Amazed at the confidence CycleChat members have given me!.

[JJ.]

Last December due to severely damaging both my knees I couldn't walk at all and not unaided until mid February of this year, however today I took the bit between my teeth and covered a 13 mile round trip on my bike to the bank, a trip that I would normally undertake in the car. Amazing indeed, I have accomplished something and I am now buzzing.
One tiny niggle, my mountain bike suits my capabilities with the local hills, I don't have to get off and push or owt nancy like that but when I'm on the straight bits I want to go faster but alas, I've used all my gears up !!!!.
Loved it regardless though, it's not marathon breaking stuff but it's a giant leap from the odd run to work which isn't far at all.

Confidence well lifted, ta !!!.

 

[NealM]

Well done, that is a fantastic achievement ..

I have the same problem with my BSO, on a straight road I run out of gears ! ! I must get around to counting the number of teeth on the various cogs and compare that to the gearing of some of the "real bikes" that I am considering purchasing, (as this will be a factor in my decision making process) ..

 

[RWright]

13 miles is a nice ride.

 

[albion]

Nice one.

I had to abandon walking two years ago and its been all uphill since.

 

[ColinJ]

Well done JJ!

You should be able to go fast enough using MTB gearing if you learn to develop a fast enough cadence. 90 rpm would probably see you doing over 25 mph which is hard to maintain on a racing bike, let alone a MTB.

Downhill, yes, you'd run out of gears, but you should still be able to pedal to about 30 mph. To go faster than that, just get your chin down on the handlebar stem, tuck in your knees and elbows and freewheel!

 

[Spinney]

Like this...

 

[ColinJ]

Definitely not like that!

 

[Ern1e]

Hi JJ and well done just one question do you still have mtb tyres on the bike ? When I put semi slicks on mine I did gain a few extra mph !

 

[JJ.]

Hi JJ and well done just one question do you still have mtb tyres on the bike ? When I put semi slicks on mine I did gain a few extra mph !

I've got Hutchinson Python 29 x 2.1 on the bike, I assume that they are standard.

 

[Ern1e]

I've got Hutchinson Python 29 x 2.1 on the bike, I assume that they are standard.

Just had a quick look at these they don't look overly aggressive to me plus they are 29's so again not sure on just what types are available in this size,I do know that on mine the difference the slicks made was quite noticable,so may be worth looking into.