Back to the Bike?

[73mountaineer]

Like most of us I suppose, as a kid I loved riding my bike. We didn't have paved roads or bike paths, just dirt, gravel and a lot of hills, but my best friend and I rode everywhere around our neighborhood. Somewhere along the line, I grew up and have only ridden a bike sporadically as an adult.

For fitness, my weakness is my knees. I have found that they just can't take the impact of running regularly, and a few weeks of RushFit had me feeling like I may have re-injured the meniscus in my right knee (thankfully I was wrong) so I gave up. I started feeling like I was running out of options, no pun intended, to improve my level of fitness.

Bicycling is remarkably popular around here, definitely more so than anyplace else I have ever lived. The majority of the main roads have wide, paved shoulders, and many of the intersections around town have a designated bike lane with signage reminding/requiring drivers making a right turn to yield to bikes in the bike lane approaching the intersection. Unfortunately, the roads in the immediate vicinity of my neighborhood have neither a shoulder or a bike lane, but only for about 4-5 miles, then they transition to those mentioned above. It is not uncommon for me to see at least 2-3 people on bikes just about anytime I am driving around the area; some running errands, others geared up on dedicated road bikes.

So, to make a short story long, last night I installed street-biased tires (Michelin Country Rock 26x1.75) on my Trek 3700 MTB and I am going to give it a shot, hoping that I can finally find some type of fitness activity that I actually enjoy. So far, new tires, new gloves, a patch kit, shorts, a high-viz jersey and a rear light are about as far as I have gotten for gear. If I stick with it, I will eventually acquire a decent road bike, but the Trek will pull that duty for the time being.

Any advice for a first-time road rider?

 

[Graybeard57]

Are there any rails to trails paths near you? Your bike is ideally suited for that. I love riding, and do it at least every weekend. I find it so very relaxing, so psychologically purifying, that I never even think of it as exercise. Enjoy yourself!

 

[73mountaineer]

Most of the rail lines round here are still active so they haven't been converted. I am pretty much limited to the road or state park trails. Since this is something that I would like to do as a fitness activity a few times a week, the road is the most viable option. Plus, it is interesting as a new way for me to bike. In WV, we had an awesome rail trail system, which is where most people rode, ran or walked.

 

[alex2363]

I installed LED front and back lights as a precaution, and Mr Tuffy flat resistant liner to prevent flats on the road. Many drivers throw out bottles and sharp debris from cars and that can cause a flat quickly.

http://mrtuffy.com/

 

[Andy]

Sounds like a good start, main thing is to enjoy!

 

[brucered]

Buy Clipless pedals, carry an emergency pack (tube, tire levers, C02 or pump, $5, change for phone, tools etc), use your signals when turning, respect the cars and don't drive up beside them when stopped, stop at lights and always, always, ALWAYS wear your helmet.

I've commuted to work the past 3 years, no flats, no issues, no accidents or incidents to speak of. I use bike paths when possible, but am often on the road with the cars.

No need to buy a road-specific bike for casual riding. Buy some slicks (with a bit of tread) and put them on your Trek. I did that for a while before transitioning over to a commuter with an internal gear hub system as my MTB was old and I wanted to get a few bucks for it before it was obsolete.

I enjoy the flat bars of the MTB more then a road bike and find it more comfortable. If you want to shed a bit of weight from the MTB, put a ridgid fork on it, unless you plan on going on the trails with it in the future, but you can always switch it back.

On a positive note, I'm down about 7lbs since the start of this bike season, just by commuting to work and back, 3-4 days a week.

Be seen and stay safe. Road biking is lots of fun and nothing to be afraid of.

 

[strop]

Just took my bike in to have it serviced. My wife and I used to ride a lot when we lived in St. Louis. Lots of Saturday mornings found us on the Katy Trail, a rail to trail conversion very near where we lived. Did a lot of road biking as well, but haven't done anything for almost 5 years since we moved. After losing 50 lbs. and keeping it off for several months, I'm motivated to get back on the bike.

