The joy of bicycling (from the perspective of a group of car enthusiasts)

[Alin]

I don't know how the roads are where you live, but in my area, lanes and traffic size don't allow for cyclists on the main road. You'd have to go to downtown Cleveland the two surrounding cities to find designated cyclist lanes since there is a denser population there. On the parkway, sure, but on main roads where I live, out of the question. Not only will you interfere with traffic, but there are countless fucking retards that won't bother to give you more than a few inches of space. Therefore, sidewalks it is for me at the moment. I've already been inches away from getting rammed at 40 MPH on three separate occasions. It's beyond my comprehension how the fuck you could not see me, me of all gigantic people on a bicycle. Then again, everyone is too busy doing duck faces and using stupid fucking snapchat filters on their phones instead of paying attention to the road. :lol:

Alright, your video... Man, I don't have those types of road available here. I'd have to drive an hour south to find roads like that, and if I'm driving an hour south, I'm just going to cruise on a long cruise instead of riding. :lol: Second, wow dude, that's fucking sick!! You're essentially a car at high 20's MPH. If/when I can keep up a pace like that, then I'd be willing to ride on the road through the parkway.

 

[Eagleye]

I get that. I ride on roads like you have pictured from time to time, but I like to keep it rare. As you said, people don't pay any attention. If you ever do ride those roads, you are best to just ride right in the middle of the lane if there are a lot of stop signs and traffic lights. People will act pissy, but they aren't going anywhere anyway. I find that the more you act confident and like a car, the more respect you are given up to a certain point. I see plenty of cyclists causing problems where there don't need to be any because they think they are entitled to this or that. Being a large guy, you will find huge benefits from learning better positioning on the bike and becoming more flexible and therefore more aero. I'm talking going 20mph instead of 17-18 with the same effort. It can be significant.

It all adds up too. Fast tires that are inflated correctly will increase speed ~1-2mph at lower speeds when friction is your biggest drag. Once you are at speeds over ~18mph aerodynamics is king...swapping baggy clothes for close fitting will net ~1mph, proper fit and getting more aero will get at least 1mph. And these can all be cheap/free changes.

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

Man, I don't have those types of road available here. I'd have to drive an hour south to find roads like that, and if I'm driving an hour south, I'm just going to cruise on a long cruise instead of riding. :lol:

Here's a good one for you [MENTION=1172]Alin[/MENTION]. Drive out to Presque Isle State Park one morning and ride the whole peninsula. Trust me, you'll thank me.

 

[Alin]

Here's a good one for you @Alin. Drive out to Presque Isle State Park one morning and ride the whole peninsula. Trust me, you'll thank me.

Easily doable and looks sick!

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

It's beautiful! Growing up, Presque Isle was our summer time "beach" destination, since it was only an hour away and the ocean was much, much further. There are lots of marathons, triathlons and so forth, every year on Presque Isle so the pavement surface should be absolutely pristine for your ride.

 

[Grinder34]

My bike, and how I do all my rides. I definitely get some looks on the usual fitness/speed loops.

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[Alin]

@Grinder34 , what size and what type of tires are those? They don't look as slim or sleek as I've seen them on other speed bikes. At what PSI do you keep them inflated?

How much does the baby seat affect your overall speed?

 

[Grinder34]

They're 700x38 and semi-knobby. Definitely not built for speed. Same as the baby seat. But anything that slows me down is just extra resistance training since I don't need speed anywhere...I'm not racing anyone but my own Strava segments!

As for how much, I dunno. I hit 29.7 mph with no baby on a flat but it was pretty much all I had and for the briefest of moments. I averaged 18.8 mph over 5.5 miles of a 2 lap run of a perfectly flat island perimeter. Tiny bit of drafting a good Samaritan for a mile or so.

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[Alin]

I took a break today, but tomorrow I'm going to inflate my tires to 70 PSI and attempt to pace 17-18 MPH. I usually ride the top of (L:3 R:4) 4th gear when I'm doing 15 MPH to keep up momentum. Hopefully, the up shift into 5th won't be too tough to transition into and maintain. Also, I'm going to actually be on the road on the parkway since I'm pretty sure top of 5th gear will be right around 20 MPH or so and the parkway sidewalk will destroy me with its bumps. Wish me luck!

