BeerBorg

Mashani will probably be astonished that this was something I needed to learn, but . . .

Several years ago, I started trying to get into better shape. I started out slowly (literally walking to the end of the block and back) and built up from there. For a long time, my main exercise (in addition to walking) was swimming.

Then I added biking. I started with a bike I got for free (and it was worth every penny). The bike sat for a decade or more and I decided that it would cost more to get it into good shape than to buy a decent bike. So I found a mountain bike online a couple of miles away and bought it. I used it for about a year, but it always seemed "off" somehow.

The other day, I realized that my seat was too low. And I wasn't really leaning forward as much as I "should" lean forward.

When I finished my ride, I loosened my seat and pulled it up. AND OUT. It was already as high as it would go. So I put it back.

Then I started googling. I needed a bigger bike. Found one that is much newer than my old bike for a decent price. I took a test ride of a couple of miles and I like it. The real test will be when I ride it for 10-20 miles

If you don't put in a lot of miles a bad bike fit won't bother you so much. So most casual riders don't notice.

But if you start to put in a lot of miles, or if you start to train hard, a bad bike fit will make you sad, with angry knees or other pain, and it makes you less efficient as well.

So for anybody who is going to ride a lot, it's important to get the right fit. IMHO, it is well worth the money to go to a bike shop that does bike fitting and have them dial it in properly.

Things like crank length also come into play depending on the position your ride on the bike. Shorter cranks can open up your hip angle which is a good thing especially if you ride with an aggressive posture. Bikes tend to come with a "one size fit all" crank length, IE at my height in theory a bike for my size would come with 172.5 or 175mm cranks. But I ride on 165mm cranks, both to open up my hip angle, and also because I spin vs. mash, my bike is geared for spinning, and it's smoother to spin in a smaller circle. I lose a bit of low end "torque" but I gain "horsepower" once I get up to speed. I like to spin at 100-120 rpms normally, and can keep a smooth cadence and don't start bouncing until I get over 140 or so. Spinning my cranks less then 80rpms makes me unhappy. But as far as fit, if you shorten your cranks you need to raise you saddle height. All that said, some big powerful dude with legs like tree trunks might do better with longer cranks, bigger gears, and slower cadence, they might stay in a gear or even shift up to sprint, and they might ride a bigger gear at lower RPMs to ride at the same speed as I am going without huffing and puffing.

But I'm a skinny dude, with lots of cardio to tap vs. brute power, so I actually tend to shift down to sprint, and then shift back up once I get my RPMs > 130, because I get all my power with RPMs, IE "horsepower", not "torque". I'd actually go down to 162.5mm cranks if I had the option with the component group I run, but they don't make them.

Anyways, there is a guy on youtube called "bikefitadvisor" that has lots of useful videos if you want to try to dial it in yourself.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check out that youtube channel.

The guy who sold it to me helped me get the seat at the right height. We had to lower the seat to get it in the car, but he made a mark on the stem and I set it back again when I got home.

I noticed that it has cheap plastic pedals on it, so I suspect he kept the ones he had on it. I'll probably swap the ones on my old bike for now. I should eventually get some of the ones that strap in, but right now, I'm afraid that I'd get stuck and fall with those.

You don't want "strap in", what we called "toe clips" (with actual straps that go over your shoes), those are very old school and are actually less safe then modern "clipless" pedals.

Modern ones operate more like ski bindings with a cleat on your shoe. You turn your ankle outwards and they unclip from the pedal.

For someone new, or even not new (I still ride with them), I would suggest looking at SPD Mountain Bike style shoes/pedals, and to get a set of "multidirectional cleats" (shoes often come with cleats, but if they might not be the multidirectional kind). For one you can walk around in those shoes, as the cleat is recessed. And also, the multidirectional cleats let you unclip with an outwards or inwards turn, and they also let you unclip if you try to yank your foot off the pedal at an outwards angle (but not straight up). Normal cleats won't unclip if you are pulling upwards at all. If you are in a panic stop situation, the motion that they unclip at is a typical motion, IE your trying to get your foot off the pedal so you can put it down to the side of your bike, so your trying to move your leg up off the pedal and out simultaneously. This is very helpful for someone just getting started who hasn't gotten the muscle memory down yet to unclip with a singular kind of motion, which most other cleats would require.

Also the tension of the binding is adjustable, so you can start with them totally loose and easy to unclip from, and then when you gain some confidence tighten them up so you don't unclip by accident.

All that said, the first time you try it, ride around on grass for a while, because you will fall over in slow motion at least once the first few times you try to stop.

They make 2 sided pedals, with a flat pedal on one side and a cleat on the other, but I find them annoying. The flat pedal always tends to turn an face upwards when your not clipped in because the binding weighs more. So if riding in bike shoes and wanting to clip in you have to flip the pedal with your toe all the time after you stop for a light or to unclip and put your foot down to tap the ground (IE a sharp turn in dirt/grass/gravel where you think you might slide). Because of this, I think it's just better to get 2 sided pedals with cleats on both sides with a platform, IE something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-149319-P ... B0052XXW32

These are multidirectional cleats:

https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-SM-SH56- ... B0029LIYE2

The "SH51" model are the non-multi directional cleats. So when shoe shopping, just be aware of what comes with them.

At first clipping in might take you a bit of fiddling, but muscle memory builds up and then you just put your foot on the pedal and your in, and you clip out just as easily without even thinking about it.

Thanks so much for that info. I think I'll order those instead of temporarily swapping the pedals from my old bike.

Even with the cheap pedals that are on it now, I noticed a big difference from before.

I rode the same route Mon-Wed and today. It took me an hour and five minutes the first three times, and 54 minutes today. I don't know whether it's the size or the fact that this bike is better in other ways (newer, lighter, better gear ratio, etc), but I was definitely faster today than I've been in the recent past.

I also noticed when going downhill that I can keep pedaling at significantly faster speeds than I could with the old bike, so I think I can probably increase my speed as I ride more.

I thanked you before looking at the links. In addition to the pedals and cleats, I also need to get riding shoes, right? I can't use those with the plain sneakers I've been wearing to ride, right?

Both of the links have one of those Amazon suggested bundle things, with the pedals, the cleats and a pair of shoes.

The cleats in the "bundle" it shows for the PEDAL when I go there are "single release", that means they are not the multidirectional cleats that I linked. They would only release with a flat outward turn of your ankle. And single release (SH51) cleats already come with the pedals, so they are redundant.

I *highly* suggest someone new with clipless pedals gets a multi-release cleat. The bundle found under the CLEATS is ok, since it includes the multi-release cleats.

I'm sure those shoes in the bundle are good, the brand is a quality brand, especially if you want them to look like normal shoes.

As another option, these shoes as basic (non racing) ones are also good, they are comfortable, I've ridden a pair of them for training shoes for many years now without any issues. You might want to order a size up from what you normally wear, especially if you have wide feet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GH930IQ

They don't look as much like regular shoes, it just depends on if you care.

I also noticed when going downhill that I can keep pedaling at significantly faster speeds than I could with the old bike, so I think I can probably increase my speed as I ride more.

If you get clipless pedals/shoes/cleats you will be able to pedal at much higher cadence still. Because your feet can't fall off the pedal by accident. Just practice in the grass for a while so you know you can get your foot off when you want to.

I rode the same route Mon-Wed and today. It took me an hour and five minutes the first three times, and 54 minutes today. I don't know whether it's the size or the fact that this bike is better in other ways (newer, lighter, better gear ratio, etc), but I was definitely faster today than I've been in the recent past.

If your position is less upright, you are more aerodynamic. If your going more then about 12mph stuff like that adds up fast. The bike might also be more aerodynamic. If it weighs less, then you will likely be faster climbing up hills as well. You actually might not be as fast due to weight going down hill if your coasting vs. putting down some power, because extra weight actually helps there, but this would be countered by more aerodynamic position/bike.

Clipless pedals will help you gain extra power too because you can learn to pedal in a complete circle, pushing the foot forward, pulling the other foot backwards, and pulling up with one foot while pushing down with the other, etc. You will still get the vast majority of your power with the down stroke, but you can get a bit more with the rest. Also being able to do the rest can give your legs a bit of a break, IE spend 10 seconds "pulling up" instead of "pushing down" to activate a different muscle group and clear some lactic acid, then resume your regular pedaling technique.

I thought of a couple of other quick tips if you do this. You could find this info wading through bikefit material, but this is simple stuff when it comes to shoes/cleats.

1) For most people/bike setups, it's generally better to have cleats too far back then too far forward when mounting them to the shoes.

2) Stand on the floor with your feet about a foot apart. Jump up and down 3 times. Look at your feet. They will be like:

\ / or | | or / \

Repeat this a few times. If you are getting consistent results, this is going to be your natural foot position that your knees/hips/ankles want to maintain.

You want to mount the cleats so that when clipped in you are as close to this position as possible by default, by angling the cleat to point the way that when clipped in the shoe naturally is like that.

You will have some "float" where your foot can move around that axis, but you want the axis to be as close as possible to whatever is natural for you.

Both of these things will make your knees thank you later.