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Thread: Getting back into cycling

  1. #21
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: Liverpool, Merseyside.

    Posts: 1,328
    I'm Ben.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Svend N View Post
    26K for a first ride - good one Ben. How did the bike feel? Comfortable? Handle well? Hope you have a good pair of padded cycling shorts.
    Hi Svend,

    So far I've been really pleasantly surprised at how comfy it is to ride. I've put a slightly more padded seat on it and I wear padded shorts too to help.

    The actual MTB riding position is nice an upright and I'm really happy with that.

    The 26k route was fairly flat but had a few little hills in it toward the end, strong head wind added a bit to these too.

    But by the time we were back to base I still felt I had another 5 to 10 k in me. That's for next weekend now I guess, bring on 32k!

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  2. #22
    Join Date: Oct 2017

    Location: Ontario, Canada

    Posts: 791
    I'm Svend.

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    Sounds like the bike is a good fit for you Ben. If you were comfortable over that distance and had gas in the tank for more, then that's a good sign.

    Keep pedalling!

  3. #23
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: Liverpool, Merseyside.

    Posts: 1,328
    I'm Ben.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Svend N View Post
    Sounds like the bike is a good fit for you Ben. If you were comfortable over that distance and had gas in the tank for more, then that's a good sign.

    Keep pedalling!
    Yep very happy with it Svend.

    I've been reading up more on the south downs way route we are riding for our 3 day challenge and the more I read about it the worse it sounds tbh! Over the 100 mile route it takes in over 13000 ft of uppy & downy bits.

    With that in mind I've decided that next sat morning I'm heading out towards Chester and an area called delamere that I know reasonably well from the few years ago spent living there. Ive already got in mind a route that will take in a couple of decent climbs (on road) before heading into the Forrest MTB route and then back on the road towards home hopefully with 20 miles covered.



    Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk
    Technics SL1210 with
    SME IV Arm & AT OC9XML,
    Firebottle modded Tron Convergence Phono Stage,
    Bluesound Node 2i, Technics SL DZ 1200 CD
    Denon PMA1700ne amp
    Yamaha NS1000M Speakers.

  4. #24
    Join Date: Oct 2017

    Location: Ontario, Canada

    Posts: 791
    I'm Svend.

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    Your saddle position can help immensely in making climbing easier. If you find it a slog at any grade, then try raising the saddle a bit at a time -- say 1cm each time -- and then pedal another good distance. The point that you feel your hips start to rock back and forth with each pedal stroke, then you've gone too far -- back it down a bit just until hips are stable and you're there. Your riding buddy will have fun telling you when your hips are wiggling

    The other thing is to make sure your saddle isn't too far back. Try sliding it forward in small increments until you feel efficient pedalling, but not too far that your knees start to hurt. It'll take you a few outings to dial it in, but it's worth it.

    What pedals do you have? Are you clipped in? Or on flats? Clipped in is much more efficient, but maybe a bit scary for singletrack if you're not used to them. I ride flats - big platform lugged pedals - in winter because the clips and cleats ice up; but otherwise ride clipped-in the rest of the year (Shimano SPD).

    Lugged platforms can be great if you get a good pair - they grip like crazy. These are very good, and not expensive:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raceface-PD...ceface+chester

    Wear stiff-soled shoes whichever pedals you choose. Makes pedalling more efficient.

    Hope this helps...

  5. #25
    Join Date: Oct 2017

    Location: Ontario, Canada

    Posts: 791
    I'm Svend.

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    Also -- keep and eye on your tire pressure. For gravel rail trails I have my MTB tires at about 35 to 40 psi, which seems to be a nice efficient roll and not too harsh. For singletrack (hitting roots, rocks, and logs), I'm down to 28 psi, which is slower rolling but I'm not boinging off everything I hit.

    Stop me if I you know all this already! I don't want to be a preachy know-it-all...just trying to help...

  6. #26
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: Liverpool, Merseyside.

    Posts: 1,328
    I'm Ben.

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    Cheers Svend mate,

    Don't worry your not coming across preachy at all lol.

