useing gears

[reacher]

i will see my buddy this morning and ask him why he cyclces like he do's ,
but the above explanation by zacklows is very good ,
Arch ,
no offense to the lady member , it was as said tongue in cheek , evan with my limited experiance of cycling a commiute through traffic is just that , it would be like me trying to post a best time road running through a town centre and wondering why i cant get to a steady pace ,
do i cycle daily ? , i'v been out on a bike 4 times so far , 5 if you count the go on one as a kid

 

[Sittingduck]

Is this thread a wind up, or is it just me?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Is this thread a wind up, or is it just me?

It's not just you!

14

I could swear that said 4 yesterday!

 

[reacher]

Is this thread a wind up, or is it just me?

just you , concentrate more

 

[Arch]

Is this thread a wind up, or is it just me?

I dunno, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when reacher learns English....

'Lady Member' indeed. How long before we do my grand reveal, do you reckon....?

Quassleberry, it sounds like you're doing just fine, and could probably manage with some higher gears if you want to push the exercise aspect - if you want to do that it ought to be possible to get either larger chainrings, or a different cluster of sprockets fitted.

 

[quassleberry]

Now there's a project for my other half

I will try using 6th/18th? more & see if that makes a difference, thank you Arch.

 

[Arch]

Now there's a project for my other half

I will try using 6th/18th? more & see if that makes a difference, thank you Arch.

I don't know how long you've been doing the commute, but you might find you gradually find yourself using the highest gear more anyway. I tend to lose fitness over the winter (despite pedalling a cargo trike at work, I do less long rides), and find myself dropping down a gear generally, compared to the end of summer when I've been doing extra long commutes and long leisure rides.

Also, you perhaps know this, but remember that losing weight and building muscle aren't a direct relationship - muscle is denser than fat, so you'll lose weight to start with but as you increase muscle, the weight loss will slow down. How your clothes feel is a more reliable gauge of progress.

Good luck with the half marathon! That would be beyond me!

 

[reacher]

I dunno, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when reacher learns English....

'Lady Member' indeed. How long before we do my grand reveal, do you reckon....?

Quassleberry, it sounds like you're doing just fine, and could probably manage with some higher gears if you want to push the exercise aspect - if you want to do that it ought to be possible to get either larger chainrings, or a different cluster of sprockets fitted.

you willl have to explain this one to me ?
i'm a tad lost on what you mean , i thought she was a female ,
are you saying i'm in the blue oyster club here ?
any how do you want to know what he said or not ?

 

[Arch]

you willl have to explain this one to me ?
i'm a tad lost on what you mean , i thought she was a female ,
are you saying i'm in the blue oyster club here ?
any how do you want to know what he said or not ?

I'm sorry, I'm teasing. I was amused by your use of the term 'lady member', because it sounded a bit old fashioned, and also, I'm one myself - it's a bit of an in joke that people don't realise for ages.

Yes, Quassleberry is a woman.

You've got me lost too, I don't know what the blue oyster club is...

So, what did your mate say? Did you tell him we all think he's using a rather odd technique?

 

[quassleberry]

So glad you don't know what 'the blue oyster club' is either! I was going to go & ask the teenage sleepover contingent!!

I guessed we were the same gender from the elephant and Arch is short for matriarch as opposed to patriarch.

Been commuting for 4 years and have lost 2 & 1/2 stone, it went on slowly & so is coming off the same way. The fat/muscle conversion I've known for years but tend to forget it when they all obssess about diets and have the weekly weigh in at work. Since moving to this office and having to cycle, each time we have new uniform issued I'm always next size down and as it's every two years it's always way too big and I have to wear the belt to make the trousera fit.

I can't be doing with faddy diets and eat what I want when I want but always try to have something from all the food groups in moderation except fruit/veg which I have more of. Hence the question of energy efficiency so I can keep on kidding myself that chocolate is good for me.

Reacher you still haven't told us what your mate said.

