The Bicycling Thread

[wildbears]

[955i]

LEE is atrue cycling enthusiast!

[wildbears]

[wildbears]

Tight Squeeze.

It's counter intuitive, but if you're trying to put a larger tire on your bike but are limited by frame clearance, it may help to use a wider wheel rim. A wider rim will result in more upright sidewalls with resultant narrowing of the tire width. This can be subtle, but may be enough to give the 2-3 mm frame clearance recommended.

28 mm tires on my 19.5 mm rims are narrower and shorter than when on my ole 13 mm Campy rims by a millimeter or two.

[wildbears]

20 miles yesterday on the Blacklick Creek bike trail south of Columbus.... That's my 1982 Trek 970 upgraded with a Shimano 105 11 speed group set and Bontrager wheels with 19.5 mm wide (IW) rims and Continental Grand Prix 5000 tires. Still using the 1980 Silca frame pump.

[955i]

I like this color scheme. One of my triathlon rivals/friend had this exact bike years ago.

[wildbears]

The 970 had Columbus SL tubing...

[wildbears]

[wildbears]

"Don't' ask me for life advice....you'll end up with another bike."

[wildbears]

Or motorcycle....

[wildbears]

[955i]

Nice cycling jersey!

[wildbears]

Ride Comfort and Tire Pressures

Is there a bell shaped curve for tire pressure such that too high or too low pressures both result in a rough ride?

[955i]

Ihavent seen such a chart. I doubt one exists. Certainly there are several around as to rolling resistance.

[Martin_D]

[955i]

Lee generally rides road bikes. But, he's willing to change!

[wildbears]

Is that a Hard Tail suspension?

[955i]

Bears, it's really a mystery. Some tails are hard and soft at the same time.

[wildbears]

In my experience, fueling is important for hard workouts.

Including pre-, post, and during the ride.

Both carbs and protein.

I also do vitamins, vitamin D, and magnesium pre-ride mornings.

I did a couple of high intensity, long workouts last spring sans fueling and it took weeks to recover. This is versus being ready to ride the next day.

YRMV

[955i]

I bet I could go another lap on Martin's mountain bike, with or without fueling!

[wildbears]

More suspension pics....

[955i]

Oh, I love these classic French bikes.

[wildbears]

Rode with the local club last evening. Before the ride one of the riders, maybe in his early 40s, asked me what this was on my bike. Man I'm getting old!



1980 Silca Frame Pump.

[955i]

Those frame pumps actually worked. I've never had much luck with the new mini-pumps.

[wildbears]

[wildbears]

Should crank length be proportional to percentage of slow-twitch muscle fibers?

In other words, longer cranks for those with more slow-twitch and shorter for those with more fast twitch?

Functional leg length may also plays a role. Shorter legs, shorter cranks (as with kids)?

[955i]

GCN and some fancy lab did extensive experiments on crank length. Everyone had an opinion. The results were that after a rider had ridden on a really short crank, or a really long crank for even a little while, the rider couldn't feel much if any difference, and pedaling efficency was generally the same. I think that is my personal expierence, too. My old Peugeot has really short crankarms, and they feel fine. The Enigma has long crankarms, and it feels fine. I don't know the exact numbers. I'll look later.

[wildbears]

Post edited for clarity.

[wildbears]

It might be that shorter cranks can make high cadence pedaling easier, while longer cranks allow for more torque at lower cadences