 

[Alin]

Alright, so I found out that the top of 5th gear is 19.2-19.5 MPH. I did inflate my tires to 71-72 PSI before I rode out as well. I was able to ride 1.2 miles on the road at 19 MPH until I was done. I probably need another month or so to continue building up stamina since that shit takes a lot out of me, but I'm happy that I was able to last 1.2 miles!

Now, pictures for the bicycle that you've all been waiting for. A couple of things to mention beforehand:

-the original headlight ran out of battery and was a piece of shit, so I devised a more useful light, a handheld light bar that I have a couple of laying around. Doesn't look pretty, but it functions as it needs to. :lol:
-the wiring for the odometer isn't great since I left ample room for movement. However, there have been no issues and everything has been functioning flawlessly.

 

[Eagleye]

Looks like a heavy bike. Great for downhills, not so much any other time. The cables and wires at the front are messing with my OCD. If you carry a smartphone there is no need for the odometer as you can run the free Strava app and it will display time, distance, speed. The light bar is pretty funny. Do you "clip-in" to those mountain bike pedals or just wear sneakers?

 

[Alin]

What does your bicycle weigh? I don't know what a proper one weighs or how much mine weighs. All I know is that I can lift the bicycle with one hand with ease, which makes this the lightest bicycle I've ever had. I wear shoes/sneakers since I don't have any footwear that clips in and won't be getting. I hardly use my phone on a daily basis, so I'll be sticking to wires and ghetto-rigged shit. :lol:

Remember, the bike cost $40 and I'm only doing this for fun. You think I had it anywhere in my mind that I'd be riding 200+ miles just 6 weeks ago? Hell no! I didn't even contemplate the possibility of riding a bicycle, period! It all just landed in my lap and here we are! :lol:

Oh, another question that comes to mind! How should you properly pedal with your feet: by the ball (front), the arch (middle), or the heel (back) of the feet for optimum leverage per revolution?

 

[Eagleye]

Pedal with the ball of your foot in sneakers.
Your pedal motion should be relaxed feeling like you are doing circles not pushing down hard.

A decent bike weighs 20-22lbs. A lightweight/race bike can be as low as 15lbs or less. My bike is just under 16lbs.

I started with a $50 80s road bike, everyone starts somewhere. I found that I really enjoyed it about 2 years after getting that bike and began buying and selling until I got where I am today. That said I've only got about 400 miles in this year due to injuries.

 

[Alin]

I went for another spin today since I was upset about not being able to keep pace in 5th gear. Rode a little over 3 miles total all in 5th gear, averaging somewhere between 15-19 MPH. Fuck, dude. How long is it going to take until I can pedal top of 5th effortlessly like I currently do with top of 4th? I've never dropped out of 3rd on the left handlebar (I don't know terms, left side gears and right side gears; front and back maybe?) How do you factor in L:3 R:4 into lowering L to 2? L:2 R:7? I'll check it out tomorrow. Someone educate me on the terms! :lol:

 

[Eagleye]

So you are in the smallest front ring and trying to ride a small rear gear and want to know what is equivalent in the middle front ring vs. rear gear?

Without knowing what rings are on the front (how many teeth on each) and what cassette is on the rear, it is hard to know, and honestly it's irrelevant. You want to try to be in the middle of your rear cassette, so whichever front gearing gets you in the middle of your rear cassette, that is where you should be riding.

A few notes:
- Cross chaining = bad (do not be in the smallest front ring and smallest rear gear) This is bad because it stretches the chain and is inefficient (friction loss). Same for the opposite scenario, riding in the big ring up front and largest rear gear.
- Learn how to pedal with a high cadence. When you can keep your pedal speed (rpms) high, you will put less strain on your muscles and be able to ride longer at higher intensity.
- Don't be afraid to change gears often, but do so intelligently (try to limit shifting on an incline, if you must change, reduce the force on the pedals during the shift)
- From the sounds of it, you should be riding the middle ring in the front which will have you in the mid/upper end of the rear gearing allowing you to ride faster on the flats and downhills. You can then simply change the front gear when approaching a an incline.

