Timeline for I am a beginner to commuting by bike and I find it very tiring. Is it my fitness level or my single-speed bicycle?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
37 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 9, 2021 at 16:25 | answer | added | Robert Vizzachero | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jan 9, 2021 at 12:24 | comment | added | user7761803 | Could do with a picture of you on the bike, with crank in line with seat tube, to see if the saddle is completely at the wrong height for you. You can work with this bike: at age 45, after 4 months of bed rest (and dramatic loss of muscle mass) following infection and surgery on a leg, I started riding a fixed gear bike with 48x18 in London. Not sure if NY is as flat, but this helped my leg strength enormously. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 23:48 | answer | added | post as a guest | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 22:48 | comment | added | JonathanReez | IMO, just get an e-bike. You can always turn off electric pedaling for exercise. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 21:57 | comment | added | phoog | @PaulH I use Google's cycling directions fairly frequently in Brooklyn. They usually choose a good street, but occasionally they choose one that I definitely would not on account of the amount of traffic, width of the lane, number of pedestrians, tendency to congestion because of commercial activity, etc. And of course there are occasional errors. When I worked in downtown Manhattan they wouldn't give bike directions up Greenwich street because it's closed during rush hours except to buses. Only nobody cares if you take your bike there during those times, and I frequently left work after 7. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 21:35 | answer | added | phoog | timeline score: 7 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 20:48 | comment | added | fooquency | Other, and better, routing is available than Google. Use an OpenStreetMap-based routing engine properly designed for cycling, preferably created by cyclists. | |
| S Jan 8, 2021 at 20:21 | history | suggested | EarlGrey | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Who edited the title? this bike is NOT a fixed gear, see last paragraph from OP "It was on the fixed cog when it originally came, but they included a freewheel which I installed because I wanted to be able to coast." Editors, please check your edits against logic.
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| Jan 8, 2021 at 17:39 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jan 8, 2021 at 20:21 | |||||
| S Jan 8, 2021 at 17:13 | history | suggested | Nobody | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
summarized question in title
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| Jan 8, 2021 at 16:27 | comment | added | Paul H | I'm curious if you configured Google Maps to provide you cycling directions or if you left it on driving direction (the default) | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 15:14 | comment | added | Olivier Dulac | when the bike is at home: hold it so that the back wheel is not on the ground, and turn the pedal with your hand: it should be easy to get it started, and ridiculously easy to keep it going. If not, you may have moved something while pedaling to work? (check wheel alignements, if the axle has moved forward or back, etc) | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 15:06 | vote | accept | julian | ||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 14:10 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jan 8, 2021 at 17:13 | |||||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 13:46 | comment | added | Bjorn De Rijcke | Can I ask you why you choose a sports bike instead of a regular bike? I don't know what brands exist in the USA but back here in Europe I ride a bike like these link to work every day, also for a 30 minute trip. I attach a bag on the luggage rack with about 8kg of objects (a rucksack makes me sweat). This seems to work perfectly fine. Around here most people go to work with these bikes. We call them city bikes, don't know if that is also what they are called over there? | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 13:06 | answer | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | timeline score: 10 | |
| S Jan 8, 2021 at 13:03 | history | suggested | EarlGrey |
I think more tags make up a better question
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| Jan 8, 2021 at 11:41 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jan 8, 2021 at 13:03 | |||||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 11:40 | comment | added | EarlGrey | Dear Jay, I had to check what a Wabi is. I think your "information bubble" has a bias toward certain bikes. Since you live in NY, I suggest you to check out the content provided/curated by bikesnobnyc.com (and his older blog bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com ) : it is a very informative, although opinion-based & fact-devoided blog about bicycles. With informative I mean VERY informative (and I am serious). @Nobody I think it is a great title, because the answer is not opinion based, and the question is as complete as it can be regarding the bike, so we can evaluate it properly | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 11:22 | comment | added | Strawberry | While the other advice here is no doubt sound, I'll just mention (as a pre-work-from-home daily cycle commuter) that any time my bike feels this way, it's always because the ty/ire pressure is too low. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 10:50 | answer | added | Eric Nolan | timeline score: 10 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 8:34 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 8:21 | answer | added | EarlGrey | timeline score: 15 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 7:32 | comment | added | rclocher3 | Good for you for getting back on a bike! I agree with Daniel Hicks, a larger rear cog would probably make a world of difference. Some warmer shoes or boots, especially ones that block wind and/or rain better, would surely help also. You just can't enjoy the experience when your toes are cold like that, and riding a bike is supposed to be fun. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 6:42 | comment | added | MaplePanda | A good baseline for saddle height is setting it so that your heel is on the pedal when your leg is fully extended. That way, you have a little bit of wiggle room when you pedal normally (not with your heels). Congratulations for picking up a bike again! Confidence in traffic comes with experience, just like driving. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 6:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackBicycles/status/1347422801809072129 | ||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 3:44 | comment | added | Criggie♦ | @jay you're welcome to join the Bicycles Chat and bounce bike-fit questions directly. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 3:42 | answer | added | Criggie♦ | timeline score: 20 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 3:03 | answer | added | mattnz | timeline score: 68 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 2:59 | answer | added | Tude Productions | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 2:48 | comment | added | pateksan | Have you tried getting out of the saddle in one of those moments? Does that change anything? Depending on how confident you feel out of the saddle, you could even lift your foot from the "bottom pedal", so that most of your weight is on the "top pedal" - please let me know if my suggestion is unclear. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 2:02 | answer | added | Adam Rice | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 1:17 | answer | added | leftaroundabout | timeline score: 11 | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 1:17 | comment | added | Daniel R Hicks | Re saddle height, what you want to do is to set the saddle to where your legs are almost fully extended at the bottom of the stroke, but not so high that you tend to rock back and forth in the saddle. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 1:15 | comment | added | Daniel R Hicks | It's a fixed-gear bike, which is less than ideal for your circumstances. Reportedly a 48 tooth crank and an 18 tooth rear cog. I'm not familiar with gear ratios, so can't say if it's a difficult setup, but I suspect it is, since fixed gear schemes in this price range are targeted at racers. Probably your best bet is to see if a bike shop can swap in a larger rear cog, to make it easier to pedal. Either that or get more practice in to build up your muscles. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 0:36 | review | First posts | |||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 15:27 | |||||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 0:32 | history | asked | julian | CC BY-SA 4.0 |