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Watch Out! Fat guy on bike!
Lindsay Lohan
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So we're trying to start bike riding as a family - really simple stuff - around the neighborhood, a few trails at a local park etc. Nothing stressful - just me, the wife and my 6 year old.
My wife got a bike from our neighbor who found after picking one up that it was too tall for her, and I just found one yesterday, cheap, for sale on the side of the road. It's nothing fancy, 18 speed mountain bike looking thing.
A few questions - how exactly should a bike "fit"? I assume that ergonomically there are rules as to how high the seat/handlebars are. I see how to adjust everything, I just don't know what to adjust them to.
Second, what should I be looking to check/clean/oil/whatever before taking my first venture around the neighborhood? I know my bike was in storage for awhile before they sold it, so I want to be as safe as I can be.
Third, how do the gears work? I've never actually had a bike with gears. I went from a BMX kid's bike to a Plymouth Reliant, kind of skipped the grown up bike phase...
Finally, I'm 270ish pounds, 34 years old and last rode a bike my sophomore year of high school. I'm out of practice and out of shape. Is there anything in particular I should be careful of on my new wheels? I'm actually sort of concerned over what to wear in terms of undergarments to avoid the uncomfortable situation I had when I rode the thing home...or is that a seat adjustment that I need to make instead?
My wife got a bike from our neighbor who found after picking one up that it was too tall for her, and I just found one yesterday, cheap, for sale on the side of the road. It's nothing fancy, 18 speed mountain bike looking thing.
A few questions - how exactly should a bike "fit"? I assume that ergonomically there are rules as to how high the seat/handlebars are. I see how to adjust everything, I just don't know what to adjust them to.
Second, what should I be looking to check/clean/oil/whatever before taking my first venture around the neighborhood? I know my bike was in storage for awhile before they sold it, so I want to be as safe as I can be.
Third, how do the gears work? I've never actually had a bike with gears. I went from a BMX kid's bike to a Plymouth Reliant, kind of skipped the grown up bike phase...
Finally, I'm 270ish pounds, 34 years old and last rode a bike my sophomore year of high school. I'm out of practice and out of shape. Is there anything in particular I should be careful of on my new wheels? I'm actually sort of concerned over what to wear in terms of undergarments to avoid the uncomfortable situation I had when I rode the thing home...or is that a seat adjustment that I need to make instead?
Lindsay Lohan on
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I think the standard is: so you can have one foot on the ground, but you can adjust it to what you're most comfortable with. Best thing to do here is ride it around the driveway, if it feels uncomfortalbe, adjust and try again. You can usually get it worked out after about 5 mins
make sure the gears are lubricated, the tires are full (psi on the side of the tire: please go by recommended and not the max (very common error)) the brakes work(this can be tested by jogging by it and slamming one of them at a time, if the bike stops, they work, if not ajust them till they do (you don't want em too tight or they'll rub the whole time)
this is another sort of preference. The lower the gear ratio the less gets done for what you put in, the higher the more work you put in. Though this also becomes a preference thing on the middle ends (what you'll be using mostly) I like to sit a bit higher on gears personally, most people I know go a bit lower than I do. For hills you'll want to switch a bit higher
A good pair of gym shorts and don't wear boxers and you should be fine for small rides. if you find there's a lot of rubbing/irritation they sell powder you can pick up to help stop that
I like basketball shorts for my riding, as they're a little longer. Gym shoes are fine for casual riding. I did ride in sandals yesterday... Worked fine for the short distance, but not recommended.
Lube your gears and chain before you ride if it's been in storage for a while; they make little squeeze bottle dispenser things for use with bikes, but a rag and regular lubricating oil will work fine. It's probably still plenty well oiled to ride around the neighborhood, though.
You want the seat raised until your knee is just barely bent at the bottom of crankshaft, then align the handlebars wherever's comfortable from there. That way you're getting the most work out of every rotation. At rest you can either balance or just lean over a little bit. A mountain bike frame may not be large enough for you to comfortably do this depending on how tall you are, but get as close as you reasonably can.
