My MTB Is Too Slow



Actually when I was cruising on my MTB (with knobies) the other day, I passed Stuart. When I asked where Lance was, he didn't answer. Apparently I was too kool. ;)

Yeah, cruise is one term that needs to be defined first. When I use this term myself, I mean a sustainable speed (within minor variation limits) over a certain part of a route. This speed could be equal, faster or slower than the trip's average speed.

Originally posted by John Retchford
This sort of thread usually produces the "there I was cruising past Lance Armstrong, Stuart O'Grady et al" response. The winner of the Tour de France usually averages about 41 km/h and these people are physiological freaks. Just what is this "cruising"?

John Retchford
 
John Retchford <[email protected]> wrote in message [email protected]

[...]

> 1. If you did not write the quoted material, I apologise. My news reader attributes it to you.
> Perhaps your quoting of others was too subtle for me!

I don't understand the difficulty with "my comments first, then his response".

> 2. I did not edit your good Saxon word. That was done by Cycling Forums, through which I posted.
> When I look at your post with Google Groups your word is intact, but not when I look with
> Cycling Forums, who must feel that such basic functions are not fit for my eyes and my unedited
> reply not fit for yours. You will probably find it altered again in this reply.

Creative use of hypostrophes usually gets around such things. Try ****-ty.

--

"The central problem with the concept of the 'Axis of Evil' is that it involves an assumption that
the US is the 'fulcrum of virtue'." Bob Hawke
 
stu <[email protected]> wrote in message [email protected]
> ohhhhhhhhhh I see now. Some more >>>>> would have made it clear what you were saying and what you
> were quoting.

I don't understand the difficulty with "my comments first, then his response". There were only two
paragraphs.

--

"The central problem with the concept of the 'Axis of Evil' is that it involves an assumption that
the US is the 'fulcrum of virtue'." Bob Hawke
 
jamesc <[email protected]> wrote in message [email protected]

[...]

> Changing tyres does have an impact as I when from 700 x 40 to 700 x
> 28.

Which tyres?

> Changing gearing also helped as I went from 42/32/22 to 44/32/22

How much did that cost?

--

"The central problem with the concept of the 'Axis of Evil' is that it involves an assumption that
the US is the 'fulcrum of virtue'." Bob Hawke
 
Originally posted by Drs
jamesc <[email protected]> wrote in message [email protected]

[...]

> Changing tyres does have an impact as I when from 700 x 40 to 700 x
> 28.

Which tyres?

> Changing gearing also helped as I went from 42/32/22 to 44/32/22

How much did that cost?

--

"The central problem with the concept of the 'Axis of Evil' is that it involves an assumption that
the US is the 'fulcrum of virtue'." Bob Hawke

In answer to your questions:

Tyres - Continental Top Touring 2000 700 x 28 A$36 each

Crank - Deore LX at about A$80 bought from the Internet over a year ago, as I have damaged my current chainrings I am now getting a trekking version (usually only available in Europe) of the Deore LX 48/36/26 from Cambriabike

Regards

James
 
On Tue, 24 Feb 2004 22:50:18 +0000, amirm wrote:

> Yeah, cruise is one term that needs to be defined first. When I use this term myself, I mean a
> sustainable speed (within minor variation limits) over a certain part of a route. This speed could
> be equal, faster or slower than the trip's average speed.

Me too: to be 'crusing', the path must be mostly flat, since otherwise you'd be climbing or
descending. FWIW I'd define it as riding along reasonably flat ground, at a speed where you're not
really exerting yourself, but not going slow either.

An easy pace.

-kt
 
jamesc <[email protected]> wrote in message r6b%[email protected]

[...]

> In answer to your questions:
>
> Tyres - Continental Top Touring 2000 700 x 28 A$36 each

Which do you think made the greatest single difference, new tyres or a new crank?

