bicicletas

[Joker]

 

old bike it is a centurion le mans

 

what do you guys think i should do to it to get it to be a reliable daily riden bike? i am also fat(200 lb under 6') so do i need extra heavyweight tires or something?

 

The old Centurion bikes are pretty decent so you shouldn't have to do very much. Honestly, I would take it to a quality local bike shop and have them look it over and tune up anything that needs tuning. They'll make sure it runs smooth and will get you around just fine. If it needs anything, they'll let you know. It might run you about $100 though.

 

And just because you're heavy doesn't require you to need special tires. 200lbs just under six feet isn't obese... just heavy. You may have to check tire pressure before every ride, that's all.

 

My two cents...

[HESHIANDET]

i run the same computer as joker. i dont do all that gym nonsense as im not as hardcore as he. currently im doing a 'get back in shape' kind of introductory interval program i found online. chris charmichael thing, definitely doing big things. coaching is the next step, probably after the tri in late june.

[BLT Sammich]

thanks for the help guys

[iloveboxcars]

places to ride sammich? you can find me riding downtown daily, its the best place to do it.

[anotherwhitekidwithabeard]

my homie left his eastern at my house the other day. just got in from fucking around on it.

[iloveboxcars]

question -

 

there's a squeak coming from the rear of my bike, namely the derailleur/gear cluster area. the squeak is not there when i spin the wheel backwards, which led me to believe it's in the derailleur. i took both of the derailleur gears off, cleaned them out, greased them up and put them back in. the squeak is still there. i am fucking lost, any suggestions?

 

*edit - the squeak is only there when the derailleur is in motion.

[soupBDC]

San Jose has bomb burrito joints. If i lived there id be fat too.

[iloveboxcars]

funny that you say that, i just got done working off a la vics burrito.

[swedish erotica]

i run the same computer as joker. i dont do all that gym nonsense as im not as hardcore as he. currently im doing a 'get back in shape' kind of introductory interval program i found online. chris charmichael thing, definitely doing big things. coaching is the next step, probably after the tri in late june.

 

yo send me a link on that. i need a jumpstart into form pronto.

[HESHIANDET]

question -

 

there's a squeak coming from the rear of my bike, namely the derailleur/gear cluster area. the squeak is not there when i spin the wheel backwards, which led me to believe it's in the derailleur. i took both of the derailleur gears off, cleaned them out, greased them up and put them back in. the squeak is still there. i am fucking lost, any suggestions?

 

*edit - the squeak is only there when the derailleur is in motion.

 

always troubleshoot from the basic end of a problem down to the complex. check your chain first. i sit dirty, dry, rusty, stretched, loose, straight? if so, clean re-lube, or replace. then blast triflow into spring, bearing and crevice on the motherfucker.

 

side note:

if your bike is gucci, dont do any of that shit.

[HESHIANDET]

i cant find the one i've been doing, but heres a good article on the whole thing:

 

CYCLING PERFORMANCE TIPS

Intervals

Interval training involves repeated periods of intense physical activity (the exercise interval) alternating with periods of recovery (the relaxation interval). The relaxation interval avoids significant lactic acid build up and, as a result, allows longer training time at peak performance levels. One study (in runners) pointed out that continuous, maximal performance could be sustained for only 0.8 miles (to exhaustion) while a similar level of exertion could be maintained for a total of over 4 miles when the training session consisted of intervals. But the down side is that training program drop out rates double when intervals are used.

 

Intervals are most effective when they are :

 

* limited to twice a week during the peak training season

* when the interval sessions are separated by at least 48 hours to allow adequate recovery. (For example, if your long ride is on the weekend, Tuesday and Thursday make good interval days.)

 

added to your training program only after you have a solid aerobic base of 500 miles of steady pedaling (if not, you increase the risk of injury from pushing too hard,too quickly.)

 

Intensity, not the frequency or duration of interval training is the secret behind success with interval training. A study of interval training for 10 weeks found the following in a group of cyclists (all groups started off with a base of 40 minutes of intervals 6 times a week):

 

* One group maintained exercise intensity, but decreased the duration of each session by 66%.

