The Bicycling Thread

[wildbears]

Please add your must-have items not on the list.

My on-bike repair kit:

1. Compact ratchet wrench:
   1. Allen heads.
   2. Phillips head (derailleur adjustments).
   3. Flat head (mirror rotation tension bolts).
   4. Socket head (fender bolt nuts).
2. Quick links (correct for chain size/width).
3. Tire patches/glue.
4. Tire lifters.
5. Spare innertube.
6. Thin, disposable work gloves.
7. Chain breaker.
8. Spoke wrench.
9. Tire boot (store inside handlebars).
10. Zip ties (store inside handlebars).
11. Cash (store inside handlebars...can also serve as a tire boot in a pinch).
12. Tight roll of electrical tape (store inside handlebars).

[955i]

Forget patches. I carry spare tube.
Forget gloves - that's what black bike shorts are for.
Forget chain Breaker.
Forget Quick Link.
Forget spoke wrench.
Forget electrical tape.
Tools? I carry a small Park Tools multi-tool.

ADD?
2 CO2 canisters
Inflater head.
Cell Phone

These items are for local rides of 50 miles or so. If I was going cross country, or doing Dirty Kansa 200, I would put in a quick link, chain breaker and maybe something else or two.

[wildbears]

How many fills are the CO2 cannisters good for. A lot are using those these days.

[wildbears]

There are also AAA memberships that will take you and your bike to the nearest bike shop. Distance is dependent on membership level. And they probably don't cover bike trail break downs.

Our membership will cover 100 pavement miles.

[wildbears]

Yesterday along the local bike trail:









The spring buds are on the trees now.

[wildbears]

Paris Roubaix last week....had to ride some local cobbles yesterday....Mt. Pleasant in the far distance, bottom pic.

[955i]

Good job, Wildbeers! How much of a climb is it?

I'd love to ride the Belgium cobbles before I am too old. That, and the famous named "hills" that they use in the Tour of Flanders. Amateurs are allowed on the actual courses the morning before the races.

[wildbears]

The route to the base is level. Steep climb to the top by foot. Some deaths from falls but rare.

[wildbears]

Another covered bridge along the bike trail....

[wildbears]

Common Setup Mistakes

Bad handlebar angle.
On drop handlebars, the ends should angle downward five to ten degrees. This flattens the part of the bar behind the brake levers, turning it into a good and comfortable place to put your hands. Never, ever rotate the bar up, so that the ends aim upward of horizontal. It makes the part of the bar behind the brake lever unusable. It makes it hard to hold the hoods. Plus, it feels weird, like a backwards t-shirt or twisted socks.

Brake levers too low on the curve of drop bars.
This is more often a problem with older bikes, but watch it on any. The lever body should be high enough to allow you to put your hand on it without bending your wrist. If you put it too high, it'll be hard to reach the lever from the drops. So monkey around with the position if you like, but make sure it's high enough.

Saddle too low.
Probably 80 percent of the riders you see, even on $7,000 bikes, have their saddles too low. When your saddle's too low, your knee bends too much at the bottom of the stroke. That's bad for two reasons:
(1) It makes your thighs (quadriceps) fatigue sooner because they're working harder. Pedaling up hills with a too-low saddle is twice as hard as it is with a right-height saddle.
(2) It puts chronic stress on the contact between the backside of your kneecap (patella) and the front side of your thighbone knuckle (femoral condyles), leading to pain and increasing your chance of getting arthritis.
The next thing you know you're fifty years old and hobbling about like you're eighty-eight.

Seat too far forward.
It's no good to shove the saddle forward on its rails if your reason for doing it is to make it easier to reach the handlebar. Although moving the saddle forward will shorten the distance from the saddle to the bar, it's best to shorten that distance by monkeying around with the stem length, not the saddle position. The saddle position is for pedaling efficiency, comfort, and power. And the thing is, if you move the saddle too far forward, you'll put more weight on your hands and be less comfortable. Of course, if you ride only about a mile at a time or so, it doesn't much matter where your saddle is.

https://www.rivbike.com/pages/common...f%20horizontal.

[wildbears]

Handlebar drops set at ~ 10 degrees....as measured using the online protractor: https://www.ginifab.com/feeds/angle_measurement/

[wildbears]

https://www.ginifab.com/feeds/angle_measurement/. Some recommend up to 35 degrees but Bernard Hinault rode with 34 degrees and had knee problems. See the previous post in this thread.

Warning: These methods should be used as rough starting points and then adjusted as appropriate.

[wildbears]

How To Tell If Your Glasses, Sunglasses or Helmet Face Shield Really Have UV Protection

https://youtu.be/W3GjMSYkBQU

[955i]

Wildbears, thanks for posting these technical articles. They might be useful if I did anything but get on my bike and ride it, adjusting until it just "feels right."

REGARDLESS!! How about the OUTSTANDING bicycle racing Sunday, today, and actually since mid-March? NBC's extended highlights, coupled with Chris Horner's commentary, make this a magical spring.

[wildbears]

Haven't had a chance to watch the races so far. Thanks for the reminder. Will catch up shortly.

[955i]

Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Fleche-Wallone, Amstel Gold, Ghent-Welgen, all have been outstanding.

[wildbears]

Just watched Paris-Roubaix. Van Aert with Jumbo Visma was maybe the best rider but had two mechanicals.

Van der Poel's barely skimming past the barrier, late in the race, was a miracle. The outside pedal had to be all the way up to miss it.

[wildbears]

Saddle position is a mix of Art and Science.

My "Seat of the Pants" personal saddle height adjustment matches the PBH method exactly.

[wildbears]

Seven Essential Post Cycling Stretches....

https://youtu.be/V6hc-NAsYeo

IMHO, Post-cycling stretches may not improve performance but can help maintain flexibility, especially as you age. They also seem to prevent muscle cramps for me that occur some time after exercise as when going to bed. I find them helpful after Sprint HIIT and weight lifting, often done sequentially. Not so much for casual pavement riding.

Pre-exercise stretches seem unnecessary.

[wildbears]

And bar snacks are great for replenishing electrolytes.

[802Mike]

Fruit cake is a great source of energy.

[wildbears]

Requires bourbon, not beer, for hydration....

[wildbears]

Haven't used this but might be helpful to refine your fit if there is room for improvement.

[wildbears]

Cycling Biomechanics Lecture

https://www.youtube.com/live/3qyoVGkPQF4?feature=share

[wildbears]

A map of every bike trail in the Netherlands just looks like the Netherlands.....



Maybe my Dutch ancestry accounts for my love of cycling....