> Crank - Deore LX at about A$80 bought from the Internet over a year ago, as I have damaged my
> current chainrings I am now getting a trekking version (usually only available in Europe) of the
> Deore LX
> 48/36/26 from Cambriabike

MBC has the Deore Octalink crank in either 44-32-22T or 48-36-26(silver only). How does that compare
to the European 48/36/26 Deore LX?

http://www.bikes.com.au/enter.html?target=ACCESSORIESMTB_ComponentsCranks.html

--

"The central problem with the concept of the 'Axis of Evil' is that it involves an assumption that
the US is the 'fulcrum of virtue'." Bob Hawke
 
"DRS" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> 48/36/26 from Cambriabike
>
>MBC has the Deore Octalink crank in either 44-32-22T or 48-36-26(silver only). How does that
>compare to the European 48/36/26 Deore LX?

This would be a good quality product but you'll probably need to get a new bottom bracket as this
is splined.

The change in gearing from say 42/11 (1:3.82) to 48/11 (1:4.36) is massive if your top speed is say
40km its going to be 45.7km with the new ratio at the same cadence (woo hoo!).

Where it all falls down IMHO is in the lower gearing with where say you might be doing 8km climbing
you will now be doing 18 percent faster for the same cadence. It may not sound like much but in
terms of effort and power output its a lot more.

IMHO and at the risk of sparking a riot I belivieve that cadence is everything, if you cant spin
it you cant climb it. Take a gander at Lance he eats em alive and its not just guts and grit. By
the way I'm not comparing my feeble effort to Lances I'm just an old fart who found a way to
save his legs.

A great combination would be 48/34/22 but where do you get it or maybe you can build it?

May all your cycling adventures be with a tailwind,

Neil.
 
forgetit (apologies) (tomuchspam) .com.au <@bsmail> wrote in message
[email protected]
> "DRS" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>> 48/36/26 from Cambriabike
>>
>> MBC has the Deore Octalink crank in either 44-32-22T or 48-36-26(silver only). How does that
>> compare to the European
>> 48/36/26 Deore LX?
>
> This would be a good quality product but you'll probably need to get a new bottom bracket as this
> is splined.

What does that mean?

> The change in gearing from say 42/11 (1:3.82) to 48/11 (1:4.36) is massive if your top speed is
> say 40km its going to be 45.7km with the new ratio at the same cadence (woo hoo!).

[...]

> A great combination would be 48/34/22 but where do you get it or maybe you can build it?

I don't know. Obviously you'd need to be able to get individual rings, for starters, but if I could
get a new large Shimano ring I wouldn't have to buy a new crank, would I?

And which do you think made the greater, new tyres or a new 44/33/22 crank?

--

"I'm proud that I live in a country where witnessing two hours of bloody, barbarous torture in
gloating detail is considered indicia of religious piety, whereas a mere second gazing upon a
woman's breast is cause for outraged apoplexy." Betty Bowers,
http://www.bettybowers.com/melgibsonpassion.html
 
"DRS" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> This would be a good quality product but you'll probably need to get a new bottom bracket as this
>> is splined.
>
>What does that mean?

The bottom bracket is the spindle and bearing arrangement that your pedal cranks are fitted to.
There a few different types - Tapered square drive, splined and I think there is a variation of the
splined type. You can't fit splined cranks to a square bottom bracket and visa versa.

>> A great combination would be 48/34/22 but where do you get it or maybe you can build it?
>
>I don't know. Obviously you'd need to be able to get individual rings, for starters, but if I could
>get a new large Shimano ring I wouldn't have to buy a new crank, would I?
>
>And which do you think made the greater, new tyres or a new 44/33/22 crank

New tyres aren't going to change all that much unless your going from slicks to knobbies but then
you increase rolling resistance and are likely to loose speed because of the extra effort to drive
the tyres.

Have a look at Sheldon Browns site on all things bicycle it has a wealth of info.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gearing/index.html

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

How many gears does your bike have?

Count the number of teeth on the sprockets on your wheel. Do the same for your cranks. Find out what
your tyre circumference is by rolling the wheel along a tape. Using the valve as the start and
finish helps.

Then go to - http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Have look at the gearing calculator then change the numbers on the chain rings to match the set up
you are considering.

May all your cycling adventures be with a tailwind,

Neil.
 

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