bike first or fitness first?
Discussion
Hello,
Thinking of starting to commute to work on a bicycle when I move house at the end of the year.
The journey will only be about 9 miles each way (About 6 miles of N/S/L limit roads though so a little scary and about 3 miles of cycle path)
The thing is, I haven't really done any regular exercise for about 5 years (Actually probably more than that)
Also, the bikes that I have are rubbish. I've got a 7 year old Apollo "full suspension" bike and an old Muddyfox with road biased tyres but that is a little small for me really.
I'm of 2 minds - do I go and get an OK begineers bike now (Thinking around £200 - £300) to use whilst I get fitter/see if I enjoy riding as a way of getting fit/getting to work.
Or do I make do with the rubbish bikes whilst I see if I enjoy it and to improve my fitness and then go for a better, move expensive bike if I've managed to enjoy doing the cycling?
Thanks, Andrew.
P.S I'm sure you get similar questions every other week but it is nicer to use my own words and read your opinion then to do a Search and read something similar but not exactly the same.
Thinking of starting to commute to work on a bicycle when I move house at the end of the year.
The journey will only be about 9 miles each way (About 6 miles of N/S/L limit roads though so a little scary and about 3 miles of cycle path)
The thing is, I haven't really done any regular exercise for about 5 years (Actually probably more than that)
Also, the bikes that I have are rubbish. I've got a 7 year old Apollo "full suspension" bike and an old Muddyfox with road biased tyres but that is a little small for me really.
I'm of 2 minds - do I go and get an OK begineers bike now (Thinking around £200 - £300) to use whilst I get fitter/see if I enjoy riding as a way of getting fit/getting to work.
Or do I make do with the rubbish bikes whilst I see if I enjoy it and to improve my fitness and then go for a better, move expensive bike if I've managed to enjoy doing the cycling?
Thanks, Andrew.
P.S I'm sure you get similar questions every other week but it is nicer to use my own words and read your opinion then to do a Search and read something similar but not exactly the same.
the old bike will be fine as long as its maintained, and as its going to be fairly heavy it will improve your fitness faster than a lighter newer bike.
9 Miles really is nothing, thats under an hour at normal cycling pace, I'm very out of shape and a run of 14 miles is hardly taxing.
My opinion would be to use the old bike, then upgrade later, your level of fitness will increase, and you'll wnat to do more technical stuff, then you'll need the new bike to cope with that.
9 Miles really is nothing, thats under an hour at normal cycling pace, I'm very out of shape and a run of 14 miles is hardly taxing.
My opinion would be to use the old bike, then upgrade later, your level of fitness will increase, and you'll wnat to do more technical stuff, then you'll need the new bike to cope with that.
OK, went out on the muddy fox at lunch time for 20 minutes and I could barely walk up the stairs afterwards and my lungs still hurt.
No, I wasn't going fast... I am that unfit
On the plus side, 5 minutes of adjusting brakes, gears and putting air in the tyres and the muddyfox is pretty useable now.
The apollo has a very cheap disc brake on it that seems to currently have 2 settings - either not slowing me down at all or locked on full (even after releasing the lever) think it might be a little rusted up.
No, I wasn't going fast... I am that unfit
On the plus side, 5 minutes of adjusting brakes, gears and putting air in the tyres and the muddyfox is pretty useable now.
The apollo has a very cheap disc brake on it that seems to currently have 2 settings - either not slowing me down at all or locked on full (even after releasing the lever) think it might be a little rusted up.
Inny said:
A new bike may encourage you to ride it more. Psychologically, this could be important (it was for me).
Yeah, that was my thinking too but after my 20 minutes and now I'm knackered, I think I'll stick with this and actually start to use it (More than twice in 7 years) until after the house move and then I might get myself a decent second hand one just after christmas to help with the motivation.Hopefully a lot of christmas presents and new year resolutions will be going cheap by february!
I am an asthmatic, i coulndt ride very far at all, I began running half a mile every day, which was all I could manage, that rose to 1 mile every day for a few weeks, then 2, I now run 3 mile every night with out a problem, I got back on the bike and did a few 10milers, due to a different set of muscles bedding in, now I wouldn't. Even think twice about the 8 mile work stint, used to scare me a bit lol. So o suggest fitness first, the 300 you have can turn into 600 get ya self a nice gary fisher piranha or a nice looking used bike, as above, if you feel good you will ride better!
Cycling is a bit weird (compared to swimming and running in my experience) in that you can go from having absolutely zero fitness/ability to being not too shabby in a very short amount of time.
I go cycling with a bunch of unfit kids for a week most years and on the Monday they're all whinging and moaning, out of breath all the time and barely able to make it up a 'hill' (we're talking about Norfolk here!). By the Friday they're mostly cruising around at 15mph without any bother. I also notice my fitness absolutely rocket up during that week so I'm fairly certain by the time you've searched around for a decent bike, your fitness will be a gazillion percent more than it is now!
I go cycling with a bunch of unfit kids for a week most years and on the Monday they're all whinging and moaning, out of breath all the time and barely able to make it up a 'hill' (we're talking about Norfolk here!). By the Friday they're mostly cruising around at 15mph without any bother. I also notice my fitness absolutely rocket up during that week so I'm fairly certain by the time you've searched around for a decent bike, your fitness will be a gazillion percent more than it is now!
I bought one of these
http://www.bowcycle.com/bc09/images/bikes/hybrid-c...
£330 delivered, over £110 off as its discontinued.
Ive got it to get fit and commute, though as you, I havent ridden for a while and the muscles burn like hell! Ive done a few miles and the only problem I see is ( apart from my legs being weak!) the 3 speeds will give me a hell of a work out against the 18+ speeds of a MTB etc. Saying that its what I bought it for, to increase my cardio and get me fit!
http://www.bowcycle.com/bc09/images/bikes/hybrid-c...
£330 delivered, over £110 off as its discontinued.
Ive got it to get fit and commute, though as you, I havent ridden for a while and the muscles burn like hell! Ive done a few miles and the only problem I see is ( apart from my legs being weak!) the 3 speeds will give me a hell of a work out against the 18+ speeds of a MTB etc. Saying that its what I bought it for, to increase my cardio and get me fit!
My personality is such that if I get a new toy I'll use it to death - so my preference would be to get a new bike! However as has been said you can get on any old bike and it'll improve your fitness so perhaps better to save some money and use the old one initially.
You should also make sure that you buy the right kind of bike for the commute - there is no point having a MTB for a road commute and vice versa. A road bike will be easier to ride faster, though a hybrid is probably the best compromise. Try lots out and see, that way you'll know what you want to spend to get the right bike for you.
You should also make sure that you buy the right kind of bike for the commute - there is no point having a MTB for a road commute and vice versa. A road bike will be easier to ride faster, though a hybrid is probably the best compromise. Try lots out and see, that way you'll know what you want to spend to get the right bike for you.
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