skeet

So, I posted a few weeks back, thought I'd stop in again. I bought my bike, not really my first bike, but my first bike in a decade or two.


Here she is:




Started out easy, a few 3-5 mile rides. Easing up to more difficult rides. This week I've been doing a 6.5 mile route around the town I live in. It's got some small hills, nothing that big, ranges from about 230 elevation up to about 325. No real flat stretches though. Last week I started doing that ride in about 47-48 minutes, yesterday I clocked it at 38.02. Gaining both confidence and endurance.

dagray

good for you. Keep it up.

Willbird

Looks good , before long you will need a second water bottle cage :-)

ColaJacket

Your journey has started. Don't let it end.

GH

bassjones

Congratulations and have fun!

MikeRides

A great start, now get off the forums and ride! :-)

skeet

33:34 for this morning, same route. Shaved 4.5 minutes off my time from yesterday!

Thattalldude

The bike shop should of told you this and you probably already know but just a tips to keep you happy with your bike:

- the cables will stretch a little as they breakin over the next couple hundred miles and the shifter/derailer and brakes will need adjustment; you now it is time when they don't seem to work as well on your practically new bike (jumping shifting, Mia shifts, etc)

- keep the seat post up so you leg is almost fully extended at the bottom of the pedal stroke; a lot of new riders (including me then) like to drop the seat so they can put their feet down when they stop. Doing that is hard on your knees and creates a lot more work riding; it's like trying to walk up a flight of stairs while squating. Just use the pedal to step up and step down from the seat.

- high pressure tire loses pressure rapidly. If your tires are near 100 psi they will drop to 80 in a couple weeks; a lot of energy is wasted ( to friction) running low tire pressure, and you risk a pinch flat. So pump them up every two or three weeks.

-spinning faster with less load is easier on your knees

-try to maintain a relative straight chainline; your drivetrain will last longer and work better. Use the little gear in front with big gears in back, middle gear in front with middle gears in back, and big gear in front with little gears in back.

- padded bike shorts are real good

- bike shoes make a huge increase in performance once you get use to them; I can do about double the distance with them vs without, and lower gearing is less needed.

- bike lights and reflective vest/windbreaker if riding at dawn/dusk/night.

- riding with friends makes the time fly by (most of the time)
(Sorry if you already know all this and think I suck )

edit: wrote 50 psi, intended to write 80 psi, corrected to show 80psi

Short Cut

Nice bike, great start!

TrojanHorse

That's terrible advice. Unless you're a 130# rider, pump your tires up before every ride, even if you ride every day.

It certainly gives you more leeway if you forget one day. Nobody likes pinch flats!

spdracr39

Great Job !!

Willbird

I do the "thumb check" every day, and pump on alternate days with 700x25, usually down about 5psi.

Treat any atypical out of the ordinary pressure drop as a "flat" and IMHO do not leave the house without looking for why the pressure was lost :-).

PhotoJoe 

Congrats on the new bike...and getting out there and gettin' it done!

My wife has a Cannondale Quick with those same wheels. I have to say, I was very concerned about the side-by-side spoke design. There is very little metal between the spokes, however, it's been a few years and we've had no problems. I would take a close look from time to time, but so far, we give that bike a resounding

Thattalldude

Figuring he's got 28s or 32s tires so at 250 (like me) he could probably be "ok" down to about 80 psi and figure with it being a hybrid had standard wall tubes that doesn't bleed pressure as fast as the light weight thinner wall tubes...

I run standard tubes with 28mm conti 4 seasons at 110psi and it takes about 2 or 3 weeks to get down to 90psi. I pump at least once a week. Standard tubes have much better pressure retention & flat protection, cheaper, only very few additional grams, although it's the worst place to have more weight. Main reason I don't run thin tubes is all the pumping they require...
So yeah if you are running ultra light (super thin) tubes you need to pump up way more often just like you're saying.

150 lbs guys in my office running 32s at 80psi only pump them up every 2 or 3 months; I am alway harping on them to pump them up; no pinch flats in years of weekly rides, but they only ride on paved bike trails..