    Some of the stuff you mention I know but there's plenty to learn so thanks again.

    So pedal wise I'm using Shimano SPD's. I started off using SPD's on my first road bike before swooping to SPD sl's when I bought a snazzier pair of road shoes.

    So I'm pretty happy with the pedals but will definitely experiment with seat height & position as there's prob some room for improvement there.

    Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk
    Technics SL1210 with
    SME IV Arm & AT OC9XML,
    Firebottle modded Tron Convergence Phono Stage,
    Bluesound Node 2i, Technics SL DZ 1200 CD
    Denon PMA1700ne amp
    Yamaha NS1000M Speakers.

  7. #27
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: Liverpool, Merseyside.

    Posts: 1,328
    I'm Ben.

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    Tire pressures as well I need to experiment with. Currently I'm.running v high prob around 70lbs. I could feel that was too hard on anything but roads so I'll drop them down a bit on my next outing.

    Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk
    Technics SL1210 with
    SME IV Arm & AT OC9XML,
    Firebottle modded Tron Convergence Phono Stage,
    Bluesound Node 2i, Technics SL DZ 1200 CD
    Denon PMA1700ne amp
    Yamaha NS1000M Speakers.

  8. #28
    Join Date: Oct 2017

    Location: Ontario, Canada

    Posts: 791
    I'm Svend.

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    OK - great that I'm not out of line here. Sounds like you know a lot already so I'll just shut up until you have a question

    Cheers,
    Svend

  9. #29
    Join Date: Nov 2013

    Location: HAMPSTEAD

    Posts: 1,156
    I'm brian.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Zoidburg View Post
    Had a very blustery ride out this morning with one of my wife's work colleagues. He's into his mountain biking and had offered to take me out.

    It wasn't a particulally adventurous route, mainly taking in canal paths, a few trails and some road work.

    Even with the high winds though it was still nice to be out riding. Our route was almost 27k which felt good to me, I'd have easily pushed on a bit further but my partner's bike had a mechanical issued that ended his ride a bit sooner than he was expecting.

    Hopefully next week end il push a bit more north of 30 k.

    Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk
    Another canal jobbie planned for this wk/end Ben ? Being a keen cycling warrior myself in London I've been keeping a close eye on this thread mate..
    Had a good 20 miler along Regents canal on Monday from Camden Town to West Drayton, just really lovely to avoid the fumes of London and traffic lights of course !. Interesting things to note on route being
    Wembley stadium, Kensal bone yard ( well ?), Sudbury golf course and part of the canal that actually goes over the A406 a huge ring road around London. Probably few drivers even no there s cyclist and water
    above there heads ?. Anyway good luck with the ride this summer.... Took the train back to Paddington stn b.t.w

  10. #30
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: Liverpool, Merseyside.

    Posts: 1,328
    I'm Ben.

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    Quote Originally Posted by tapid View Post
    Another canal jobbie planned for this wk/end Ben ? Being a keen cycling warrior myself in London I've been keeping a close eye on this thread mate..
    Had a good 20 miler along Regents canal on Monday from Camden Town to West Drayton, just really lovely to avoid the fumes of London and traffic lights of course !. Interesting things to note on route being
    Wembley stadium, Kensal bone yard ( well ?), Sudbury golf course and part of the canal that actually goes over the A406 a huge ring road around London. Probably few drivers even no there s cyclist and water
    above there heads ?. Anyway good luck with the ride this summer.... Took the train back to Paddington stn b.t.w
    Sounds great mate, I will be doing the canal paths again maybe in a couple of weeks. My riding partner has plans for the next couple of weekends so I'm off out on my own.

    The plan for Sunday morning is a slightly hillier road route towards Chester then hit the Forrest trails for about 5 miles then back homewards on the roads again.

    Hopefully that will see me around the 20 mile mark which Il be very happy with.

    Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk
    Technics SL1210 with
    SME IV Arm & AT OC9XML,
    Firebottle modded Tron Convergence Phono Stage,
    Bluesound Node 2i, Technics SL DZ 1200 CD
    Denon PMA1700ne amp
    Yamaha NS1000M Speakers.

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