mrhudock

Morning!!

I wanted to say thank you to all for your posts, comments, and suggestions. After doing much research and reading over the past month I purchased a Trek DS 8.1 Dual Sport Hybrid bike.

I plan on riding mostly roads & maintained trail paths (Rail to Trail etc.)

I got my bike from Main Bike World in Wilkes-Barre, PA - Chuck was awesome and very helpful.

For those looking for a entry level bike I also checked out the jamis citizen 2, cannondale quick 6, specialized trail, giant sedona, Trek FX, and a few mtb 29'rs. The DS felt like it fit the most, had the features I was looking for entry level, and I thought was a good place to start.

I got a helmet, new grips, hand pump w/co2, patches, tube, new seat, and some nylons with pads & an outter shell.

I'm excited to get started. I will be using the android app Strata to keep track of my rides (& my runs).

Some personal background, as of february 12th this year I was 330 lbs, and as of June 1st I'm down to 265 lbs. All through running, exercise, biking at gym, & good food choices. I'm going to be using the bike as another method to help lose weight, and keep my activity high while adding some variety to my training.

Thanks again to all! If anyone in NEPA has some good recommendations please let me know. I plan on hitting the D&L, Pine Creek Rail Trail near wellsboro, and a few others I have seen or have jogged on.

If there is anything else you would recommend that I use to get started or any apps or anything please let me know.

Again, thanks for all your helps, input, and stories! You have been most helpful..

So I decided to use this as a log thread for the time being as well. I have a few questions for some of you.

Update as of 6/3/13
I took the bike out on my first real ride. 3.6 miles, 23 minutes, avg speed 9.6 mph (Note: I had 2 huge grades on my trip that I had to walk. I will be determining their actual grade shortly, but they hurt!!) (Grade Info: 1st averaged 4.3% (.43mi) with 6-8% at times, 2nd grade averaged 10% (.11mi) with 15%-16% at times)

1) I feel like I'm putting too much pressure on my hands, how do I tell?

2) If so, I need to figure out something as my palms did hurt a bit when I was done. Will this just build up in time?

3) PSI: I decided to fill them to 80/80 on the bike. It improved my ride greatly vs the 60/60 it was before. However, it still seems like the back tire is "bulging" out too much on hard pedals and up hill. What is the term for that? And how do I tell if it is too much? I know it should toe out a bit in order to gain traction, but I can almost feel the power loss sometimes on hard pedal. Tire sidewalls are rated at Min 60 / Max 80 and are Bontranger LT1's 700x38.

Other then that, my helmet is great, my bike pants are awesome as is the seat I bought. I will list the actual parts later and a review after I get a good 50-75 miles on it.

Update as of 6/9/13
Got my 3rd ride in today once weather cleared up. 7.1 miles with avg speed 11.4. Those same 2 grades are massive. However, I did make it up a smaller 8% grade over 1/4 mile that I had to walk the last time I attempted it.

As for the bike, I lowered my seat a bit, that helped out drastically with the hands. My seat was just a tad too high. I also pumped up to 85 PSI, and noticed a little bit less flex and squishyness on my ride which was an improvement.

For the future, most likely next year, it's pretty clear to me that I'm hooked and want to build up my strength, speed, & cardio. So next year I may be in the hunt for a decent road bike. Even if my weight loss drops in 1/2 I'm working towards the 220 range by end of the year. The dual sport will be perfect though for those rail trails. I took the bike today on some rougher stuff and I felt very confident with it.

Loving it so far. And Strava is freaking awesome. I have a couple of "segments" that I plan to attempt. Some riders in my area are slamming them with road bikes, but it looks like fun!



Josh

phread59

Well congrats on the purchase. Good luck with the continuing weight loss. We still wanna see the pics.

Oh yea WELCOME!

Mark Shuman

stevel610 

good luck. Do a short review with pictures when you get a few miles on it.

TrojanHorse

make sure you join the clyde group on Strava - it's good for motivation.

https://app.strava.com/clubs/clydesda...bikeforums-net

Also, I'd recommend sticking your phone in a ziploc bag and putting it in your jersey pocket. I don't know that I'd want my expensive phone on some fragile little mount on the handlebars, exposed to the elements & at risk of flying off if I hit a bump. If you don't have or like bike jerseys, then maybe a bento box for your top tube would be a good place. I have a Note 2 and it doesn't fit in anything, so I go jersey pocket.

This is the top tube carrier I got - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I only use it when I bring a little point and shoot on rides and as I mentioned, my phone won't fit in that top sleeve. I don't know that an S3 would either but it would fit inside for sure.

Good luck and welcome!

mrhudock

I joined the strava group!

How random, that is the EXACT case I just bought about an hour ago after doing some reading. ANd yeah, that is an S3 in the picture & other reviews have stated it fits perfectly.

mrhudock

Question: With Bontranger LT1 700x38 tires: Stated Min PSI-60 Max-80. Should I be at the 80 range? I see some posts say to go a bit higher for 270 lbs. LBS had the bike at 60, I questioned it cause it felt a bit squishy on hard pedaling but after taking it out for a mile today, I'm going to move up to at least 80. Is 80 where I should be at?

digibud

Congrats. Once you feel really comfortable on the bike and have worked yourself up to rides of an hour or more I would suggest you look at clipless pedals. They aren't too important for super short rides and nothing to bother with when you are just getting into but at some point they become a very helpful thing.
I'm not sure about the best thing for attaching your Galaxy but I will mention that at some point you may build up to multi hour rides. At that point you may not want your Galaxy to be running all the time, tracking, using up it's battery. I want my phone available for emergency. Period. If you have the budget you might consider something like a Garmin 500/510 or similar. With that little gem you can track your HR, Cadence, distance, map, etc etc and two years from now you will be able to look back at graphs of your progress and see how much your current level of fitness has increased compared to your starting level.
Lastly, in order to build fitness, spend some time on every ride where you are pushing yourself. Try to ride longer and longer, or harder and harder. It doesn't have to be every ride, but if every ride is the same easy ride your fitness level will raise to that ride and stay there without any further improvement. It's only by stressing yourself through distance/speed or both that your body responds by building fitness.

SpokeEasy

Lehigh Gorge Trail (in the state park) and Pine Creek are the two I ride most often in that area. There is a McDade Recreation Trail that runs from near Stroudsburg up to Milford that I plan to check out soon. If you get there before I do, please share your experience on that one!

mrhudock

So I decided to use this as a log thread for the time being as well. I have a few questions for some of you.

I took the bike out on my first real ride. 3.6 miles, 23 minutes, avg speed 9.6 mph (Note: I had 2 huge grades on my trip that I had to walk. I will be determining their actual grade shortly, but they hurt!!) (Grade Info: 1st averaged 4.3% (.43mi) with 6-8% at times, 2nd grade averaged 10% (.11mi) with 15%-16% at times, unfortunately my house is at the tip of that road so no matter what direction I'm in for 10% or 9%..and yeah, its impossible in the winter with a 2WD vehicle)

1) I feel like I'm putting too much pressure on my hands, how do I tell?

2) If so, I need to figure out something as my palms did hurt a bit when I was done. Will this just build up in time?

3) PSI: I decided to fill them to 80/80 on the bike. It improved my ride greatly vs the 60/60 it was before. However, it still seems like the back tire is "bulging" out too much on hard pedals and up hill. What is the term for that? And how do I tell if it is too much? I know it should toe out a bit in order to gain traction, but I can almost feel the power loss sometimes on hard pedal. Tire sidewalls are rated at Min 60 / Max 80 and are Bontranger LT1's 700x38.

Other then that, my helmet is great, my bike pants are awesome as is the seat I bought. I will list the actual parts later and a review after I get a good 50-75 miles on it.

Thanks again!

phread59

Well 700x38 are gonna be a bit squishy no matter how much air you put in them. It's the nature of the beast. The bigger the tire the more squishy they get. You would need to go to a smaller tire. 700x28 would probably the lowest you could get on the rims for the DS. Maybe 32's you would have to check the pressures to be sure. Big tires will rob some of you're inputted power. But on looser gravel like limestone rail trails you'll be glad for the 38's.

It's all a trade off. Wider,bigger tires are softer. Ride smoother but rob some power. Skinny tires roll better but are a harsher ride. As to the hands. Try moving the saddle forward a little bit. Go in 1/4 inch increments. Moving the saddle more than that can lead to over adjustments. A little goes a long way with the saddle. If you don't have them gloves are a very wise addition to you're gear. Gloves with a gel insert are the way to go. I use Specialized BG gloves. Try some gloves and report back.

Mark Shuman

mrhudock

Took bike out on second ride today. 4.1 miles. I'm guessing everyone has to start somewhere right? I'm finding inclines of 6-7% very difficult and I had to walk again today on both of them. I tried a different route to try and make it easier on the direct uphill.

I'm glad the running & bike riding at the gym has helped me with the heart & stamina part of it, but I think more then anything its the quad's that are burning!!!

Also, some pictures! (Also added to original post)

Ursa Minor

Grats on your new life and your success. When I started out just going around the block winded me ... and its absolutely flat!
Charlie

bbeasley

Did you get any gloves, if not some padded gloves will help with the hand pressure. It gets better with time. You mentioned your quads burning, you'll find that you can shift to an easier gear and spin faster to take some pressure off of your legs. No free lunch here as it works your cardio harder. Main thing now is just put in some miles and have fun. Don't forget rest days, they're very important.

Enjoy your ride!

mrhudock

I'm going to check out some gloves, I have not gotten a pair yet. During my second ride I did notice that my seat may be too far back as mark mentioned so I'm going to slide i forward just a bit and see. And yeah, unfortunately even in a low gear on a 12%+ incline its still pretty hard!!!

Also, today is a rest day from bike & gym. Thanks for the tips too!

mrhudock

Got my 3rd ride in today once weather cleared up. 7.1 miles with avg speed 11.4. Those same 2 grades are massive. However, I did make it up a smaller 8% grade over 1/4 mile that I had to walk the last time I attempted it.

As for the bike, I lowered my seat a bit, that helped out drastically with the hands. My seat was just a tad too high. I also pumped up to 85 PSI, and noticed a little bit less flex and squishyness on my ride which was an improvement.

For the future, most likely next year, it's pretty clear to me that I'm hooked and want to build up my strength, speed, & cardio. So next year I may be in the hunt for a decent road bike. Even if my weight loss drops in 1/2 I'm working towards the 220 range by end of the year. The dual sport will be perfect though for those rail trails. I took the bike today on some rougher stuff and I felt very confident with it.

Loving it so far. And Strava is freaking awesome. I have a couple of "segments" that I plan to attempt. Some riders in my area are slamming them with road bikes, but it looks like fun!