The clipless pedals take a little getting used to, and I don't know of anybody who hasn't fallen once, by stopping without clipping out, but it only happens once! Definitely the way to go.

 

[73mountaineer]

I think clipless pedals are next on the list, Mark. Well, that and shoes. I'm planning to go the platform/clipless combo type of pedal so that I can pick and choose. Also, bike computer (wireless, wired, GPS???) and a couple other minor details.

This week has been all jacked up, but I plan to start this weekend.

 

[brucered]

Clipless is the biggest upgrade you give any bike, so good for making those a priority.

as for a CPU, I have been more then impressed with my new Garmin Edge 200 GPS bike CPU for $129. It doesn't have built in maps, but tracks your course, virtual partner, basic bike stuff like speeds and distance and allows you to upload and view endless stats on the garmin site. It's there you can see the maps, speeds throughout your ride, wind, temps and about anything else you'd want to know. No cords, 2 mounts, accurate, rechargeable ans you can use it for anything you want to track (csnt, running, rollerblade etc)

here is a 9km ride stats that show on each and every ride you upload to Garmin. I have mine to interval at 1km splits, so it alerts me every KM and tells me how fast I was for that distance (or any given distance or time)

 

[alex2363]

Clipless is the biggest upgrade you give any bike, so good for making those a priority.

as for a CPU, I have been more then impressed with my new Garmin Edge 200 GPS bike CPU for $129. It doesn't have built in maps, but tracks your course, virtual partner, basic bike stuff like speeds and distance and allows you to upload and view endless stats on the garmin site. It's there you can see the maps, speeds throughout your ride, wind, temps and about anything else you'd want to know. No cords, 2 mounts, accurate, rechargeable ans you can use it for anything you want to track (csnt, running, rollerblade etc)

here is a 9km ride stats that show on each and every ride you upload to Garmin. I have mine to interval at 1km splits, so it alerts me every KM and tells me how fast I was for that distance (or any given distance or time)

That is so informative, now you got me wanting one......

 

[brucered]

That is so informative, now you got me wanting one......

I thought I was crazy spending $100+ on a bike CPU, but with no cables, no wires and the virtual partner which I use for commuting has improved my riding.

There are many screens on the Edge 200 (click hyperlink to see stock screen shots) and so far there have only been 1 or 2 rides that the GPS didn't pick up a signal within 2sec of turning it on. Those days seem to be heavily overcast and it took about 1-2min to pick up the signal, so not a huge deal.

The charge seems to last a long time and it easily charges on the CPU and I just update my rides to GarminConnect at the same time. Once they are uploaded, you can rename them, so I have mostly ones called WORK (me going to work) and HOME (me going home) and you can sort, analys, compare and even edit them.

Definetly a luxury item compared to a $35 wired bike CPU, but it makes riding a bit more fun for me and I have absolutely no regrets buying it and see no need to upgrade to a Mapped version any time soon.

The screen below is the one I use most. It allows me to not worry about my speed or distance, but rather shows how I am doing compared to the "Course" I have selected. I have a set course to work and to home in it and before I head out for my commute, you just select what course you want to follow. If I fall "behind", I make sure to push myself a bit. If I am ahead, I try to keep it that way.

The 2nd screen is the main bike screen I use and the "calories" tab can be toggled (chose that word for you Alex) to show AVG, ELEVATION etc.

 

[strop]

That Garmin unit looks really nice. If I can get back to this more seriously, I may need to look into that. For now, I'll just use my 6 yo technology.

I always wear a HR monitor when I do any exercise. Does the Garmin unit track HR as well?

 

[brucered]

That Garmin unit looks really nice. If I can get back to this more seriously, I may need to look into that. For now, I'll just use my 6 yo technology.

I always wear a HR monitor when I do any exercise. Does the Garmin unit track HR as well?

