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Why am I so slow at cycling? (discuss.online)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/bicycles@lemmy.ca
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Today I did my first 20 mile (33km) ride on my hardtail XC bike. I learned how to ride a bike about 1.5 months ago, but I've been riding pretty consistently since I learned. I ride exclusively in the city, it's a very walkable city, but the paths aren't always the best. I did 33km in 2 hours 53 minutes, not including breaks for water or to eat.

I see people saying that 10MP/H (16KM/H) average is a good average to shoot for, but i can't even get my average above 7.1MPH (11.5KM/H), even on shorter rides. What am I doing wrong here? How are people going so freaking fast on bikes in cities?

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[–] [S] 4 points 1 year ago (17 children)

Will I get a dented rim or a popped tire if I go down stairs at 50-55PSI? The tire is rated to 65.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    You learned how to ride a bike a month and a half ago and you're already talking about going down stairs? I'm not gonna tell you you're wrong, but I will say that's pretty damn adventurous!

    I'd suggest getting some more experience so you develop some feel for how different tire pressures work (and more importantly, how shifting your weight forwards and backwards works and other bike-control stuff like that) before trying that. But then again, I've been riding since I was a kid and I still shy away from stairs so what do I know?

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I've gone down stairs, but only the kind that are sort of long (as in three stairs, but the space between the stairs is long as opposed to the three stairs being one after the other. It is pretty scary as I have trouble getting over the back wheel (maybe my saddle is too wide?The reviews I read about the bike said the saddle that came with it was terrible, so I've been riding on this saddle).

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I have trouble getting over the back wheel (maybe my saddle is too wide?)

    I think it's more likely your saddle is too high or your handlebar reach is too long.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago

    Saddle seems to be the right height according to the basic fit test I've seen (pedaling with heel should have almost full knee lockout. Could be my handlebar reach is too long, especially considering I had my handlebar sweep upside down until a kind person here pointed that out to me :D

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    No. Those issues will more likely be caused by smashing the wheels into a curb or stairs going up them and not using your weight over the bike to help the wheels up. A hard impact like that can cause a pinch flat if you are running tubes of possibly damage the rims too depending on the severity of the hit.

    Tyre pressures really do depend on what type of riding you will be doing and your terrain.

    50-55 is good for trying to stop pinch flats if you are running tubes and for running around on pavements and the like keeping your speed up by trying to have less deformation in the tyre to make your rolling resistance marginally less.

    Conversely if you are riding off road then you want less pressure as that helps the tyre deform more, increasing the amount of tyre that is in contact with the ground at once and there by increasing your grip levels.

    Damage like that is more dependant on the way you ride your bike and tackle obstacles as no amount of pressure is going to protect your rims in your just plough through objects. If I'm riding on tarmac with my MTB then I'll usually add a bit more pressure but only up to about 30psi (this is tubeless though bear in mind) and stair sets are not an issue.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Got it! I put the rear tire to 55PSI and the front tire to 50PSI. Would making the suspension softer in the front further prevent possible damage?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Not really. Going down stairs you shouldn't have much weight over the front and the suspension won't be doing that much work until you get to the bottom where it will compress as you hit the flat. If anything if you went too soft you could hit the bottom of the stair set and bottom out the forks which opens up another can of worms.

    If the suspension is working fine for you right now I'd leave it as it is.

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  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    As long as you deweight the back wheel as you go down the stairs you’ll be fine.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (7 children)

    What does that even mean?

    When you go down stairs you want your weight backwards over the rear wheel which is gonna add more weight to the back wheel. To "deweight" the rear wheel you'd need to lean forward which is only going to end in pain going down a stair set.

    edit are you referring to going up curbs as opposed to downstairs? In which case this would be relevant?

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    I'm also struggling to understand 😅

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  • [–] -4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Correct. You want most of your weight over the front wheel because if you’re over the back wheel you bounce harder and you’ll get a lovely snake bite pinch flat for your troubles. You aren’t going to be completely over the front wheel just a little bit to get the back wheel lighter since you have no rear suspension.

    I ride enduro on a hardtail mtb. I used to get the dreaded snake bites until i learned how to ride stairsets.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    ERM what? "Most of your weight over the front wheel" I'm sorry but this is just blatently wrong and goes against the physics of what is happening. If most of your weight is over the front wheel you are going over the bars.

    Then you say you aren't going to be completely over the front wheel, just a little. But you just said most of your weight.

    What you are saying makes absolutely no sense and isn't even consistent across your message.

    This is bad advice that could get someone hurt man. Not cool.

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  • [–] -3 points 1 year ago

    I ride every day and down a set of stairs. If he wants more in depth info he can go watch a video.

    What i’m saying makes sense if you’ve ridden any features that require you to deweight your back wheel. Most of your weight will be over the front wheel but you yourself will be mostly center on the bike. This isn’t rocket science. If he wants to gap the stairs (doubtful since he said he learned to ride a month ago) then i’d say lean back in preperation for a bunny hop but since he isn’t then the easiest thing he can do to not fuck up his bike is to lean forward a tiny bit as he descends. He’ll try it a few times and figure out where his balance point is since it’s different for everyone. until he figures it out he’ll probably pop a few tires.

    Biking over features can get you hurt, if you only take advice from one internet stranger you’re asking for trouble anyways.

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