I want to ride my bicycle. I want to ride my bike.

It's certainly nice to have something that dries quickly, as opposed to cotton. I doubt an almost 10% increase in speed is due to wicking fabric, though. Truly, you must have dug deep into your suitcase of courage.

I think I know where you're coming from. I too have resisted the lycra lure for many years. It just smacks of taking it too seriously (says the man who's thinking a powertap hub would be really sort of neat).

Good choice, Neopythia; awesome bike :)

I also have a Cannondale Hybrid (the Quick CX3) and love it for commuting and exercise and some off-road stuff. I got it in May of this year and have already put over 1300K on it. Here's a pic of me from this morning finishing my leg of a triathlon relay (we came in 4th, :38 out of a medal).

I went on a local group ride today, which I hadn't done before. Add another thing to the should-have-done-it-years-ago list. I was a bit nervous about a) riding in a group, b) not being able to keep up and c) my ratty old bike. But everything was great, people were friendly, I had no problems keeping up, and it was tremendous fun rolling along at 25mph. And my bike was only the second rattiest there!

Went to a bike store on Saturday to get a general-use bicycle with some birthday money, since my last bike got stolen 3 years ago. Got a '12 Trek Verve 1 on sale for 25% off or so. I dig it.

And then yesterday I joined my wife and some friends riding 37 miles from LA Union Station to Disneyworld.

Annnnd now I'm so goddamned sore it's not even funny.

I'm guessing you mean DisneyLAND. Because if you rode to Florida in one day, your ass would be dead and not just sore.

Yes! Very true. Disneyland. Stupid typo caused by being exhausted... from having ridden to Disneyland. IT'S ALL CONNECTED.

A thing that's interesting to me is how much my new bike has sort of redefined my concept of what a "long ride" is. When I was riding my mountain bike around, I would generally piggle around the neighborhood for a half hour, going like 4 miles or so, and figure that was a ton of biking.

Now I'm taking the road bike out for hour-plus 20+ mile rides, and thinking of that as a reasonably short ride. Part of this is just getting more exposed to biking culture as I researched what I was buying, and seeing the kinds of rides that people regularly do; part of it is having my college friend on Strava shaming me with his 45-miles-and-4500-feet-of-climbing mountain rides; but part of it is that a road bike is just designed for eating up the miles in a way that a mountain bike isn't -- it's faster, more comfortable, and a lot more enjoyable an experience.

But so the weird upshot of that is that I find a lot of "bike trails" to be completely pointless. Oh, look, it's a 3 mile loop around a park. A few months ago, I would have been all "oh, perfect, I need to get out there!" and now it seems like it'd be totally pointless -- am I just going to sit there and do a half-dozen laps?

No, but there's all kinds of ways of riding a bike. You could do laps round the park, but you could also just go for a relaxed ride. Case in point, today was for me not even a half day of work. Instead of gearing up in the morning with shoes, gloves, helmet and the like, I deliberately left all that stuff off (including the helmet, which I know would be outside some people's comfort zone, but I'm OK with it on occasion), and just rode in. At the start I put myself in a reasonable gear for pretty much everything, and didn't touch the shifters after that, and didn't stress that I was going about half as fast as normal. It was remarkably chill, and very relaxing. If I was looking at that three mile loop, I think that's how I'd approach it, and maybe with friends and family who ride casually at best.

And tomorrow, I'll murder myself with power intervals, and the day after I'm looking for a 60-mile ride (tune up for a century I signed up for in late September).

Music while cycling: necessity/dangerously stupid?

Fine out in the woods, but lunacy anywhere near a City. I'd also advise wearing a safety hat wherever you ride, but remember what Jerry Seinfeld had to say on the subject:

"The helmet law is designed to preserve a brain whose judgement is so poor, it wouldn't wear a helmet unless forced to..." :)

I am currently doing about 6 hill miles per day for my weight loss/exercising. I did the music thing once and I found it to be extremely distracting. While my route is chosen with as much safety to me as possible I cannot prevent stupid drivers from trying to kill me. I felt very disassociated with my surroundings while listening to music. So I stopped.

