General Cycling Discussion - General Questions

Hello

I am a college student at the University of Toledo (Go Rockets!!) and recently I have started biking for a couple of reasons. first is so that I can lose some weight cause im 5'8'' and i am at 172 right now and i would like to get down to 160 the other reason i started cause i like getting out on the bike trails and local metroparks to ride. currently I have an older mountain bike that I am riding. My first question is should I stick with the off road style tires or should I move to a smooth tread tire. All of the places I ride are paved. A friend of mine is willing to give me a set of tires like this Amazon.com: Pyramid Tire 26 x 1.95 Black/Black Kwest K193 60Psi: Sports & Outdoors . would it be worth putting some money into this bike so that it lasts or should I just save up and buy a road bike of some kind. I am open to all suggestions. Also I ride about 12-15 miles a day on the weekdays and then about 20 on saturdays. Thanks for the help.

If all of your riding is on pavement you're going to love smoother tires. It's one of those upgrades that really doesn't have a downside.

I was just wondering are there any other type 1 diabetics on here that cycle to help keep their blood sugars down?

Smooth tires on a mountain bike is a great way to go.

If the mountain bike has a rigid frame and fork, it should serve very well for general commuting and paved trail riding. Suspension frames and forks are less desirable for use on pavement because of their added weight and their effect of absorbing some of your pedal stroke power. An old mountain bike is also less likely to become a target for thieves than a new bike, which is worth considering if you'll be parking it outside. I've come out of late classes to find cable locks half-cut.

I used similar tires on an old mountain bike for commuting and they are much better than fatter, knobby off-road tires. However, I eventually switched to even narrower, higher pressure tires for even lower rolling resistance. You may have different preferences based on the pavement conditions where you ride.

It needn't cost much money to improve the way your existing bike performs. A new set of brake pads, brake cables and a derailer cables along with some cleaning and lubrication will make it brake and shift like new. You can buy all the materials for under $50 and do the work yourself with very basic tools - it's not very hard, you can find instructions lots of places, and it's worthwhile to learn since these are things you'll want to know how to maintain.

If you start riding farther distances or start trying to keep up with groups on road bikes, you may find yourself wanting to increase the top end speed you can sustain. At that point it will make more sense to consider investing in a road bike with less aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, and weight. Do a back-of-the envelope calculation of how many work hours it will take you to pay for upgrading to a nice road bike versus the time you'll save by being able to go a few MPH faster. The decision will most likely come down to just how much you think you'll enjoy the road bike. I love drop-bar road bikes, but don't let me sway you.

General answer: yes

Riding is a great way to get fit. A mountain bike with "slick" 1.5 inch wide tires is great on pavement, but also allows riding on dirt roads, gravel roads, and the smoother dirt trails of urban parks. One of the keys to using a bike for fitness is to ride EVERY day. Riding an hour 30 days a month is better for your fitness level than just riding all day on Saturday..so ride every day, rain or shine.

A friend of mine combined riding a bike with a new diet to take off 30 pounds and 30 years. She rides her bike every day. She only eats raw fruit and raw vegetables, cereal, oat meal, pasta with low sodium tomato sauce, salads with no dressing, and "smoothies" made with skim milk, non-fat yogurt and raw fruit, along with small portions of steamed or baked fish and roasted skin-less chicken. No beef. No fried foods. No restaurant food.

Her blood pressure and weight are similar to a healthy teen-ager...and she is a grandmother.

I was just wondering are there any other type 1 diabetics on here that cycle to help keep their blood sugars down?
YES!!
Several are on BikeForums.
There's even a type 1 diabetics pro-cycling team. --> http://www.teamtype1.org/

My bike is a rigid rear frame but the front forks are shocks. When I mean my bike is older I am meaning that it is about 5 years old and has been kept in good shape. I got the new tires and I going to get them put on sometime this weekend.

As for being a diabetic is there are part of the forum where they can get together and talk? If not someone should start one because I know a key thing for diabetics is being able to communicate with others about problems and stuff. If not a section of the forum I want to start a thread dedicated to this because I think its important.

Thanks for all of the info you guys have given me.