrings will develop at the expense of your quads. If your seat is forward and your cleats are forward, you'll develop calves and quads.
Two Reasons: You need to learn how to ride slow and spin fast. All bicycle for novices half gears that will allow you to spin and spin. That gear is the one that is smallest up front in the crank and largest out back in the rear cogs. Learn how to use this gear and ride slow.
Reason number two is that you start out too hard. You need to learn how to pace the hill. The problem is when you go REALLY hard at the beginning, it tires out your legs exponentially. So a really hard 30 seconds at the base will cost you a time of time towards the top.
]]>PROS: The most significant benefit of mounting your GoPro to your helmet is that the view will be from the same point of view as you. The experience a watcher will have while watching your video will be very similar to what you experienced on that bike ride. If you look left, your camera will point left. That being said, if you tend to angle your helmet down and look forward to get a bit more of an aero position, your camera will be focused on the ground. Additionally, a helmet-mounted GoPro will also experience way less vibration than handlebar mounted. There are many dampers between the pavement and the camera itself.
Many have noted that the highest quality videos come from a helmet-mounted camera.
CONS: are that you're adding mass mounted off of your head. Your helmet will most likely need some adjustment to hold more firmly to your skull. In the event of a crash, there will be new things to break near your face, and you're modifying your helmet to do something it wasn't originally designed to do. Some have noted that the weight of the camera becomes noticeable on longer rides.
This is probably the best setup for mountain bikers. Chest mounted camera setups will have the most stable camera angle. There will be minimal bouncing around, vibration, etc. If you're on single tracks with tons of ups and downs and obstacles, this is the best position. You will get a lot of footage of how the rider is maneuvering his or her bicycle.
That being said, your field of view is very restricted. If some action happens off to the side, you cannot easily focus on it with the camera. If you're already wearing a camelback or loose-fitting jersey, the mounting will most likely not bug you at all.
The handlebar mount is the most convenient and most comfortable to set up. Go pro mounts exist that integrate with a Garmin mount, so you never have to take the adaptor off your bike. The viewpoint is off the front of the bike, so if you have no interest in seeing hand position or what is below, then this is for you.
The biggest con for this setup is that of vibration and jerkiness. Handlebars are hung off the front of the bike, and any road imperfection can be amplified.
Also, it is important not to mount the GoPro directly to the bar (composite on composite) because it will transmit a lot of vibration. Try using a cut-up inner tube to act as a shock absorber by wrapping it tightly around the handlebars and then mounting your GoPro mount to that, clamping down tightly.
]]>Your high limit screw will be on your rear derailleur and is usually marked with an H. This screw will limit the amount of range of your rear derailleur. If your high limit screw is off, then your chain might come off your *Smallest* cog and shift outboard too far. This limit adjuster prevents your bike from shifting over the limit of the smallest cog outward. To make the adjustment:
Once this is all done, you can align your rear derailleur pulley wheel with the cog by turning the H limit screw clockwise until you hear the drive train become noisy. Once it's noisy, back the screw out until the noise is gone, and you have a smooth-running chain.
Make sense?
The purpose of this adjustment is to make sure the derailleur lines up with each cog. The first step is to ensure the chain is on the correct front chainring. If you have a double, make sure it's on the biggest chainring. If you have a triple, make sure it's in the middle chainring.
Adjusting the indexing takes a bit of trial and error, but we can do it systematically so that our results are repeatable, and we minimize the work. The first step is to shift your rear derailleur into the smallest cog. Once we're in the smallest cog, shift up one single click. If the chain does not make it to the next gear, return the gear to the outermost cog using the shift lever and then turn the barrel adjuster on the rear derailleur one turn counter-clockwise. Repeat this step until it makes the step.
If your shift lever is shifting multiple sprockets, in the rear, that means your shift cable is too tight, and tension must be taken out of the shift cable by turning the barrel adjuster clockwise.
Now we fine-tune the rear cog since we have the general setup done. Shift up and down the sprocket and check for noise. If there is excessive noise, turn the barrel adjuster clockwise just a quarter turn and check for excessive noise. Repeat until the sound is no more. Repeat this for all sprockets.
The key here is to adjust this screw too tightly and then back it out. This limit screw offers protection from going off the biggest cog and into the wheel spokes. To begin, shift your chain to the next smallest chainring. If you cannot get into the largest rear cog, if it shifts slowly into the largest cog, or there's a ton of noise in the largest cog, then your L screw is already too tight. Loosen the screw a quarter turn at a time until you can make it into that biggest rear cog properly.
