To ask how to ride my bike?

[ThesecondLEM]

Inspired by another thread where I asked this question and I don't want to hijack.

So I'm cycling to work and I have no idea how to best use my gears.

At present I'm in the "highest" most difficult gear other than on hills. I'm not sure if I'm getting the best efficiency as I see people zooming past and their legs not going mad (and legs hurting!! I am pretty unfit and overweight).

DP blames my bike, but it is a decent bike and my late mum bought it for me so I'm not about to change it. Its a tourer so not designed for speed.

I think I'm putting in more effort than I need if I had got the gears right.

How many gears do you have?

If your legs are going mad on the flat, I doubt you're actually in the highest gear - if you have 15+ gears, I wonder if you're not actually getting into the highest set - if things aren't adjusted correctly then maybe you think you've changed up but haven't.

(I only have three gears, and my legs don't go mad.)

www.google.com/amp/s/www.wikihow.com/Shift-Gears-on-a-Bike%3famp=1

Can you cycle somewhere quiet/easy and just play around with them, adjust them up and down to see what feels best?

A heavier hike does make for a slower ride.
Pump your tyres up to their max and check after every ride. Just a 10% drop in pressure can really effect your speed and effort. The type of tyre you have too. Knobbly Mtn bike style tyres will be slower on the road than smooth slick ‘road’ tyres.

Up hills anticipate the hill and lower your gears before you hit it and be prepared to lower whilst on it so your spinning rather than trying to stand up in the saddle. Men tend to stand up on pedals as they have muscle strength to power up hills, I’m short middle aged woman so I use the spin technique.

Going down hill or long flats yes you can get into higher gears so a 3 cog and 7 maybe your highest on a 21g bike.

Our local council does bike ability for adults and sometimes a female specific course. Worth finding out if that would help you.

A bike pump like this is great for getting max psi (this is normal written into the side of the rubber tyre) www.amazon.co.uk/Vandorm-Lightweight-Schrader-Universal-Football/dp/B00PG1PKIA/ref=sxin_22?cv_ct_pg=search&keywords=upright+bike+pump&pd_rd_i=B00PG1PKIA&qid=1637676299&cv_ct_cx=upright+bike+pump&pd_rd_w=gSg9n&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&asc_contenttype=article&hvtargid=kwd-315968873027&pd_rd_r=fd9e35e5-9957-4d0f-9287-0ea3bfe656aa&hvrand=7717131441343996496&sr=1-1-78b06539-dce7-4911-9ef7-723e018c4453&cv_ct_wn=osp-single-source-mobile&hvlocphy=1006709&linkCode=oas&hvnetw=g&cv_ct_id=amzn1.osa.ac5659e9-5450-4d2a-96a7-3bbd83797352.A1F83G8C2ARO7P.en_GB&asc_contentid=amzn1.osa.ac5659e9-5450-4d2a-96a7-3bbd83797352.A1F83G8C2ARO7P.en_GB&hvadid=259131584378&cv_ct_we=asin&ascsubtag=amzn1.osa.ac5659e9-5450-4d2a-96a7-3bbd83797352.A1F83G8C2ARO7P.en_GB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIosqTztOu9AIVk_dRCh0nHg8XEAAYASAAEgKCOvD_BwE&creativeASIN=B00PG1PKIA&hydadcr=9298_1723333&pf_rd_p=e7324020-10b6-47e9-b2a8-102d6c7f02f6&pd_rd_wg=vBJ9g&pf_rd_r=S90XTJ9PZTSH2EBZA2BP&hvdev=m&hvqmt=e&adgrpid=53667854139

It's recommended to keep your cadence between 80-90 strokes per minute, which means if you start with your right foot at the top and count how many times it comes back to the top in a minute of constant pedalling it should be 80-90.

I personally find that it means I'm in a middle gear on my bike most of the time. Top gear would be for downhills only for me otherwise it would tire my legs out pretty quickly.

sorry stupidly long link

Almost certainly your cadence is far too low because your gear is too high. Drop gears (don’t know how many you’ve got) and cycle quicker. It’s hard to measure your cadence but as a op said, it should be around 80rpm. Are you a member of a gym where you could sit on a bike to “feel” rpm? If not, you tube 80 beats per minute and you’ll get videos meant for playing music to that will play a beat at that speed.

Cycling is about finding that sweet spot somewhere in the middle of 1) your legs not burning too much (because of resistance/ high gear/ hill) and 2) your heart and lungs not screaming too much (because your legs are moving too quickly/ you’re going too fast).

Is the English government doing the free cycle repair scheme still? You could get it serviced, chain stripped , cleaned and re greased, cables checked etc. That might help it go more smoothly. Definitely change down to easier gears before hills start otherwise you put a lot of pressure on the gears and damage them. My son services bikes and he had someone complaining their gears didn't work but they weren't using them correctly. A heavier bike will not help you though, however attached to it you are. My friend realised she actually liked cycling once she got a lighter bike.