 

[reacher]

i see ,
i guess thats because i'm old i expect ,
blue oyster club is from a film , if you google it you will see what i mean , the guy who called me a tosser is probably a member , i think thats a slang pick up expression if i'm, not mistaken ,
anyhow,
i did ask him and he said its down to cadence , but he did say that he only do's the run we are going to race on as a training run , if he was going out for a longer run , which he do'snt then endurance would be a problem and he would start to drop off the pace considerably ,
he uses everything as a maximum effort to train for that period , so he his working constantly at around 100 % output on weights and cycling and spin bike , which ever he trains on , very effective as well ,
back to the spin bike he had me do a session with him , which to be honest this cycling lark is all new to me , i thought i was working at a good pace , untill i did one with him , and i can train pretty hard or so i thought on these bikes , he took me to a differant place entirely ,
in fact i would say , as my daughter pointed out that it looks a tad dangerous as far as giveing your self a heart attack is concerned , which was not an uncommon occurance on the squash courts when i played ,

 

[reacher]

this should be the route he takes
ttp://ridewithgps.com/routes/270042

this is the one we will race on , his time is 50 minutes ,
not sure if thats good or bad ,
if this link works , some else did this for me ,

 

[Arch]

i see ,
i guess thats because i'm old i expect ,
blue oyster club is from a film , if you google it you will see what i mean , the guy who called me a tosser is probably a member , i think thats a slang pick up expression if i'm, not mistaken ,

To be fair, I didn't call you a tosser, I said you were doing a good job of sounding like one... Subtle difference...

anyhow,
i did ask him and he said its down to cadence , but he did say that he only do's the run we are going to race on as a training run , if he was going out for a longer run , which he do'snt then endurance would be a problem and he would start to drop off the pace considerably ,
he uses everything as a maximum effort to train for that period , so he his working constantly at around 100 % output on weights and cycling and spin bike , which ever he trains on , very effective as well ,
back to the spin bike he had me do a session with him , which to be honest this cycling lark is all new to me , i thought i was working at a good pace , untill i did one with him , and i can train pretty hard or so i thought on these bikes , he took me to a differant place entirely ,
in fact i would say , as my daughter pointed out that it looks a tad dangerous as far as giveing your self a heart attack is concerned , which was not an uncommon occurance on the squash courts when i played ,

Well, it certainly doesn't sound like fun to me, but it takes all sorts and some people are more obsessed with power and speed above all else.

But, hasn't it been said that he's not using the best gear combos anyway? Whether he wants speed or endurance, it do his bike good to get the right gear combination.

Quassleberry, sound like you're doing perfectly. My wieght loss has been slowere than yours - about a stone in the last 18 months or so, down to more leisure cycling, and taking on a physica job with walking, lifting and cycling involved. But that's the way to make sure the wieght stays off (well, ok, I put on a bit over the winter, we all want to eat more when we've been working in the cold and wet.) and your figure goes the way you want it too. I'd be happy to lose another stone, but happier to just get down one more clothes size comfortably.

 

[Arch]

Yes, I've gone back and checked, and apparently he's using 39-11, which is an extreme chainline, and what we were all wondering about. How hard he wants to train isn't the question we're asking you to ask him, we want to know why he's using a gear combo that will wear his chain out faster when he should be able to get the same gear with other combinations.

Unless of course, his bike only has a single chainring, or 39 is actually his biggest ring, but in that case, to do 20 miles in 50 minutes his cadence would have to be impossibly fast....

 

[reacher]

okey dokey ,
only sounding like a tosser is marginally better than being one i guess lol , cease fire agreed
right i asked him this he uses a 54 x 39 , i'v seen his bike , dura ace set up
and uses the 39 x 12 or 39x13 to do this run , and drops onto the 39 x 11 when needed
he explained it to me but frankly i dont know enough about cycling and gears to fully understand , he said i need to get out on my bike to fully understand ,
he said , i dont use any other gears , and thats his training gears ,
i think he means that yes he could do it differantly but it wont get him the work out that he is after , i do know that the velodrome his what he realy likes and the bike is just for training ,
he said that to keep the cadence he wants at a constant rpm is why he do's this ,
thats the exact route and his time is 50 minutes dead , i know the route as i did it as a try out at xmas to see how hard it woud be and how much i need to improve to get alongside him ,
thats as much as i know realy , apart from i'm on a spin bike with him later for a session ,
he text me and said be prepared to enter hell ,
is that a good time ?