The key here, like the other parts of this job, is that we need to tighten the L screw until we create symptoms of an L screw that is too tight, then loosen it one half turn. The symptoms we're looking to create are:
To check your work, try to shift the rear derailleur past the low limit while your bike is stationary. Watch and see if the rear derailleur can move past that largest cog. If it moves, you've done something wrong.
The B Screw makes your shifting snappy and quick. What it does is pulls the derailleur wheels closest to your biggest cog. To check this, put your bike in the smallest chainring and largest rear cog. Most manufacturers recommend a 5 mm gap between your rear pulley and the largest rear cog. If the gap between your derailleur and largest rear cog is too small, your drivetrain will sound loud and crunchy. To increase the gap, turn the B screw clockwise.
Having a worn-out chain and sprocket will make this task infinitely more difficult. If you're noticing that no matter what you've done, the bike won't get into gear properly, it could be because of a worn-out component. In my experience, chains begin to show signs of wear after 2000 miles. Cassettes don't wear out too fast but riding a worn chain on a cassette will wear it out faster. Terrain will likely be the largest factor here.
If you've completed all these steps, your derailleur is properly adjusted.
]]>This blog post is divided into three categories, and I'll be picking 2 bikes for each category.
The winner of the aero category goes to the Specialized Sworks Venge with SRAM eTap AXS. This bike is seamless. For $12,500, we still think it's a bargain. It comes with eTap electronic shifting which will give you an aero boost since there are no shifter cables. And, it comes with 64mm deep section carbon wheels. We would have given this one the win for all arounder but we feel that the frame has made a few sacrifices for speed in favor of comfort. Which, given it's an aero bike is a sacrifice we're prepared to accept.
The system six is our runner-up to the Venge. Given that this bike stood out in front of so many competitors, I still think that's quite the win for Cannondale. I think Cannondale wanted to preserve a lot of the essence of many other bikes in their lineup. Kind of much of the way Porsche won't put a bigger motor in the Caymen due to fears that it'll start putting down faster trap times than the 911. That being said, the System Six weighs in around 17.4 pounds. That weight is quite a bit heavier than even the SuperSix hi-mod bikes of 2015. It does beat out the Venge in terms of price, shaving off $1500 but we're not sure that's worth the almost 1kg penalty it has over the Venge.
We love Cannondale. The SuperSix HiMod DuraAce is the tool for the job when it comes to races. You a cherry-picked set of qualities that are all meant to bring you the best blend of race bike out there. Finding a sub-16-pound weight is very doable, and they come out of the box right around that number. You get aero features like an aero Seatpost, drop seat stays, and internal cable routing, but it doesn't compromise the weight or handling of the bike in any way.
This is a bike meant to be a bike.
The Madone SLR9 would have won this category if it wasn't for the weight penalty and price. This bike is nearly $13,000 out of the box and weighs in at 17 and a half pounds about. We found that the blend of comfort, aero, race geometry, weight, made this bike a great tool for much of the road racing you see today.
We cannot sing this bikes praises enough. The Giant TCR does so many things well. If you're a road cyclist, this is the one bike that does it all.
The Cervelo R5 is another one of those fantastically balanced bikes, made by a manufacturer with a lifetime of experience who is just trying to make a Good bike. It comes with all the accouterments one would expect like a top of the line group, disc, carbon frame, etc. And it comes at an affordable price.
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Debris in the road? Point it out. Turning left? Signal left. Coming to a stop sign or light? signal to slow or shout "slowing." These are at a bare minimum what is expected. If you are riding on the front, you are responsible for the rest of the group behind you. That means not dragging them into gravel unexpectedly or blasting them through an intersection.
If you can feel your power going up and you're working harder, you're probably putting too much stress on the group. That is, unless the point of the ride is to go hard, but that's a different story. This is something most felt on uphills. If you're going notably harder on an uphill, you're more than likely going to string out the group and mess up the ride.
If you're on the front and coasting down the hill, you're messing up the ride in most cases. On the front, you are facing more headwinds, so it's incumbent upon you to continue to put out a similar power down the hill as you did up.