* The second group maintained exercise intensity, but decreased the frequency to 2 times a week.

* And the third maintained the frequency and duration, but decreased the intensity of the sessions.

 

The VO2max of the first two groups held constant, while that of the third decreased. The conclusion: intensity is more important than either the duration of the intervals or the frequency per week in maximizing the benefit of intervals on performance.

 

However, there are ramifications of decreasing exercise volumes (that is the total time on the bike per week) which can result in a decrease in endurance capacity at 75% VO2max. Thus it is a combination of intensity of exercise (best achieved with intervals) and total time on the bike (or volume) of exercise (from the long slow distance rides) that determines the athlete's overall performance.

 

What if you are feeling fatigued on your interval day - or just don't have the time for the complete set of intervals planned for the day? We know from weight-training studies that the first set or two provides the stimulus for most of the improvement gained during multi-set workouts. If you do five sets of bench presses, for instance, much of the benefit occurs during the first set. The second set stimulates most of the remaining improvement possible from the session. The final three sets do relatively little. It is likely that the same applies to interval training. Thus the first interval or two provide most of the benefit and the remaining intervals are subject to the law of diminishing returns. Thus with just two repeats you will most likely gain a large percentage of the possible benefits. So take that break and come back fresh, ready to give 100% the next day.

 

REVIEW OF THE PHYSIOLOGY

 

The conventional wisdom is cycling pain results when you go anaerobic and lactic acid builds up in your muscle tissue. But studies in subjects who, because of a genetic defect, do not produce lactic acid demonstrated a similar pain response to anaerobic exercise as normal riders. Rather than lactic acid, culprits may be nervous system input from muscle fiber nerves, a chemical mediator other than lactic acid, or some other cellular change in the muscle fibers.

 

When you train to your maximum (pushing the muscle pain limit), changes occur which will allow you to push even farther into your anaerobic zone the next time out.

 

* muscle metabolism changes to extract more oxygen from every millilter of blood flowing through the muscle capillaries

* more capillaries develop in the muscles

* your heart adapts to pump more blood for any specific time interval

* you learn to mentally deal with the pain and exercise through it

 

Fartlek training is a modification of interval training, using alternate periods of slow and fast riding to improve aerobic capacity. It is not as precise as interval training and is based on the perception of how the rider feels at the time. Its advantage is to allow more flexibility, freedom, and variety in workouts.

 

High Intensity Training (HIT) is an interval program for athletes already at a high level of training. In many ways it is the "icing on the cake" which gives the elite athlete that final edge for their event.

 

INTERVAL DURATION/ACTIVE REST

 

Short exercise intervals are generally 15 to 90 seconds and almost always anaerobic in intensity, while longer intervals may be up to 3 to 5 minutes duration. Once you decide on the duration for your interval training programs, pace your effort to exercise at your maximum throughout that period (if you can't make it through the entire interval, you need to cut back your effort a bit and not the length of the interval). The goal should be a total of 10 to 20 minutes of hard pedaling during the intervals themselves (don't count warm up, recovery, or cool down). If you are just beginning an interval program, start with 5 minutes of peak effort per riding session (total interval time) and work up from there.

 

To get the maximum benefit from interval training, it is important to allow adequate recovery time between intervals. Subsequent intervals should start before your heart rate and oxygen uptake have returned entirely to normal. If you are using a heart rate monitor, wait for your heart rate to drop to 60 or 65% of your maximum heart rate. If you are using perceived exertion (i.e. how you feel) to decide, wait until your breathing has returned to it's normal depth and rate.

