New bike making strange noises?

[adamhearn]

A gel seat is probably not what you need; a saddle that fits the width of your sit bones is. Unfortunately there's no one size fits all solution with saddles. If you're new or returning to cycling after a while away your butt will not be used to perching your weight on such as small area. This together with weight you'll find any/all saddles uncomfortable for a while. Ride little and often is my advice and soon you'll be used to it.

If you have pain on the sides of the legs then you may have a saddle that's wide in the front and chaffing whilst pedalling. If it's muscular (internal) pain it may just be a muscle group that you're not used to exercising. If it's in the twigs and berries area you may have to get a better fitting saddle (pressure relief channel for example) and/or better bike fit/posture (distributing weight across the contact points) by repositioning/levelling the saddle.

Padded shorts are always a good idea.

 

[Kilbourne]

Wow. Thank you for your detailed reply. I am new to biking so I believe you are right I was hoping to jump straight in to biking 7 miles to work and 7 miles back but think this will do more harm than good. Just done a mile on it and will keep pushing

 

[col]

Just remember your arse will ache for a few days or more, and your calfs will burn when you first go up longish hills, but this will pass, honest

 

[Kilbourne]

Just need to lay of the kebabs!

 

[adamhearn]

Wow. Thank you for your detailed reply. I am new to biking so I believe you are right I was hoping to jump straight in to biking 7 miles to work and 7 miles back but think this will do more harm than good. Just done a mile on it and will keep pushing

Whilst I was a keen and able cyclist in my teens I sold my bike in favour of something with an engine. Spurred on by a friend some 23 years later I started up cycling again. My first journey was 7 miles and I felt I was close to a heart attack. I didn't have any kit or even a bike but kept at it. It was a case of journey distances of 5 became 10 became 20. You'll build up the muscles and the stamina as you go.

 

[raleighnut]

Just need to lay of the kebabs!

Easier said than done here in Leicester.

 

[adamhearn]

Just need to lay of the kebabs!

Swap out the doner for chicken done on the grill and take no/less mayo and you have a pretty healthy take-out. The spit variety will no doubt have an amount of fat bonding the protein together..

 

[raleighnut]

Swap out the doner for chicken done on the grill and take no/less mayo and you have a pretty healthy take-out. The spit variety will no doubt have an amount of fat bonding the protein together..

I'm a Kofte man meself

 

[DEFENDER01]

Well got a phone call from the guys at the shop, they had fixed my problem! Apparently when I tried to fix the problem I did make it worse causing some sort of cable to wrap up and tangle? Anyhow they fixed it and aligned all of my breaks for a mere £15. Which resulted in me buying a gel seat and a helmet from there.

However not sure if its just because im fat (no point lieing) or because im unfit (again no point lieing) when im riding my seat is not comfortable between the top of my legs even with the gel seat. So i am hoping some cycling shorts with padding will solve this problem?

Glad you got your bike sorted.
as for seats they sure dont seem to be good if you are like me and have a bony bum.
I think they were designed by the same person that designed Mc Donald's seats which are uncomfortable after 15 minutes.

 

[Kilbourne]

Evening guys, well I have £55 to spend at Evans and have decided on a track pump but I am also thinking it would be good to get a spare inner tube.. so heres the silly question..

My wheels are 700c but what innertubes do I need? I assumed it was a 700c tube but then theres options 28/38 and 20/28?

Its a vertigo carnaby 700c.

 

[adamhearn]

Look on the side of the tyre. You'll see 700c x NN or possibly NN-622. They NN is the tyre width and it's this you should match when choosing a tube. Get one as close as possible or slightly under rather than over.

 

[raleighnut]

With £55 to spend once you've got the track pump you are gonna have a fair bit left over for tubes (£30 will get you a good un)

 

[Jimmy Doug]

I assumed it was a 700c tube but then theres options 28/38 and 20/28?

Inner tubes and tyres fit a range of wheel sizes. An inner tube or tyre can fit a surprising range of tyres, as shown in this chart:

Get yourself a presto/schrader valve adapter while you're at it (really, really cheap). I'm sure I'm not the only one who cusses at Presta valves!
As Adamhearn pointed out, you need to look on the wheel and ensure that its width is within the size indicated on the inner tube packaging. My guess is that this is the one you need. No point spending a fortune on inner tubes in my opinion - but most probably it will be a very good idea to check the quality of your tyres. My guess is that your bike has fairly poor quality tryes which may puncture very easily. Get yourself a pair of GatorSkins or Continental Grand Prixs: there's nothing like being suck at the side of a road in the pouring rain with a punctured tyre to put you off cycling to work!

 

[raleighnut]

Inner tubes and tyres fit a range of wheel sizes. An inner tube or tyre can fit a surprising range of tyres, as shown in this chart:

Get yourself a presto/schrader valve adapter while you're at it (really, really cheap). I'm sure I'm not the only one who cusses at Presta valves!
As Adamhearn pointed out, you need to look on the wheel and ensure that its width is within the size indicated on the inner tube packaging. My guess is that this is the one you need. No point spending a fortune on inner tubes in my opinion - but most probably it will be a very good idea to check the quality of your tyres. My guess is that your bike has fairly poor quality tryes which may puncture very easily. Get yourself a pair of GatorSkins or Continental Grand Prixs: there's nothing like being suck at the side of a road in the pouring rain with a punctured tyre to put you off cycling to work!

Most track pumps come with a dual/universal head but saying that the little brass adaptor is a good thing to have in your toolkit.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Oh, and on the subject of tyres, here are two more tips:

• Check the tyre pressure every morning by quickly squeezing the sides. If the tyres are hard you're good to go. Then, every week or so, check with the track pump and inflate to the recommended pressure. Under-inflated tyres puncture more easily and slow you down.
• If you get a puncture, change the inner tube by all means, but don't be wasteful by throwing away the old one! They are very easy to mend and a properly repaired inner tube is as good as new.