4 miles? Pshh... EASY!

[MadisonMPG]

I just bought a welder from HF, yay!

I may run some beads on my old bike frame.

[Frank Lee]

I see "big kids" on 20"ers and LMAO.

Several of them have thought it would be easy to waste this old man in bicycle sprints.

Now they know better.

Straddling a traditional road bike, you should just have enough room to clear the jewels. For best pedalling efficiency the leg should be nearly but not all the way straight at the knee when the crank is furthest down. Seat too low and you WILL tire earlier.

It seems silly to say it, but proper pedalling is hard (mentally) and requires constant vigilance. That is, in the best case scenario you do NOT want any dead weight from the leg on the upward swing working against your "power" leg on the downstroke. Of course I am talking no toe clips. Concentrating on lifting that upstroke leg gives you something to do!

[thatguitarguy]

You can ride any bike that you can straddle without crushing your nuts, just like you can wear any pair of shoes that will stay on your feet. But if you've never ridden a bike that fit you perfectly, you'll never have any idea how much difference it can make, just like you'd never know how good shoes can feel if you've never gotten the right size.

You're a hell of a lot better off finding a bike that will fit you right, than trying to make the wrong bike fit. Would you try to modify shoes that didn't fit right, or just find a pair that actually do fit?

[Frank Lee]

Yeah, I was going to say, I wouldn't try to put bigger wheels on it; the handlebars/headtube are still gonna be too close to the seat.

[MadisonMPG]

REDLINE BICYCLES 2009 ARCHIVES 2009 MONOCOG 29ER

Trying to get this bike, it's for people 5'7" to 6'1", single speed fixed gear. 29" tires and I will get street tires for it.

[MadisonMPG]

I also lifted the saddle 4" higher, I have no idea how I rode it any lower. My A$$ thanked me.

[dcb]

you are going to get a SSFG, with fat tires, in the same thread as "I don't want to sweat"?!?

[Frank Lee]

The route must be nice n level like mine, although he didn't say.

26 x 2 baldies on my MTB do have good r.r.

In fact I would like to do a comparison of some sort between the r.r. of them and the 27 x 1z on my Fuji road bike.

Gets back to that loading thing. I load bike tires pretty heavily and the fatties (TIRES ) might actually roll easier for me.

[thatguitarguy]

OK, this is just my opinion, but I have some experience to back it up. I have a number of bikes in my stable including mountain bikes, road bikes, recumbent bikes, and a tadpole touring trike.

First, single speeds are fad bikes and are seriously overpriced.
Second, 29" wheels are good for serious mountain bikers who are over 6' tall, but are also a fad, and tires and tubes are going to be more expensive, and you're not going to find them at Walmart.

You can spend a lot less, and get a lot more bike, if you spend your money on a road bike that is a few years old, and if you get one that fits right you might actually ride it, and not put it outside for someone to steal, or hang it in the garage to collect dust, or put it in your bedroom to trip over and drape your dirty laundry over.

I'm a bike enthusiast and I ride a recumbent, but I can tell that that kind of bike would be way to nerdy for you.

Go to some bike shops, talk to the people there about fit, take some bikes for some test rides, see if they have a bulletin board for people selling used bikes, see what's on craigslist, and sit down and think about it for awhile, and don't jump on the first shiny cool looking bike you see, otherwise you'll end up with another bike that you might ride for 3 miles every six months and feel like it's killing you.

You do have to ease into riding, but the right bike will start to feel good shortly, and you'll enjoy it and look forward to riding. The wrong bike will always feel like it's killing you and you won't ride it.

[Frank Lee]

Absolutely.

Although I will add, there are plenty of good bikes out there for free or nearly so if you can do bike mechanic work. All the ones I've pictured here on EM so far have been rescued from the junk and in many cases I was able to fix em for little to no money spent for parts.

And when the bike fits and you find it comfortable to ride, you will find yourself looking forward to riding instead of dreading it! That is one factor in why my fuel logs seem so sparse; I sometimes go for weeks without ever firing up an ICE because I can take care of most of my business by bike and I choose to do it because it's more fun than driving.