horsepowered

Hi,
Maybe this has already been mentioned, anyway here are my comments. Do you use cycling shoes and clipless pedals like look time speedplay etc? If so then you can train your self to pedal in more of a circular motion- it won't be fully circular but you can start by really concentrating on pulling back and kicking over the top of the pedal stroke. This will really help in smoothing things out for you. I'd do this on solo rides, starting with maybe the distance between one or two telephone poles. You'll discover leg muscles you didm't know you had!!!

Now a comment on spinning up hills. ALL HILLS SUCK!!! But try the pedaling style I described at first on smaller hills, it should help you. As your pedal action smooths out there should be less equipment damage.

Ed (261max, now 222)

P.s To each his own but you may want to explore a steel frame for your next bike.

Wogster

If your bike has a double, it's possibly geared too high for you, find out how many teeth are in your each chainring, and in each rear sprocket. then go here plug in all the numbers. select gear inches, It will give you a chart of values.

Gear inches is how far you travel with one revolution of the crank, you want around 20 GI for your lowest gear, on mountain bikes 16 or 17 can sometimes be found. Some road bikes though only get down to around 25 or so.

Nocturnal

Thanks all. My bike is steel (reason I got the Surly Long Haul) with it's stock components and I haven't yet gotten the cyclocomputer but that's next on my list to see what my cadence is. Haven't found clipless yet to fit me plus I am still figuring out by saddle/grip heights...they may come soon as well though since I also have a short commute I think I'll keep the dual style pedals like the Shimano M234's so I can vary.

Okay seems the consesus is, "Not great, do it less if you can for many reasons, though it should stand up to a lil pushing."

Oh, yes all the rumors of rugby players are true...I could tell you a few hundred stories. Though as a queer who prefers to smear the straights and then outdrink 'em...this is also why I need a sport that doesn't necessitate a dozen beers and a quart of whiskey to heal the cuts and bruises. Hey, I'm a clyde

Ride on!

baron von trail 

Hats off to ya, Mr. Rugby Man.

RI_Swamp_Yankee

Back in the mid-90's, "in the Boston area" there was an amateur team whom had pro teams and national teams (All Blacks) from other parts of the world show up to play against them on a local highschool football field as an "exhibition." (It was rumored that these games were punishments for teams that didn't live up to expectations.)

Turns out, they're mostly semi-pro players gone harder and meaner: Irish terrorists and white South African war criminals hiding out on ill-gotten work visas. And one tough little black guy from Roxbury - professional computer network engineer, five-foot-nothing, built like a city fire hydrant, and was about as indestructable. He tried to recruit me at work, as they needed someone tall and nigh-indestrcutable. I was tall, but the team decided to test the nigh-indestructable part by inviting me out on a "Booze-Cruise" - a cruise around Boston Harbor, with local Ska bands playing on the top deck, with dollar drafts and dollar shots. I was the only one to walk off the boat under his own power, so I was in...

I never did find the time to join, too busy building the internets for phantom stock options. One of my keenest regrets.

Nocturnal

Hm, I started life post-college playing in Boston late 90's with some of these fellows and been on a few of those cruises too. Topper is the one where a mate dove off the top deck way out wearing only boxers...they shut down Boston Harbor for the first time in 44 years looking for him.

Turns out he had swam back and was in a bar in Faneuil Hall. But I digress...

baron von trail 

In case anyone thinks we oversell the Rugby toughness: