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aldantefax posted:Ah, I have back and flexibility problems, so this is more of a "how to enjoy biking as a commute method but also not spend the rest of the day and following day without pain in the butt and lower back" kind of question. If that's reserved exclusively for athletes and bike racers, then I'll see myself out. Your questions are good and you're in the right place. The butt pain is something that will gradually go away as long as you have a good seat fit. The two protrusions at the bottom of your hip bones (aka sit bones/ischeal tuberosities) should be what is taking the majority of your weight through contact with the saddle, not the fatty, muscular, or genitally-adjacent tissue of your rear end. Making sure that your saddle is the right width to do this with clearance for your legs to move freely with little to no pressure on your baby-making-bits is a good idea. There are a variety of ways to measure this, but sitting on a piece of aluminum foil that's on thick carpet is one of the easiest and best. You can then measure the distances between the two dimples your rear end will have crushed into the metal and look up your saddle specs to see if you're in the ballpark. You may also need to adjust saddle angle and height to make sure you're not just getting pain from other aspects of how you are sitting on the bike. I would look into/ask for recommendations in the main bike thread for bike fitters in your area if you feel like you'd benefit from in-person help here (almost everyone does, but be warned that bike fits aren't free). As far as stretches/exercises, anything that works to stretch your hams, quads, calves, back, and neck can be helpful depending on what kind of pain you're dealing with. A weak core can end up causing a lot of pain as well - you may be compensating by putting too much weight on your hands or changing your seat position. Planks and other core work can be helpful. If you don't have much experience with specific stretches and exercises, this is a pretty good resource for both: https://exrx.net/Lists/Directory
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Aug 28, 2020 16:22
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I'm actually with Entropist on this one and think that everyone who rides a bike differently than me is wrong.
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Aug 28, 2020 17:23
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Entropist posted:
Wow. This is a pretty loving racist take right here. No, not all of Asia is exactly the same as Tokyo, and the perspective of foreigners riding there is not the only one to consider.
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Aug 28, 2020 18:03
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Anachronist posted:Wow. This is a pretty loving racist take right here. No, not all of Asia is exactly the same as Tokyo, and the perspective of foreigners riding there is not the only one to consider. Have thought some more about this, and I think it's ok to ignore the several Asian cities with populations bigger than the Netherlands.
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Aug 28, 2020 18:17
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XIII posted:I'm actually with Entropist on this one and think that everyone who rides a bike differently than me is wrong.
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Aug 28, 2020 18:38
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My commute to work is a time trial Even in the winter, it’s aerobars and studded tires.
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Aug 28, 2020 19:03
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https://youtu.be/h6Xugf5-aj4 Hmm, looks like Dutch city bikes are race bikes too...
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Aug 28, 2020 19:30
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People *don't* bike at full speed, all the time? Weird.
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Aug 28, 2020 22:42
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yoohoo posted:People *don't* bike at full speed, all the time? Weird. Amsterdam has no Strava segments, I guess. Also, if we're doing anecdotal evidence: I spent a year commuting exclusively via mamachari in a small city about 40 minutes from Tokyo. It was an idyllic paradise and I never had a single issue. Sometimes I think about it during the nightmare gauntlet of manslaughter and criminal negligence that is my current Philadelphia commute and I get a little wistful.
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Aug 28, 2020 23:57
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Um yes, because Japan is what people tend to refer to when mentioning cycling in Asia and I'm assuming that's what that poster had in mind. I don't have experience with smaller places there though, only Osaka and Tokyo. But if there is any place in Asia that is more of a cycling paradise I'd love to hear about it! p.s. Hong Kong wasn't it either, though the islands where cars are banned were pretty nice. Biking to work at full speed does not sound appealing to many people, otherwise it'd be more prevalent here. Some people do it, but it is a relative rarity. So I would imagine it's off-putting to many non-cyclists as well and would not convince them that bike commuting is a good idea. Even if they have to cover a large distance, people here usually opt for an e-bike rather than racing to work, judging by what my colleagues do. Amsterdam has Strava segments, but we don't consider that cycling. In the Dutch language, a racing cyclist is not a type of cyclist, it's something else entirely. Here's a blog post that explains the perspective: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/lycra-on-the-streets-of-the-netherlands/ (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) Entropist fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Aug 30, 2020 |
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Aug 30, 2020 02:05
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China definitely comes to my mind long before Japan when talking about "Asia" and "cycling" 
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Aug 30, 2020 02:15
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Entropist posted:In the Dutch language, a racing cyclist is not a type of cyclist, it's something else entirely. Sounds like the Dutch language is dumb and bad. Hope this helps.
