mrodgers

Yes, but my seat is almost as high as it could go. I have it marked on the post since I take it off the bike and leave in the car while at work in case of rain. Tuesday was the last I rode and I moved it up ever so slightly for a little more height. It was too much. I couldn't reach the pedals any more without shifting side to side on the seat. Any more height than that and the seat is definitely way too low because it would be laying on the ground, LOL. I am just about at the very top range of seat height.

Like I said in my last post, I've read where your knee should be very slightly bent when the ball of the foot is on the pedal and knee locked when the heel of the foot is on the pedal. That's just about where it is now.

The coworker I rode with 2 weeks ago looked hilarious as he has his seat the whole way down and he looks like a 10 year old riding a bike, LOL.

Homeyba

Worrying about a specific cadence is really a waste of time. Your optimal cadence will vary depending on a number of variables including terrain and your conditioning. If you are looking to better your performance there is a simple formula:
If your lungs are limiting your performance lower your cadence.
If your legs are limiting your performance increase your cadence.

kingsqueak

A light, easy cadence, likely a bit faster than you think is what you want. After a few rides you will adjust to the faster spin and it will feel natural. Yout endurance will go up with a looser gear and faster spin for sure.

As for shifting, don't think, just move up or down gears to maintain a constant cadence speed for the terrain you are on. The idea is to try and maintain the same effort over varied terrain, not really the same speed...at least for fitness and endurance.

rteesdale

Oh wow! Succinctly put!

OP:

I've decided that the "ride all day" feel is what works. So learn to work the gears to achieve that. If you really want to tech out and know exactly what's going on, then by all means go for a cadence meter. I had my mountain bike set up with a meter as well. On the road bike, I just rely on "muscle memory" and "can I breath".

Sometimes I'm accused of "soft pedalling" by other riders. I got tired of explaining to them how natural it feels for me to be at 90-100 rpm. I "credit" that base cadence to the amount of work I do on an indoor trainer as well.

Lastly, you need stay focused on your primary goal. If its weight loss, then diet and heart rate monitoring will be important as well. It's easy to become accustomed to your workload if you repeat routes...so it may be worth your while to put some structure to these other areas as well.

mrodgers

Ok, so I just came back from a ride. Kids are gone school shopping with their Aunt. I haven't ridden in the morning either, it is nice.

So, I took the advise and discussion here to the trail with me. I found out yesterday that I don't like my 2nd chainring at all compared to my coworker's more expensive and better bike. We rode yesterday on a non-paved trail and he let me ride his back. His gearing was a huge difference over mine. I liked it. Now his trail is a lot more sloped than mine and the slopes go for half mile to almost a mile at a time, so I didn't mess around with stuff there.

This morning I rode my usual flat paved trail along the Allegheny. I started out keeping on the 2nd chainring, but didn't like it at all. I run 13-14 mph up the river and at that speed I felt like my bike was out pacing my legs. So, I jumped onto the top chainring and figured I'll just keep it in a lower gear. I tried 5th gear and felt like the bike was jumping ahead of my pedaling. So I jumped into 6th, 1 gear down than I was using.

My results were I stayed much more consistently at 14 mph for the 5.5 miles up to the tunnel where I usually slowly cruise through and turn around. I definitely felt a lot less leg burn for that 5.5 miles. At 3 miles there is a small bridge that I normally stop on to get half a minute rest or so and take a swig of water. Rode right through that and to the tunnel. Stopped inside the tunnel nearly on the other side for a drink of water.

I felt so good that I figured I'd keep going. On I went. There's another tunnel in another 6 miles. I didn't think I'd make it, but figured I'd try. Well, at 9 miles, halfway to the next tunnel my butt told me to turn around. Legs still felt great!

I turned around and rode to about 11 miles. At that point there is a bench and the rear end was getting really sore at this time. So I stopped for some water, noticed anyways that my shoe lace was untied so I had to stop for that. Gave the rear end a rest for a while and on I went. I'm still down a gear in 6th and was still holding 14 mph consistantly where normally because it is ever so slightly downhill I am usually bouncing between 14 and 15. I saw 15 a few times but this was another 50% longer ride so I was real happy staying a consistent 14 mph. My last ride which was a 5th day of riding I could barely hold 10 because I was exhausted from all the continuous days.

Like I said I think before, the last half mile is lined with white PVC fence and I usually sprint (sitting in the seat because my chain jumps around if I put too much torque down.) Fastest I've been able to sprint and hold here previously is 19 mph and I usually do it for 1/4 mile then slow down. I sprinted to 20 mph and held the speed pushing almost to the end. There was a big group just starting so I had to slow down to get by them.

