5 Things every cyclist should know :: Sports bike blog

5 Things every cyclist should know

You will find here five basic nuances that you may know, but if you don't, they will make your cycle much easier. Enjoy.

Puncture on bicycle - what to do

What to do if you get a puncture

If you will get a puncture and you cannot call anybody to pick you up, It's a good idea how to handle this puncture by yourself. It may look hard, but basically, it's pretty simple.

First of all, forget about patches. It's much better to bring with you two spare tubes, tire lever, and a pump. If you get a puncture, start by taking off your wheel. Using tire lever remove one side of your punctured tire, then pull out the tube. After that, pump the tube and try to find the place the air is coming out. If you will find it, this will be the area you should start looking for the item caused the puncture.

After removing the item that caused your puncture, make sure it was the only one object (sometimes it can be more). Next thing to do is to inflate the new tube and fit it into the tire and re-seat outer bead of this tire (finish it near the valve). Not it's time to pump your tire using your hand pump and refit your wheel. That's it, done.

How to use bike gears? Source of the diagram: http://imgarcade.com/bike-gears-diagram.html

How to use your gears

It's not hard to figure out that the cyclist is inexperienced because usually, they are trying to churn a huge gear with the shoulders. If you will look closer, you will find that their shoulders move about 12 to 18 inches with each pedal stroke.

As you probably know bikes can have even up to 32 gears, but even having 10 gears you can use them to keep economical and steady cadence. When you are on the flat you should be about 90 rpm and 70 rpm when you are climbing.

Remembering this can help you to cycle faster and you will get tired slower.

Bend your elbows when you cycle

Bend your elbows

This is the first thing that much more experienced cyclist told me when I was starting my adventure with bikes. 

It is very important because if you have your arms straight and locked, all the vibrations from the bars go up along to your shoulders and neck, which can cause you a lot of neck or shoulders pain. 

If you like to cycle with others, it's also good to bend your elbows because you will be more flexible if someone, for example, bumps off of you in a group. For the start, you may feel weird, but trust me, it's worth the effort, especially for your health.

Old (and probably not comfortable) bicycle saddle.

Saddle and shorts

Many different cyclists have their preferences about the saddle style. In general, we could say, that good saddle should be narrow for a road bike because you will sit more forward and the wider seat would probably cause chaffing between your legs.

Also, all saddles should not be pointing up or down, but straight. If you will feel that you want to make your saddle to point down, you probably have it too high. Similar is when you want it to point up, you should make it lower. Making your saddle perfectly set will also probably need many hours cycling and getting more experienced.

Very important thing to write is that you should try to wear shorts with jocks-line while cycling. All shorts made for cyclists are specially designed with padded chamois to be worn next to the skin. It firstly feels strange, but you can get used to it.

Cyclist and the campfire in the mountains.

Food and drink

If you cycle less that 2 hours, you don't need to eat anything. For longer spins take with you some kind of ride shots or fruit (or maybe an energy bar) and eat it after about 1.5 hours from the start.

Drinking depends on many different factors, but it's a good idea to drink a 500ml bottle of the isotonic mix for every two hours of training.

Conclusion

These are simple steps you can follow while cycle to make your training better and easier. If you enjoyed this tips or have any questions, you can write me a comment below.

Wojciech Kuźma

My name is Wojtek and I am very happy that you came to my healthy lifestyle blog. In human life, health is probably the most important factor needed for happiness, so I thought I will make a contribution to this and try to promote healthy eating and sport.

If you liked this article, be sure to leave a comment and read some more!


3.75 | 8 votes
Comments: 4
  •   25th April 2017, 14:52

    It is sometimes funny to see cyclists taking part in competitions who do not know how to change the dent and when they finish the race finish the race :-D This text was translated automatically. Original text is below: To rzeczywiście czasem zabawne widzieć rowerzystów biorących udział w zawodach, którzy nie wiedzą jak wymienić dentkę i w momencie złapania gumy kończą wyścig :-D

  •   1st May 2017, 13:13

    I used to cycle for a few years and this knowledge how to replace the tube was useful more that once. Hope every cyclist will read this article and learn that skill.

  •   19th March 2018, 07:03

    Hi, i think that i saw you visited my site so i came to “return the favor”.Im trying to find things to enhance my website!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!

  •   11th May 2018, 19:28

    your blog is just awesome it is in high base level i just like your blog thanks for sharing :) keep it up keep doing this

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