I currently ride a Cypress ST- and older bargain brand- in the $220 range. I know the guy at our bike shop- he wants to get me into the new DX for around $399.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/cypress.dx/11504/55845/#overview

I just do my circuit and down to the beach on the weekends so fairly easy-ish riding (well except for the hills) so the hybrid type bike is probably my style. I do think that a bit more comfort would be nice though. The older you get the more "comfort" becomes a necessity.

Recently the mountain bike I've been riding daily for 6 years finally broke down on me with a cracked frame. I guess I'm lucky I didn't get injured...


Then I figured I should invest in a sturdier frame and get a good and solid bike that'll last me while. At this stage I learned that the weight limit on all standard bikes is 120kg (incl the bike), and unfortunately I'm a bit heavier than that... Of course the reinforced frames are more expensive and aren't as easy to find used. So I really needed to dig deep and spent way more than I could really afford on this baby:



I'm pretty happy with it, but with a bike like that I can't just lock it up on the street anymore, so I need to lug it up to my appartment every night, which is bit of a nuisance... (btw just read the crime statistics for my city and here a bike gets stolen EVERY HOUR)

NIce bike Cormac. Nice break in the frame too!!

I have a technical question about that seat. When I get my new bike one of my big issues is my seat. The seat on my Cypress (link above) is a bigger more padded one and frankly as uncomfortable as hell. Your bike has gone the opposite direction with a narrower racing style seat. How are those things for comfort? Better than bigger and padded?

Thanks.

To be honest, I'm not really sure how happy I am with it. My first impression was that it was too hard and narrow, but I was used to a slightly larger softer one, so that might just be my muscle memory complaining. My old saddle was kinda inbetween yours and my new one. I'll give this one a fair shot, but if I still don't feel comfortable with it next week, I'll swap them out. It doesn't look quite as sporty, but I'm not in it for the image anyway!

So, not sure how much help that is for you... Sorry!

The general idea of a seat is that you want to be supported by your sit bones, not all your tender fleshy bits. A totally hard seat would be punishing, but a too-soft seat just lets your bones sink in and then applies pressure to all the fleshy bits. Excessive padding is generally considered to be counter-productive, comfort-wise.

But one thing to consider is that there's more to seat comfort than just the saddle; there's also the bike's geometry. Ironically, "comfort" bikes like that Cypress are going to generally be less comfortable on your ass than a regular road bike. The reason is that when you're riding on a road bike, your weight is really distributed between your feet, your hands, and your bottom. On a comfort bike, with its more upright posture, pretty much all your weight is supported through the ass.

It turns out that (like drop handles), road bike geometry really is better if you're planning on riding longer distances, because it's more ergonomic. But for just casual tooling around, the benefits of the upright posture will outweigh that for a lot of people -- but if it's a pain in the ass, it's probably worth looking at an alternative or two, just to be sure.

Yeah I have to say the seat I have is just downright painful. Good info on the seat- I can see now that just having more padding is definitely not the issue-I suppose if it were we would see big fat seats in the Tour de France.

At this point, I am now up to 5.7 miles daily. I am sure that at some point I will be doing longer distances but I only have so much time in the day to ride and riding is my primary method of exercise now. What I am hoping to do is to just replace my seat for now until I save up for a new bike but now I am definitely going to look at the the more racing style instead of just passing over it because it looks painful.

Thanks.

Also, you might want to look at the previous page, because it turns out there were some posts about seat comfort there.

While I am not ready to jump into an actual uniform, I did discover just how much more comfortable it is to wear cycling shorts when riding. SO much better. I grabbed a pair from Big 5 this weekend- padded etc...and I love em but at 30 bucks a pair, I cannot buy as many as I want. Any thoughts on where you can grab a decent set of shorts (I am actually cool without the gel part- chamois would be fine)? Or, is 30ish just generally what to expect for a basic cycle short?

