Date: 2022-12-05
Time: 03:41:15 UTC
Title: What I have learned from biking regularly for over a year
I originally posted this to Reddit and Facebook as "things I learned from
biking for 10 months." To see changes since these posts, examine the link at
the bottom.
I would have posted this three months ago or so (to make it a year), but I have
learned even more since then, so it's worth posting now. I started biking
seriously again (both for recreation and commuting) last August (August 1 or
so, 2021) and have biked 3436 miles since then.
1. A good bike needs to fit some criteria, but is not expensive, especially a
first bike. I have a BikeE recumbent, Peugeot P8 road bike, Schwinn LeTour road
bike, Dahon folding bike, Strida folding bike, Specialized Globe hybrid, and
Panasonic Sport Deluxe road bike that cost $430 in total. I also found some (2)
free bikes in the trash along the way that I fixed and flipped for about $330
profit (counting new tubes, tires, and cables) and I flipped my 1981 Huffy
Touriste folding bike and 1969 Schwinn Collegiate cruiser for $125 profit,
which I think is pretty close to $430 total (in fact, just above, at $455).
Having ridden these bikes, the key factors in speed and comfort (excluding me)
have been 1) size (fit), or the distances from seat to handlebars and to bottom
bracket, 2) light rims, 3) a decent saddle, 4) narrow tires (80-100 psi), 5)
bike geometry/ability to ergonomically hold an aggressive stance, and 6)
overall bike weight. Even a hi-tensile road bike with light rims can go quite
fast (15 mph over 30 miles) with newbie me riding. Contrary to what I thought,
I don't even need to find a chromoly bike to find one that's easy to carry and
relatively zippy. This makes me think a decent used bike doesn't need to be
$200, even $75-100 in the right market can get you a gem, especially if you are
good in bike maintenance - which brings us to point 2.
2. Bike maintenance is surprisingly easy. Now mind you, I have yet to learn how
to build or true a wheel. I do plan to learn how, quite soon. I hadn't ever
overhauled a bottom bracket or repacked any sort of bearing until September
2022, when I overhauled all the bearings on my 1974 Panasonic Sport Deluxe.
This was probably the most intimidating bike repair I knew of, but it turned
out to be so much fun, definitely thanks to RJ The Bike Guy tutorials on
YouTube. Now I can't wait to apply red lithium grease to bearings on my vintage
bikes. I really felt the difference too in pedaling ease and speed. Similarly,
contrary to what I thought, derailleur adjustment is not hard, especially with
a stand and some video tutorials. In addition, derailleurs, especially
Shimano/Suntour ones on older bikes, like the Shimano Titlist on my Panasonic
and the Suntour Seven on my Peugeot, are very, very reliable. Caliper brakes
surprisingly are more annoying than newer ones. I use synthetic motor oil to
lube my chain, which has seemed to work well enough. Neither motor oil nor red
lithium grease was that expensive. Tire and tube replacements are not hard at
all for me any more, except for my weird, narrow recumbent tires (bleh). And I
haven't yet gotten a flat in 3400+ miles. Watch me blow one next ride lol.
3. Rural and urban roads/paths beat suburban equivalents. For reference, I live
in the DMV and moved from Bethesda to Gaithersburg. I biked 2.5 miles to work
in Bethesda and found it incredibly stressful with the combination of narrow
sidewalks, no bike lanes, car choked stroads, dead end side streets, and
careless Maryland drivers. I expected Gaithersburg to be scarier with its bike
lane shoulders on 6 lane roads. Imagine my surprise when I averaged 18 mph
instead of 10 mph on those lanes even while cautiously riding (and looking back
with a rear view mirror) through intersections. It was like riding a bike
superhighway. My trail experiences were similar. Most exurban roads in
Montgomery County have quiet paved sidewalks that beat the heck out of the
jammed Capital Crescent Trail. Now urban biking was also surprisingly better
than suburban biking. Sure, there were more stops, but also more bike lanes,
side streets to destinations, and drivers just as bad as the suburbs, but who
had to stop often. Then going to rural biking, rural roads have proven even
better than exurban bike lanes. Lots of warning for cars ahead and behind me
given the traffic.
4. Biking is distinctly more pleasant than running or walking. It is just fun.
The most important part of making biking pleasant was raising my saddle. One 36
mile ride ended with a night of horrible knee pain (inside the knees). Then I
lifted the saddle up and had no pain at all on a 20 mile ride a few days later.
I think lots of people don't realize how important this is, not just for
ergonomics but power (along with pedaling a circle instead of a square).
Anyway, now with some stretching and proper form, I can bike 30+ miles and feel
tired but not sore, and certainly less tired than when running or walking 5
miles. That alone has motivated me to bike further and a bit faster, and I
recently managed 61 miles at 12.5 mph average.
Original post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycleculture/comments/uzz6wh/things_i_learned_from_bi
king_for_10_months/
