casdave check out ATMB thread on “testing dings”. I’ll keep quiet on the cost of my new b
Trust us, you do not want to wear a backpack on a long ride. Not only does it put more weight on your saddle, but even the best backpack to keep the actual fabric off your back will leave you a sodden mess.
As for a 300 pound bike-- if you’re not buying shock absorbers, and spending the money on a good drivetrain instead, it should be fine for what you want to do. Shocks and other doodads cost a lot, but you don’t need 'em if you’re on the road. In fact, having a rear shock absorber for road riding is counterproductive, because you end up bouncing yourself up and down as you pedal, instead of propelling yourself forward.
One other thing: pedals. They’ll try to sell you clip-ins, which are fine once you get past the learning curve, but they mean you’ve gotta buy special shoes as well, and you’ll end up falling several times 'cos you can’t get your feet out.
I use regular pedals in conjunction with safety shoes that have a steel shank. Very effective at making sure you don’t waste energy flexing your foot, and you can wear them around the office too.
hehe, I’m doing GREAT, and so’s Mr. Athena. Guess I shoulda mentioned that in the first post, eh? I just wanted to encourage you some… nothing wrong with that, is there?
I’ll add in another few cents here:
I personally don’t like hybrids. They’re the worst of both worlds, IMHO. Not as fast and sleek as a road bike, and don’t do very well on the trails, either. I’d go for either a road/touring bike or a mountain bike. If you really get into biking, you’ll want both a mountain bike AND a road bike, but that’s getting ahead of ourselves.
I’ll reiterate what I said in the first post - you get what you pay for in a bike. I had an old bike that cost me about US $450 in 1991 that I rode up until about 2001. I then bought a really nice new mountain bike that cost me about US $1100. I cannot tell you how much nicer the new bike was. Granted, it wasn’t just the money - bike technology had much improved in 10 years. But a nice, light bike with good components will make your daily bike ride MUCH more fun.
I agree with Barbarian as well - if money’s an issue, concentrate on getting a light bike with a good drivetrain rather than a fancy shock absorbing fork. For what you describe, a front shock would be nice, but not nearly as important as the other things.
I’ll second Barbarian and others again - you do want panniers. Even if you don’t believe us, at least make sure that the bike you buy has the necessary connections for a rack (panniers connect to a rack, which connects to your bike). You will believe us in a couple months, and you’ll want panniers.
For starting out, get the clipped pedals - ie, the pedals with the little “cages” that your feet go in. Make 'em loose until you get used to them. Later on, if you want, you can buy clipless pedals (the ones that you wear special shoes with.)
Once upon a time, I commuted to work six miles each way, day in and day out, over hilly terrain. I worked at a job that involved wearing a suit.
I kept a couple of jackets at work, wore them only as necessary, otherwise, rolled up pants, shirt and tie and carried them to wokr in my backpack. Rode to work in shorts and a T-shirt which I changed out of daily once at work. No showers where I worked, but I found a towel and a change of clothes did the trick. But you WILL have to shower daily at home, those odors accumulate fast.
I started out on a $300 bike. Not sure which category it fit into, but it got flats CONSTANTLY. I switched over to a $100 Wal-Mart kinda bike. It’s sturdier tires didn’t go flat nearly as often, and I didn’t notice THAT much change in performance. Both bikes had drop-down handlebars. I now ride a touring bike with upright handlebars, and it’s better, but not necessary.
Traffic – find a route with the widest road margins you can. It’s not so much how many cars are on the road with you, it’s how much breathing rooms there is between you and them. One of the safest parts of my route had bumper to bumper, crawling traffic, but it also had wide margins. Frequently I would outperform the cars on these stretches. Go out of your way to find a safe route if you have to, you DON’T want to get run over.
Wear a helmet. I’m with Seinfeld on the subject of helmets and the brains they protect. (“Let people who don’t want to wear helmets, not wear helmets. What use is a brain that doesn’t even have sense enough to protect itself?”)
Get a comfy backpack or panniers. Youll need them.
Don’t ride at night if you can manage. Only 5 percent of all bike riding is done at night, but 90 percent of bike accidents involving serious head trauma occurs at night.
Get some biking shoes with stiffened soles. You don’t need the ultra-locking kind, but those stiiffened soles will really help.
I don’t know about the 'nads thing, but I’d look hard for more info. I have read that guys have had impotence problems associated with riding bikes. Some cyclists dispute them, but there’s a pretty obvious motivation: they want to keep riding and feel “safe” while doing so. Doctors would probably caution you about bike riding just to be on the safe side. I dunno where you’d be likely to get non-biased info on the subject.
