The bicycle thread

[RollyShed]

23 hours ago, fpo said:

I rode my first bike for the first time today and this is an awesome bike.

Aside from chain lubrication, gloves, helmet, tire pump, is there anything else I need to take care of the bike?

Toe clips. I hate riding without them. And no, you don't need to tighten them down. It might take a little bit of time to learn to get you toes in but eventually you should be able to just touch a pedal and foot is in.

[YellowJersey]

47 minutes ago, RollyShed said:

Toe clips. I hate riding without them. And no, you don't need to tighten them down. It might take a little bit of time to learn to get you toes in but eventually you should be able to just touch a pedal and foot is in.

I recommend getting this style (SPD pedals) as they're far more durable than the plastic SPD-SL ones  https://www.thebikeshop.com/product/shimano-pd-m540-pedals-13765.htm

[RollyShed]

35 minutes ago, YellowJersey said:

I recommend getting this style (SPD pedals) as they're far more durable than the plastic SPD-SL ones

No. I mean something simple to use with anything on your feet or even bare feet if you insist. With or without straps.

[YellowJersey]

34 minutes ago, RollyShed said:

No. I mean something simple to use with anything on your feet or even bare feet if you insist. With or without straps.

I never used those. When I got my first road bike, I just got some SPD pedals and shoes to match. It took a little getting used to. There were a number of times I'd come to a stop at a light or a stop sign, forget I was clipped in, and then fall over.

[RollyShed]

37 minutes ago, YellowJersey said:

I never used those. When I got my first road bike, I just got some SPD pedals and shoes to match. It took a little getting used to. There were a number of times I'd come to a stop at a light or a stop sign, forget I was clipped in, and then fall over.

"Shoes to match". That's the reason I suggest the clips shown. Yes, the ones you suggest are better IF you wear the right shoes. If racing (my son did) then definitely your clips.

 

As for un-clipping. I well remember one morning on the way to work, a few hundred metres up the road from home, a stop sign and I really wasn't awake. I simply fell over, feet still in the clips. A woman walking by looked horrified.

"That's OK," I said, "that's the way you should always stop."

 

Another time when a car door opened in front of me and a car on my other elbow, (a narrow street in town) I hit the door edge with pedal and knee. The bike kicked up and I aimed for the fortunately spare space in front of the car. Forget feet, they will look after themselves in the clips. Simply "tuck & roll". My only damage was a sore knee. The driver was horrified at what he'd done. It must have looked good... or I hope it did.

[YellowJersey]

102km today in 4 hours and 32 minutes. Nothing terribly exciting, though I was sweating a lot despite it not being particularly hot. It's probably my last ride before I leave on Thursday for my Icefields Parkway trip. I need to go to the bike shop and pick up a few things before I leave.

Total this year: 1,913km

[Origami Cactus]

On 8/16/2022 at 9:44 PM, YellowJersey said:

Fingers crossed it works out for you.

Yeah, works fine.

But how are you supposed to pedal?

Are you supposed to keep a constant speed with your legs, and then change the gears up and down to keep it at that constant pace? Or just speed up your pedaling, and then change gears?

[RockSolid1106]

1 minute ago, Origami Cactus said:

Are you supposed to keep a constant speed with your legs, and then change the gears up and down to keep it at that constant pace? Or just speed up your pedaling, and then change gears?

I just treat the gears like those on a car. Increase speed, shift up, speed up further, and shift up.

 

If anyone can help me with more specific terms for the front and rear gears though, that would be awesome.

[YellowJersey]

1 hour ago, Origami Cactus said:

Yeah, works fine.

But how are you supposed to pedal?

Are you supposed to keep a constant speed with your legs, and then change the gears up and down to keep it at that constant pace? Or just speed up your pedaling, and then change gears?

I'm not sure what an expert would say, but I generally try to keep a fairly consistent cadence (speed with your legs) and then shift up and down as necessary. It will vary, though. My cadence goes down significantly while climbing, for example.

[RollyShed]

4 hours ago, Origami Cactus said:

But how are you supposed to pedal?

Are you supposed to keep a constant speed with your legs, and then change the gears up and down to keep it at that constant pace? Or just speed up your pedalling, and then change gears?

Too many haven't been told how to ride a bike and "slog" along in far too high a gear. Probably 80 - 90 rpm is about what you should be doing so keep changing gears to stay at that pedal revolution rate. And that's why bikes now have such a range of gears.

 

I was stopped at the lights, years ago, and a younger rider stopped beside me. The lights went green and I was away first but he shot past me and then geared up. It was as if he'd put his brakes on and I easily passed him and left him behind as he was trying to pedal in far too high a gear.

 

Decades ago it was the 10 speed. Triples weren't available unless you spent a lot of money. I made 15 aluminium rings for friends so that they would have a triple, using a cheap 34 tooth sprocket screwed on to the Al space ring. They could now have a 15 or 18 speed, depending on the set up at the back.