 

The relaxation or recovery phase for each interval should be active rest (easy spinning) and can range from a ratio of 3:1 (recovery time to pedalling time) for sprint intervals of 20 seconds or less (ie 30 seconds of spinning for a 10 second interval at sprint intensity) down to 1:1 for 60 to 90 second intervals (which will probably be ridden at a slightly lower intensity). In reality, the rest time is really dependent on the intensity, not the duration, of the interval:

 

* anaerobic (sprint) interval (2:1 or 3:1 rest:recovery, ie rest interval 2 to 3 x the time of the anaerobic effort)

* aerobic intervals (1:1 active rest duration to interval duration)

 

Thus a 3 minute interval done at near sprint levels of exertion should be paired with a longer rest time than a 3 minute interval ridden at just a bit more than your standard pace.

 

Consider using one day a week for short, sprint intervals (ie five 60 second and five 90 second intervals), and a second for your longer intervals (two - 3 minute and two - 5 minute intervals). Allow adequate time for recovery between intervals (up to 3 to 5 minutes) and don't forget a 20 to 30 minute warm up and a 15 minute cool down at the beginning and end of your session. It has been shown that as few as a half dozen 5 minute intervals during a 300 km training week will improve both time trial and peak performance.

 

Here's another suggestion from the Roadbikerider.com webzine: Dial up some telephone pole sprints.When we're training alone, sprinting against imaginary opponents can be deadly dull. Next time you feel like some speed work, use telephone poles as sprint markers. After warming up, start by sprinting from one pole to the next and then spinning easily for 4 poles. Repeat 3-5 times. To vary the drill and increase the effective length of your sprint, go all out for 2 poles, spin easily for the next 4, and repeat 3 times. Of course, all telephone poles aren't the same distance apart. Use the varying spacing to simulate race conditions. After all, you never know how long you'll need to sprint. Go hard to the next pole, no matter how far it is, then spin for a minute or two to recover. Follow this with another sprint between poles. It's perfect for developing the ability to rev up in an instant and then hold your speed for the required distance.

 

HEART RATE INTERVALS

 

If you have a heart rate monitor, you can key intervals to your maximum heart rate. Ride your intervals at 80 to 90% of your maximum heart rate and spin easily until your heart rate drops to 60 to 65% of maximum.

 

USING ROLLING HILLS AS INTERVALS (fartleks)

 

Here is an excerpt from http://www.roadbikerider.com that suggests a way you might use rolling hills as an alternative to intervals. As these are not always found spaced appropriately, they might be considered as "fartleks".

 

Find a road where little hills come one after another. Attacking these humps can be a peak experience -- like riding a roller coaster. You fly up one side, blast down the other and use your momentum to conquer the next rise.

 

But if you use improper technique, you can get bogged down. Instead of grinning, you're grinding. You churn up, coast down to catch your breath, then bang against the next wall.

 

Rhythm is everything. Here's how to keep yours on successive climbs: --As you ride into a hill that takes just seconds to climb, shift one gear lower (next larger cog) than you might normally use. Stay seated and spin fast for about two thirds of the climb.

 

--If you're riding with others, they'll probably be standing, pedaling slower than you and maybe pulling a little ahead. Don't worry about getting dropped. Keep spinning. You're saving your legs.

 

-- In the final third of the hill, click to a bigger gear (next smaller cog), stand and apply the pressure. Your legs will still have snap, thanks to spinning to this point. When you hit it right, you'll know where the phrase "dancing up the hill" comes from.

 

You'll roll right by your laboring companions. Even better, your momentum will carry you over, down and well into the next rise. Then do it again.

 

INTERVALS IN A PACE LINE

 

These training techniques simulate what happens in road racing. They're great workouts and guaranteed monotony-busters as well. Warm up and settle into a single paceline moving at a moderate speed. Then try one of the following:

 

* Rear Attacks. The last person in line charges past the group, creating a breakaway. When she gets about 200 yards ahead, the paceline works to pull her back. Everyone rides easily for a few minutes, then another rider springs from the rear. Repeat 3 or 4 times.

* Bridges. When she's about 50 yards clear, another rider chases her down while the pack keeps a steady tempo. Once together, the breakaway pair eases up and drifts back to the bunch. Then two more riders repeat the drill. Continue until everyone has participated.

