Hybrid Bicycles - Back to cycling at 52.....

Hello guys , my first post here. I'm a french Canadian so please bear with my poor frenglish ok ;)

I'M 52, weight 250 and diabetic type 2 angioplasty 10 years ago, I have the ok from the doctor for biking ....

I bought this bike at the end of june and I put something like 500 miles on it so far : http://devinci.com/bikes/browse_10#10_33_99


Its certainly not a top of the line but way better than what I saw at walmart and other store of that kind. What do you think of it ?

I'm riding everyday between 11 and 14 miles .Most of the time on black top sometimes on packed gravel .I know its not a lot of milleage , maybe just a warmup for many of you, anyway its much better than what I was doing before ( watching grass growing was my prefered sport )

My longest ride was 26 miles ......

I'm trying to keep my speed between 12 miles per hours and 18 mph. My derailleur at the front is set to the middle gear most of the time and on the fifth gear at the rear . That way I can keep a cadence of 78 and 84 rpm without struggling too much.

With those number do you think that I would go a lot faster and longer on a road bike ?

I need a few advice here , can you maintain lets say in headwind a given speed by just changing gear ? Looks to me that I can just spin easier and loosing speed....

What should I aim for, in regards of distance, cadence and mileage for a 1hrs ride ?

BTW I've followed the main guidelines that you can find on various site to be comfortable and to fit confortably on the bike. I am still playing with my seat positionning ( tip angle and fort and aft adjustement ) and I am almost there ;-)

Thanks in advance for your input guys :beer:

Welcome Homer! Your English is fine, much better than my French for sure. I struggle with more than une biere pression, si'l vous plait. :D

Don't sell yourself short. 11-14 miles per day is very good. Your bike is fine for what you are doing, assuming that it is comfortable for you. It looks like basically a flat handlebar road bike.

The only thing I would suggest is that you could go to a 25 or 28mm road tire to go a bit faster. As long as it has some tread you will be fine on light gravel. If you ride through any sand or steep hills keep the tires you have now.

Also if you are not using 'clipless' pedals and shoes that will help. Practice a bit in the grass before heading out onto the road and you will be fine.

My wife has the same bike and she loves it. She's done trips of over 100km on it before. It's time to replace the tires and she's thinking of going smaller, 25 or 28 mm.

Also if you are not using 'clipless' pedals and shoes that will help. Practice a bit in the grass before heading out onto the road and you will be fine.

Clipless is not necessary. If one wants to be more efficient on a budget, toe clips are just fine.

I suppose the real question is: why do you want to go faster and further?

If you are reasonably happy with the setup you've got now, why change it? If you want to go faster, just keep at it, and you'll improve. If you want to go further, just increase your mileage, and start thinking about adjustments when you start to feel things need changing?

ColinL , you dont need to know more French than that, your beer is coming ;-))

Thanks to all of you guys, I'll look at the toe clips its cheap and a great idea to try before investing in pedal and shoes

Fairymuff, Its not that I really want to go faster and further with the bike I have. Just for the fun of it I wonder how faster and how further you can go while putting the same effort on a road bike of the same price range.

None of us here can tell you how fast you should go, or how far in a given time. It is all based on your fitness level, experience, and drive on the bike.

There is a Clydesdale/Athena forum, which is for riders over 200 (male) or 175 (female), which may help get some specifics relative to your given size or health conditions. They are a really supportive group, and there are folks of all levels there. So if your average speed is 9 mph, or 12 mph, or 15 mph, or 19 mph, there are folks that can help you gauge.

As to the head wind, if you shift to an easier gear, and spin easier, you will go slower. A head wind increases the amount of power required to go a given speed - there is more resistance to your forward motion. In simplest terms, power is the force you put on the crank combined with your cadence and gear ratio. So to maintain speed, you either increase crank force and maintain cadence and gear ratio, or maintain crank force and increase cadence and gear ratio. So if you shift to a smaller gear, you would have to spin to a faster cadence to have a net increase in cadence and gear ratio.

