Need to go faster / New to road bikes

In article , says...
Well, I went out and spent some riding time and riding $$$. Looked
up Performance Bicycle in the phone book. 2540 s. Colorado Blvd.

Nice. Looked up that address on my GPS and plotted it. 3.74 miles
each way - nice little ride. Unfourtunatley Murphy's law kicked in - I
forgot to note the "s" in the address - wound up going to 2540
NORTH Colorado! D'oh! Then went to 2540 S. Colorado (6.18
miles away).

Finallly got to the store, picked out a Cateye Astrale CC-CD 100 N II.
$24.95 not bad. Also picked up 2 "Slime" self healing tubes $7 ea.
Went home, tallied up my riding distance with the GPS unit - 18.4 miles!
I had planned on 7. Plus, what's worse, S. Colorado is a roller coaster
of a ride - hills steep enough for 1st gear but not steep enough to stand
up on the pedals. Crested one hill in 1st gear @ 8.4 mph then coasted
down the other side (still in 1st) - hit 31.4 mph! Man I was praying for
no potholes at that speed! I need a helmet......

Got home, installed the Cateye computer - no problems. Went on a
2.41 mile test ride and I was suprised - I found I could keep a constant
cadence of 80-85 pedal rpm. Not too shabby for a begginer! I found
I could keep up the sacred, suggested average pace of 90-95 rpm for
2-3 minute bursts (not bad after such a tough morning ride!) and at
one point I made a speed burst and hit 135.7 rpm! Man, having a bike
computer that measures cadence rocks!

I found that after several months of trying to maintain 90, it was just
making me tired. When I started keeping 80 to 85, my endurance went up
a lot. Everyone's different in their preferred cadence, so YMMV.

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 14:42:03 +0000, Rick Onanian wrote:

Specifically, the Weinman 519 rims on my MTB and the Mavic CXP-21 rims on
my road bike, neither of which has been a problem, though reviews paint
them as very weak.

Don't believe the reviews. I have one or two CXP-21's (and other similar
shallow-V Mavic wheels) and my experience is that they are very durable
indeed.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Let's not escape into mathematics. Let's stay with reality. --
_`\(,_ | Michael Crichton
(_)/ (_) |

On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 22:23:47 +0000, Bill Davidson wrote:

I was thinking the same thing. I've heard of riders spinning about
180rpm's before but I'd think 200rpm's is a bit unusual--particularly for
recreational riders.

I suggest that is a bit of an exaggeration, and he probably knew it. I
have managed close to that, but only downhill on my fixed gear, when I
really didn't have much choice.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | The lottery is a tax on those who fail to understand
_`\(,_ | mathematics.
(_)/ (_) |

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 05:31:37 +0000, Ken wrote:

A track sprinter can probably hit 300 or 400 rpm.

Nonsense. Track sprinters typically use 85" or 90" gears, like say a
48/15. At 400rpm, that would be 100mph. They may be fast, but not that
fast. A fast sprinter can probably hit, not maintain, 200, which is still
50mph.

I've done over 250 rpm

In a track gear?

--

David L. Johnson

__o | More people object to wearing fur than leather because it is
_`\(,_ | safer to harrass rich white women than motorcycle gangs.
(_)/ (_) |

Man I was praying for no potholes at that speed! I need a helmet......

Hopefully you'd just go over the pothole but I'd try to avoid them at
high speed.

Developing the skill the safely jump a pothole, cattleguard, or other
obstacle is a nice thing to have. :-)


Chris Neary


"Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

"Bill Davidson" wrote in message
news:EBz6b.114056$kP.30472@fed1read03...

The other day I hit 46 mph in a similar situation. I stopped pedaling the
second I started going down hill. It was a very steep hill (Texas St
going from North Park to Mission Valley for those that know San Diego).

Man I was praying for no potholes at that speed! I need a helmet......

Hopefully you'd just go over the pothole but I'd try to avoid them at
high speed. I'm one of the pro-helmet people around here but helmet or
no helmet, falling at 30+ mph is going to hurt a lot. The fastest I've
fallen on pavement was about 25mph when I was 15 years old. I wouldn't
recomend it (shock, massive road rash, stiches, bleeding, lots of time
in the emergency room).

Don't worry about 90-95--especially at the beginning. If you can
maintain 80-85 comfortably, then stick with that for a while. 135.7
rpms is impressive with your feet not attached to the pedals. Clearly,
you have enough spin for that 52-13 above 40 mph.

--Bill Davidson

I worked out the numbers: 52-13, 137.5 prpm, 82.875"
tire circumference = 43.164 mph

What I can't get over is the poster who claimed 400 prpm! I can't
even think what it must have been like for you at 46.....

I had an accident on my mountain bike (full susp) a few years
ago - was riding along the sidewalk and passed a pedestrian - went
off the concrete and then attempted to get back on the sidewalk
at 18 mph....... Bam! Face first! Cell phone didn't survive the wreck
but my ham radio handheld (a Yaesu VX5) did - put out a emergency
call on a nearby repeater and the stupid ambulance crew was there
in a few minutes....

Stupid? Why? You'd think that way if with a banged up body, they
decided to DROP the stretcher when loading you into the meat
wagon. Ouch - where's my lawyer??? lol

Ken

Ken Bessler wrote:
I worked out the numbers: 52-13, 137.5 prpm, 82.875"
tire circumference = 43.164 mph

What I can't get over is the poster who claimed 400 prpm! I can't
even think what it must have been like for you at 46.....

I can't pedal that fast--at least not with my current gearing. I just
coasted and the hill is steep enough for gravity to get me that speed.

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

"Bill Davidson" wrote in message
news:BBJ6b.114083$kP.10762@fed1read03...
Ken Bessler wrote:
I worked out the numbers: 52-13, 137.5 prpm, 82.875"
tire circumference = 43.164 mph

What I can't get over is the poster who claimed 400 prpm! I can't
even think what it must have been like for you at 46.....

I can't pedal that fast--at least not with my current gearing. I just
coasted and the hill is steep enough for gravity to get me that speed.

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now


It's interesting to note there are a couple of steep hills where I
used to ride in Wichita, KS. One is equal to the hill I coasted
down yesterday and got 31 mph. On my mountain bike all I
could get out of that hill was 17 mph!

Ken

"Chris Neary" wrote in message
...

Developing the skill the safely jump a pothole, cattleguard, or other
obstacle is a nice thing to have. :-)

You can jump a cattleguard?

"Matthew" wrote:


"Chris Neary" wrote in message
.. .

Developing the skill the safely jump a pothole, cattleguard, or other
obstacle is a nice thing to have. :-)

You can jump a cattleguard?

Who can't? You must not be thinking about the same kind of cattle
guard Chris is - basically they're just a sideways sewer grate about
4-5 feet (1.5m) deep and the width of the road. Yeah, you have to be
moving at a pretty good clip to totally clear one, but it's not that
tough. OTOH, I never TRY to jump them because they're not hard to
ride over, and the consequences of missing... well, aren't good.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame