Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

The MX80 pedals are fantastic, just the right amount of grip.

 

Think of how much force the very thin bit of metal that your front dérailleur is made of has to contend with when you're applying pressure to the chain whilst shifting. That is what is causing it. There is a very good reason that most top-level racers and mechanics call people that shift under load "hacks"; I just call them "easy money"

It's not good for your drivetrain and will cause undue wear on some very expensive components, so I would personally advise against it. To alleviate this, try to practise letting off the pressure just a split second after you've shifted until the chain has partially engaged the desired chain wheel, then get straight back on it. If done well you'll have a very minor drop in wheel pressure, and only a partial stroke lost to shifting. The other option is to obviously think ahead and shift into the necessary gear while you can, but that is a whole other kettle of fish.

If this isn't acceptable, then I can say from personal experience that the more money you put into your drivetrain, the more likely you'll be able to shift under load. Think $1500-$2000 range for chain, cassette, dérailleurs, shifters and crankset. Components in this price range tend to be designed for people able to put out over 1000 watts of power without breaking a sweat, and thus can much more easily handle high-load shifting, though it is still recommended to use appropriate shifting techniques to allow the system to shift faster (thus allowing more power to reach the ground in a shorter time) and prolong the life of some very expensive components.

In summary: if you cannot shift under load, but can shift otherwise, then the problem isn't with your bike.


(apologies for any perceived derogatory tonality, as it was unintentional)




In other news: my so-called "Party Bike" is gaining such popularity locally that several people have approached me to build them mobile sound systems, so I may just end up putting some together over the winter and seeing if I can turn a profit from it. Imagine a small wooden box that can easily be mounted on the top of a rack with four small (but powerful) speakers, an integrated SLA battery, and a padded compartment for your MP3 player of choice, all with a 15-20 hour battery life (at full volume) for the paltry sum of $250 (estimated). Fingers crossed!


Added since last photo: dual EL wire kit (white wire can be seen wrapped around main triangle; pink circles the speakers on the back, highlighting the woofers under the mesh); red under-glow beneath the rack (8 bright red LED's); and most obviously the big chrome skull with reflector, bright white LED's (two sets - one constant and the other strobing), and bright red LED's for pupils centred in the eye sockets. Most of the lighting is controlled via a series of buttons and switches on the side of the skull, and a custom-built battery pack inside the skull (as I needed 6v, and didn't feel like stepping the voltage down from the main audio battery - also keeps the power signal cleaner). Still to come on this bike: more powerful amp, second set of speakers (specifically a set of subwoofers - for the lulz), pre-amp to better drive the main amp (increase output from an MP3 player to be line-level), MOAR lighting with an improved secondary battery pack, wheel mounted lights (like the Monkeylectric system) and a small "control console" mounted on the handlebars to more conveniently control the lighting systems. I will also be changing out the rear hub to an 8-speed Shimano, and making a large lever-operated sequential shifter for it. All custom. obviously

Look for more of this over the winter with lots of detailed shots. The above picture was taken at the last "Full Moon Ride" my shop hosted, where we used my bike as the primary sound system for the ride and the party afterwards. Twitter and Facebook were alight with people commenting on the bike and posting pictures like the above; during the party itself there was a steady stream of people taking pictures, videos, and just looking at the bike in general, which was rather cool. Once I have time I'll try and grab some good shots of what this thing does in the dark, and some video of what the skull does. It really is a show stopper, but will be getting better, don't you worry!

 

No offence taken

Looks like I literally need to learn how to ride again, or possibly learn how to ride properly for the first time!

I had always assumed that the bike should change correctly no matter what, looks like I have always been wrong. I appreciate this may be a very dumb question, but is there any where I can read up on how to ride correctly (changing gears, what gear to be in(I think I am in too high a gear most of the time) position, etc)

I'm not out competition riding or anything, just out to get a bit fitter and enjoy myself a bit.

Thanks

 

None that I know of, but typically the best places to look would be within various training programmes, as these typically will teach technique along with fitness. However, if it helps I'll outline a few of the more basic concepts within high-level road riding, many of which are just general cycling techniques.

