24
votes
Is 17 miles (27km) each way a lot for a newbie cyclist?
As a one-off, that should be completely doable. Your fitness from running and the gym should be plenty enough, especially as the route is pretty flat. Bear in mind that it will be tiring, since ...
- 16.9k
18
votes
Does the use of front suspension negatively affect road riding efficiency?
A common misconception is that riders associate suspension with comfort. The reality is that suspension is not there to make your bike more comfortable.
The purpose of suspension is to allow the wheel ...
- 12.7k
16
votes
Suspension compromise for urban use
Apart from going the high-tech route of a front suspension with lock-out, you can also try to get wider tires. The slow-down of wide tires is not that big, but they naturally even out high-frequency ...
14
votes
Is 17 miles (27km) each way a lot for a newbie cyclist?
Man, just do it! There isn't much that can go wrong. If you feel tired, turn around midway. Take a mobile phone with you in case something happens, look up the weather forecast, take something to eat ...
14
votes
Is a dropper post a good solution for sharing a bike between two riders?
Using a dropper for this purpose is not a good solution. Droppers do not let you easily choose a set height other than all the way up or down, and most of them don't give you a quick visual way of ...
- 80.1k
13
votes
Does the use of front suspension negatively affect road riding efficiency?
A couple minor points not addressed above.
First, your tires provide a significant amount of suspension. I don't know how many riders inflate their tires to the maximum pressure on the sidewall. ...
- 28.5k
11
votes
Does the use of front suspension negatively affect road riding efficiency?
A suspension fork serves basically no purpose on the road and does very little to add to the comfort. Due to the design of most suspension forks they are excellent at absorbing large impacts, but ...
- 18.2k
10
votes
Accepted
Fitting a vibration-proof bell for drop bars
If your screw head is actually a nut, like the picture looks like, replace it with a nylock nut. If that is not possible, thread lock fluid like blue Loctite works nicely.
- 21.6k
9
votes
Is a dropper post a good solution for sharing a bike between two riders?
To take the opposite argument to the most upvoted answer: using a dropper for that purpose is a good solution. It was in fact the most upvoted answer in this question. But it would not be convenient ...
- 16.1k
8
votes
Is 17 miles (27km) each way a lot for a newbie cyclist?
Nope - go for it. Here are two suggested routes from Strava, which were generated at https://www.strava.com/routes/new and then clicking a start and end point, and changing some options.
This first ...
- 120k
8
votes
Does the use of front suspension negatively affect road riding efficiency?
I ride my MTB on the road a fair bit, as I ride to trails etc. in preference to driving. I also recently did a day with about 140km of road on my MTB (a Saracen hardtail, entry level) to get to 60km ...
- 55.8k
8
votes
Suspension compromise for urban use
Better suspension has a "lockout" which basically clamps them in one position, leaving you with a heavy rigid fork for the 80% of your ride.
Of those, some have a lever on top of the fork crown, and ...
- 120k
7
votes
How do I reduce the risk of pinch flat punctures while riding up stairs on my hardtail?
I used to get snakebites like crazy doing urban riding, even running really high pressures. I'm a big guy. What finally helped was running higher volume tires and wider. See if you can fit a wider ...
- 171
7
votes
Is a dropper post a good solution for sharing a bike between two riders?
I normally wouldn't make suggestions which go against Nathan's, but here, I do think a dropper is a good and workable idea. Using some of the ideas in this question about marking different saddle ...
- 15.4k
5
votes
Mild pain in lower forearms during biking
Fatigue indicates you are using the muscle, so you will need to “check into” yourself to see how/why you are firing your forearm muscle, what task is it trying to accomplish.
Sometimes we just have ...
- 30.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Is Marseille a safe place to ride a bicycle?
Marseille was voted worst French city for cyclist in 2013 (see here), but apparently they are trying to change that. Here are potentially useful links: maps of cycle lanes in the city, and a city bike ...
- 760
4
votes
Is 17 miles (27km) each way a lot for a newbie cyclist?
I typically tell people that any normal healthy novice can get on a bicycle and do 10 miles per hour without difficulty, so if you can walk for two hours stop for lunch and walk back, then you can do ...
- 440
4
votes
Is 17 miles (27km) each way a lot for a newbie cyclist?
Our LBS has a Saturday morning ride for which we often get beginners. Many are no longer young and not particularly fit. They can do 17 miles of flat ride before lunch. I wouldn't worry about the ...
- 2,688
4
votes
What makes a great kids city bike? (and where can I find or how can I build one?)
So, if your kids are like most, they are going to be hard on bikes. They will jump off curbs, do wheelies, and likely toss them to the ground when they dismount. I recommend something that will take a ...
- 658
4
votes
Suspension compromise for urban use
You might want to try a suspension seat post. It might take the edge off on rougher roads. If you only need a little bit of help, you might look a saddle with an elastomer insert. It won't do a lot, ...
- 41
4
votes
Suspension compromise for urban use
If you're looking to avoid replacing the front fork, it depends on where the discomfort is for you. Here's a few things to look into:
Discomfort at the seat: a seat with thicker / softer padding, or ...
- 421
4
votes
Is a dropper post a good solution for sharing a bike between two riders?
Given you have a quick release and the same person uses the bike to and from the destination you could do this instead...
Have two seats and seat posts with a clamp tightened on the seatpost so that ...
- 525
3
votes
How do I reduce the risk of pinch flat punctures while riding up stairs on my hardtail?
You have a few options:
1) Run a higher pressure
2) Go tubeless
3) Don't ride on stairs
4) Work on your technique; depending on how the tire hits the stair (and size of the stair), you're more ...
- 46k
3
votes
Fitting a vibration-proof bell for drop bars
The simple cheap design of bell that makes a single ping when the lever is flicked against its spring should be more robust. I've never had one fail. The screw that attaches it to the bar should stay ...
- 55.8k
3
votes
Are anti-pollution masks effective?
I know of at least one peer-reviewed article which shows that wearing a (proper) filtering facemask does have noticeable effects on one's vital signs compared to when not wearing a facemask.
However, ...
- 3,395
3
votes
Does the use of front suspension negatively affect road riding efficiency?
Many forks have a switch to disable the suspension on a good road and then it should not impact your performance, except additional weight maybe.
I am under impression that the front and especially ...
- 7,252
3
votes
Does the use of front suspension negatively affect road riding efficiency?
Generally, front suspension will have a pretty trivial, minor negative impact when riding on pavement. I stress the trivial, and this is when one is just cruising on flat terrain.
The game changes a ...
- 5,860
3
votes
Is a dropper post a good solution for sharing a bike between two riders?
I'll offer different reasons than Nathan. You are adding a complex mechanical component to the bike. If you get a cheap dropper, it's possible that the post wears out, and that you can't replace or ...
- 28.5k
2
votes
Is pollution a problem in urban cycling?
Tainio et al, (Can air pollution negate the health benefits of cycling and walking?, Preventive Medicine, June 2016, Vol.87:233–236), produced a model for cycling (and walking) in polluted cities, ...
- 1,185
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible