Good and bad days cycling..
- Thread starter ray316
- Start date
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fenlandpsychocyclist
Guest
Wind strength??
I'm regularly pushing into 15-20mph winds around my way due to the lack of hills to disturb the flow.
Tonights wind strength was 6mph ... and it felt loads easier to push into than sunday nights 11mph.
Speedywheelsjeans
Active Member
Weather conditions, road conditions, sore muscles, less energy from poor diet on previous day, incorrectly set up bike (I.e tyre pressures too low on the previous day)... theres loads of em.
Thanks for all replys. Weather and road conditions were similar on both days, but l can understand less energy and poor diets on previous days.. Regarding tyre pressure they were the same as l have no air escaping from the tyre's but l do wonder if the tyre's on my bike are under inflated... l use a hand pump and so have no pressure gauge to read what the pressure is at, and l do struggle to pump air into the tyre's l think l'm going to have to buy a foot .. Would incorrect air in the tyre's make alot of difference cycling..
E.g to much air or not enough air in the tyre's , how would this effect your performance on the road..
Col5632
Guru
- Location
- Cowdenbeath
Speedywheelsjeans
Active Member
Yes, makes an enormous difference. Do a test go on a 10 mile ride with low tyre pressures, then put correct PSI and do the same route... which one drained your energy the most. A tyre behaves like a spring, it follows the exact same laws of physics as a spring in its behaviour, engineers even use the same mathmatic formula when dealing with the two, if you consider when your riding low PSI a lot of your energy is being wasted compressing the tyre(spring) before it transfers whats left as driving force. Also It increases your rolling resistance (the frictional resistance you feel with the ground when riding along), when your tyre is running low PSI it has a bigger contact patch with the floor so the frictional loss between the tyre and the floor is higher. When you put higher PSI into the tyre it takes a much greater force to compress the tyre to the rim (this is called its spring rate), the force that your legs are pushing through the drivetrain into the floor isnt enough to compress the tyre so the energy is transferred as driving force instead to move you forward. Its the same principle as running a full suspension mountain bike and a carbon fibre road bike, carbon is stiff and responsive as none of the energy is being lost through the spring... full suspension mountain bike loses incredible amount of energy through the springs...
Sorry for the ramble... but thats the science behind it!
fenlandpsychocyclist
Guest
Off-road riding on the other hand may involve constant energy-sapping ruts/bumps/etc, and its sometimes the case that
a little bit of softness in the tyres makes for an easier ride.
Well thats what i have found when running at 40psi instead of 60 psi.
a little bit of softness in the tyres makes for an easier ride.
Well thats what i have found when running at 40psi instead of 60 psi.
Speedywheelsjeans
Active Member
Yes, nail on the head... goes back to the principle of tyres being springs, they absorb some of the impact of ruts and bumps, also the tyres are softer so mould to awkward surfaces a bit better. Which is why we run 130PSI in our road tyres for efficiency and speed, but 40-60 in our mountain bikes doing single track........ oh I love cycling
fenlandpsychocyclist
Guest
I remember the time i did 14 miles around the tracks at thetford (brandon side) and had my
seat clamp "bend" open and i ended up with sore arms and everything aching!!
On the drive home that afternoon i realised i hadn't let the tyres down on the mtb after
the previous days road run.
(Seat seat clamp was welded shut to stop it failing again ... poor choice of parts by raleigh).
seat clamp "bend" open and i ended up with sore arms and everything aching!!
On the drive home that afternoon i realised i hadn't let the tyres down on the mtb after
the previous days road run.
(Seat seat clamp was welded shut to stop it failing again ... poor choice of parts by raleigh).
Speedywheelsjeans
Active Member
I remember the time i did 14 miles around the tracks at thetford (brandon side) and had my
seat clamp "bend" open and i ended up with sore arms and everything aching!!
On the drive home that afternoon i realised i hadn't let the tyres down on the mtb after
the previous days road run.
(Seat seat clamp was welded shut to stop it failing again ... poor choice of parts by raleigh).
Oh dear you know things are bad when you got to get the welder out!
mattsr
Senior Member
- Location
- Chichester, West Sussex
Get yourself a track pump- it will inflate your tyes in a matter of seconds, and has a pressure gauge as well. This is the one I've got:-
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/topeak-joe-blow-sport-ii-track-pump/
Pretty much essential kit for me!!
fenlandpsychocyclist
Guest
Lets just say i'm a very "fierce" offroad rider (still nursing a chipped collar bone from two months ago when me and a tree had a disagreement).
My friend is equally as aggresive off road ... and he sheared a pedal clean off once when he also caught a tree.
mattsr
Senior Member
- Location
- Chichester, West Sussex
Lets just say i'm a very "fierce" offroad rider (still nursing a chipped collar bone from two months ago when me and a tree had a disagreement).
My friend is equally as aggresive off road ... and he sheared a pedal clean off once when he also caught a tree.
Those trees do have a habit of jumping out at you, don't they? Silver Birch are the worst offenders. Yobs, that's all they are.....
Speedywheelsjeans
Active Member
Lets just say i'm a very "fierce" offroad rider (still nursing a chipped collar bone from two months ago when me and a tree had a disagreement).
My friend is equally as aggresive off road ... and he sheared a pedal clean off once when he also caught a tree.
Haha, im a quite tame off road for the moment, still perfecting a few bike handling skills... However one of my friends snapped a set of forks the other day after his 10th consecutive crash... and bashed his head yesterday denting his helmet.
I know what you mean about those trees... sneaky buggers!