Bicycling

I run 23 on my training bike but I wouldn't for commuting and shit.

Seventh_sl said:

some semblance of tread

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http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#tread

Bicycle tires for on-road use have no need of any sort of tread features; in fact, the best road tires are perfectly smooth, with no tread at all!

Unfortunately, most people assume that a smooth tire will be slippery, so this type of tire is difficult to sell to unsophisticated cyclists. Most tire makers cater to this by putting a very fine pattern on their tires, mainly for cosmetic and marketing reasons. If you examine a section of asphalt or concrete, you'll see that the texture of the road itself is much "knobbier" than the tread features of a good-quality road tire. Since the tire is flexible, even a slick tire deforms as it comes into contact with the pavement, acquiring the shape of the pavement texture, only while in contact with the road.

People ask, "But don't slick tires get slippery on wet roads, or worse yet, wet metal features such as expansion joints, paint stripes, or railroad tracks?" The answer is, yes, they do. So do tires with tread. All tires are slippery in these conditions. Tread features make no improvement in this.

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Holy mother of fuck the pricetag on that thing -_-

On that Felt Z5?

Here's something for your shopping list in case you don't know what to get me for Xmas, Ronne. Thanks!

http://www.jonesbikes.com/Framesets/...funky.tpl.html

Jesus fuck, I assume at that point you're some sort of professional?

This whole summer I've been riding around on a dime store Schwinn girl's bike from the 70s. I feel like such a casual.

I ran 23 for over a year, it's fine, and i'm a big dude. I run 25s on my race bike and track bike now. my 'daily' has 2"+

Ronne_sl said:

Jesus fuck, I assume at that point you're some sort of professional?

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I'm not sure about road bikes but for mountain bikes ~3k is pretty much considered an entry level in full suspension. When you get into full carbon jobs the prices start jumping up quickly. I see guys riding $6-8k cross country rigs all the time at local events (doesn't stop them from getting out placed by dudes on cheap AL franken bikes or chinese carbon frames).

I've seen more than one person on trails in the mid Atlantic with those Jones frames. Not sure if they were Ti or steel though, big price jump.

There were about maybe 30 or so people on the AIDS/LifeCycle ride this past summer from SF to LA that rode on mountain bikes -- really cheap ones. Some of them were actually faster than those on road bikes, lol. Problem is, what is your comfort level going to be? ;p

Well, if you never ride a road bike jumping on one at the last minute for a ride like that certainly doesn't sound very comfortable. Mountain bikes are much more forgiving fit wise at least. Seems like I can't change a fucking thing on my road bike without needing to tinker for days to get my fit dialed back in. Once its set with a quality broken in saddle though, no comparison.

^ Agreed. As a complete amateur who's just riding for fitness (holy fuck cycling is awesome for this), it took me about 2 rides to get my MTB where I wanted it. The road bike - I carry a shitload of tools with me, and find something to adjust almost every ride. Yesterday I moved the seat post down about a 1/4" and for such a small change it was a ridiculously big improvement almost immediately.

I am still not used to clip-ins though. I picked some Shimano SPD-SLs and I can't seem to get them where I like them. Even on the loosest setting they're still a lot of work to unclip from, and I haven't quite found the magic spot for the cleat angle yet either.

Seventh_sl said:

As a complete amateur who's just riding for fitness (holy fuck cycling is awesome for this)

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Running is actually supposed to be superior for pure weight loss purposes, but yeah. One of the great things about cycling is the pure wattage cardio you can get while also being very low impact. I have minor arthritis in one knee from an old ski accident and I've had plantar fasciitis before from walking/hiking, so running every day and pounding my joints is out of the question. It seems counter intuitive for a lot of people when they think of pedaling, but it doesn't bother my knee at all, providing you fit your bike properly and don't over-gear. Working your core is good advice if you start doing significant daily miles too, it helps immensely with your back. I use a pull up bar. Core exercise is vital for trail riding/mountain biking too, the more you ride the more you should have a strong back and core it will lead to long term comfort and stamina.

Road bike fit is a game of millimeters. I just start with knee-over-pedal-spindle with crank horizontal, and slight bend in knee with crank at the bottom of the stroke. That takes care of seat post height and saddle rails fore/aft. I go with close to level on the saddle tilt, using a bubble level. After that its usually a whole series of minute adjustments to the handlebar tilt, unless you have some really unusual proportions. Some people might require a different stem angle/length or even different crank length.

Cleats I've been pretty lucky. I'm using Time IClics and SIDI shoes and just went with zero degree neutral and its been fine. I position my cleats under the ball of the foot. Those pedals aren't adjustable like Shimano but I think I prefer that for road. They have enough float without being loosey goosey. On mountain bikes I like the adjustable SPD's so I can go tighter or looser as the trail dictates but for road it sounds like one more thing to need adjustment.

Seventh_sl said:

I am still not used to clip-ins though. I picked some Shimano SPD-SLs and I can't seem to get them where I like them. Even on the loosest setting they're still a lot of work to unclip from, and I haven't quite found the magic spot for the cleat angle yet either.

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It takes some time but it is so worth it to be able to utilize your entire pedal stroke. I'm to the point now that when I ride flats and I need to put my foot down I still do the twisting motion like I'm using clipless. It is second nature to me now.

opiate82_sl said:

It takes some time but it is so worth it to be able to utilize your entire pedal stroke.

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Yeah, that's what I figured. I'm definitely not making the best use of them right now (though I've gone a whopping ~40 total miles). I definitely don't utilize the entire stroke, and can't seem to get my legs in sync where one's pulling up while the other's pushing down. Mostly I just use the up-motion when my legs are tired, and it keeps my feet moving instead of just coasting along. I'll get there, I just assume it'll take time. I don't want to jinx myself, but I've managed to not fall on my ass/into traffic/in my driveway so far, so that's farther than I got last time I tried them.

you won't fall until you get comfortable - then you will forget to unclip at a slow stop and look like an idiot. bonus points if hot chicks are jogging past when you do it.

speaking from experience

Zodiac_sl said:

you won't fall until you get comfortable - then you will forget to unclip at a slow stop and look like an idiot. bonus points if hot chicks are jogging past when you do it.

speaking from experience

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Did that shit at a trail head with two fit soccer moms about to go trail running. Had been practicing with my new mountain bike SPD's and thought I was ready.

I thought I read somewhere that there is no real work being done on the upstroke with clipless pedals. Google seems pretty split on the real advantage of clipless.

I've yet to fall over from unclipping. I've had "oh shit" moments where I was stopped and couldn't unclip, starting to fall but managed to unclip in time. But, that does happen quite often with cyclists, haha.