I actually would have said you couldn't find 'em for less than $50 if asked offhand; a quick check at REI doesn't turn up anything below $30 (although if you're S or 2XL, they have some for $20 at their outlet right now), so I think that's a pretty reasonable floor for something decent.

The "gel" thing, incidentally, is mostly going to be in cheaper ones; more expensive shorts generally don't do the gel thing.

I've been riding on an eight year old Giant OCR1 aluminum road bike. My decidedly middle age body would feel like it had been worked over with rubber hoses whenever I'd ride over 20 miles, despite having carbon fiber forks and seatpost.

So I test drove a bunch of bikes, and got this.



It's a 2012 model Felt Z5, with carbon fiber frame and Shimano 105 grade components. It's got a slightly longer wheelbase and slightly taller head tube, so I sit a little more upright than on road bikes with racing geometry (like my old OCR1.)

Of the five bikes I test-rode, this was the second best (by only a hair.) The best ride for me was a Bianchi Infinito, but that was above my price range. The Z5 seems to have a great blend of quick control and low vibration ride. I rode 22 miles two days after I picked it up, and felt merely tired afterwards, rather than beat up. And even with the somewhat heavy Mavic CXP22 wheels, I'm averaging about 2mph faster than on the Giant for the same effort.

For whatever reason, Felt completely respec'd the 2013 Z-series. The 2013 Z5 is cheaper by about $600, but has lower quality components, too. But I got a $350 off the retail price due to end-of-season closeout, so I'm happy.

Nifty bike! What's that underneath the top tube?

That's a frame pump. I've since replaced it with a Blackburn Airstick Longneck EVO.
The Blackburn is smaller, lighter and doesn't rattle.

Woah, I didn't even realize they still made frame pumps. I figured that a combination of pumps that you can fit in your jersey pocket and CO2 inflators had rendered them pretty much obsolete.

p.s. nice bike, and properly posed against a white garage door to boot!

I'm not a big fan of CO2 inflators. A pump is reusable. And the Blackburn pump I mentioned is only slightly heavier than an inflator and a couple of cartridges.

I managed to complete my last bike-related goal of the year today, finishing a century ride in the Shenandoah Valley, and in a reasonable time for a first-timer, too. Suffering a bit now, though. I think a beer, some advil and bed to follow are called for.

I'm toying around with getting a bike to train for a duathalon next year (running/biking). Since it's an experiment, I'm not going to spend too much ($200 - $300?). I thought Craigslist would be the way to go, but I'm not finding much at all - either the bikes are 20+ years old, they're hybrids or they're going for $2k. So where else can you go to get a reasonable 12-21 speed road bike?

CL is the most normal route, maybe you just hit a dry spell? What city are you in (ISTR somewhere in TX)? $2-300 is a pretty low limit, though.

Yeah, I know it's a bit cheap. I might go as much as $400. I'm outside Charlotte...I figure fall is a good time because people will be cleaning out their garages.

Right enough, I didn't see a whole lot under $300. http://charlotte.craigslist.org/bik/3270914975.html is kinda interesting at $400, but I don't know if I'd recommend an 18-year old lugged carbon frame sight unseen. I'd love to give it ride, though. Maybe keep waiting. Oh, and don't automatically rule out older bikes. Anything from (slightly arbitrarily) the mid-nineties on that's in good nick should be serviceable, in terms of easily being able to get parts or have people work on it . That's about the age of my own bike.

Thanks Alan. If you see anything else out there that might fit the bill, please let me know. I guess there are some ok Giant road bikes for $500 new too? I really don't want to go that high, but that duathalon idea is starting to really appeal to me.

Question for you cyclists. I love riding a bike. But ever since I went out to a bike trail two years ago, ran over a piece of glass, had my spare inner tube break when I tried to change it, and had to get someone to pick me up, I've been terrified of going riding and getting stranded again. Any ideas on how to get over that? Because I'd love to go biking, but I fear going more than a couple of miles from home...