What is Half-Wheeling, you ask? Well, when you're on the front of a double paceline, the handlebars should be lined up and parallel. If you're half wheeling, think of your handlebars lining up with the leading edge of your cycling buddies front wheel.
This tip is somewhat dependent upon what the group has already agreed upon. But it is common that larger groups might split up on longer climbs. If that happened and the group has a 'no-drop' policy, be sure to wait and grab a couple of great pics at the top of the climb.
Braking should be an absolute last resort when riding in a group. There are even some disciplines of cycling that ban the use of brake levers entirely -- track cycling. So if you can avoid it, try not to grab a fist full of brakes at any time.
If you notice a fellow rider doing something silly or that makes you nervous, make a mental note of it and don't do it.
It might look cool to ride with no hands, but when you do it, you put the whole group at risk.
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But, you turn on the latest stage of The Tour and see riders pedaling smoother than you could ever dream of. Here are my top tips for a perfect pedal stroke.
This is a bit of a back-pedal from what was thought of before that you are most efficient around 90 cadence. But lots of recent studies have suggested that the ideal cadence varies a lot from rider to rider. My advice to you is to pick a cadence that works for you and the type of riding you do.
If you watch the pros ride, you'll see a variety of saddle heights. That is, some might have a ton of seatpost sticking out and others wont have much at all. But you will see one trend: when the leg is at the 6'o'clock position on the pedal stroke, their knee will make a 25-30 degree angle.
To do this, you will need to relax your arms and shoulders. Try incorporating some core exercises.
This tip is a bit intuitive. If your muscles face less resistance through the range of motion used in cycling, you'll be more efficient. Meaning, a tight quad muscle won't be throwing off your stroke. The more flexible you are, the more aero you'll be able to be without tightening up.
I will preface this by saying that before you engage in any low cadence drills, consult a physician. Some folks are more predisposed to knee injuries and dropping the cadence will put more force on your joints. That being said, the common belief here is that increasing the tension on your legs will lead to more neuromuscular recruitment.
A typically low cadence drill might look something like 80% of FTP at 60RPM for 5 to 10 minutes. Again, consult a physician before taking on any new workout regiment.
Cycling is a sport that takes place on various terrain. If you are cresting a hill and going onto a short descent, be sure to shift into the appropriate gear before it's needed. If your riding with a group of people, they will thank you for not coasting on the front down the hills.
Alternatively, if you're coming into an uphill section, make sure the appropriate gear is selected before you try ad mash the 53x11 into a 8% grade.
]]>All things being equal, a carbon frame is going to cost more. Yes, you might be able to get a carbon frame from Alibaba for cheap but there really is no comparison to something imported directly to the USA from Taiwan and something purchased from a reputable brand.
So, one could say that Aluminum wins in the bargain department. But you need to make up your mind about what is valuable.
Difference #2: Comfort
Carbon, all else being equal, is more comfortable than Aluminum. There is a reason even aluminum bikes use carbon forks. And high-end saddles use carbon rails.
Difference #3: Stiffness
Stiffness is one of those things that becomes noticeable when it comes to power transfer. You may look back to Tour de France videos of yesteryear to see the riders on frames that seemed small for their height. This is because they would size down those old alloy frames to make them less "noodley."
In the stiffness department, carbon wins out.
Difference #4 : Weight
Carbon in terms of weight wins out here. If you were to create a bike with the same rigidity, a carbon bike will weigh less than an aluminum bike.
Difference #5: Durability
In this department, Aluminum might be the winner. A big difference between aluminum and carbon is that when a carbon bike is overstressed, it will crack and require costly repairs. This may in some cases yield catastrophic results. Do a google search of "catastrophic carbon failure" and you'll know what I mean. Aluminum, on the other hand, may "yield" where carbon would crack.
Difference #5: Looks
I think Carbon wins here but your personal opinion may differ. The thing about carbon is that it can be molded in any which way. Aluminum faces difference constraints, however, and has a more limited range of designs. So given the absolute flexibility of how a carbon bike can be designed, the ole carbon frame takes the win here.
]]>This is the most important aspect of buying a bike. It is why you can go to a cyclist's house and find their garage littered with so many bikes. Even though the basic components of a bike are shared -- Frame, Handlebars, Wheels, that doesn't mean they're all the same. So figure out what you'll be using the bike for and find that bike. Remember, a bike that you commute on will not be the same bike for races. You can go even deeper and say, well, what kind of race are you going to do? Hilly? Flat? Time Trial? These will all require a different bike.
I typically err on the side of a smaller bike. I do this because it's easier (and arguably way cooler looking) to jack the saddle up or put a 140mm stem on a bike that's a hair too small than it is to shorten a stem to a nubby and slam the saddle to the top tube.
Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace. These are fantastic places to look for a bike that's just a couple years old and steeply discounted. If you can't find what you're looking for, try a bike shop. Better yet, even after buying a used bike, make sure your bike shop gives it a nice once-over.
Let's say you found your dream bike. It's a Sagan Edition Tarmac with 53x39 up front and an 11-25 rear cassette. You lock it down, set it up for a ride, go out with your friends, and then you're dropped on the first climb when things get steep. Swapping out cassettes can cost hundreds of dollars and not all cranksets can even go down to compact chainrings. So make sure the bike you're buying has the right gearing.
It doesn't matter how cool or perfect your bike is, if the brakes don't work and your chain is skipping, it's not going to be an enjoyable experience. Figure a chain is going to cost somewhere around $30-60 installed and will require a refresh every 2-4 months. Cassettes annually @ $90. Brakes, brake cables, housing, and shifter housing will set you back another $125 / year installed. These are just rough estimates.
So this tip might not help you as much in the short run as it might help you in the long run. Cycling is a community sport. It takes bike paths, awareness, respect from drivers, and other infrastructure to make cycling enjoyable.
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With this tip, people are typically referring to getting out there on the bike and working through the cold. I cannot recommend against this enough. Dehydrating yourself is literally the opposite of what most people recommend. This might be what they recommended years ago, but not now.
While low cadence intervals are quite certainly a thing, the cadence required for this exercise is sub 30 RPM and is spelling disaster for your knees.
You will get no training benefit out of this. This is stupid.
If you want to minimize the amount of time you spend in your zone (which is not what most coaches recommend) then do this. If you start out too hard, the rest of the climb will be absolutely miserable.
Yep, slammed stems look cool. But a low stem is something you need to work up to. If you want to get more aero on the bike, try making very small increments. Take out one spacer every month or so until you reach the desired height.
There may be some situations where you want to have carbohydrates in your diet but loading your belly full of past and going to bed is not the best way to get good rest.
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Not only is this a mistake that can leave you stranded, it's also not fair to the cyclists you ride with to outsource your needs to them. I recommend a small saddle bag or if you can't stand to lose the aero advantage, just a small zippered pouch you can throw in your pockets. At a minimum, it's recommended that you bring:
As a bonus, think about bringing:
In my experience, if you're riding for over an hour, bring food. I can typically ingest about 100 calories per hour. Any more than that and the food will sit in your stomach. Stick to simple carbs but ditch anything hard and dry. There is nothing worse than being out of breath and taking a big lung-full of cookie dust! For water, bring a sports drink. In warmer weather, allocate a 16-ounce bottle per hour. Obviously, use your judgment depending on intensity but 1 bottle per hour is somewhere right in the middle that has worked for me. Consult a doctor first.
This is really not one you can teach someone how to avoid. You need to learn it by experience. But over-braking if you're in a big group can pose some serious issues.
This is a common one and also possibly the easiest to fix. A saddle that is too high will hurt the economy of your pedal stroke and kill your power. It'll also stress hip muscles and hamstrings. So if you're getting hamstring pain, think about dropping your saddle a little bit.
How can you spot it? That's an easy one. If your hips are "rocking" back and forth like you're reaching to get to the bottom of the pedal stroke then you're saddle is too high. Try dropping it in small increments first.
Now I'm not saying this is the only way to wash a kit. And if you do it another way, more power to you. But I've done it this way for the last 15 years as well as tried other methods and this one yielded the best results. Here are some tips:
There is nothing more embarrassing than falling over at a red light or stop sign. If you want to avoid this, you need to build muscle memory. In my opinion, it's not enough to hold onto a railing and practice rotating your ankle. You need to make it second-nature. To practice this, go to an open parking lot with no one around and practice going through the motions of coming to a stop and unclipping before putting that foot down.
Like with racing, the best tire contact patch for braking is when your bike is going straight. Braking mid-corner will put forces on the tire that might make it more susceptible to washing out underneath you.
Nobody likes a squeaky chain. But over-lubing yours can actually lead to pre-mature wear because a wet chain will capture dirt and dust and then work that abraisive paste into the rollers.