* Chases. One rider stops by the side of the road as if getting a wheel change or taking what Phil and Paul call "a natural break." Another rider drops back like a dutiful teammate, and then the two work together to chase down the group. Repeat with pairs of riders.

 

INTERVALS ON ENDURANCE RIDES

 

You can decrease your time on long endurance rides with a little interval training. You might try these two tricks on your next long ride.

 

* Vary your speed. Vary the effort level within each ride. Don't lock into a pace that's neither too hard nor too easy. A little variety will lead to improvement in your times.

* Do 4 sprints every hour. Fast accelerations of even 10-30 seconds can raise your average cruising speed. It doesn;t have to be an all-out sprint. Simply stand and accelerate until you spin out the gear, then sit down and spin up to 10 rpm faster. Hold this rpm for several more seconds, then back down gradually. Separated these intervals by 15-20 minutes of riding at your normal pace.

 

EXAMPLES & QUESTIONS

 

* Do you ride a fast 50 miler or century but want to inprove you time trialing or short distance performance?. Then use intervals. If you ride 50 miles (or 100) then you have the endurance base. Now you need to add speed work.

 

Add intervals of 3 minute duration - repeat 5 times - to your program (ridden at a pace a bit faster than your speed in a time trial and a lot more intense than your century pace). Then spin easy for 3 minutes between each effort. Twice a week. And never back to back days. For variety, longer intervals are also effective - perhaps 10 to 20 minutes at your time trial intensity with two or three repeats.

 

* The following question from a reader suggest that riding with weight is another alternative (just like riding into the wind) to add intensity to your training, simulating an increased load and thus generating a training response. I've had similar comments from other readers.

 

Q.I was wondering whether you know something about the following: I am riding about 150 pretty fast miles a week, usually with a 12-15 pound backpack (because it is my commute and I carry a laptop and clothes etc.). Sometimes I ride without the backpack and noticed that I am considerably faster. While this is of course not surprising I was wondering whether 'riding with weights' could actually be a useful training technique -- I couldn't find any information about this. - MS

 

A. Mike, as I mentioned above, added weight (speed remaining the same) is a way to add a stress to your muscles and CV system, which will adapt, and then you will be able to perform more effectively when unburdened. It is the same reason one would weight train as part of a program, or train on a clunker and then get out a titanium frame for that important ride. Dick

 

 

 

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[iloveboxcars]

got hit by a red civic yesterday. i was sitting in front of him at a light, the light turns green, i get into my 3rd revolution of the crank and dudes bumper eats into my back tire causing my rim to lunge forward into my frame, warping it pretty bad. dude took off like a bat out of hell and i carried my bike on my back until i got home. luckily i was only 10 blocks away.

 

the squeak is a lot better but still there, i basically tri-flowed the fuck out of the chain/gears/derailleur. i read that the bearing in the derailleur gears can get warped, so i might end up getting new ones and obviously, im in the market for a new pair of rims. yay.

[soupBDC]

Fuck that shit. Get on some bike forums and spread the word to look for a red civic in San Jose. That shit was on purpose and no doubt he might be dumb enough dick around with another cyclist.

[HESHIANDET]

haha, dude, pro bike activist types crack me up. i mean it totally sucks you got hit homie, but my man trying to rally internet snitch troops on some message boards kills me. red honda civic. have fun, prob a million and a half of those in san jo alone. see people need to realize that you gotat give and take the shit. feel me.

[HESHIANDET]

haha, dude, pro bike activist types crack me up. i mean it totally sucks you got hit homie, but my man trying to rally internet snitch troops on some message boards kills me. red honda civic. have fun, prob a million and a half of those in san jo alone. see people need to realize that you gotat give and take the shit. feel me.

 

ps:

mega drunk

[iloveboxcars]

yeah, i realize there's no chance in hell i'd find the guy, so im not too worried about it, i just have to make it to the bike shop when i get back from my trip to get some new rims.

