ordered a 29'er hard tail. None in any shops in the area in my size. Should be here in a week... I went cost effective and ordered from Performance Bike...
YESSSS! adding 2mm spacers to my small chainring and no more scraping. I now can use almost all my gears (small-small is, by my intent, too crossed over to want to use, but you can shift into it). Code: 13 15 17 21 24 28 32 50 3.85 3.33 2.94 2.38 2.08 1.79 1.56 34 2.62 2.27 2.00 1.62 1.42 1.21 1.06
Bicycles are all about small efficiencies. Start thinking about where your seat is positioned fore/aft. That little dent on the inside of your knee should be over the ball of your foot when your foot is as far forward as it will go on the pedal.
My family and I are in Florida this week. I showed up for the local ride. About 10 miles in, I was dropped like a wet turd. I sorta knew their route and after taking some wrong turns on my own was able to pick them up again. Nothing like being dropped by guys in their 60's..... Still got in 30+ miles though. I think it'll help me get some stamina back for this weekend's hare scramble.
Don't sweat it - you're not used to riding in the flatlands. I used to ride with some retirees - The Rusty Chain gang they called themselves. Kicked my ass coming and going. But they waited for me at major turns.
I've BTDT. Its not fun. Ya gotta remember these guys have developed a rhythmn (sp?) over time and you don't know what that is. There's a Tues+Thurs ride in Sandy Eggo like that. Hammer here. Rest there. Repeat. Takes a while to get the flow. Knowing where yer going helps too. DAMHIK One of the most important skills to learn is the shithook. Lets you ride at the front, but not in the rotation. Basically you surf the rear of the paceline, keeping outta the way. M
Never underestimate old guys! My regular riding buddy is 58 and I'm 54, and he can leave me on long climbs. Doesn't piss me off. Just makes me want to ride more miles to get in better shape. I rode 43 miles yesterday, doing mostly long hills. I'm getting there...
I rode 10 or 12 miles today, including some grades... daughter and I rode from our house to scotts valley (about 7 miles), met my wife who drove my car w/ her bike on the rack, then rode around town, first to the fourth of july parade, then around town, before racking the bikes and driving home. oh... and the 50-34 front with the 13-32 rear gearing is working great. it shifts and runs just fine in the 50:32 crossover since I put the big ring near the middle of the chainline range, but when I shift the front into the 34: low range, I drop 2 sprockets in back, and can use the low range with 4-5 lower gears. most grades I was fine with the 34:28, but having one more step of 34:32 was a saver. and 50:28 or 50:32 is a fine starting gear on the flats. no more chain scraping at all. I think I'll finetune the shifter cable positions so the friction levers are in the best part of their range. right now, the 50T large front is all the way forward, and the 34T small ring is about in the middle. The beat up Shimano 105 front that I scored shifts great.
Same here. I usually start off in the low 70s and as my knees warm up, I can increase my cadence to about 90. Between climbing and level riding, I usually wind up with a cadence in the low to mid 80s overall.
I was the old dood when my buddy Josh and I were riding. I'm a good 10 years older'n he is. He's also about 70# less than I am. I'd tow him to the bottom of the hills and WHOOSH there he went. I figgered it out on day. If I wanted to climb the same speed as him, I'd hafta put out darn near double the wattage. :eek1 Oh well. M
I've got about 20 lbs on Tim, but he just bought a sweet Trek Madone Carbon that can't weigh more than 16-17 lbs! Somehow we end the rides together!