 

[Alin]

So, my left bar controls the front ring then. I've always been in 3, which is the largest ring. I've never gone down into the 2nd one.
The right bar controls the rear ring. I mainly ride on the 4th ring, and went into 5 for the 19 MPH pacing. 8th is the largest one where I hit my top speed in.
I assume high cadence means keeping up pace/revolutions high. This is how I'm able to essentially ride 14-15 MPH effortlessly for what feels like eternity. However, kicking up a gear into 5th, changes everything!

I will attempt the 2nd ring up front, and either 6th, 7th, or 8th ring on the rear. I'll report back later with how that changes things.

 

[Alin]

Alright @Eagleye , that was a fucking GAME CHANGER!!!!! :bow:

L:2, R:6. 2nd ring up front, 6th ring in the back.

Top of L:2, R:6 is 19.5-20 MPH. I was able to keep 17.5-18.5 MPH constant pace. It wasn't effortless, but it was maintainable on my 25-30 minute go to route. I'm drenched right now...

Alright, this is the outlook of my next month in order to improve stamina and increase speed. If you have more pointers and advice, I'm all ears!

Edit: I went out two more times after adjusting the handlebar pitch and seat height. I have both at a good position where it's now easier for me to keep pace at 18-19 MPH. :tup: Now, I just need a month of conditioning at this interval and then hopefully I can break the 20 MPH barrier!

 

[Eagleye]

Tonight's virtual ride. Brutal pace. Came in 5th which I'm happy with.

 

[Grinder34]

Tonight's virtual ride. Brutal pace. Came in 5th which I'm happy with.

View attachment 7849

Kudos! That's a lot of watts. I just checked my recent rides, and I did an average of 230 or so over the fast areas. A far cry from ~280. I was solo and didn't have a rabbit to chase, so that might go up a bit in a competitive environment, but not THAT much, and over a shorter distance!

I also wanted to comment for [MENTION=1172]Alin[/MENTION] about gearing:

When you go up in components "groupset" (derailleurs, shifters, etc...) you get a few things. Some people will obsess about the weight. I've heard that the higher end components are "crisper." But in my mind, what you're really getting is more gears!

Lets break this down a bit. The rear set of gears ("cassette") is often called something like a 11-34T. That means the smallest is 11 teeth ('T') and the biggest is 34 teeth. Now if you only had 2 gears in your 11-34T, then shifting up would more than triple the gear ratio and really really suck. But nobody has just 2 gears on the back--I think the minimum is roughly 7-8. But on your 11-34T with 8 gears, what if your second is 13 teeth? That's almost 20% increase!! If you could afford 11 gears and only have 12 teeth on the second gear it would only be ~10%. 100% difference between those scenarios!

So more gears on the back = better.

And more gears on the front is also better. If you could map out all your gear ratios you'd probably find that instead of the 10% listed above from just a rear shift, you could probably get a 5% by shifting up down one in the front, and up 2 in the rear, or something like that. Nobody (that I know) does that.

Instead, think of the front as your final drive ratio. So now you can have a closer set of gear ratios on the back like an 11-28T in the rear, but you have three final drives to choose from! So i think of the front gear as 1) small gear for moderate+ climbs. 2) Middle gear for mild uphill to mild downhill. 3) big gear for big downhills.

Did any/all of that make sense?

If you're interested we could get into short/long cage derailleurs, the resultant max teeth difference, gear inches, etc...

 

[Eagleye]

I agree that more gears in the back is good. But more in the front... Well that depends on the kind of bike, kind of riding, and ability of the rider.

For me personally, having a triple chainring in the front sucks. It is less efficient and those small jumps in gearing are problematic. If I want to reduce my gearing to climb I want to move 2-3 gears max. When sprinting I also don't want to be moving through the front rings and rear gears.

If I'm riding on mainly flat roads I want a 52t front ring with an 11-28 rear (11 speed) cassette. This allows me to use all of my gears with minimal cross chaining and less energy lost to friction.

My bike is setup with a 52/44 in the front and 11-28 in the back and I have yet to encounter a hill I cannot go up. When I first started, yes that happened on 2 different very steep hills but both were on older (heavier) bikes with an 11-25 in the back.

General rule is that weight matters on hills above ~5% grade (greatly depends on the speed you can hold when climbing) but everywhere else, aero is King.

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