Well due to the fact that im a little (read a lot) overweight and very unfit ive (after lurking on here for a while) decided to get the bike out. Now the last time i used this beast was well over 4-5 years ago. So i took it out on sat and after a 2 mile ride (which nearly killed me, Smallest hill near me is a 1:10 gradient. Wicked going down not much fun going up!) ive decided to give this a go on a sat morning kinda thing. Now ive hit a couple of problems.

Firstly the bike. Its a saracen backtrax (i hear you gasp in the anticipation of me having suck a race bread technological masterpiece such as this )Now theres two in the garage. Ones mine and the others pops. Now mine is abit big. when i sit on it the bar is about 10mm of my nuts. Should i nick the shorter one?

I also noticed that the gears (front bit) dont seem to be engaging as i would like. Its a grip shift (got blisters after 1 go ) and i think the cables streached. Ideas on how to adjust it. Its a shimano asus or something if that helps.

Tyers! Now there shagged basically but ive got one goodun so im keeping that. Got a new one today. Thing is the old one is 26x2.1 and a nobbily off road kinda jobbie. I got a semi nobbily 26x2.0 today. Looks swish but then again should do for 15 quid. do i put the new one on the front of back given the sizes and tread?

Rims. Its rough around here. (and i dont just mean the women!) average pot hole is an inch deep at least. already bent the front wheel and only have 3 left now. Wheres a good place to get a spoke key (taking me back this:))

Right thats it for now. But i did have a bit of bike envy. Some little kid had this monster thing with springs and shockers all over it. couldnt help but thing oooh thats nice as i bounced past him teeth shaking loose. Should i start saving?


oooh ooh. pressures. Bit fanatical about tyers on my car. what do you think i should try on the bike? running 45-50 atm and is hard but a lot more stable in corners than 30-30 ideas?

oh and i had the best time riding this. If only i had started getting fit in the summer.

Watch the corners if youre riding in the fall with knobbies on pavement. With knobs, the aggregate contact patch is less than a smooth treaded much skinnier tire.

As far as comfort goes, tire quality goes a long way towards comfort. A set of high thread count skin walls will be more "smooth" than a set of gumwalls, even at higher pressure, because the skinwall deforms more easily when it encounters road irregularities. If youre staying on the street, something like a Pasela in 26"x1.5" is a good example of a tire that rolls nicely, is puncture resistant, and will handle an unpaved path without sneezing:
http://aebike.com/page.cfm?PageID=30&action=details&sku=TR2259

Tire pressure with knobbies on the road should be around what the maximum the sidewalls indicate. Theyll still be inefficient because of tread squirm, but if its all you got, then what the hey.

Dont get lured into the full suspension city bike BS. Learn to unweight your ass when necessary and ride around rough bits instead. A quality full suspension bike isnt designed for pavement, is also very expensive, and a theft magnet. A cheap FS bike is just that: cheap and miserable and prone to all sorts of mechanical failures.

It doesnt necessarily cost an arm and a leg to get a nice city bike. Ive been riding a girly bike that cost $100 in parts as my local vehicle and its everything as comfy and fast as a $1000 bike for a few miles here and there. It does have really splendid tires on it, which makes all the difference in the world. http://www.tekforums.co.uk/posts/list/4278.page

As far as the gear bits: parktool.com/repair will sort you.

Quote from: noobWell due to the fact that im a little (read a lot) overweight and very unfit ive (after lurking on here for a while) decided to get the bike out. Now the last time i used this beast was well over 4-5 years ago. So i took it out on sat and after a 2 mile ride (which nearly killed me, Smallest hill near me is a 1:10 gradient. Wicked going down not much fun going up!) ive decided to give this a go on a sat morning kinda thing. Now ive hit a couple of problems.

Firstly the bike. Its a saracen backtrax (i hear you gasp in the anticipation of me having suck a race bread technological masterpiece such as this )Now theres two in the garage. Ones mine and the others pops. Now mine is abit big. when i sit on it the bar is about 10mm of my nuts. Should i nick the shorter one?

I also noticed that the gears (front bit) dont seem to be engaging as i would like. Its a grip shift (got blisters after 1 go ) and i think the cables streached. Ideas on how to adjust it. Its a shimano asus or something if that helps.

Tyers! Now there shagged basically but ive got one goodun so im keeping that. Got a new one today. Thing is the old one is 26x2.1 and a nobbily off road kinda jobbie. I got a semi nobbily 26x2.0 today. Looks swish but then again should do for 15 quid. do i put the new one on the front of back given the sizes and tread?