That is the long English answer. The short answer is JUST SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY, :)

I'll second the Clydes/Athenas recommendation. It's a great source of information, encouragement and fun.
Can't be so positive about toe clips. They are a VERY poor substitute for clipless pedals. If you're ever in Ottawa, I'll give you the clips I wasted $5 on. I'd mail 'em to you, but they aren't worth the cost of a stamp.

For a 1 hr ride, I would aim for a tiny bit farther than what I did last week. Next week, a little bit farther than what I did this week, and so on. I think it's better to judge where you should be at based on yourself rather than someone else. If you got on a road bike you might be faster, but telling how much faster is not that straightforward. For what you're doing, I don't think that top speed matters that much, except for personal pride, which has its own merits. For cadence and pedal pressure, just experiment. There is no hard and fast rule for everybody. One ride, try to keep the same speed with a higher cadence. The next ride, do the same with the lower cadence.

As far as riding into a headwind, I'm not %100 sure what you're asking, but I'll give the answer my best shot: To ride at the same speed with a greater headwind, you have to increase power output. If you are familiar with physics: Force=Mass*Acceleration, & Work(or power) = Force*Displacement. The first basically says that to keep the same speed, your rear wheel has to exert as much forward force as the headwind exerts in the opposite direction. The second says that to do that, you need to either push harder on the cranks at the same cadence, or spin a faster cadence with the same amount of force. I hope this makes sense and nothing gets lost in translation.

Lastly, don't sell yourself short. I only commute 12 miles a day 3-4 days a week, and less on many other days, at the age of 25. Could I do more? Maybe. The point is, I'll count myself lucky to be pulling that much distance everyday at 52, doubly so if I had diabetes. You keep kicking ass and taking names.

Thanks for the info guys , I'll take a look at the big guys forum ;-)

Beebe thanks for your kind words !!!

I'll have to remember what RollCNY wrote in his las post JUST SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY, :) Too easy to put pressure on myself and I know that if I dont improve fast enough ILL be dispointed and I will try to find all the reason in the world for not going out on the bike .....Finnaly I'm glad I've found this site looks like I'm gonna have some good time here

I'll second the Clydes/Athenas recommendation. It's a great source of information, encouragement and fun.
Can't be so positive about toe clips. They are a VERY poor substitute for clipless pedals. If you're ever in Ottawa, I'll give you the clips I wasted $5 on. I'd mail 'em to you, but they aren't worth the cost of a stamp.

Oh oh...........what are the biggest drawback ?? I hate waisting money even if its only 10.00

I should have mentioned that if you want to try a road bike, you can go to an LBS (or call them) and ask them if they rent out road bikes. If they do, rent one for a day or two.

I should have mentioned that if you want to try a road bike, you can go to an LBS (or call them) and ask them if they rent out road bikes. If they do, rent one for a day or two.

I am perfectly happy with my new bike, I was just curious to know if the performance of a road bike is much better for the same effort, Anyway no big deal, like I've said I bought this bike 3 months ago and its the best bike that I ever had, so its like a Ferrari for me compared to my old schwinn Santa Monica sold by a chain store here in canada ;-))

anyway thanks for the idea Alphadogg

Oh oh...........what are the biggest drawback ?? I hate waisting money even if its only 10.00

They just don't help a great deal. You can pull up on them a little bit, but nothing like you can with a clip-less pedal. They also have most of the drawbacks of a clipless pedal & cleat because you can get your foot stuck in them if you have to stop abruptly or just forget to pull it out early enough.

Oh oh...........what are the biggest drawback ?? I hate waisting money even if its only 10.00

Well, toe clips -- with or without straps -- don't work very well, they always flip upside down, and you really can't ride with them inverted like that because they can drag on the road. They're much harder to get in and out of than proper SPD clipless pedals. However, some people do like them. They would have to tell you why, because I don't know why they would.

Well, toe clips -- with or without straps -- don't work very well, they always flip upside down, and you really can't ride with them inverted like that because they can drag on the road. They're much harder to get in and out of than proper SPD clipless pedals. However, some people do like them. They would have to tell you why, because I don't know why they would.