Shifting: as mentioned above, plan out your next gear change well in advance and be prepared for a sudden, drastic change in terrain that would require such. If possible shift early, but not so much so that you're stuck with too high or low of a cadence as this will sap power and wear you out very quickly. While shifting try to do so at a time when you're not going to be putting down much power anyway (say, going into a corner, or while coasting down hill), but if you need to change whilst going up a hill or hammering make sure you let off the power just a little bit a split second after you actuate the shifter, then jump back on the moment the chain is engaged enough not to skip under power. This is a very fine line and requires a bit of foreknowledge of the bike to accomplish rapidly under harsh circumstances.

Pedalling: technique is key, and will largely depend upon your pedal type. I'll be covering clipless pedals, but using flats or cages is very much the same, but doesn't allow you to put anywhere near as much power down or have as much control. It is generally agreed that there are four stages to the pedal stroke: push down, pull back (as though you were wiping mud off your shoe), pull up, push forward. Practise this by pedalling for a couple minutes each training session with only a single foot clipped in, the other tucked away, switching between them every so often. The goal here is to be able to maintain a consistent, non-surging pedal stroke with each of your feet so that they can operate independently of each other, whilst still complimenting each other. If you've never tried this before, it will murder your legs the first few times you try doing a "real" pedal stroke, trust me

Cadence: this is tricky as it does vary massively between people, but the idea here is to pedal above 110rpm in a comfortable gear without bouncing. If you find you cannot maintain a comfortable seating position without bouncing a lot while doing this, then your positioning is incorrect and needs to be addressed. As well, going at too high of a cadence will cause bouncing (I begin to experience this at about 180rpm, for reference - your mileage will vary).

Braking: your front tyre has 80% of the braking force, so use it! Far too often I see bikes come in with the rear pads worn away completely, but the front pads look brand new, and it always depresses me. Yes you can loose control if you're not careful, but you can stop in a fraction of the distance if you know how to brake properly! If you're uncomfortable using your stoppers I would recommend getting yourself into a controlled situation (a wet grassy field, free of boulders and cars, say) and try locking up your front wheel a few times with your weight shifted very far back on the bike. This will give you a good idea of what the bike will do under such an extreme situation without really being in much of any danger, so that should the day come that you need to stop quickly and end up locking up the front wheel, you'll be able to control it purely through muscle memory! Which brings me to my next point: get yourself over the back wheel as much as you can while braking. Your weight will naturally be centred over the front anyway due to the shifting forces, so the more weight that you can position over the back wheel, the better! This will afford you much more traction on the rear end, and allow for more control over the front in the event of a skid.

Cornering: every bike is different, and they all handle differently (my Tricross will go into a two-wheel drift if I try to turn the bars, whereas my Gaston cannot be persuaded to turn through leaning), so there is no blanket solution. However, it is generally good practise to brake as late into the corner as possible and get on the power as you're going through the bend (assuming you have clearance to pedal). The quicker and harder you get back on the power, the tighter you can turn and the faster your corner will be.

Air pressure: this one gets everybody, as Joe Public seems to be under the impression that ultra-high pressures are a good thing. As it turns out, they're not! Go figure. Top level racers are actually looking towards wider tyres and lower pressures as they are more efficient on rough terrain (like roads) since the tyre can deform around imperfections, rather than deflecting off of them, sapping speed. 28c tyre with a 180lbs rider shouldn't be more than 90PSI. You can figure it out from there. (full disclosure: because I am a lazy sod and don't mind a bit of vertebral abuse, I put my road tyres up to the max they can handle so I can get away with inflating them less )


I can go on, but I feel these are the most important and common misconceptions and areas of improper technique that I encounter on a regular basis. If more depth is required, or you (or somebody else) wants another subject covered, just let me know! I'm more than happy to share

 

I need some new minimalistic pedals for my road bike and I saw the Egg Beaters 1 from Crank Brothers (the cheapest ones). Have you guys got any experience with these? Are they buy or don't-buy?

 

Only from a couple of mates who love them but complain they need to replace them far more often than the equivalent shimano pedals on their other bikes.