Rims. Its rough around here. (and i dont just mean the women!) average pot hole is an inch deep at least. already bent the front wheel and only have 3 left now. Wheres a good place to get a spoke key (taking me back this:))

Right thats it for now. But i did have a bit of bike envy. Some little kid had this monster thing with springs and shockers all over it. couldnt help but thing oooh thats nice as i bounced past him teeth shaking loose. Should i start saving?


oooh ooh. pressures. Bit fanatical about tyers on my car. what do you think i should try on the bike? running 45-50 atm and is hard but a lot more stable in corners than 30-30 ideas?

oh and i had the best time riding this. If only i had started getting fit in the summer.

Btw... just so you realise.. you "bounced past him" hes probably bouncing up and down and losing all of his power because of his full suspension stick with hard tail

Ah good stuff

So just as above should i swap for pops bike? and what tyre on the front and back?

ive got one like this (new one)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?W=0&Manufacturer=&UberCatName=&Cat=cycle&CategoryName=Tyres - Hybrid&ProdID=5360011481&UberCat=0

and one like this
(but it not this tyer same make as above i do have)
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?W=0&Manufacturer=&UberCatName=&Cat=cycle&CategoryName=Tyres - MTB XC&ProdID=5360017216&UberCat=0

wadda ya think? Should i splash out another 15 quid on the same for the rear? i would prefer to put the cash towards those push button gear thingys but got to see if i stick with the bike thing ya see.

ooh whats that traineo thingy chap? any good?

yeah its alright, its not completely accurate on the diet side, but its nice just to record what your weight is doing and I also record my waist size, and sleep pattern on there too.

Basically you have sliders for some of the stuff, i.e. no faffing around with calorie counting, you give yourself a rating as to how well youve eaten, then you guesstimate the calories youve eaten.

As for your bike. My ballsack is about 2cm from the top of my crossbar, but I have my seat about 2 inches above that.

For correct positioning, get on the bike. and shove your heel on the pedals. Your legs should almost lockout when spinning backwards with your heel... if it feels wobbley like mine felt, then raise the handlebars to compensate.

Tyre wise it all depends on the terrain your doing.

If its mud tracks, go for knobblies.

If its tarmac, go for slicks.

Semi-slicks are a half way house and as such are not that fantastic at either.

I use Conti Sport Contacts (slicks) on my hybrid. Theyre lightning fast on the tarmac.

Oh right.

firstly ive only got the two tyers so the question is which one on the front and which on the back? i dont think ill be spending cash on this if i can afford it.

Hmmm seems simble for the diet thing. Is there any others you would recomend? or is the one your using the best? im after something that will give me advice etc.

Quote from: noobOh right.

firstly ive only got the two tyers so the question is which one on the front and which on the back? i dont think ill be spending cash on this if i can afford it.

Hmmm seems simble for the diet thing. Is there any others you would recomend? or is the one your using the best? im after something that will give me advice etc.

Traineo has some articles and an active forum with recipes and training plans on it.

If you want complete mad accuracy, then head to www.fitday.com but you have to deal with the fact that some of the food that we eat isnt on there so you have to enter in the details manually which to me was an arse. Id prefer to just go "hmm.. did I eat properly today?" rather than "I ate exactly 2132.5 calories with a 4 3 3 split between protein carbs and fats".

Keeps me interested as opposed to viewing updating it as a chore.

As for tyres, the tyre that does the most work is the rear one. If your always on tarmac, shove the tyre with semi slick on the rear. if your on mud and grass, shove it on the front.

Majic on the back it goes then

Tire with largest contact patch goes up front. Then again, I often run 25mm rear and 23mm front because of pinch flats and weight distribution issues. Matters little. its nice to put a few fewer pounds of pressure in the front for comfort.

Standover height isnt as important as reach.

If you feel too stretched out over the bike then grab the smaller one, but if your mainly on road, ignore the standover.

Also, if its all road riding, get the tyre pressures up to the max it says on the tires.

Gears.

Slacken off the barrel adjuster on the shifter, and drop it into the bottom cog.
Undo the bolt or allen key holding the cable on the mech and pull it tight, then retighten the bolt.

If it needs fine tuning, use the barrel adjuster.

http://www.parktool.com/repair/

May be a useful site for you

majick. will have a go at adjusting the thing tonight and hope for some sunny weather on sat

just to let you know. Got the tyer on the rim last night. Looked at it and thourght i had put it on the wrong way, changed it round and once on the bike found i was right forst time. Doh. Oh well i dont see it effecting it much. Looks nice now

Oh and cheers about the parkers thing. Gears work like new