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Aug 30, 2020 02:38
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marshalljim posted:Sounds like the Dutch language is dumb and bad. Hope this helps. as a barely fluent dutch speaker, this is more accurate than you can imagine
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Aug 30, 2020 02:52
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Aug 30, 2020 03:10
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Aug 30, 2020 03:10
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Sab669 posted:China definitely comes to my mind long before Japan when talking about "Asia" and "cycling" I wonder if Entropist knows that there’s Chinese cities that have bike share programs bigger than most countries’. Probably not.
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Aug 30, 2020 03:15
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I wonder if entropist knows
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Aug 30, 2020 03:52
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Entropist posted:Biking to work at full speed does not sound appealing to many people, otherwise it'd be more prevalent here. Some people do it, but it is a relative rarity. So I would imagine it's off-putting to many non-cyclists as well and would not convince them that bike commuting is a good idea. Even if they have to cover a large distance, people here usually opt for an e-bike rather than racing to work, judging by what my colleagues do. It's hard (not impossible, but stressful) riding slow in countries where cycle lanes are almost non-existent, and drivers are impatient. I say this as someone who does it (in the UK, I know most of the US is worse.) It shouldn't be this way, but it is.
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Aug 30, 2020 04:06
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Entropist rule of compunction #10: It never gets funner, you just go slower.
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Aug 30, 2020 04:36
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Speaking of going fast, a stupid bike tech question: I'm commuting on an oldish Scott .... MTB-lite? I got for free. It's fine, especially for the price, but I feel like I run out of gears early on flat paved bike paths. Which makes sense, it has some Shimano Altus/Acera 3x7 gearing that was probably intended for something hillier than my route to work. Can I swap out the front end for something from Shimano's cheapish road series while keeping the read end, to get a slightly higher gear ratio? I know very little about bike tech, so I've been trying to read up a bit. It seems like the biggest issue is that if I significantly change the range of slack in the chain, I need to make sure I have a long enough cage. A second worry is that it sounds like larger rear cassettes/freeewheels (like 11 speeds) use narrower chains, so presumably the matching cranksets are also built for that? Of course, the right answer here is "just buy a used bike that's more suitable", but I kind of enjoy the idea of bolting together a frankenstein drivetrain - especially as a way to learn a little bit about the parts involved. (Assuming I can actually get the parts for cheap. The threshold for "this is a waste of money" is not high.) Computer viking fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Aug 30, 2020 |
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Aug 30, 2020 14:22
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How many teeth are on your smallest gear on the back and largest gear on the front? I can't tell for sure without knowing that, but I'm inclined to say you are mashing instead of spinning. Try focusing on getting your legs to move faster instead of pushing hard.
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Aug 30, 2020 17:20
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Just estimating from a photo, the front looks like ... 44? I'll have to go count to be sure, and I don't have a good picture of the rear. I'll be back. And yes, you're probably right. I try to follow through as far through as possible, though I'm sure there's a lot left on the table. (Also, flat work shoes.) Computer viking fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Aug 30, 2020 |
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Aug 30, 2020 18:01
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With a 44t front ring I'd be really surprised if you're spinning out on the flat, unless your cassette has a 16t smallest cog or something. You're saying you want a taller (harder) gear right?
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Aug 30, 2020 18:10
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Now with oilier fingertips: the top gearing is 42:14. However, this revealed a much simpler fix: the cables or derailleur are not set up entirely right, so I only get down to the second-smallest rear sprocket. I should probably fix that first.  Edit: still 3x6, but now at the small end. I think that will do fine until I look at a few videos about derailleur adjustment - it felt much better around the backyard, at least. Computer viking fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Aug 30, 2020 |
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Aug 30, 2020 18:18
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42x14 at a comfy 60rpm is 14.5mph, assuming 700x35 tires. So yeah, you should have enough gearing now to demand more from your cadence.
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Aug 30, 2020 18:50
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kimbo305 posted:42x14 at a comfy 60rpm is 14.5mph, assuming 700x35 tires. So yeah, you should have enough gearing now to demand more from your cadence. I'll admit that my goal here is "get to work, preferrably without having to shower when I arrive", so I'm not sure how far above comfortable I'll be going. Still, this should help. 
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Aug 30, 2020 18:57
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Within a reasonable range, at a given speed, any cadence that gets you that speed costs you the same energy. So spinning more doesn’t necessarily make you sweat more.
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Aug 30, 2020 19:01
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kimbo305 posted:Within a reasonable range, at a given speed, any cadence that gets you that speed costs you the same energy. So spinning more doesn’t necessarily make you sweat more. Right, I was wondering just how much overhead there is in just moving your legs around that fast vs. the energy that makes it into the drivechain. I'll trust you on it being insignificant under normal conditions.