[HESHIANDET]

definitely a bum out. just take it out on someone else down the line

[iloveboxcars]

ive already had to kick a car door because this dude kept cutting me off on purpose. he tried chasing me after that, but 1 way streets were plentiful.

[soupBDC]

The bay area is fairly small and too many cyclists are avid readers of forums. Im not saying shits gonna happen, but its u-locked a few bike theif necks to sign poles before. Whatever tho, Im not saying its totally rad to be on some interweb watch dog musketeer bullshit, im saying youve got nothing to lose by putting the call out.

[whoiseuth]

this afternoon i started my probie period at the local shop.

i hafta assemble ten bikes for ten bucks a pop before i get put on the payroll.

got through five bikes today in about five hours.

everything from a 20" girls gary fisher, with a basket even, up to a specialized epic,

full suspension, disc brakes, torque limits on screws etc.

god damn limit screws and cantilever brakes though.

 

i ended up leaving with a regal saddle that someone that came in

for a repair left to the shop because he didnt want it anymore.

and also a spanking new set of specialized tires after some rich guy

came in and bought an s-works tarmac and just had to have red tires.

homeboy is a baller apparently.

 

i need to hang around with more of these suburban cyclist types

because if today is any indication they are some classy people with deep pockets.

weekend warriors?

peace.

 

ps - bummer on the civic situation, but i agree with hesh. give a little, get a little.

if you are gonna get all aggro and take lanes and whatnot you gotta expect

hotheaded middle management dude to get pissed off and make some bad decisions.

 

pps - not saying the ILBC was in the wrong, just in general.

blah, blah, blah.

[iloveboxcars]

yes, i would understand that if i was riding aggressively. i do ride aggressively for the most part because i have more fun that way, but this time i wasn't at all. i had just got done fixing the squeak. well not completely but it was low enough to where i couldnt hear it around traffic. so i was just cruising and enjoying my noiseless ride, staying in the bike lane and everything. the only reason i was in front of dude is because if i had stayed in the bike lane i would be in the way of people turning right, and im not a total asshole.

[Smart]

I'm all about a fixed gear for riding around town but the more and more I think about it the more and more I'm looking at one of these things...

 

 

I always thought that if any of my friends ever rode a bike with a skirt guard it would be you... but it's all love. I'm currently restoring the '53 Humber I found hanging upside down in my garage (dad bought it 15 years ago down the street at a yard sale, we both assumed it was a Raleigh... well, it kind of mostly is)...

 

but yeah, Sport bikes... this one was originally red but I can't decide if I should just go all black or something offbeat... I generally resent offbeat colors on older styles but now that I'm presented with the opportunity, I dunno...

[Smart]

The "skirt" guard...

 

HAHAHAHA! Look, I just found where you said it yourself! Come ride the central Florida ridge dammit!

[rubbish heap two]

Damn, I just realized the angles on that bike are so relaxed.

[amorphic]

Word up to the interval training. Thanks for the knowledge Hesh.

[whoiseuth]

i am not faulting you BC.

only a general statement.

[Ko SprueOne]

Rubbish...

 

. . .

 

. . .

 

I'm all about a fixed gear for riding around town but the more and more I think about it the more and more I'm looking at one of these things...

 

 

This is a bicycle that . . . beautiful!

And relaxed ride esp. for the old lower back.

[soupBDC]

What kind of retard cyclist would be as hypocritical as to justify any driver for not yielding to a bicycle?

[HESHIANDET]

because noone ever does. get used to it.

[soupBDC]

Thats the most idiotic thing ive heard all month. Hesh must walk his bike everywhere. Iloveboxcars was doing the most preventative thing she couldve done and stayed in front of the car at the intersection without being rediculous and walking her bike everywhere.

 

One of the lead causes of motorcycle accidents with cars is at red lights just like boxcars. Cars wont see them and drive right into them. In MSF they teach motorcyclists to always hold the brakes at red lights to avoid being pushed into the intersection and get t-boned by side traffic.