Personally, I use toecups:

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/bikes-and-gear/accessories/1257941674898-1tnmzoqhwu8r-399-75.jpg

Very easy to get in and out off. I'm not sure if they help any, but I like having some form of foot retention that's easy to get out off. The main attraction for me is knowing that my feet will stay on the pedal when I hit a bump going down a hill. Plus, they'll take any old shoe.

Ok guys thanks all of you for your input in this discussion !!

Hi, I think you're doing great!

I'm 54 and started riding again in June. My longest ride is only 11-12 miles, and my daily average is between 6 & 10 miles, at around 12-13 mph. Also a clyde, though cycling is helping with that!

I ride a Trek hybrid and have found the Shimano 2-way clipless pedals to work great. They are clipless on one side, and just regular platform on the other. It's great as I don't have to put on bike shoes for a slower more casual evening ride with my wife.

Keep riding!

Since you mention Clyde, I have to ask !!! excuse my ignorance but what that mean or the clydesdale / athenas whats the meaning of this forum title???

It's heavy people. Comes from triathlon I think. A Clydesdale is a man over 200 pounds, An Athena is a woman over 150 pounds.

I think you are doing a great job! I'm turning 54 in a month or so and started riding late last year. You're definitely putting on more miles than I am, with about 400 miles on my bike to date. My weekdays are jam packed, so I can't get out everyday, but I enjoy getting in 15 to 20 miles a ride on the weekend. My goal is to break 500 miles for the year, a modest goal, but we work with what we have.

That's an intereesting bike that you have. I haven't heard of Devinci bikes before, but it looks like a nice bike. How much does it weigh? Is it made in Canada? Looks like they make a nice range of bikes. Cna't find any info on pricing, though.

You might find the Fifty+ forums here useful, too.

Clydesdale is a huge, powerfully built horse. Good name for a big guy. :)

Athena is a Greek goddess of honorable war. Good name for big gals. :)

With toeclips you can ride wearing cowboy boots.
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr147/Rod_Smith/bike/DSC03794.jpg

I think you are doing a great job! I'm turning 54 in a month or so and started riding late last year. You're definitely putting on more miles than I am, with about 400 miles on my bike to date. My weekdays are jam packed, so I can't get out everyday, but I enjoy getting in 15 to 20 miles a ride on the weekend. My goal is to break 500 miles for the year, a modest goal, but we work with what we have.

That's an intereesting bike that you have. I haven't heard of Devinci bikes before, but it looks like a nice bike. How much does it weigh? Is it made in Canada? Looks like they make a nice range of bikes. Cna't find any info on pricing, though.

You might find the Fifty+ forums here useful, too.

Here is the link for the Devinci bike : http://www.devinci.com/home.html

My bike was designed in Canada however like many brand its welded and builded in China... nothing like shipping our job overseas but that's for another discussion ;-)

Dont give up you are doing well too ;-) I am just coming back from a 27 miles ride, half of it going slightly uphill ( old railroad track ) on packed gravel. Very nice scenery lake, rivers, stream and falls.what a great sports, not mentionning that the second half of the trip, the return was almost constantly downhill yeahhhhhh ;-))

Thanks to all for the explanation of that clydesdale and athenas........big work horse ouach ;-) .............my wife was calling me the stallion, so I will not mention that new name to her................LOL

With toeclips you can ride wearing cowboy boots.
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr147/Rod_Smith/bike/DSC03794.jpg

If you wanted to, I guess you could. But what if you wanted to ride wearing swim flippers? Better ditch those toe clips.

flippers...........LOL maybe on a new type of Hybrids, kind of sea and land model ;-))

Another alternative to going clipless, without the added expense of new pedals and shoes, is PowerGrips (http://www.powergrips.com/power-grips/). Not that there's anything wrong with going clipless (or using toe clips, for that matter). As a new rider, however, you should be aware that there are alternatives.

Welcome to the Forums! There is a Devinci dealer here in town and I've always admired their bikes.

