Road bike riding. [Archive]

Pebs

15-09-2008, 03:02

Thanks to knackered achilles I havent been running for aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages, in fact I havent been to the gym for aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages. Months and months, which is daft considering I pay a small fortune a month.

Anyway, running is off the cards for the forseeable and as a result I have no inclination to go to the gym....I mainly used to run and have PT sessions, now I cant do one and can't afford the other.

I'm thinking about starting to do some road biking. I like cycling and I have a lot of countryside around here that I can go and explore without having to do battle with too much traffic. Does anyone else do it? And does anyone have any ideas if this will be lower impact on achilles than running. In my minds eye I can't see how it can be as bad, but I'm no expert. I can invest in a reasonable bike as I'll be dropping the gym membership.

I hate being not-fit again :(

cheets

15-09-2008, 03:29

Love cycling, cant beat it, nothing better than jumping on the bike and riding around the village through the countryside, did 5 miles on Friday. Just getting back on the bike.

Admiral Huddy

15-09-2008, 09:37

You know I'm into cycling so anytime :) - I Love the cycle tracks from town to Writtle and Galleywood has some decent dirst tracks too..

However, I have found cycling to be making my knees worse.. so the saddle is up high at the moment to avoid over use which does the trick. I'm going to get one of thoese back bits for Daniel and have a ride out next weekend :)

LeperousDust

15-09-2008, 12:26

Cycling shouldn't be making your knees worse Huddy, its silly low impact compared to most stuff, its up there with swimming.

I don't road cycle, i mountain bike, i love it, and it costs me a small fortune myself (but i break my bike, road cycling might not be so harsh).

Was just at glentress for a few hours the other day, absolutely loved it. Hard work on the uphills but you're rewarding by the adrenaline rush on the way down :D (This is why i could never road cycle, to me its just boring :p).

Jonny69

15-09-2008, 16:39

I ride about on this:

http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/bikes/racer/IMG_2991.JPG

Which, after a lick of paint and some pedals, now looks like this:

http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/bikes/racer/IMG_3000.JPG

I picked it up off my local Freecycle. It's a Reynolds 531 frame (a really good one and VERY light) and it goes very fast on the road.

Admiral Huddy

15-09-2008, 16:42

Cycling shouldn't be making your knees worse Huddy, its silly low impact compared to most stuff, its up there with swimming.

My knees are just crap tbh honest.. Age :)

Desmo

16-09-2008, 11:30

-J-

16-09-2008, 16:41

I'd go for a mountain bike with some road based tyres Karyn :)

Will give you a bit more versatility in the long run and will be more comfortable. Also allows you to head off road a touch and go through the parks, etc, around your way.

good advice

I do quite a bit of road biking but for going out in the countryside and exploring as well as keeping fit I find my hybrid much more comfortable and a lot more fun as I can just detour off road no problem. e.g. I have rode about 15 miles then decided to walk up a mountain with it, or decided to change route and go through a forest etc

the road bike is good fun too but its only any use on err roads :)

Jonny69

16-09-2008, 17:55

semi-pro waster

17-09-2008, 11:38

Thebrakes can be a bit of a pain on mine because you have to be on the lower part of the handlebars to pull them and it's not comfortable to ride like that all the time. I'm probably going to swap to some straight bars at some point but it's a big expense to swap.

You used to be able to get safety extensions (sometimes called hoods, turkey wings or suicide levers - Dia Compe still do them I think) which put an additional position on the levers so that you could use them on the flat part of the bar. Not ideal if your brakes have a lot of travel as they might bottom out before they stopped you but otherwise a lot more comfortable.

Here's an auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380064252745) for what would be a suitable pair although it is in the US only.

Pebs, I'd guess that it will put less stress on your achilles as long as you don't overdo it initially but all exercise contains an element of risk I suppose.

Jonny69

17-09-2008, 14:21

I used to have them on my old racer. If I'd known how hard they were to get I'd have swiped them off the thing :D

ElRazur

25-09-2008, 11:00

I cycle almost everyday on a road bike. Tend to use the car only at weekends. :)

BBx

25-09-2008, 12:35

All the cool kids had Racers at school :(

I had a mountain bike.. my mum uses it now :/

I would cycle to work if there wasn't any traffic :p

BB x

Wryel

25-09-2008, 13:34

My knees are just crap tbh honest.. Age :)

If you're using SPDs your foot might be slightly twisted which can be serious bad news for the knees.

I've just got my mountain bike back together (takes a while when the frame is ten years old) and I'm thinking about getting a road bike for commuting sometime, I reckon it would only take about 5-10 minutes longer than on the scooter.