 

Going off for a few weeks with a fully loaded bike (tent, sleeping bag, cooking items, spare clothes), and a decently low gear (28") made life live-able.

[YellowJersey]

1 hour ago, RollyShed said:

Too many haven't been told how to ride a bike and "slog" along in far too high a gear. Probably 80 - 90 rpm is about what you should be doing so keep changing gears to stay at that pedal revolution rate. And that's why bikes now have such a range of gears.

 

I was stopped at the lights, years ago, and a younger rider stopped beside me. The lights went green and I was away first but he shot past me and then geared up. It was as if he'd put his brakes on and I easily passed him and left him behind as he was trying to pedal in far too high a gear.

 

Decades ago it was the 10 speed. Triples weren't available unless you spent a lot of money. I made 15 aluminium rings for friends so that they would have a triple, using a cheap 34 tooth sprocket screwed on to the Al space ring. They could now have a 15 or 18 speed, depending on the set up at the back.

 

Going off for a few weeks with a fully loaded bike (tent, sleeping bag, cooking items, spare clothes), and a decently low gear (28") made life live-able.

I don't know what my easiest gear is in terms is measurement. I've always called it "the granny gear." My cassette isn't really built for steep climbs; even an 8% grade is tough. I'm leaving tomorrow to do the Icefields Parkway and I know Sunwapta Pass gets up to about 19% grade in some spots since I've done it before. It's going to be tough. I wanted to get a new cassette with a wider gear range in the spring, but supply chain issues etc and they couldn't get it in until October. Here's a pic of "the big bend" switchback (you can see the steep part up the mountain. It bends left and then goes right)


Edit: Hrm, this says it maxes out around 10%. Maybe the inclinometer on my bike computer is wrong?  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10289370

[RollyShed]

Some of us used to have a little card on the handle bar with the gears noted. To get the steps sequential it needed going from the smallest ring front to the middle and back to the smallest - or something like that. I spent a lot of time building and "studying" gearing, probably far more than really necessary.

 

Your picture, almost like a bit of our highway somewhere but probably our one quite a few hundred (thousand?) metres lower. I will admit to pushing a bike up some passes. A heavily loaded bike on a very steep climb on gravel does that. A sealed road makes a big difference.

[YellowJersey]

25 minutes ago, RollyShed said:

Some of us used to have a little card on the handle bar with the gears noted. To get the steps sequential it needed going from the smallest ring front to the middle and back to the smallest - or something like that. I spent a lot of time building and "studying" gearing, probably far more than really necessary.

 

Your picture, almost like a bit of our highway somewhere but probably our one quite a few hundred (thousand?) metres lower. I will admit to pushing a bike up some passes. A heavily loaded bike on a very steep climb on gravel does that. A sealed road makes a big difference.

From my starting point that day at Rampart Creek, it's 676m of vertical over 33km to the summit at 2080m.

 I've never had to push a bike up a climb, but my cycle tours have always been either supported (truck carrying camping gear from site to site) or to wilderness hostels. So, either way, not a lot to carry with me on the bike.

[RollyShed]

9 hours ago, YellowJersey said:

 I've never had to push a bike up a climb,

Only on steep gravel and not too high except one climb and I'd pointed out to her, the girl I was doing a 3 day tour with, that if the map has the contour lines touching it is probably steep. My touring friend George did it unknown to us, the other way a couple of weeks later.

 

Some of our little hills -

 

The steepest and possibly the highest here, Arthurs Pass from the west would be 740 m and you start from 370 m.

 

Another one you can now take the railway tunnel through instead of climbing over 400 metres from a start at 200 metres. The railway was removed back in the 1950s.

 

Springs Junction 400 metres to the Lewis Pass 900 metres however the steep bit is from Maruia Springs at 580 metres at the start of the climb. If I remember correctly, about a 40 minute climb with a loaded bike. Then a good run down to a place to camp that had a little hot spring.

 

[YellowJersey]

4 hours ago, RollyShed said:

Only on steep gravel and not too high except one climb and I'd pointed out to her, the girl I was doing a 3 day tour with, that if the map has the contour lines touching it is probably steep. My touring friend George did it unknown to us, the other way a couple of weeks later.

 

Some of our little hills -

 

The steepest and possibly the highest here, Arthurs Pass from the west would be 740 m and you start from 370 m.

 

Another one you can now take the railway tunnel through instead of climbing over 400 metres from a start at 200 metres. The railway was removed back in the 1950s.

 

Springs Junction 400 metres to the Lewis Pass 900 metres however the steep bit is from Maruia Springs at 580 metres at the start of the climb. If I remember correctly, about a 40 minute climb with a loaded bike. Then a good run down to a place to camp that had a little hot spring.