Hmmm…sounds like there is some difference of opinion on how quickly I should be able to cover those twelve miles, but most of you think panniers are the way to go.
My only problem with panniers is that I don’t think they look that great. Call me shallow, but I want to look good while I’m beating the traffic. However I might have to go with substance over style if backpacks are really that much of a hassle. Plus, won’t a “luggage rack” on the back and panniers on the sides just weigh me down?
With regards to specific bikes, I was initially taking a look at this manufacturer, and specifically the “chinook” flat-bar sports bike. Ya think it’s too much for a novice? It seems like a fast enough road bike, but with the flat bars should make for better riding position. However, in light of your advice, I think I’ll have to pick something less sexy and more practical. Perhaps I should get the most expensive “commuting” bike I can afford.
Finally, are special cycling shoes really worth it, or are they just for serious racers? I’m happy to get a neon top to aid visibility and make sure I stay safe, but I don’t want to shell out on gimmicks and gadgets I don’t really need
Try a Dawes Discovery 7. Flat handle bars, fast wheels, pannier racks and a completely enclosed chain case. This means almost no maintenance costs, plus your trousers stay clean. And the perfect price.
And bank on the trip taking around an hour until you become some sort of super athlete. Shoes can wait. Helmet and gloves can’t though.
Have you read any of cycling advocate Mayer Hillman’s writings? If not, this is worth a look. Upshot?
- Cycle helmets are designed to protect against injuries from falling off the bike, not from injuries caused by cycle-traffic altercations. Helmets are relatively ineffective in the latter cases.
- Wearing a helmet may lead to risk compensation in the cyclist. I.e., if you wear a helmet, you may cycle more riskily.
- Forcing cyclists to wear a helmet shifts the responsibility of cycle safety somewhat away from the motorist to the cyclist.
The choice to not wear a helmet when commuting doesn’t necessarily equate to having the brains of a kumquat.
On other issues, I’ll doubtless repeat what all the other cycle gurus quoth, but what the heck, eh?
Panniers / Backpack
I commute 20-40mins each way wearing a backpack, and I’ll MTB for multiple hours, fully backpacked-up. Your back will get sweaty, but if the pack fits, it’ll not chafe or be especially unpleasant.
MTB / Road Bike
For roads, get a road bike. IMO, you want no suspension at all for bum-basic roads. For road bimbling even just front sus is extra dead weight, and horribly energy-sucking if you (say) stand up to pedal uphill. There’s no guarantee that a MTB will be especially durable, either - my bike goes for 750ukp (Gary Fisher HooKooEeeKoo) and after <2000miles of (mostly) commuting, it’s getting pretty creaky.
12 Miles
That’s gotta be an hour, over ‘normal’ terrain. I.e., no alpine passes.
Night
Yes, lights are good. If your route is well lit, you don’t need lights to see by, just ones to be seen by. I use a couple of rear LEDs, one low, one high (one steady, one flashing). A dynamo’s a bad idea, since it feels a bit like you’ve stuck your rear hoop in a bucket of treacle. Hm, sounds a bit rude.
Kit
Well, as far as waterproofs go, it’s not … but a Buffalo Windshirt is the bee’s bollocks for cycling in windy / slightly drizzly conditions.
I’ll second the recommendation that Gloves Are Nice. However a puncture repair pack, pump and multitool are nicer, in certain circumstances…
Just a note - as a 350lb cyclist myself, I found that suspension frames are designed for skinny people. I compress a spring pretty deeply. There are frames made with replaceable springs but they’re pretty expensive.
A note on frame type - I bought an all-aluminum frame and was surprised by the stiffness - the ride can be rougher.
My choice for bike was the Trek Navigator 200 - a hybrid “comfort” bike. Wider seat, upright riding position, street tires. Pretty nice. They’ve added springs to the current 200 model. The Navigator 100 is now a pretty good match to what I’m riding. Not too expensive either.
Hmm. I thought I was in half-decent cycling shape, but maybe not… I take 35-45 minutes to cover 12 km, which is, let’s see here… 7.5 miles. At my speed, 12 miles would take just over an hour, so that to me would be a goal to aim for, rather than a starting point. Then again, I carry a 5lb laptop in my pannier (radio-frequency welded polyurethane – these things are seriously rain-proof 
) as well as a lock and 6V sealed lead acid battery for my lights, so there is some weight to haul there. Plus I stop for most red lights. But keep that in mind estimating times: this isn’t a training ride on wide-open back roads. Unless your scenic route is… I guess my average speed is about 17-18kmh for commuting, and 22-24kmh for straight riding on paths, etc.