 

did my first 100mile


One of the guys I was riding with did it on an old steel frame bike with downtube shifters. Bonus man points to him every time he overtook someone's full carbon bike, which was pretty frequent!

Photo of me having a cup of tea after we got back:


In other news:

 

I've got these on my mountain bike (they were named slightly differently back then, but were the cheapest variety). I absolutely love them. The design is so simple that there is very little to go wrong, and there are replacement bearing sets available. I'm interested to know why your friends have to replace them Steveo, because I see very little to wear, and very little to go wrong. The plastic cover on the very end is a weakness though, I hit mine against a rock and it broke in half, leaving the bearing a little vulnerable.

I like the way they are four sided as well. While my old shimano ones weren't difficult to clip into, the eggbeaters are slightly easier because of this.

Their benefits really come to light off road though, because they don't get clogged up with dirt like other designs. If you need to get off and walk/carry your bike through mud, the shoes still clip in easily. I found my old shimano ones would be very difficult to clip in after clogging up the cleats.

The only downside is that the tension of the clip mechanism isn't adjustable like it is on others. This could be a good thing, stopping people from setting them up wrong and getting into trouble. It does make learning to use them a little more difficult because with my shimano ones I started with it rather loose, so I could easily bail, and tightened it once I was confident that I'd automatically twist my foot in an accident. This is much less of an issue on the road though.

 

Thanks for the advice both of you. As I said they are going on my road bike. I might get a job as a bike messenger and having the 4-sided rapid click in/out thing would be great in the city as I wouldn't have to fumble at lights and so.

 

I think they just broke either the cage or the axel, not sure of the exact circumstances they might have been clattering them off rocks.

Can't say I ever had terrible trouble clipping in to SPD's and since I've broken the back clean off a pair of shimano shoes I very much doubt there is much in it. The egg beaters look nicer and aren't that dear, must be worth a try.

 

My new ride.



And a view from downstairs...

 

Wow, those all yours? Are they downhill bikes, where do you ride?

 

Nah the Ironhorse Sunday is my house mates'. The dayglo is my old one.

I mainly drive right next door, there's a small ski slope and a bike park.

 

Keep getting punctures at the valve like in the photo (not my photo but is exactly the same).

Think it's caused by under inflation as I don't have a gauge on my pump so just guess whether it's pumped enough, been through 3 innertubes so far.

 

Under inflation could be the issue but also check the valve hole in the rim for any sharp edges and remove with a small round file.

Do you use a mini hand pump? If so try and keep the head of the pump and the valve still when pumping the tire up as it naturally wants to move all over the place as you use your other hand to inflate the tube.

If your cheap get an old school pump with the hose adapter on the end to stop this problem, better still buy a track pump with a gauge for use at home.

 

Did some flying over car hood today, stupid 19 years old with no insurance was looking the other way then turning form the side road.
End result: a twisted front wheel, broken rear light and some lightly bruised knees.


Not the worst experience, but I would not want to do it again.

 

Note to self.

When starting to use a bike again for the first time in 20 odd years make sure you check the pressures on the tyre properly. Pumping them up to 30psi like you did 20 years ago isn't much use when the minimum your supposed to use is 45psi!

Should make cycling along a bit easier!!

 

So I've managed to get a bit of weight loss and start to get out on my bike a but more regularly but need a little bit of advice on a couple of upgrades for my bike (Trek 4300)....

I want to switch my handlebars from the risers that are on at present to a flat bar so I was looking at this Easton EA70 but am slightly confused with the 2 different widths available. Will 580mm be sufficient? Or is it all personal preference? And is there a reason I shouldn't buy that particular bar?

Also I want some decent flat metal pedals, any recommendations? I don't really want clipless as whilst I did have some before (over 10 years ago!) I think I can wait a little bit longer before going back to them.

Thanks in advance.

 

On a road bike you'd want the width to be about your shoulder width, when off roading on a mtb you tend to get the widest bars your comfortable with to give a little more control. If your only using the mtb on road you probably be better getting narrower bars to help filtering etc.

 

I recently bought some Superstar Nano Tech flats on special offer. They recently won a Bikeradar group test.