 

Aw sweet, you're a Kiwi! I've done a lot of traveling around NZ, but none of it by bike, I'm afraid. I love it there. The Arthurs Pass area is amazing.

[RollyShed]

5 hours ago, YellowJersey said:

I've done a lot of traveling around NZ, but none of it by bike,

By bike, the north half of the South Island mainly, a bit in the middle, multi-day bike trails down there. Mountains to the Sea (central hydro lake area) and the Otago Rail Trail -

"The Otago Central Rail Trail is a 150-kilometre walking, cycling and horse riding track in the South Island of New Zealand." - only the interesting bits of that.

A little bit of tramping and a lot of sea kayaking as I've designed and built a few.

[YellowJersey]

93km today from Lake Louise to Rampart Creek wilderness hostel. No mobile reception, but they have starlink WiFi. Nearly 900m of vertical today. I hit 70kmph going down the north side of Bow Pass; it was fun. Tomorrow is about 140km to Jasper with over 1000m of vertical. Picture from earlier where I had dinner at a resort 13km before the hostel. 

 

Total this year: 2006km. 

[YellowJersey]

Made it to Jasper! I am exhausted. Over 1100m of vertical today. I also broke my top speed record. It was 76.6kmph achieved in 2008, which held until today. 79.5kmph is the new record. Tomorrow is going to be brutal; all the climbing. I honestly don't know if I can make it. I was in pretty rough shape as I rolled into the hotel. 144km today and 93km yesterday. Tomorrow will be about 157km and nearly 1500m of climbing. 

 

Total this year: 2147km

 

Photo taken at the Columbia Icefields, about 100km south of Jasper. 

[RollyShed]

Looks well setup YellowJersey. I usually have a handle bar bag to put the map on and keys in.

 

We're away from home with the caravan and I didn't know that plans would change and no bike with us. Where we're staying for a few days, I was offered a bike and took it down the long driveway. That was enough, seat wouldn't go high enough, no toe clips, straight handlebars. The saddle wasn't much more than a fore & aft bar, about the most uncomfortable I've ever ridden on.

There was another bike in the far shed, yes try that. It had toe clips, better saddle that could be raised and bull-horns on the handle bars. Yes, it definitely could do with a bit of oil. The toe-clip straps were a bit of a fight to loosen them enough to get my feet in but at least ride-able. By then getting late in the day so only a 1/2 hour ride along the stop-bank, looking at where the river had or might have flooded recently. The track gravel well bedded in with grass everywhere.

 

I certainly felt less stiff after the ride, definitely needed the exercise.

[YellowJersey]

I had to abandon the trip; took the bus back from Jasper yesterday. The weather turned for the worse and I decided it wasn't worth it, especially for the hardest and longest day of the trip. It was literally snowing in some parts.

But I'm looking at doing a kind of make-up trip later this week. I'm thinking Banff to Radium and back. Accommodations in Radium are way cheaper than in Jasper, so it wouldn't cost as much, and I could lighten the panniers since I'd need less food.

[RollyShed]

Bad weather, rain is a fact of life, to a certain extent but snow is "pushing it" a bit too much. I agree, enough is enough. Hope an alternative trip goes better.

[Derkoli]

Decided to chuck the bike on the roof rack, head to Torpoint, and then ride up to Princetown and back, via the Widowmaker descent, and through Plymouth.

 

 

The moors are very rugged and horrible. Very beautiful though!

 

Overall it was 2100ft of climbing, 188 watts average for the 4.25 hours I took to do the route.

 

(More photos below)

 

Spoiler

 

[YellowJersey]

5 hours ago, Derkoli said:

Decided to chuck the bike on the roof rack, head to Torpoint, and then ride up to Princetown and back, via the Widowmaker descent, and through Plymouth.

 

 

The moors are very rugged and horrible. Very beautiful though!

 

Overall it was 2100ft of climbing, 188 watts average for the 4.25 hours I took to do the route.

 

(More photos below)

 

  Hide contents

 

*looks at that climb around 33km*   O_O   Jaysus!

[YellowJersey]

Made it from Castle Mountain junction in Banff to Radium BC. 108km and 837m of vertical. Riding back to Banff tomorrow.  Good ride, despite the headwind. 

 

Total this year: 2256km

[YellowJersey]

Back home! Today I rode Radium to Canmore, 162km. The morning started off brutal with a 12.5km climb with 600m of vertical. This section took me nearly two hours as some parts were 10% grade. From there I worked my way up Highway 93. Things didn't really start getting difficult until the last 20km until the summit of Vermilion Pass. From there I bombed down the other side to Castle Mountain Junction and along the Bow Valley Parkway to Banff and then along the Legacy Trail to Canmore where I was picked up. It was a nearly 9 hour day during which time I went through 6 litres of water and 2 litres of gatorade.

Total this year: 2,418km