Origin 8 Pro Grip Straps (http://www.amazon.com/Origin-8-Origin8_Pro-Grip-Straps/dp/B00546FVEK)

http://www.everybicycletire.com/Shopping/images/PRODUCT/medium/96851.jpg

Another alternative to going clipless, without the added expense of new pedals and shoes, is PowerGrips (http://www.powergrips.com/power-grips/). Not that there's anything wrong with going clipless (or using toe clips, for that matter). As a new rider, however, you should be aware that there are alternatives.

Welcome to the Forums! There is a Devinci dealer here in town and I've always admired their bikes.

Wow this system cannot be simplier , and I like simple thing, its another option thanks for sharing guys

Or, you can read this article at Rivendell for another opinion....(as I grab my flame-resistant coveralls and run like mad...). :)

http://www.rivbike.com/article/clothing/the_shoes_ruse

Or, you can read this article at Rivendell for another opinion....(as I grab my flame-resistant coveralls and run like mad...). :)

http://www.rivbike.com/article/clothing/the_shoes_ruse

Wow, thats enough to start a long and animated debate ;-) Dont worry I am following you with an extinghuiser !!

I am just a newbie in this sports, however I am a really down to earth individual and I beleive that this article is spot on for recreational riders, even for the very experienced riders.

Some cant do without all the gadgets, some can. I'm a motocyclist and its no different, if you follow all the advice that you read on the net you wont have fun on your motorcycle, or you wont be protected etc etc.

The shoes and clips are important for some and I respect that, do they add more pleasure to the sports ??? I dont know I've never tried, and I dont think that I am ready to invest money in that, however I may install toeclip, first because I had some on my bike when I was a young adult to prevent my feet from falling off the pedal.

because of my poor techique maybe I never could pull and push on my pedals for any long period of time. I always have my doubt about the needs for this equipement, this article reinforced my tought.I am maybe wrong put I look at the crank like at a crankshaft in a car. One piston is slammed down by the ignition, and the others are just robbing some HP because of their drag, looks similar to me on a bike.

Thanks for sharing this article with us, its always good to consult both side of a story

Most people who try clipless pedals do feel that their cycling experience is enhanced. I quit using them for a while because of Plantar Fasciitis. My job involves a lot of short rides with short walks in between the rides. The problem was walking in bike shoes, so I switched from SPD to running shoes and flat platform pedals which was nice and I could wear boots in the cold rain and snow.

Well the foot got better and bikeforums hybrid riders pushed me to get clipped in again. Now all my bikes have clipless pedals. I usually ride in Nashbar SPD sandals. If you're into comfort, you might like.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512fZvvBY8L._AA300_.jpg

Or, you can read this article at Rivendell for another opinion....(as I grab my flame-resistant coveralls and run like mad...). :)

http://www.rivbike.com/article/clothing/the_shoes_ruse

From that article:


2. More efficient muscle use, less chance of repetitive stress injury. Regular cycling shoes may give you some lateral float, but they lock your foot to the pedal (fore-and-aft wise) in one place, and that's not how we use our feet. When you go up stairs or do leg presses at the gym (efforts not unlike pedaling up a hill), you push with the middle of your foot. Not with the ball of your foot, as you've been told is proper for cycling.

When you run fast, you run on your toes (or off the ball of your foot). When you walk, you land on your heel. Middle-distance runners run off their mid-foot.

Your foot is just a foot, but you use it different ways for different kinds of efforts, and click-in cycling shoes don't let you do that.

On long grinding hills, it is absolutely more comfortable to pedal close to your arch. You can't do that if you're clicked in. And on longer rides, it's good to vary your foot's position over the pedal, because doing this calls on certain muscles in your legs, and puts others to rest.

If your foot is locked in one position, you're much more likely to get a repetitive stress injury, for the simple reason that you repeat the same motion over and over.Any thoughts on this from the clipless riders? I've never tried clipless, but the idea of having your foot stuck in one place (at least where fore-aft is concerned), doesn't strike me as appealing at all. What's it like if you're in the saddle for, say 5 hours?

I see people complaining about hot spots and cleat position, and clipless just strikes me as a potential cause of discomfort rather than an aid to cycling, particularly when the benefits appear to be marginal to casual riders?

From that article:

Any thoughts on this from the clipless riders? I've never tried clipless, but the idea of having your foot stuck in one place (at least where fore-aft is concerned), doesn't strike me as appealing at all. What's it like if you're in the saddle for, say 5 hours?

I see people complaining about hot spots and cleat position, and clipless just strikes me as a potential cause of discomfort rather than an aid to cycling, particularly when the benefits appear to be marginal to casual riders?

Anyone?

When my ankle was bothering me I thought pedaling with the arch of my foot would put less strain on the sore ankle. But switching to clipless seemed to alleviate, not worsen the condition. I don't think the clipless pedals are the reason my ankle got better, but they didn't prevent healing. I assume you use toe cups to keep the ball of your foot over the pedal spindle. I don't think the ability to vary the fore/aft position of your feet while cycling is necessary or important, but I could be wrong.

I use toe cups because I'd read about foot retention and the potential benefits (particularly for climbing). I really didn't like the idea of being strapped in completely, and toe cups seemed like a gentle introduction. As it happened, I really liked them, not so much for pulling up (which apparently is a bit of a myth anyway), but because they give me the idea that whatever forward force I apply to the pedal, actually gets transferred to the drivetrain. I suspect most of this is in my mind though.

The real reason I stuck with them is that they help in keeping your foot on the pedal. Not that I have a problem in that area, but they make me feel more secure bombing down hills. If you hit a bump at 30 mph, it's nice to know that your foot will stay on the pedal.

I put toe cups on my wife's bike as well, and she really likes them as well (pretty much for the same reasons).

I'm still kind of interested in potential benefits of other types of foot retention, but I'm still weary of being strapped in completely.

Yeah, you cant pull up on toe cups. I've used them, mostly to keep my feet well positioned on the pedals.

People who fear clipless seem to think there's some complicated, failure-prone mechanism involved. There isn't. In fact, the only time I ever fell because of a foot restraint, the culprit was one of those half-clips or toe cups. The top of my shoe snagged on the clip and down I went. Give me a nice, reliable steel cleat any time.

Well, I've been reading up bit, and I must say that clipless looks little more than a marketing gimmick for everyone but the most accomplished riders. From what I can tell, there's little to no gain in efficiency, apart from perhaps in sprints and climbing. I don't sprint, and I run a 22-38-48 triple with a mega range cassette. If I can't get my bike up a mountain with that, I'll walk :)

Riding clipless may feel better, but I'm not sure if that justifies the financial outlay (for me) and the fact that you're restricted to cycling specific shoes. I'm certainly not going to spend over $100 just to try.

I'm sticking with my $5 toecups. I couldn't get my steel capped Doc Martens to snag on them if I wanted to. And I like the idea of being able to vary my foot position. That's got to be good for the knees.

Most people who try clipless love them. I encourage you to try. Only the 'most accomplished riders' should be solely concerned with 'gain in efficiency'. If it feels good, do it!

You can get Crank Brothers pedals for $40. You wear shoes when you ride, so I don't think the expense of bike shoes should be considered. If you're riding in bike shoes, the shoes you used to ride in will last longer. A pedal with SPD on one side and platform on the other will allow you to wear any footware.

Toecups do not allow you to vary your foot position. They are designed to prevent that and they do very little else but keep your feet in the proper position.

If it's little more than a marketing gimmick, then everyone in the cycling industry has done a really good job of pulling the wool over my eyes. I've used platforms, clips & straps, and clipless. I refuse to put clips on my bike ever. Platforms are a fine choice for many, and I like them for specific tasks. For commuting and fitness, I'm riding clipless for feel, efficiency, and ease of use.

If it's little more than a marketing gimmick, then everyone in the cycling industry has done a really good job of pulling the wool over my eyes. I've used platforms, clips & straps, and clipless. I refuse to put clips on my bike ever. Platforms are a fine choice for many, and I like them for specific tasks. For commuting and fitness, I'm riding clipless for feel, efficiency, and ease of use.

