Ride report
First, for BubbaDog: Did not! Nyah, nyah, nyah! Might have been a different story if I'd tried a trackstand, tho.
Well, it's different, that's for sure. And I like it. After a non-eventful neighborhood shakedown I took it on a flat MUP for about 10 miles. The path has some mild grades, with the biggest "hill" being a pedestrian overpass. I chose the 40/15 gearing to approximate my "fast" cruising gear on my road bike.
You definately feel it in the quads and, to a lesser degree, the knees. My knees are healthy so far -- knock wood. After being sharply reminded a few times that I cannot coast (I have a habit of standing and stretching my legs--whoops!) it was less of an adjustment than I'd feared. OTOH, I quickly got the hang of slightly "unweighting" over bumps.
The most interesting thing is that once you get to a nice cruising speed and cadence on a flat a sort of feedback mechanism actually assists you with pedaling. The momentum of the bike helps to push your legs thru the stroke.
On a slight upgrade, a bit more attention to pedaling in circles (i.e., pulling up on the pedals) is sufficient. Standing and mashing on the few "steeper" upgrades was kind of fun.
There wasn't a steep or long enough downhill to really get me spinning.
I was breathing harder and my legs felt a bit more tired than a comparable ride on my roadie, but that's the idea, no? Too bad the season is winding down. But hey, I can put it on the trainer...
I do need to adjust the position of my brake lever. It's too low and a bit of a reach for the brake lever. I'm only using the front brake after reading Sheldon Brown's article on braking. And I need better brakepads -- maybe the salmon Koolstops.
Last edited by bcoppola; 10-09-06 at 02:42 PM.