I regularly ride mine in regular shorts/boxers and I don't have much problem with manly comfort, but obviously ymmv. Sometimes mountain bike seats aren't the best for sustained city riding.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
You'll get more of a workout on higher, but yeah, it's easier to shift lower for going up - just have to find the balance between peddling furiously and heart attack,
I tend to ride at 7-2 on my 24 speed. It's a "fitness" bike, so get a good workout.
so that your leg is extended on the downswing of the pedal, that is, when it is furthest from your body. like you'd be standing in place, not rising off the seat.
in the past, this may have meant you could lean the bike slightly to one side and be on your toes on the ground, but that's not necessarily true these days.
lots of bikes have the pedal crank higher up off the ground, mean you'll be higher off the ground, and quite possibly unable to touch it easily.
here's another way of thinking about it. If you find yourself standing to pedal a lot, your seat isn't high enough. you'll never maximize the power of your legs if you're in more of a sitting position on the downstroke of the pedal
Sounds like there is some confusion here.
First of all lets agree that higher gears with open gears refers to a gear where one revolution on the pedals drives the bike further than in a low gear.
Pedaling in high gears with low rpm's may seem easier to control and also require less effort but unfortunately it's neither efficient nor recommended. High gears put more strain on the knees and that is the main error of sports injuries on bikes. For casual riding something like 80-90 rpm is a good thing and certainly better than lower rpms, if it gets to hard then it's a indication of moving into a lower gear.
Great idea. Do remember helmets and consider bike gloves (comfy for longer rides plus if you crash it's MUCH better to scratch them them than the hands.)
Okay. Mountain bike looking can mean a lot of things as tech in that type of bikes have been moving really fast. Being an 18 speed I assume it's either pretty old or a real cheap one. Old is not bad as long as the bike is in relatively good condition, cheap is also not necessarily a problem only it's likely to be heavy and requiring more maintenance plus the ride may be less good. Either way the main thing is riding and as long as it goes it is a good start.
Exactly is a matter of taste as you will see from the posts above plus purpose/terrain also comes into play. With mountain bikes the idea is to put the saddle a little low and the distance between saddle and handle bar must not be so far you're arms are stretched. The whole idea is you want to be able to move back and forth to balance when going down step stuff and up steep hills. Since you're not doing anything crazy the #1 thing is to be comfortable and if anything the bike must rather be a little to small than to big.
As for adjustment it may not be as easy as you think. Unless the bike has some special parts it's likely all you can do is raise and lower the saddle, move it forwards and backwards plus tilt it a little (as rule of thumb it should be level, not pointing up or down). For bike to really fit replacing parts may be the only way to go, but unless the bike is all wrong then worry about that later. My quick suggestions:
Clean it, look for cracks, rusty cables, grab all the spokes to feel if some are loose, test the brakes as the others suggests. Oil the chain, the gear parts, the brakes (the parts the move not the pads) and so on. Here is a great site that tells all that you need to know: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ Also there are lots of instruction videos on youtube
Check the video above.
If you're very out of shape then see your doctor before you start riding (remember we don't know your height only your weight). As your description did not make it sound like you were dying you're properly fine just don't overdo it.
Start with small trips and be prepared to get sore. If you do get numb then adjust the saddle and/or the saddle height. If you ride regularly getting sore should soon be a thing of the past plus you'll find yourself getting in shape pretty quickly. Replacing the saddle may also be an option but if you do then do not go for something wide and soft like a sofa - that is only good for very short trips.
A final tip for safety. The front brake is much better for stopping than the rear but be careful until you get a feel for it else you can end up going over the handle bar.
Enjoy.
Also whilst it costs a bit more it might be worth picking up a chain wax rather than oil, oil can have a tendancy to pick up dust and muck and stick it to the chain as a nice grinding paste.
You should probably go with the wax for now.
That is not to be recommended, I'm only doing it as am soon to be replacing both the chainrings and cassette.
Another thing to consider is getting some wraparound glasses as part of your safety gear, a bug in your eye is rather painful particularly at speed and if in traffic could cause a wobble at an inopportune moment.