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Cycling Tips

Blog: Things that Pop into my Head
Posted by: hazel eyes Friday 16th July 2010, 3:57pm

If you're thinking about cycling in town, maybe commuting, here's a couple of tips...

Ok, a couple things:

1) If you're looking for a lighter weight but still stylish bike look for a 700c (wheel diameter) bike with an Aluminum frame. Something like the Gary Fisher Simple City series, which is actually quite light and fast (and still looks good).

2) It's not the number of gears. Just because one of the bikes has 8 (or 3, or even 1), and the other bike has 21 (or 27, or 30), it doesn't mean that it's going to be harder to pedal. That 8sp bike can be geared as low as any other bike, you just have to have the bicycle shop change the gears for you. In particular, with the 3 and 8sp internal geared hubs, since it's all driven off of one cog in the back, if you increase the size of the cog in the back (from 16 tooth to 18t, 19t or 20t), or decrease the size of the cog in the front (from 42 tooth down to 36t, for instance), you'll have all of the climbing gearing you need. You won't be able to go as fast, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're into anyway.

3) 7 miles (especially on something like that) is nothing to belittle. It helps if you're mostly downhill on the way into work, and uphill on the way home (where you can shower).

4) Depending on how often you do it, and whether you feel like you might want to look into some cycling-specific clothing, or at the very least something like pedalpanties.com. You'd be amazed at how much more comfortable the correct clothing is.

So I'm glad to hear that you're looking to do it, but definitely get the bike shop to adjust the gearing for you (bigger rear cog, smaller front). You'll be set *and* you'll still get to look great. :)

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