Unfortunately this base model does NOT track HR. I just checked and the next model up, the 500 does, but it's also $250 (ouch).

Any bike CPU is great for biking. I was using a 20y old Cateye Enduro on my bike before I upgraded to this one. One of the reasons for my upgrade was I wanted to put my old one on one of the kids bike, so justified it that way.

 

[strop]

If I was really training on the bike, that would be worth it, but for now, I'll just stick with the Cateye and the Polar! I do wish I would have sprung for the HR monitor that I could mount on the handlebars.

Steve, this discussion is all for you. I am in no way attempting to hijack your thread!

 

[73mountaineer]

No hijacking at all, Mark, I'm getting as much as you are out of this discussion. We have a Garmin GPS watch that my son wears while training for cross country. It has some of the same functions so I may look a little closer at what it's capabilities are and how they might work for a bike. It is obviously a different application than what it was made for, but it would still give me speed, distance, and a map after downloading.

 

[brucered]

^ I see quite a few handheld GPS units mounted on bikes. My brother uses his for Geo-biking (geocaching on bike) and loves it.

the RAM mounts are what he recommended to me if I ever wanted to go that route.

 

[alex2363]

I thought I was crazy spending $100+ on a bike CPU, but with no cables, no wires and the virtual partner which I use for commuting has improved my riding.

There are many screens on the Edge 200 (click hyperlink to see stock screen shots) and so far there have only been 1 or 2 rides that the GPS didn't pick up a signal within 2sec of turning it on. Those days seem to be heavily overcast and it took about 1-2min to pick up the signal, so not a huge deal.

The charge seems to last a long time and it easily charges on the CPU and I just update my rides to GarminConnect at the same time. Once they are uploaded, you can rename them, so I have mostly ones called WORK (me going to work) and HOME (me going home) and you can sort, analys, compare and even edit them.

Definetly a luxury item compared to a $35 wired bike CPU, but it makes riding a bit more fun for me and I have absolutely no regrets buying it and see no need to upgrade to a Mapped version any time soon.

The screen below is the one I use most. It allows me to not worry about my speed or distance, but rather shows how I am doing compared to the "Course" I have selected. I have a set course to work and to home in it and before I head out for my commute, you just select what course you want to follow. If I fall "behind", I make sure to push myself a bit. If I am ahead, I try to keep it that way.

The 2nd screen is the main bike screen I use and the "calories" tab can be toggled (chose that word for you Alex) to show AVG, ELEVATION etc.

View attachment 355200 View attachment 355201

Word? I dont see no word...Toggle. Thanks for the review, i prefer wireless, but sometimes i do 5 to 6 hour rides ans it makes me tentative on whether its a good investment for me.

 

[brucered]

Word? I dont see no word...Toggle. Thanks for the review, i prefer wireless, but sometimes i do 5 to 6 hour rides ans it makes me tentative on whether its a good investment for me.

The wireless units (as is this one) are very reliable now a days. I haven't done any 5-6 hr rides with it, but it's rated at 14hr before needing recharge.

Bottom line, I recommend a bike CPU to anyone riding, whether they ride casually, commute or for exercise. They add a bit of fun to the ride. A $25 will do all anything anyone really needs in the end.

 

[73mountaineer]

That's a lot of great info, thanks Bruce!

 

[brucered]

That's a lot of great info, thanks Bruce!

no worries, sorry we got sidetracked a bit there.

another thing I would recommend is get a decent pressure gauge for $10-15. don't rely on your pump for accuracy as if it's anything like mine, it's just in the ballpark. just make sure you get presta or schrader, depending on your tubes.

I check mine tires every now and then and they slowly seem to loose air....I just added mine from 30lbs to 55lbs and tomorrows ride will be much faster, it always is.

I've really been enjoying my commutes this year and will look to add a trainer for the winter to stay in shape, perhaps a roller style. the winters in Winnipeg, watching movies, UFC and eating cheezies are not good on a 40y old body