Cycling to get fit etc - old Dawes Ascent

[Mr Will]

mchammer89 said:

P-Jay said:

007singh said:

Some advice then:

2) Is the bike pretty much irrelevant, since I am only using it for fitness/leisure - so it does not make much difference which bike I have?

Anything else - please feel free to share!

2) You're not wrong. You could spend pretty much any amount of money you like on a 'better' bike. But an more efficent bike will just mean it takes longer in time and distance to get the same work-out as you can get on a older bike.

This, a million times this. I've commuting on a 20-25kg beach cruiser with flat pedals for over a year, I regularly going out with a bunch of friends (most of which ride fixed, some geared) at the start I couldn't keep pace with them at all, now i'm faster than most, even uphill.

The way I look at it is this, say you go into a gym and you want a workout. Do you do 5 reps of 50kg or 5 of 5kg? Which is going to build more power?

Resistance is your friend.

That's true for a specific distance but not for a specific time. The gears mean that the resistance and amount of power you put out will be the same, whether you are on a full-suspension downhill bike or a full-carbon road bike. The only thing which will vary is your speed.

Obviously this doesn't apply when your speed is dictated by an outside factor (such as waiting for slower riders if riding as a group) but when riding solo I find covering a greater distance feels like more of an achievement and allows me to get to more places.

[mchammer89]

Mr Will said:

mchammer89 said:

P-Jay said:

007singh said:

Some advice then:

2) Is the bike pretty much irrelevant, since I am only using it for fitness/leisure - so it does not make much difference which bike I have?

Anything else - please feel free to share!

2) You're not wrong. You could spend pretty much any amount of money you like on a 'better' bike. But an more efficent bike will just mean it takes longer in time and distance to get the same work-out as you can get on a older bike.

This, a million times this. I've commuting on a 20-25kg beach cruiser with flat pedals for over a year, I regularly going out with a bunch of friends (most of which ride fixed, some geared) at the start I couldn't keep pace with them at all, now i'm faster than most, even uphill.

The way I look at it is this, say you go into a gym and you want a workout. Do you do 5 reps of 50kg or 5 of 5kg? Which is going to build more power?

Resistance is your friend.

That's true for a specific distance but not for a specific time. The gears mean that the resistance and amount of power you put out will be the same, whether you are on a full-suspension downhill bike or a full-carbon road bike. The only thing which will vary is your speed.

Obviously this doesn't apply when your speed is dictated by an outside factor (such as waiting for slower riders if riding as a group) but when riding solo I find covering a greater distance feels like more of an achievement and allows me to get to more places.

True, though pretty much all of my riding is either needing to get to somewhere in a set time or riding with friends, so the distance is usually set. It's a hell of a lot more fun and rewarding racing people on a beach cruiser than a full carbon race bike

[Daveyraveygravey]

If you do a lot of off-road, I'd look into shades, with changeable lenses. Getting a fly in your eye is bad, getting a bit of grit/dust/flint is worse, and as for a dollop of sheep/cow/horse poo...The flusher they are to your head, you might find them steaming up going uphill which gets annoying.

I think the Dawes will be good enough for now, your fitness will improve, and you'll get an idea if this is for you. And then you can start dreaming of these £2k bikes (never mind the £7k ones!)

Just build it up slowly, and try not to get into a routine with it. I hadn't ridden that far for a few years, but went from maybe able to ride for an hour to doing the South Downs Way in a day this summer, so it can be done.

The more you get into it, the more sense the gear will make. The missus hates me in my lycra shorts, but nothing is as comfy.

[Engineer1]

I'd say don't get into a routine but do make it a habit, go for a ride as often as possible but vary your routes unless you find something interesting to keep an eye on.

[mchammer89]

Engineer1 said:

I'd say don't get into a routine but do make it a habit, go for a ride as often as possible but vary your routes unless you find something interesting to keep an eye on.

Like the Assos girl on Wiggle?

[007singh]

Cheers for all the input guys. Will get the bike this weekend and see what needs doing etc to get up ready for some miles. Will try to keep you posted on progress.

Will also see how I get on with getting the OH a new bike too.

Hardest bit will be keeping this (any) cycling routine up during the weekday evenings as winter draws in. I live a bit out in the sticks, and dark country lanes dont exactly fill me with confidence - just have to get some lights, reflective gear and make the most of it though. Weekends will be great however, cycling is a great way to explore also I figure - so get to see the new areas as well as working on some fitness.

[Mojocvh]

I have only just re started.

When we moved to the 'carse the aim was to get out on bikes more (it's a bit like the dutch polder in places) but the so called marked cycle routes/lanes were just too dodgy (I've written about this before) putting you into conflict with other road user just too much.

So it died a death.

However I now NEED to get out and about so last weekend took no1 daughter (12) out for a bit of green (farm) laning.

Not far, a 3 mile round trip cross country (we had to walk around a field margins at one point), but it was fun, a trip of discovery, and we saw quite a lot.

So I'll probably be coming back with some dumb questions, please don't get a collective huff when I miss a point entirely.

Mo.