cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
Why so slow?
- Thread starter Invictus1984
- Start date
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cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
I concur with all of the above, my winter commuter is my now infamous "dropway " which is basically a hybrid with drop bars but the actual body position is still fairly upright and that will tootle along on the flat fully loaded with panniers, lights etc ant 18- 19 mph so a combination of bike fit, and specific training will all help.
Dont confuse leg strength with speed unless your a track cyclist doing 500 m efforts .
Dont confuse leg strength with speed unless your a track cyclist doing 500 m efforts .
Last edited:
Boon 51
Veteran
- Location
- Deal. Kent.
Without complicated figures.. If you are riding on the pedals like you are going up hill then you can sit on the saddle in three ways..
1/ sit down on the saddle its too low.
2/ sit up on the saddle its too high.
3/ sit back on the saddle is just about right.
Plus I think cycling is an art form and needs patience and practice but once you get it right there's nothing much better.
1/ sit down on the saddle its too low.
2/ sit up on the saddle its too high.
3/ sit back on the saddle is just about right.
Plus I think cycling is an art form and needs patience and practice but once you get it right there's nothing much better.
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
Apologies my response sounds harsh, didn't mean it to be.
Are you just expecting too much too soon?
I'd say stop pushing yourself until you've established a comfortable distance then within that distance add in initially short sections of pushing it more. Gradually increase the number of these sections then length of them. Don't focus purely on speed. Also increase the mileage.
I'd say stop pushing yourself until you've established a comfortable distance then within that distance add in initially short sections of pushing it more. Gradually increase the number of these sections then length of them. Don't focus purely on speed. Also increase the mileage.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I think that anybody with reasonable health and general fitness should be able to get on a bike (that is functioning properly and set up properly for them) and ride at 10 mph for half a mile without their legs "starting to burn" and then be able to carry on for another 9.5 miles without any problems***. It isn't a spectacular athletic achievement - I'd say it is roughly equivalent to walking 2.5 miles in an hour. I would expect to be able to do that on my very first ride. Invictus sounds like someone in pretty good shape so it surely has to be a bike/setup problem?
*** On a flat road and no troublesome headwind to contend with!
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
A saddle that's too large and soft can cause problems.
A soft saddle is OK for short rides, but for longer rides a firm, or even hard, saddle is better.
Your weight should be taken by your sit bones (ischial tuberosities, as felt when sitting on a wooden stool or step that's below knee height).
If your saddle is too soft, the bones just sink in, and the weight is taken by the surrounding soft tissue, which can, especially if the saddle is wide relative to your pelvis, result in the blood vessels than are meant to be keeping your legs supplied getting squashed flat, which results in pain when you do much work.
A hard saddle can result in what feels like bruising of the sit bones when you first start cycling, but once you've got over it, it doesn't repeat, at least unless you stop cycling altogether for a couple of years.
The standard set up for saddle height is so that your leg is straight when your heel is on the pedal (socks or thin heel shoes only), and your pelvis doesn't rock from side to side if you pedal backwards with both heels.
A soft saddle is OK for short rides, but for longer rides a firm, or even hard, saddle is better.
Your weight should be taken by your sit bones (ischial tuberosities, as felt when sitting on a wooden stool or step that's below knee height).
If your saddle is too soft, the bones just sink in, and the weight is taken by the surrounding soft tissue, which can, especially if the saddle is wide relative to your pelvis, result in the blood vessels than are meant to be keeping your legs supplied getting squashed flat, which results in pain when you do much work.
A hard saddle can result in what feels like bruising of the sit bones when you first start cycling, but once you've got over it, it doesn't repeat, at least unless you stop cycling altogether for a couple of years.
The standard set up for saddle height is so that your leg is straight when your heel is on the pedal (socks or thin heel shoes only), and your pelvis doesn't rock from side to side if you pedal backwards with both heels.
I don't see a lot of point in considering a whole range of potential problems when we know for certain that the saddle is way too low. If I dropped my saddle so low I could get both feet partly on the ground when sitting on it, I doubt I'd get a mile before it started to hurt. That needs fixing first.
