toddv@azure.UUCP (Todd Vierheller) (05/19/84)
Another vote for "The Complete Book of Bicycle Commuting" written
by John S. Allen and published by Rodale; it's excellent.
It concerns riding in traffic--the authors are from Boston and use their own
methods. I used to commute to work in Missouri (12-8 night shift), and I slowly
learned many of these methods on my own. I learned a lot more from Mr.Allen.
Concerning biking shoes, I found the Beta Bikers to be very uncomfortable for
walking in for any length of time. I subsequently bought Cannondale touring
shoes which are also a very comfortable walking shoe. The Cannondales have
many ridges in the soles so you can pick where you like to place your foot.
The ridges aren't very deep though, and mostly work by friction. I find
them adequate.
My low gear is a 40.5 (42/28 * 27). In Missouri it was great (and I was
younger and I rode more). I just completed a 60 mile ride over the coastal
range in Oregon (i.e. MOUNTAINS) and I thought I would die. Only the hope that
the crest was around the next curve kept me peddling. Do any of you in shape
mountian climbing bikers use gears this stiff? Am I merely a pansy? My
quadriceps were *real* tired after my ride that night. (But OK the next day.)
I should mention that it was raining and I had a slight headwind.
Maybe I should change gears? What do you experts think? (My high gear is
108 (52/13 * 27) and great for calm days, tailwinds and downhill.)
Todd Getting-Old-Fat-&-Wheezy Vierheller
Tektronix, Inc. Aloha, OR. (Portland)kfl@hoxna.UUCP (Kenton Lee) (05/21/84)
xxx I read somewhere, I think in Bicycling magazine, that you should choose your low gears so that you can peddle at 80 rpm over hills (90 rpm on flats). Peddling at less than 80 rpm puts alot of stress on the knees and cause pain and damage. I would recommend a gear in the mid-30s for hilly rides, especially with a load. -- Kenton Lee, Bell Labs - WB wb3g!kfl or hoxna!kfl
jeff@dual.UUCP (Jeff Houston) (05/22/84)
Poor Todd, too many beers and not enough miles???
Perhaps a few more well placed training miles with the load you were gonna
carry might have helped make the hills a bit flater. If an easier gear is
needed you might consider a triple crank and/or a freewheel with up to a 34
tooth max. This will give some really low gears to ride up even the slopes
of Mt. Rainier. I think that Shimano, Suntour, and Sugino all have models
in both cranks and freewheels, check these out. I'm still crazy and use a
60 low gear, 42/19. Even rode around Mt. Rainier one day last summer with
this set up. But for anyone going out for a long, hilly ride it is best to
know the terrain to be covered, distance, and what kind of shape your body
is in before attempting it. Bike trips are done for fun, and you don't
get much of that without the right kind of planning and training.
Jeff Houston
Dual Systems Corp., Berkeley, CA
{ucbvax,ihnp4,cbosgd,amd70,zehntel,fortune,decwrl}!dual!jeffjj@rabbit.UUCP (05/22/84)
Well, we folk with crunchy knees <skiing and biking will do that...> endorse the triple crank idea. <Or at least this one does> I have a 39-46-54 front crankset, and a 14-34 Shimano 5 ring rear, that provides just about any gear that I really need. the 54-34 and 39-14 aren't too useful, but they're not very necessary either. <For those of you who wonder how it works out, plot it, it gives you one stump gear, one very high gear, and 11 nicely spaced in the middle.> Don't put that seat too high! -- TEDDY BEARS ARE MUCH NICER THAN PEOPLE--HUG YOURS, I DO! (Instead of spa, we'll drink brown ale, and pay the reckoning on the nail, ...) (allegra,harpo,ulysses)!rabbit!jj
mueller@utah-gr.UUCP (Tim Mueller) (05/23/84)
When I moved from Wisconsin to Utah I found the hills (and the altitude) very difficult at first. I made a rather radical change in my gearing from a 14-21 (45-52 in front) to some huge freewheel (I think it was a 14-32). However, after a little work and getting used to the altitude I found myself not needing the two lowest gears. Since then, I have gotten in good enough shape to go back to a 14-21 six speed with a 42-52 in the front. This has a low gear of about 54". I can ride anywhere in the city and up most of the surrounding canyons without any trouble. There is one notable exception. The steepest of the steep is a canyon called Little Cottonwood (any skier knows this one well) and there is a race up to the Snowbird ski resort every Sept. The first time I rode in this race I used that granny set up and put a 40 on the front with the 32 in the back. However, with a little work, last year I used a 42 in the front and a 14-24 on the back and finished some five minutes faster! (Some people ride this race on a straight block. The race covers 10 miles and over 3000 vertical feet, most of which occurs the last five miles. ) Now the kind of riding I'm talking about is me, the bike and the water bottle and that's about it. I don't think I'd like to tour in the mountains with a 60" low gear. But if you make yourself push bigger gears you can get used to them even in the mountains and have the advantage of having close gearing when riding on the flats. Tim Mueller University of Utah ...harpo!utah-cs!mueller ARPA mueller@utah-20