As for the bike, I would suggest drop handle bars to anyone doing more than 3-4 miles at a time. They let you move your hands around so they don’t get tired and cramped. If you get a cyclocross bike, they’ll usually come with a stem that lifts them up a bit so you’re not quite as hunched over as a full-on road bike. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many entry-level priced cyclocrosses out there. At least there weren’t 13 years ago when I bought mine. I’ve probably averaged 2000-3000km a year on it, although I have had to replace a bunch of components.
I’m sorry Boldface Type, but I’m going to research this a wee bit more, but on the face of it, I call bogus, dude/dudette. Here in the the States, most of the serious cyclists I know have a term for riders without helmets. It’s called donor, as in donating their organs after being declared brain dead from a head injury while riding without a helmet. If 3/4s of the peloton in the TdF now wear helmets 100% of the time, shouldn’t that mean something to us wannabe’s?
So that’s not what I meant to do!
Anyway, I was just going to add that it’s a USCF/NORBA requirement to wear helmets in all sanctioned events - you can’t race without one! I don’t know that I think less of people that don’t wear them, as I’ve known several. But seeing as how my helmet has saved me from numerous injuries (once my helmet broke clean in half - instead of my skull - my head didn’t even have a bruise afterwards), both in bicycle/bicycle accidents and in an accident with a car, I never leave home without it!
Okay, a helmet I can understand, but what are the gloves for? Are they just to keep my mitts warm during the winter?
Gloves are nice for warmth, they’re most often padded for comfort (big plus, IMHO), and if you should take a spill, it’s so much better to have leather than your own skin in contact with the asphalt. You can get fingerless bicycling gloves for summer use.
When you fall, reflex’s throw out your hands to stop you. Road rash on your palms makes it really hard to hold on to the handle bars. On an other point, the padding helps with keeping hands from going numb.
Helmet=American Express. Don’t leave home without it.
This bears repeating. I used to have major problems with my wrists & hands going numb. A good pair of padded gloves made the problem go away.
Let me weigh in (pun intended)… I’m a hefty guy myself.
I have a shorter commute, a little less than 2 miles one-way. I ride a Raleigh hybrid which I paid about $300 for new. It’s quite sturdy, and the only component I’ve had trouble with is that I broke a pedal off while riding. I can leg press 700+ pounds, which is a little more than twice my weight. I replaced them with some top dollar mountain bike pedals that had a strong axle. Whatever you get, make sure the parts are up to the job of hauling you around.
When I bought the bike, I talked at length with the salesdude, and explained what I wanted to do with it, mostly urban commuting and recreational riding. I would have to deal with curbs, potholes, and unpaved but maintained trails. I also had a carrier installed, but I usually bungee a knapsack to it. I don’t carry a lot of stuff with me, so the panniers aren’t a necessity.
Another plug for helmets.
A coworker has a neighbor with brain damage - from falling from a bike while stopped. Her un-helmeted head hit a curb on the fall & she’s permanantly disabled.
It was just one of those “whoopsie” falls, where you lose your footing after stopping & dump the bike.
When I worked 10 miles from home (my last job) and the weather was nice, I rode my bike in. It took me as long or less than driving (I worked in Cambridge, Mass.) Ordinary 10-speed bike. No problem. It was one of the few times I could get that much free time for cycling in my busy day. And it forced you to bike home – no second thoughts.
Suggestions: Don’t bike in your work shirt, at the very least, especially if you’ve got a pack or sling bag. You’ll sweat, and that doesn’t make a good impression. Bring a good shirt, and wash up and change when you get to work, If you’re really lucky, you might have a shower at work you can use.
Use ankle straps to hold your pants cuffs in. It’s safer (you don’t get caught in your chain) and cleaner (even if you don’t get caught in the chain, you can get grease on your cuffs, and it’s impossible to get out.)
WEAR A HELMET! I didn’t for years – even AFTER I ran face-first into a telephone pole. (Slow learning curve.) It can save your life. It might even be the law where you are.
Most of the advice listed in this thread is worthwhile (except the anti helmet guy). Get yourself a bike and go for it! Let us know how it goes.
Last summer, I got serious about both my biking and my diet. I dropped from about 260 to my current 205. It works!