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Aug 30, 2020 19:09
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kimbo305 posted:I wonder if Entropist knows that there’s Chinese cities that have bike share programs bigger than most countries’. Probably not. Was looking earlier and unfortunately the number of bike commuters in Shanghai is almost certainly not higher than the total population of the Netherlands. Was definitely hoping it would be though.
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Aug 30, 2020 22:42
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Entropist posted:
While they may not have the same infrastructure, biking is certainly extremely common and no, you are not treated like a second class citizen if you ride a bike. Cargostyle bikes are also becoming increasingly popular. You may not see it as much in central Tokyo, but there's huge bike parking facilities at every train station and many sidewalks are clearly marked as dual use. Now, just maybe instead of seeing different cultures as being 'wrong', maybe just accept that they're different?. It's a trend I see in a lot of Northern Europeans.
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Aug 30, 2020 23:54
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ImplicitAssembler posted:
There are only two things I can't stand in this world...
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Aug 31, 2020 00:16
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That's a lot of words to say "gently caress you dad I'm not installing fenders."
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Aug 31, 2020 08:29
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For the record I haven’t been to Tokyo and wasn’t thinking about Japan in general when I brought up Asian bike commuting. Mostly I was thinking about every mid-tier city in China where each significant road has a dedicated separated bike lane with a barrier. Also thinking about India which maybe doesn’t have the infrastructure but certainly has the degree of use of bikes.
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Aug 31, 2020 14:53
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Thanks to the OP and other people who wrote up the infodumps at the start of this thread, especially the ways to lock up bikes with photos. I don't think it makes sense for me to commute to work by bike, but I've been trying to ride for other journeys. It's been surprising how many car parks and shops have bike stands I'd never noticed, but they're usually empty except for my bike and hidden off in a corner. And of course some places don't have anything proper. So it's good to know I'm not making it too easy.
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Sep 2, 2020 05:42
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I got chastised by a fellow employee for riding my Brompton on PCH (Pacific Palisades) sans helmet. I mentioned that cycling in office clothes sans helmet gets me more space from drivers and he agreed. Anyway, the only helmet that would fit my 62cm head is the Specialized Max and that is back in San Diego with the Recumbent. They don't make that anymore.
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Sep 2, 2020 18:39
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VideoGameVet posted:I mentioned that cycling in office clothes sans helmet gets me more space from drivers and he agreed.  Fake edit: amused myself by reading product reviews on the thing. Lots of unnecessary deployments it would seem. Who'd have thunk it? Bakfiets update: I finally upgraded to a hydraulic disc brake in the rear. It took some fabrication for a custom bracket but on a steel frame it's pretty trivial. Unfortunately I have a horizontal dropout and no chain tensioner mounted (though I bought one, needs a bracket too), so we'll see how it goes. The caliper sits on top so I'm figuring that a few mm front to back might not be a huge deal. Guess I should add allen keys to the onboard tool kit so I can jiggle it around sideways at least if I need to remove the rear wheel for a flat or something since I doubt I can remount it in exacly the same position as it sits right now, or get it into the dropouts completely straight. Right now it works fine FWIW, but it's a bit of an experiment and I'll move things around if I need to. Vertical dropouts and a chain tensioner is not out of the question if this configuration causes trouble.  Yes, that is overspray on my reflective tape. Yes, I was very lazy and just wanted to get done for the night. Since I was messing with the stuff on the handlebar I also got a bell for the first time in years. It's great to have the option to ring it and immediately be indentified as a bicycle since the horn I've been using causes all kinds of confusion and makes some people jumpy. Still great for people with headphones or in cars though.
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Sep 2, 2020 21:23
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VideoGameVet posted:I got chastised by a fellow employee for riding my Brompton on PCH (Pacific Palisades) sans helmet. The psychological analysis of the driver's attitude here is interesting because I would struggle to analyze drivers' behavior in my city where I have anecdotally been yelled at for cycling in the clearly marked bus/cycling lane while stopped at a red light. Otherwise agreeing that it's always better to ride a bike than not to ride a bike regardless of helmet use and availability.
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Sep 3, 2020 01:13
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VideoGameVet posted:I mentioned that cycling in office clothes sans helmet gets me more space from drivers and he agreed. that's great until the drunk/distracted/don't give a gently caress person comes along
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Sep 3, 2020 02:03
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VideoGameVet posted:I got chastised by a fellow employee for riding my Brompton on PCH (Pacific Palisades) sans helmet. I have a stupidly large misshapen dome (7 7/8" hat size) and Giro and POC L helmets both fit my head just fine. Not wearing a helmet is dumb.
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Sep 3, 2020 02:13
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Awwwwwww shiiiiitttt lets get helmet chat going! Put your helmet on or just road-crayon your loving brain on your own time
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Sep 3, 2020 03:28
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