Kevlar-belted tires are your best bet against an object passing your tirewall and piercing your tube. They're only a few bucks more per tire each than regulars and the only negative is a tad stiffer ride. You'll still get flats, maybe every couple of months, maybe every couple of years, so your true best bet is probably taking a free or extremely low-cost class at your local bicycle shop on fool-proof field tube/tire replacement. Even if you know that know how to do it, the confidence building from a class can't be under-estimated.

Also, most mountain bike trails are maintained by volunteers and they almost ALWAYS have Facebook pages or websites. Sign up, make friends, and I guarantee if you ever have a flat again you'll easily be able to get field help from someone.

Hope you get back out riding soon! :)

I'll have to get some of those tires. Do they make Kevlar tires for hybrids? Dunno if there's any bike shops around here, as most of the residents are too old to bike. The trail was a paved one, but some asshole broke a bottle on it. Bastard.

Update: I got a bike last Friday for $175 - a well-worn Trek 1000 road bike. It looks something like this:



Even though it's seen a lot of miles, it still seems to be in decent shape - 21 speed bike, brakes seem ok, tires aren't too worn, etc. I'll have to take it in to the local bike shop at some point for a checkup, but at least I found something to get started. I figure that if I hate it, I'll just Craigslist it for what I paid for it. I got on it (briefly) over the weekend. It's been 25+ years since I rode a bike...needless to say, I haven't totally forgotten, but I'm certainly not too secure/steady/comfortable on one anymore. There's also no muscle memory anymore.

If all goes well, I'll start training for a springtime Duathlon soon. I know of a local one that was held in late April last year - 5k run/19k bike/3k run - that sounds about right.

http://a841-tfpweb.nyc.gov/bikeshare/

Godot's NYC Bike Share will apparently be starting in March of 2013.

Fees as follows assuming it actually pans out:

Annual Membership: $95 (first 45 minutes of every trip at no additional charge)
7-Day pass: $25 (first 30 minutes of every trip at no additional charge)
24-Hour pass: $9.95 (first 30 minutes of every trip at no additional charge)

http://a841-tfpweb.nyc.gov/bikeshare/station-map/

Map of spots. My block is supposed to have two stations, best in life.

Afterwards the Ouya will ship.

So, it's time for another bike. I'm running my Cannondale Hybrind into the ground. 2200K since May and when I had it in the shop this week for brake issues, they noticed the chain was stretched 1/4" and I'd somehow broken some teeth off the cassette. Mostly, they think I'm riding too hard and long for one bike to endure so that sounds like the perfect excuse for the carbon road bike I've had my eye on :p

It'll depend on fitting but right now it's a toss up between the Cannondale Supersix 5 and the Trek Madone 3.1

I can't wait! :)

I can just hear them:
"No normal bike can take this pounding! Not from a rider such as you! But maybe..."
"No Giuseppe, no, we said we would not speak of it!!"
"Don't you understand this one is different! He may be able to tame... Il Carbon Demone!!!"

A tune up and a new cassette and chain would probably also work, but clearly they've spotted your weakness. Have fun picking out your new ride, and post pics when you're done!

Dunno why I think your LBS guys are Italian, but there you go. I'm a bit fixated on it at the moment, since I've decided to spend more money than I should on new stuff for my bike. It's a mid-nineties Bianchi, with the original Shimano RSX components on it. They've been bulletproof, but they're worn beyond belief. So, time for a new group, and I decided to go all-Italian, and put Campagnolo stuff on there. Veloce, which is their lowest end group, but 10-speed will be a very nice step up. New wheels, too. Ambrosio rims, but for cost reasons, I'm not getting Campy hubs. I found a cheap set of DT Swiss, so I guess it's just mostly-Italian, in the end.

Can't wait for it all to arrive, and get it built up.

Hah! Yeah, well they did that, too. I'll use this hybrid for commuting and keep the road bike for the long rides. No one should be forced to only have one bike. What is this Dickens? :p

Today, I learned to build wheels. It was much more relaxing that going into work!

Yesterday winter finally arrived here. When I came out of my office I discovered this sight:



Cycling home in snow and icy conditions was not much fun...
Perhaps I should finally start wearing that helmet I bought last year?