Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - The Huffy Gets a Well Deserved Rest

I finally managed to pick up a new bike to replace the tired, worn out Huffy 10 speed MTB that I have been riding. It is a 2007 Schwinn Fastback Race. It was a demo model from a bike shop that I picked up on Ebay. It arrived yesterday afternoon, and I spent a few hours making adjustments and riding it around the neighborhood to tweak things. I got it out this morning for a 12 mile ride on the road. It is so much different than the mountain bike. My normal time on this route is about 55-57 minutes with a best of 54. This morning's time was 49 minutes. That is a little over a 2 mph increase the first time out. I am much more worn out than usual, but I think that is from the drastically different riding position this bike has. It is going to take some getting used to, but I loved every minute of it.

The seller claimed that it had about 200 miles on it. I am going to be about another 50 on it this week, and then take it in next week and have the spokes re tensioned and have it looked over and adjusted.

You are going to love road cycling. :D I bet it also feels like you just jumped from a big clunking RV to a Ferrari!

You are absolutley right! The problem is I moved the RV engine over to the Ferrari:D but I am working on that!


You are going to love road cycling. :D I bet it also feels like you just jumped from a big clunking RV to a Ferrari!

RV engines have a lot of raw HP......

Now all you need to do is modify the torque curve to match. :p

NICE looking ride! Keep the ride reports, and pictures, coming!

Very nice, enjoy that new steed of yours!

Nice, I am really hoping to get back into cycling and eventually into road-biking if I enjoy it enough.

I really like Tom's Specialized! This week I am going out to get a Specialized Hardrock Sport, although right now I am thinking about going up a notch and going with something with disc brakes.

Road bikes rock. You'll love the added speed.

:beer:

You might want to have a fitting done at a shop somewhere. Just looking at you standing beside the bike that bike looks way to small for you. Could be just the angle the picture was taken at.

Thanks for the suggestion. That is definitely the angle the picture was taken at though. This bike is a large (58cm). Any larger, and I would not have been able to straddle the bike. I am only 6' 1", with really short legs and a long torso. I actually feel a little too stretched out on it, but I think that is just me getting used to the road bike feel compared to the how scrunched up I was on my mountain bike. I put another 16 miles on it tonight and it felt much better. It is amazing how many muscles are getting worked differently with the different riding position.


You might want to have a fitting done at a shop somewhere. Just looking at you standing beside the bike that bike looks way to small for you. Could be just the angle the picture was taken at.

Remember, it's also a compact geometry frame, very similar to the Allez. Long top tube and a low rear on the TT. Looks about right to me. ;)

Remember, it's also a compact geometry frame, very similar to the Allez. Long top tube and a low rear on the TT. Looks about right to me. ;)I just wanted to make sure as I know what it is like to try and ride a bike that fits wrong. I also have to have a compact geometry frame as I am 5' 10" but with a 29" inseam. To the OP, good luck and keep us posted on your progress. This is a great place to come for motivation and encouragement.

I have put 80 miles on the new bike this week. I am starting to get used to it. I had some reservation about skinny tires and rims. After all of the wheel horror stories I have read on here, I cringed with every bump I hit on the first couple of rides. I have been amazed at how smooth this bike has ridden. You can definitely feel the bumps more, but on a nice road, she is smooth as glass.

I had my first group ride with it yesterday. We had a big group show up for our weekly metric century training ride. We had about 15 trainees, plus about 20 club members and instructors. We road 21 miles which was plenty in the heat we had. I wound up starting off in the back, because on previous rides I had been mostly in the front group, and wanted to experience riding trailing that many people. After a few miles the back half started to fall back a little. As a combination of the new bike, and being in that large of a group, I felt like I was just coasting. I finally broke away and went and caught the first group. After our break about midway through, I left with the first group out, and I am glad that I did. Our training rides are supposed to be at a 13-14 mph pace. The instructor told the leader of the first group that he could go ahead and stretch it out a little if he wanted. I figured that I would see how long I could stay with them. After about 4 miles I looked back, and I was the only trainee left with 3 club riders. I held with them really well. I struggled a little on the hills, but I caught up easily on the downhills (Being 280 does have its advantages:D). The last half mile I finally got dropped, because they said let's push it to the end. It was a great ride, and we wound up with a 16mph average on the last 9 miles.

Feels good, doesn't it? :p


I have put 80 miles on the new bike this week. I am starting to get used to it. I had some reservation about skinny tires and rims. After all of the wheel horror stories I have read on here, I cringed with every bump I hit on the first couple of rides. I have been amazed at how smooth this bike has ridden. You can definitely feel the bumps more, but on a nice road, she is smooth as glass.

I had my first group ride with it yesterday. We had a big group show up for our weekly metric century training ride. We had about 15 trainees, plus about 20 club members and instructors. We road 21 miles which was plenty in the heat we had. I wound up starting off in the back, because on previous rides I had been mostly in the front group, and wanted to experience riding trailing that many people. After a few miles the back half started to fall back a little. As a combination of the new bike, and being in that large of a group, I felt like I was just coasting. I finally broke away and went and caught the first group. After our break about midway through, I left with the first group out, and I am glad that I did. Our training rides are supposed to be at a 13-14 mph pace. The instructor told the leader of the first group that he could go ahead and stretch it out a little if he wanted. I figured that I would see how long I could stay with them. After about 4 miles I looked back, and I was the only trainee left with 3 club riders. I held with them really well. I struggled a little on the hills, but I caught up easily on the downhills (Being 280 does have its advantages:D). The last half mile I finally got dropped, because they said let's push it to the end. It was a great ride, and we wound up with a 16mph average on the last 9 miles.

I would also consider tilting your seat up. It should generally be horizontal, so you can just put a level on it and see how it is. When your seat is tilted down like that, especially for big guys like us, it can result in putting way too much weight on your hands, which usually = numb hands.