Newbie Bike Advice

[Deleted User]

Hi all - I recently completed my first tri at Crystal Palace and the swim and run went quite well despite a stitch for most of the run. But the bike, well, i was pretty cr*p on it.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can improve my bike leg?

M.ister W

Ride more............................

The Trickster

Agree with Mister W - that pretty much sums it up

mellifera

ride at least twice as many hours as you run.

make sure you are actually maintaining the effort and not coasting  - can be a steady effort doesn't have to be hard but don't drift off in to la la land.

ride at as constant a cadence as you can, using the gears to achieve that as the terrain changes. use a cadence of 80-95

get a turbo

[Deleted User]

thanks,, i'm upping my time on the bike by commuting (8.5miles each way) more and trying to attack the hills near me more often - turbo is on the wish list,

mellifere, twice as many hours, really? and I thought the biking would be the easy bit

mellifera

yes twice is about right. pretty often i do more than twice on the bike - though i am training for long races where the bike takes a significant amount of the race time. last week i think i biked about 10hoursand ran about 3hr45mins

why would biking be the easy bit? it does depend on how you do it but commuting is not very good training except for general handling. too much stop, start and coast.

fat buddha

md6 - a good way to build bike strength, especially over winter, is by mountain biking. the bikes are heavier, the terrain is harder, you need to develop good handling skills, you learn how to ride more smoothly (to overcome obstacles) and balance your weight......it's also better fun getting plastered in mud rather than battling traffic

OK - you need a MTB but it's well worth it imho....

[Deleted User]

Whey hey FB of course MTB is the only way to go

fat buddha

well I wouldn't say the only way but it's still my preferred wheeled weapon of choice.........road bikes are great for speed and getting somewhere quickly, but MTB is way more fun, and mostly no traffic to argue with........

mellifera

yeah but......have you seen the injury pics in MTB UK (I think I have the right mag)?

fat buddha

I think it's MBR melli - but tbh I've seen as bad from road crashes

did you see that Rich Stannard was taken out by a car travelling at 50mph this week? shattered wrist, bike (one week old!) broken in 2, out for the rest of the season........at least if you crash off road it tends to be your problem alone and not due to some idiot driver

[Deleted User]

You need to see my face today if you want to see what happens when MTB goes wrong ! My kind friends took pictures but not as bad as the chap that lost the top of his finger in a disc rota in this months MBR, ouch ...

fat buddha

not seen this month's MBR but that sounds errrrm, nice.....not

I'm suffering from being knocked off my road bike by a car the w/e before last - nicely scabbed elbow, bruised arse and hip.......was low speed though so not that bad

and we're trying to get MD6 to ride more!!! LOL........

[Deleted User]

Oh thats crap, I do think road biking is more dangerous. Depends where you live though I guess.

mellifera

Orange 5 wrote (see)

 but not as bad as the chap that lost the top of his finger in a disc rota in this months MBR, ouch ...

that's the one Orange. gruesome. and he still got a picture of it!

[Deleted User]

It's his sick friends that took the picture that worry me, poor chap must have been in agony.

[Deleted User]

really, the top of his finger? bone as well? that's not nice. Living in London i think being on the road is taking my chance anyway so why not go see what other things can endanger my life with a spot of MTB too. Of course now i need to convince the gf that i need a 3rd bike, and find somewhere to put it. hmm

[Deleted User]

Sorry we digressed from your original question. It looked like bones as well, the sickest picture wins some body armour, a bit of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted in most cases.

popsider

What are you doing on the bike at the moment and what was your bike leg time and distance.    It might be that you are doing pretty well for the volume of training you are doing or maybe you could get more out of the time you are putting in.

[Deleted User]

no problem greusome injuries are far more interesting than how i can improve the  bike speed, which seems to be quite a straightforward, bike more.

I like that it's a bit like offering the person who looses the most on the horses a £5 voucher for a bet

popsider

Bike more is one thing - but it wont guarantee you are getting value out of your training.   Do you ride with others much - I don't think many people can get to anything like their potential if they train in isolation. 

[Deleted User]

no i tend to ride alone, I think that I will go out with a few friends who ride a lot, hopefully that will help too