Starting Up.... With No Bike!

[Aristeides]

Hello all,

I am hoping to gain some advice on how to "start up" cycling so to speak.

At this point in time, the only bike i have is an old mountain bike i got when i was 12. I'm 23, and it feels very small and I'm assuming training with it will more likely lead to injury than anything else? If I'm wrong let me know.

It's going to be a good 3-4 months before i can afford to buy myself a decent road bike that will not only do well for training, but hopefully to compete in later next year. I've set a range of £600 - £800 for this purchase, does that sound right?

In the meantime my thoughts are to get into my uni gym as much as possible and spend hours on the cv bikes they have there, and also do any other exercises that will directly improve my cycling so to speak.

Can anyone recommend a training programme as such or even a few exercises that can aid in my improvement? (after all, it's been several years since i've cycled regularly and need all of the help i can get! My fitness is ok having played football since forever, can run a 10k in 45 minutes). Also how useful are the CV bikes in gyms? As in the rising position is very upright and would that be a hinderance in anyway?

Any and every help would be most welcome .

 

[alfeng]

At this point in time, the only bike i have is an old mountain bike i got when i was 12. I'm 23, and it feels very small and I'm assuming training with it will more likely lead to injury than anything else? If I'm wrong let me know.

It's going to be a good 3-4 months before i can afford to buy myself a decent road bike that will not only do well for training, but hopefully to compete in later next year. I've set a range of £600 - £800 for this purchase, does that sound right?

...

How tall are you now?

How long is the VIRTUAL top tube (i.e., the horizontal distance between the center of the seatpost & stem) on your MTB?

The typical MTB has a longer top tube than a ROAD bike for the same size rider ... because of the "flat" bars which lack the forward reach found on road bars (the actual SHAPE varies with brand & model) .

Suppose that you WERE 5'5" when you were 12 & the (virtual) top tube on you bike was 54cm ... if you are now about 5'9", then you can probably find a road bar that will work & make the bike NOT feel so small. In that regard, a(n economy) STEEL handlebar will be "perfect" because you can sleeve your existing shifters onto it without modifcation BUT probably won't be wider than 38-to-40cm (which may be a bit narrower than you ultimately want to have). Now, finding a steel, road handlebar may be either easy-or-difficult ... I don't know.

If you are more than 5'11", then your bike's frame (if it has a 54cm virtual top tube) IS too small ... and, you should start haunting the THRIFT SHOPS or classified ads for a used bike that costs about £50 (or, less).

SOME/(Many) adjustements to frame fit can be made by simply using a longer-or-shorter stem -- at ONE time, most ROAD frames came with a "universal" 56cm top tube regardless of the length of the seat tube ... and, stem length varied according to the anticipated size of a "normal" rider for a given frame size.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

...SOME/(Many) adjustements to frame fit can be made by simply using a longer-or-shorter stem -- at ONE time, most ROAD frames came with a "universal" 56cm top tube regardless of the length of the seat tube ... and, stem length varied according to the anticipated size of a "normal" rider for a given frame size.

No argument with any of this, but also make sure the seat height is still workable on your older bike. A lot of knee injuries result from a low saddle height which puts a lot of strain on your knees. It's easy to find really long seat posts these days but make sure enough post is inserted into the frame at the higher setting you most likely need for your older bike. There are minimum insertion marks on most seat posts but it's best not to totally max out your seat post especially if your frame has a high "neck" above where the seat and top tubes meet, make sure the seat post is inserted past the junction of those tubes.

 

[Aristeides]

Ok well i'm not home at the minute but i'm just over 5' 11" tall.

So basically my best option is to get a hold of a cheap 2nd hand bike then? Other than that what training is best? Feel free to attach a link if this has already been discussed in another thread.

Cheers