They are really no more effiicient than any other pedal setup. The purpose of clipless pedals, or clips and straps for that matter, is merely to keep your feet on the pedals. They are efficient in doing that I guess. But it is a gross misconception to believe they make one a faster or more efficient cyclist. They just don't. They were developed for the racing environment and excel in that arena for several reasons. They are even more beneficial for intermediate to hardcore MTB riders. There is nothing wrong with using them or preferring them to anything else. But in the end it is simplyl a matter of personal preference. To insist that they are innately superior is a fallacy.

I don't believe that I argued that they are innately superior. I merely refuted that the benefits of clipless are a mere marketing gimmick. By conceding that there are benefits to clipless, you are reinforcing my argument. What's your beef then? What fallacy am I committing?

I will argue that under certain conditions they are more efficient. Climbing a hill, for example. Even the vintage-loving, all-old-stuff-is-good-and-new-stuff-is-inferior Rivendell guy agrees with that. Let's also take for example my commuting. I have a fixie and a 2x10. On my fixie, if I am focused on keeping my feet on the pedals, I am less efficient. Why? Because I can't focus on pushing the pedals. If I get to a high enough RPM, my focus shifts more to staying on the pedals than it does to keeping a round stroke, because slipping off the pedals while descending at a high RPM could mean disaster. Messing around with flipping over clipped pedals vs. stepping straight down into my double sided clipless pedals, which one is more efficient?

I don't believe that I argued that they are innately superior. I merely refuted that the benefits of clipless are a mere marketing gimmick. By conceding that there are benefits to clipless, you are reinforcing my argument. What's your beef then? What fallacy am I committing?

I will argue that under certain conditions they are more efficient. Climbing a hill, for example. Even the vintage-loving, all-old-stuff-is-good-and-new-stuff-is-inferior Rivendell guy agrees with that. Let's also take for example my commuting. I have a fixie and a 2x10. On my fixie, if I am focused on keeping my feet on the pedals, I am less efficient. Why? Because I can't focus on pushing the pedals. If I get to a high enough RPM, my focus shifts more to staying on the pedals than it does to keeping a round stroke, because slipping off the pedals while descending at a high RPM could mean disaster. Messing around with flipping over clipped pedals vs. stepping straight down into my double sided clipless pedals, which one is more efficient?

Relax, I wasn't really debating what you had written. If you like 'em and they improve your riding that's great. I use them occasionally also although I have seen no real benefit to my own riding when I do. I would just as soon use toe clips. Anyway, I was more or less just making ad hoc points about the value of clipless pedals.

Seeing I coined the phrase marketing gimmick, perhaps I should qualify.

In reading up on the advantages of clipless, I learned that outside sprinting and (perhaps) climbing the efficiency gains are minimal at best (and probably confined to very good riders), since no-one actually pulls on the upstroke (and if they do, they tire very quickly). Yet, I see many bike shops recommending clipless because they allow you to use the upstroke and are therefore more efficient. That, I think is a marketing gimmick, and it appears to be swallowed by many people citing performance gains of anywhere between 10 and 30%.

If you think they feel better, then by all means do what works for you. Personally, my feeling is that if the benefits in terms of efficiency are so minimal, I'm not going to spend $100 to $150 just to try them. I also have misgivings about strapping in completely when you see so many posts here and on other forums where people complain about hot spots and other types of discomfort related to being strapped in. Once again, if they feel good for you, good, but I'm a little surprised that for many people an expensive and potentially injury inducing pedal setup appears to be the norm. I will repeat that I've never ridden clipless, but in light of the above, and the fact that I can be in the saddle for upto 5 or 6 hours in one day, I much prefer the flexibility that my toe cups allow. I never get sore or numb feet, and I can use whatever foot wear I like. Works for me...

You can spend less than $100. I'm using clipless pedals that cost me $19.95 (on sale).

You can spend less than $100. I'm using clipless pedals that cost me $19.95 (on sale).

I spent $40 on my pedals, but the shoes were only $29 in a clearance bin, so the whole setup cost less than a decent pair of sneakers.