Think of it like driving. If you’re going uphill, you need a lower gear than if you were on the flat or going downhill. If your legs are working too hard, go down a gear. If they are going round effortlessly, go up a gear. If you know you are coming up to a hill, get in the lower gears sooner because it will help

I can do gears 1-6 on my bike easily but give me a bike with sub gears and you’ll get it back all buggered up so I just leave those well alone and stick with my 1-6 🙂

Hi OP. I am a keen cyclist, so some thoughts from me:

1. Make sure your tyres are inflated properly. You will find a PSI mark on the tyre, inflate to this level. It is worth investing in a decent pump which is upright, known as a floor pump. The best I know is called Jo Blow... (really!).

1. Make sure your saddle is at the right height. Your saddle moves up and down via a screw that allows the bar inside to move up and down. If the saddle height is right you should be able to touch the floor easily on either side with the balls of your feet.

1. Use the gears correctly. So when going up a hill, change your gears when you start to feel just a little bit of pressure on your legs- to soon and you will go wobbly. Too late and you may just stop as it is too hard on the legs.

1. Think about joining a local cycling campaign. The LCC in London has lots of good advice for women cyclists, and even runs adult courses which are really good.

Thanks everyone, some great advice here. My bike has 21 gears and I ride on 3 one side and 7 on the other so I think that's the highest. The bike is heavy but very comfy.

My DP has a TACs so I might have a go on there and see if I can measure the cadence.

Any advice for making riding into the wind easier, I really don't like this.

I tried to experiment with lower gear this evening but someone called me so I was going really slow (off road!) so ill see how that goes tomorrow.

I have a foot pump so will check it out although I did inflate the tyres yesterday but didn't have time to check the psi

Have you looked for cycling classes near you?
If you're new or returning to cycling it could be a good confidence booster.
I did some a couple of years ago, they were free, I think jointly subsidised by the local council and a charity.

make sure the tyres are not rubbing on the brake pads or mud guard or anything. Lift one end of the bike and spin the wheel. It should spin for 30 seconds or a minute or so with little or no noise. Do the same for the other end. If it is catching on the brake pads or something that would slow you down big time.

About the gears. Start in gear 1 or 2 and then when that feels too easy (pedals spinning with little resistance) go to gear 3 or 4 and just keep increasing the gear as you get faster/you feel too little resistance. Then as you are slowing down for a stop drop the gears back to 1 or 2 so you are ready to start off in the right gear.

I would recommend cyclechat.net. They have a beginner's forum and will be so helpful.

If you go on a lower gear and pedal faster you will be going faster (feels counterintuitive but true)! High gear and unused muscles mean you go very slowly and ache and sweat etc etc

Is the English government doing the free cycle repair scheme still?

I don;t think it ever ran - it was announced, the website cracked under the strain of too many people trying to use it (probably about ten ) and it was never heard of again.

Halfords do free bike checks apparently - not sure whether that's just a bit of a scam to entice you to spend money. Maybe someone else on here has used?

I ride road bikes so the gearing is different but yes, i believe you’re riding on the highest gear all the time if you keep it at 3/7! Definitely change to something like 2/4 as a starting point. You know then that you’re “in the middle”.

A PP post about saddle height is also important. On my road bike I’m on tippy toes (just) when sat on the saddle as I’m clipped in. But if you can be on the balls of your feet that would be great. I see lots of people with the saddle too low and this is killer on your quads! You need the extension of (almost) your full leg.

Wind. The cyclist’s nemesis and despite what nature says, it will always be a headwind for you. And me. And every other cyclist! My advice is, once it gets that bad, don’t even try to fight it. You’ll never overcome it. Think about it- you could be riding at 15kph into a 20kph wind! Just keep pedalling and hope for less wind tomorrow l

Thanks, I'll try a lower gear tomorrow and see how it goes. My knees are very unhappy with me!

How did the cycling go today @ThesecondLEM?

Was better in a lower gear, I managed to go faster, easier. Although my legs felt like they were going really fast. I took a couple of minutes off my commute. I think I felt more out of breath but that's good from a cv perspective.

A lot of good advice already given here.

One other suggestion which I don't think has been mentioned: Bikeability. They mostly focus on offering cycling training for children, but they do offer it for adults as well.

And it's not just about learning how not to fall off. Depending on the level, they'll teach you things including how to make the best use of your gears, bike set up, cadence measurements, route planning, dealing with different traffic conditions, etc.

There might not be many courses between now and the springtime, but it could be worth a look: www.bikeability.org.uk/about-cycle-training/cycle-training-for-adults/