Biking uphill
 

Okay, so yesterday I finally had the chance to go out and test ride my new bike. Which is a 2010 Fuji Absolute 2.0. The outside temperature was 30 F. I haven't rode a bike since past fall and never rode it in this kind of temperature. Usually ride when it's above 65 F.

Somehow when I was riding the bike. I felt tired very fast. Especially going uphill. Is it because it was cold? Or was it because I haven't rode a bike for the past 3 months or so? Or is it the bike? For the past month or so, I've been exercising my legs with my wife's home exercise bike.

The right side of the V brake did kind of touch slightly or almost touch the front rim. Could that be the cause? I did, when I got home. Adjusted the brake and got it to where I wanted.

Was wondering that it could just be the bike and was thinking of selling it and get a 2010 Jamis Coda Sport. The Jamis and the Fuji are about the same. Just that the Fuji have Shimano Tiagra rear derailleur, 12-25 T and 30/42/52 T crank set and the Jamis have Shimano Deore rear derailleur, 11-32 T and a 48/36/26 crank set.

I've seen some guy riding a Surly while I was driving one time and he seem to have no problem going uphill. That bike was pretty fast for going up hill. I want a bike like that.

I think you answered your own questions. Re read your own post.................

Agree with above.

Which one? All of the above?

It's the rider ;) I remember a guy telling me that my bike was faster on the flats because I had a big ring of 53 and he only had a 52. I guess he didn't notice I was spinning in my 39 (small ring).:D

I figure that also. Maybe it will get better when it warms up outside and I get back into biking shape. ;)

I will say though that I have climbed GMR 8 (Miles 2300 ft) at night 38 degrees and it is a bit tougher to breath vs a day ride at 70 degrees.:D

Hi there ChowChow!

I can assure you, there's absolutely nothing wrong with your bicycle!

If your brake shoe was dragging on your rim, you were effectively working against yourself. This requires extra energy. Also, in cold weather, your body expends energy trying to keep itself warm. For older people, the metabolism tends to be slower. It takes more energy to heat the ole engine, in order to maintain thermo-stability. The lay-off could have caused your metabolism to slow down a little. If you're used to riding in warmer weather, psychologically speaking, you had quite a different expectation. Remember, we are homeotherms, not poikilotherms, we have to expend energy to maintain our core temperatures. This fact is magnified by age...

PS.

Quickly sell your aluminum framed bicycle! It's no good! :D

Buy instead, a more honorable chromoly steel-framed Jamis Coda Sport. :thumb:

The Gods of Steel will bless you for it! :lol: :roflmao2: :lol:

I found a 2010 Jamis Coda Sport for around $450. The only thing that I didn't like was that it is red in color. It says it's around 25.75 lbs. My Fuji weigh 24 lbs. Plus the Fuji has carbon bonded fork. If it's just me and the weather, then it's not worth selling the Fuji.

You need more legs :)

No! Don't sell your Fuji! ...I was only kidding!

Like I said, there's nothing wrong with your Fuji. You were climbing up a hill, in the cold, after not riding for awhile. Besides, your brake was dragging!

It's completely understandable that you were just tired! :thumb:

- Slim :)

"I haven't rode a BIKE since past fall and never rode it in this kind of temperature. Usually ride when it's above 65 F"

It's a conditioning issue.

It's pretty obvious that you need a new bike.:innocent:

You believe you're dissatisfied with your new bike, and you think the answer might be another bike that you describe as being "about the same." Does that make sense? Not to me. Neither does the thought that a different RD would make one of the two "faster" than the other. Though as far as the gearing goes, if you could spin out either bike, you'd be going faster on the Fuji when you do it. So by that definition of speed, the one you already have is "faster."

Despite what I said above, no bike (without a motor) is inherently fast. I guarantee you the reason that bike seemed fast was because of the rider.

Yes.

That might have been a mistake. Did you check first to be sure your front wheel was bottomed in both drop outs?

Don't worry, you're just a little out of shape. In a few weeks, you'll be climbing those hills like it's nothing!

Also wearing heavier and possibly more restrictive clothing will slow you down.

You can probably put a new cassette on your bike to give easier climbing gears, but it you were OK with it in the warmer wether you just need to get back on your bike to re-condition yourself in colder weather.

I'm getting tired and exhausted just reading about the cold temps.

If your car runs out of gas, do you just go and buy another?

Considering buying a bike (especially one that is "about the same") to deal with your current "problem" seems a bit drastic.

If your brake is rubbing, you should fix that (and it's unlikely that Jamises are immune from that problem). But I doubt that you'd notice any effect.

This kind of indicates that your "problem" isn't going to go away with buying the Jamis, doesn't it?

======================

Maybe, it would be useful to run your bike by a bike shop to check it out.

Hopefully, there's enough air in the tires.

When my wife and I moved from Little Rock (the hilly part of town) to Dallas, we were hill-climbing freaks. What we considered to be mild upslopes were causing great problems for our fellow riders there (around White Rock lake, for instance).
Unfortunately, since the hill "work" I'd previously enjoyed during my daily commute in AR wasn't carried on in Dallas, by the time we moved back to AR... 9 months later... we found ourselves getting easily dropped by the same group of hammerheads we used to ride with.

if you haven't ridden since the fall and the temps have changed, I'll bet your tires also have a lot lower pressure unless you pumped them up before you went riding. Give that a look

I experienced the same thing a couple of days ago. Rode a bike for the first time in a couple of years. Encountered my first hill and only made it half way up. It wasn't the bike, since I started up the hill just fine in low gear. It was the legs!

Don't sell the bike. Upgrade the engine.

Don't change the engine. Bulldoze the hills.