This one is a no brainer. Having a panty-line or a bunched up pair of boxers is going to ruin your day on the bike.
]]>This was a tip I had a little lower, but I decided to move it up to the top. This might be the number one way to increase the quality of your wrenching. It would help if you worked on your bike only when you aren't rushed and have the time to allocate to do it right. It doesn't matter how many tips and tricks you follow, and if you don't pay attention to details and you don't take your time, the job will not come out correct. If this rule isn't followed, you're going to have a bad time.
We're not saying that donning a mechanic shirt is going to make your stem bolts torque to a more specific value, but we are saying that if you're wearing a light shirt or a pair of shorts that you don't want to grease up. Wear something dark and as non-porous as possible. Think Dickies shorts and a dark shirt.
This is one of those mistakes I see all the time. Using an old pair of cable cutters or maybe even the wrong type of cable cutters for the job is going to leave your cables frayed. Frayed cables don't last as long, and you'll end up spending more in the long run.
This is one I'm particularly guilty of. It's also something we could speak to at length regarding the causes. But at the end of the day, the tool you're using is probably made of very hard steel, and an aluminum bolt is usually really soft. So if you use a metric hex wrench in a standard bolt, you're just going to have a bad time.
If you do end up rounding off a bolt, check out "Speed Out" at your local hardware store. It's basically a reverse threaded screw that mounts into a drill chuck and will bite your bolt and twister her out of the ole bolt hole.
In order to get this one right, you're going to need to consult your user manual. In most cases, two metal services or anything getting clamped is going to require a tiny bit of grease. The reason being is that your sweat can contain some corrosive salts or, in particularly grimy or rainy conditions, that dirt can form an abrasive paste. In the past, I've used special carbon grease for my Seatpost, I've greased water bottle cages, greased by Speedplay pedal bearings, as well as my headset (mostly due to sweat).
Make sure you apply grease as the manufacturer recommends to your items.
This is a pretty easy one to avoid, but many novices don't know the difference. If you frequently swap out carbon wheels, it's best to swap out the pads as well. Reason being, is that carbon wheels sometimes don't dissipate heat as well, and on a long descent, the result of overheating a set of wheels can be catastrophic. Additionally, if you're running regular aluminum wheels, the pads can pick up tiny metal particles over time and grind those right into your carbon braking surfaces.
We've all done it. We've wrenched in the old slippers or sandals or maybe without shoes at all. But bicycle tools are often made out of this new hard thing called metal. To make matters worse, tools are typically made from Tool Steel, which is a particular variety of metals that make dropping a wrench on your tootsie all that much more painful.
This one kind of goes back to #1. If you don't rerack your tools, if you don't have adequate conditions or workspace, good results will be much harder to come by.
Luckily, many of the items we take off the bike have fairly straight forward or obvious installation methods. Take installing a cockpit, for example. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you put the levers on before the tape. But, some still struggle. This isn't something I understand, and ingratiating myself with individuals that do such things is not an endeavor I wish to take on, but I digress. The best solution to this common mistake is right in your pocket or potentially in your hand right now. It's your cell phone. Take photos, take videos, make notes on how things were disassembled, and future homer will thank you.
I've seen this particular mistake a handful of times. Overtightening a spoke can make it more susceptible to breaking. And to be honest, the benefits you get can sometimes be negligible. A tight spoke will make your wheels feel snappy and responsive, but sometimes, going with J bend instead of straight pull and keeping a nice consistent tension will make for a very pleasant ride on our city's crumbling infrastructure.
Yes, this is a thing, and yes, it can have some negative consequences. The thing about chain lube is you want to use as little as is necessary. I word that very specifically because "what is necessary" can be up to debate. But in my experience, it's a tiny dab on each roller and then wipe off the excess. The problem with over lubing is that the lube can attract and hold dirt, turning it into an abrasive paste that will prematurely wear out rollers. Worse yet, the lube can get on critical components like the contact patch of your tire or on disc brakes or braking surfaces.
I must admit, this is quite a newb mistake. If you're disassembling your bike, or cleaning/re-lubing the seat post, forgetting to mark off the height is a big pain in the rear. It takes two seconds, take a little piece of tape and mark off exactly the first millimeter of exposed seat post above the frame. It'll save you loads of headaches down the road.
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