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?
Thank you so much for all the advice! You were absolutely right about my bars being upside down -_- my sweep was facing downwards because for some reason, I thought that was correct. I adjusted them so that the sweep is sort of at a 45° angle facing me, so it’s equal parts up and forward. I can’t wait to try it out and see if this improves everything!
In terms of bike fitting: I don’t even know where I would find one or how much they cost here, but I feel like the bike fits me pretty well (or I’m too young, 28, to realize that it doesn’t fit me and I’m just adapting in a bad way). I do have some back problems, but the bike isn’t agitating them at all, so it might be okay.
No worries dude! Don’t beat yourself up over thinking that should be right because how could you know. If you have been cycling for less than two weeks the fact that you are willing to build the bike yourself and having a go at adjusting things as well as being willing to come here and expand your knowledge puts you way above most people I see who can’t even do basic maintenance on their bikes and ride around with rusted out chains and the like.
Some jobs on bikes can seem daunting at first but there is so much info out on the internet that if you possess common sense and just an ability to use tools correctly you can do most jobs yourself with a bit of research and trial and error. Generally speaking bikes are fairly simple machines and if you can maintain, adjust and fix the things yourself not only do you save a lot of money, you gain the satisfaction of knowing you did it along with actually knowing your bike well. If you have an issue out in the field you know how a part works and so can better diagnose and fix or at least bodge it together to get yourself home.
Each upgrade you add or problem you fix will add to your overall knowledge of the bike and bikes in general!
Like I said I probably wouldn’t bother paying for a bike fit at your stage, I just thought I’d mention it. Local bike shops might offer a cheap version but I wouldn’t trust that to be perfectly honest. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there that explain the adjustments and what effects they can have on different parts of your body, if you are having any discomfort in the future then I recommend watching a few, get some ideas of what to change then just get out riding and try out adjustments. Again it is free and you also get to learn your bike more.
For example recently I was getting a bit of knee pain when I cycled 30km plus, so I researched what could be the likely causes and adjusted back and forth over time to get to a better place. In the end I lowered my seat probably around 5mm, moved the seat backwards about the same and adjusted the angle of the seat by a few degrees. All these tiny movements seem inconsequential but I now feel even better on the bike even though I wasn’t uncomfortable before then and since I have done many long rides with no knee issues what so ever!
Let us know how it is, I’d be interested how you feel with the difference seen as you don’t have a lot of experience. Also feel free to ask any other questions you may have :D
I actually have a 30 year old bike that I’ve already done some stuff to, but I had to adjust the front and rear derailleurs when I put this bike together - it took me around an hour or so, but the rear cassette shifts now as opposed to getting stuck between two gears. I also adjusted my breaks (the pads would rub on the disks at a stop, but I managed to fix that)
I desperately wanted a car to work on and fix up, but I guess a bike will work too! 😁
I’ve done a lot of work on cars too and I’d take a bike over a car any day of the week xD
But cars are easier to travel in :D