All in all, today felt fantastic! Like I said when starting this thread, I was at about 12-13 mph on the way up and 13-14 mph on the way back. I didn't think I was "mashing" on the pedals, but I was putting a slight bit of effort into it. Dropping a gear and spinning faster gave me a consistent 14 mph the entire ride including extending the miles by 50% with the butt pain being more of a limiting factor than the legs. I still felt great in the legs after 18 miles. I'm very happy about this.

Bill Kapaun

Is this your bike?


IF it is,that's rather impressive speed/miles.

mrodgers

That's very close, it is dual suspension. I can't do anything with the forks but the rear spring is adjusted as tight as I could get it. Those tires look much bigger than mine. Mine are 26x1.95, definitely not ideal for pavement but not nearly as wide and aggressive as my coworker on his Dawes from BD or what those look like in your image posted. I may have to take the bathroom scale out to the garage with me and see how much it weighs. I stopped in a bike shop on the way home Friday to see what they sell and lifted up a Fuji Absolute (that is now added to my list for next year to look at as soon as I find all the "local" bike shops which would be within a 50 mile radius for me.) I was amazed at how light it was. I don't think I could lift mine up so easily with 1 hand.

It's too dark for a picture of my actual bike, this would be it from google image search...



Funny quick story, like I mentioned, I rode with a coworker on Friday on his non-paved trail. He smoked me. He was about half a mile ahead of me. We swapped at the 5 mile turnaround and I rode his. He again smoked me. I'm about half a mile or so from the cars and get a text. "Must suck being 40!" Er, no, not really. Told him after work on Monday I'm going to bring one of the 50 lb propane tanks from the forktrucks and strap it to his back. See if he can get half a mile ahead of me then, LOL. Heck, he'd still be 10 lbs. lighter than me.

Highlander1

[QUOTE=mrodgers;15984343]I don't know exactly where to put any threads I have questions with, but since I'm just a fat guy trying to get some exercise and reduce weight and cholesterol, I like this section. The amount of sections and information in this forum overall is overwhelming and I have a hard time sorting through the racer info vs. just exercise info.

So, last night I was curious and counted the teeth on my junk Walmart mountain bike job. Here's what I have...

25 / 33 / 42
13 / 15 / 17 / 19 / 21 / 24 / 28
26x1.95 tire

Not sure how this reply thing works, but if it does, you will find it a lot easier to spin if your feet are clipped in to the pedals. You will find it a lot easier to monitor if you buy a speedometer with cadence. You will pick up a huge amount of speed if you buy a descent cross bike. You won't wreck your knees if you get your spin up to 85-90.

Homeyba

He's riding a $50 bicycle, doesn't make much sense to put on $100 pedals or computer for that matter. You don't really need clips or computer to learn to spin faster. It may be easier, but you can learn without.

mrodgers

Wow, you really overestimate the value of my bike, want to buy it? LOL. I don't think I'd give $20 for this bike, hehehe.

I may actually have a cadence computer for my bike. I had a cheapie Bell computer from Walmart but I don't know what I did with it. I took it into work one day a long time ago and I have no idea where I left it. It could be buried in my office somewhere which really I just use as a paperwork and sample dropoff since I run equipment on the other side of the plant. I bought a new cheapie Bell when I started riding at the beginning of the month. If I can find the old computer, I'm going to connect it up to the crankset to measure cadence.

Yeah, the bike is a cheap POS. Next year's tax return is going to net me something like a Trek FX or similar.

Had I known you could get a computer with cadence for $20, I would have ordered one instead of buying the one at Walmart. The ones I see online are more like $50. I don't do much internet ordering.

Homeyba

Glad you didn't take offense to my post. It wasn't meant that way. Ultimately, the bike is irrelevant. What's important is that you're out there riding what you got. Better things will come in the future.

IBOHUNT

That they do... if you keep after it.

digibud

It's my observation that the most important thing here is the simple fact you are thinking about your cycling and trying to learn and making an effort while doing that. Easy rambling at 6mph won't get you the benefits of good cardio and mashing in a hard gear makes it nearly impossible to get an hour of good cardio. Your effort to increase your cadence will make all the difference in being able to keep your legs moving without destroying your knees. I started out at a cadence of 65-70 when I was 285. Now I can spin 90 for the better part of 2 hours and getting here has taken me down to 195 with a lot of will power regarding what I eat. It's taken over three years to do that but if you get your heart rate up and keep exercising while you eat a healthy diet the results are inevitable. Congrats on the journey.

Leebo

Try putting some slick tires on the bike, would be helpful.