So I guess would change my comment to: "pump them every 2 or 3 weeks at minimum, and more often would be a lot better"

All new riders I encounter hate all the pumping and think it should be like cars and needed only every few months... So was just suggesting the minimum he could get away with...

TrojanHorse

They probably hate pumping because they have awful pumps. I have an el-cheapo pump and it's 3-4 strokes and I'm back up over 100 psi on 25mm tires. What's to hate?

Thattalldude

Yeah I hear yah, just saying what see...

I guess it's because they're squeesing in a ride on their lunch break, and want to just grab the bike and take off... A lot folks aren't into all the minor adjustments and monitoring most bikes require... We're the weirdos that like it

Fly2High

Welcome to the obsession!!

As for pumping, for me, it is just a part of my regular check up routine before I go out riding. I double check the brakes, tire pressure, lights and tail lights are installed and working(ride at 4:30 - 5 AM), Put on reflective bits, check helmet, put on eyeglasses and setup Take A Look rear view mirror, etc.

Pumping daily only take a second or two and only needs a pump or two to get it back to my desired pressure. If I feel I don't need to, I have a Topeak digital gauge that I verify they are at least OK. When I am lazy, it is just easier to check with the gauge on the pump since I usually need a little.

Form a routine before you go. You never know if that little checkup could save you injury or worse. I once caught that I forgot to reengage the brake lever and the brakes were still out wide for when I changed tires. I would have had little to no front braking ability. Another time, for some reason, I found the brake off center and needed adjustment.

jsigone

actually super thin tubes made from latex don't need much pumping at all, these are also found in tubular tires. Expensive but if you want to be lazy and not pump every ride, they are the way to go.

I pump every ride, few PSI plus or minus makes a HUGE difference in ride quality and bike handling. I need to trust my tires when decending at speeds.....

Willbird

I thought latex tubes needed pumped every day ?

Thattalldude

Yeah, looks like he got that backwards:

"..The only downside is that latex tubes are more porous than their black butyl counterparts. You'll need to air them up before every ride and if they sit a week or more, they'll appear totally flat. But all serious racers check their pressures before each ride anyway, right? Vittoria Latex Presta Tubes are available with a 51m..."

Willbird

They could make an external pressure gauge, a calibrated "thumb check", it is so simple an idea I'm sure somebody already did. It would only really give you a plus or minus reading from a zero point. I have thought about cooking one up, might be that a device used to measure rubber durometer would work :-). An active system that works via ANT or Bluetooth is probably not far off either, that might be nice :-).

kc0bbq

I think he was talking about how hard they are to inflate, not how long they hold the inflation.

ColaJacket

I do the thumb check every day. I wish I could tell how far down they are when I need to pump them up, but between the let a little air out to make sure the presta valve is open, and the fact that between my pump and my tires, I tend to have to let the pressure out to about 40 psi, before the pump will actually register a pressure on the tire (It does fine on the pump up afterwards, just getting the initial pressure is the problem).

My tire pressure calculator says that for my weight (~250#), the front tire should be at 80 psi, and the rear tire should be at 125 psi. Since my the max PSI on my tires is 100 PSI, I put it at about 85/105 psi. Also, because I know that a little air escapes when I take the pump valve on the presta valves.

GH

DTSCDS

I like the looks of the black/red/white. I had a Trek road bike that had a red/black/silver color scheme. I always thought it was just about the ugliest bike I had ever seen. I finally traded it off for my Schwinn. (Which just happens to be one of the best looking bikes I have ever seen--it worked out well in the end.) I would have kept the Trek if it looked as good as yours.

To piggyback on what Thattalldude said, you should start watching YouTube videos and/or reading instructions on how to do basic maintenance yourself. At a minimum you need to be able to change a flat, and have the supplies to do so. (It might be a good idea to try taking your tube out and putting it back in while you are at home, just so you are sure of how to do it 'in the wild'.) You should probably be able to adjust your brakes and derailleurs, and clean/lubricate your chain. There are a TON of really good YouTube videos on how to do all this stuff. Watch a couple and you should be good to go.

Rook29

I tested out that bike a few weeks back. I'm big; 6-3 265. It seemed like a good fit.