4ucycling

Indoor Cycling Pros Convenience - no need to travel with your bike to a good cycling location if your trainer is set up at home or your gym is near by All weather - rain, snow, hail, cyclone, tornado... Safety - no traffic to contend with and it's unlikely that your stationary bike is going to fall over on you. Controlled conditions - no traffic lights to stop at, no hills to climb unless you want them. This also allows you to target a specific heart rate or power output Entertainment - it's safe to use your MP3 player when you don't have to look out for traffic. That favourite TV show might be just a remote control away. Close to home - by this I mean close to your family allowing you to exercise after the kids have gone to sleep. Cons Hot - you can get hotter due to no airflow (unless you have a fan on). Then again, maybe it's cold and you want to get warm! Limitation of the trainer - not all trainers are created equal. Mag trainers can feel very differen...

Smaller Batteries While firms such as Bosch and Shimano are always looking to improve and refine their drive systems, this year’s important e-bike technical developments are more likely to be associated with power sources. Battery size and efficiency is something that’s an important topic for a vast range of modern products — from mobile phones to electric cars — and with the digital consumer hugely reliant on electrical power on the go, battery manufacturers are constantly searching to make theirs smaller, lighter, and hold a bigger charge for longer. In the case of e-bikes that is particularly important because the battery is the main thing that makes pedal-assist models bulky, heavy and obviously different from ‘normal’ bikes. The battery’s ability to hold a charge is also key to an e-bike’s range — effectively regulating how far you can go on your e-bike before it runs out of power. However, one increasingly popular idea is that manufacturers will start shying away from routi...

FOLLOW THE LAW Your safety and image of bicyclists depend on you. You have the same rights and responsibilities as drivers. Obey traffic signals and stop signs. Ride with traffic; use the rightmost lane headed in the direction you are going. BE PREDICTABLE Make your intentions clear to everyone on the road. Ride in a straight line and don’t swerve between parked cars. Signal turns, and check behind you well before turning or changing lanes. BE CONSPICUOUS Ride where people can see you and wear bright clothing. Use a front white light, red rear light and reflectors when visibility is poor. Make eye contact with others and don’t ride on sidewalks. THINK AHEAD Anticipate what drivers, pedestrians, and other people on bikes will do next. Watch for turning vehicles and ride outside the door zone of parked cars. Look out for debris, potholes, and other road hazards. Cross railroad tracks at right angles. RIDE READY Check that your tires are sufficiently inflated, brakes are work...

Cycling Tips Equipment Know-How <<<(FAQ 6 of 12)>>> Back to Tip List Proper Shifting Helps Your Bike Last Longer, Work Better An important shifting rule is to reduce pressure on the pedals during shifts. Modern drivetrains will shift regardless of pedal pressure. But, if you can always ease up a bit, the shifts will be smoother and your chain, cogs and chainrings will last longer. Shift Before Hills The hardest place to ease pedaling, of course, is when you're struggling to get up a steep hill. The trick is to shift before the steep part of the hill so you can make the shift with little pressure on the pedals. Finesse Front Shifts Another thing to remember concerns shifting the front derailleur. You're shifting between chainrings that are significantly different in size. This means that the derailleur has to work hard to move the chain from one to the other. So, the light-pedal-pressure rule really applies here. If you can finesse this shift, yo...

Vintage bikes, especially steel racing and track bikes, have always had their fans and collectors. In the 2000's, a new generation of riders have also taken interest in owning, collecting and in the best case, riding these beautiful machines as an everyday commute or in events like L´Eroica or Tweed Rides. If you consider buying a vintage racer for yourself, make sure you are spending your money on the right one. What makes a vintage racer valuable? Some collectors favour nothing but handcrafted bikes that were manufactured only by the dozens to low hundreds. Bikes made by the master builders like Ugo De Rosa, Faliero Masi and Ernesto Colnago are some of the most sought after in the world. These bikes will probably retain their resale value the best in the long run. Other icons like Cinelli, Colnago, Pinarello, Peugeot and Gios are very desirable brands among buyers, even though some or all of their models were mass-manufactured in great numbers. Complete bikes usually cost mor...

We are very open-minded about cycling innovations. But this time we want to deal with curious new developments that we think are aberrations in the bicycle revolution. An indication of how much is going on in the field of cycling and sustainable mobility in cities are the many innovative products that try to make bicycle mobility ever easier and more diverse. These include freak bikes and modding, where punk creativity meets the fun of having a good time, as well as real innovations with the potential to make cycling even more interesting. Some developers, however, apparently want to literally reinvent the wheel. A few of these curious products are presented here. If you aren’t put off by our criticisms and want to try any of them out, please send us a report of your experiences – after all, we could be wrong! Raht Racer – more car than bike The “raht racer” – despite the advertising campaign that aims to create a closeness to the bicycle – is an electric car with pedals. Thank...

Many cyclists enjoy treating their bike to new equipment even if it doesn't need it. Irrelevant as to what type of bike you have - getting the right saddle is the most important factor in being able to ride comfortably. Sitting on the wrong one can lead to quite an unpleasant experience. Riding style With many choices out there and with very subtle differences to the untrained eye, it can seem confusing which saddle is the one for you. Just like the unique specifications of an individual, a saddle is a unique and personal product. There are many different variations of shapes and sizes that not only fit your riding style, but also the width of your sit bones. Consider your riding style and position on the bike first. Are you sitting upright? Or are you leaning your body towards the front of the bike? Once you know this, it narrows down the selection process. Some saddles have very helpful packaging where it describes its intended riding style, which makes your decision a lot ...

Finding a bike to take on your daily commute is not that hard, if you keep in mind some basic things. Here you will find five tips that will help you choose your first commuter bike. So, if your last bike ride was twenty years ago and you're trying to figure out how to approach the unfamiliar world of using valuable commuting time to keep yourself in better shape, look no further. 1. Ride Length Matters Knowing the length of your commute could make all the difference in your wallet and your ride comfort. Every three miles or so, the general requirements and goal of your commute will change based on what the length of your ride does to your body and what your bike should be designed to handle. Be aware of cycling conditions in your city and try to accurately gauge how much you’ll be riding throughout the week. If you find yourself riding less than three miles per day, any bike will fit your needs. At six miles your ride comfort will decline without paying special attention to yo...

Different countries, different customs. This also rings true for the loads carries by bike and sometimes also for the number of people riding it. Many things are allowed, some things are forbidden and now and then some things that don’t quite fit, are made to fit. The cultural differences are surprising. One bike, several people To sit on the rear bike rack is not allowed in Germany and Austria (for anyone over the age of eight). Nevertheless, people love to hop on frequently, the same counts for sitting on the bicycle frame or handlebars. There are also rules for child seats. In Germany, child seats can be installed on the handlebar as well as at the rear of the bike, provided that the child seat has a foot rest. In Austria, children are only permitted to sit at the rear of the bike. For the bike-friendly Danes, two children under six years of age are permitted as passengers on one bike. In comparison to those regulation, the United Kingdom goes with a more flexible point of vi...

…you can adopt strategies for general prevention and reduction of conflict in road traffic situations. “Science presents a very useful approach here. It would also be a good way to raise awareness among the general public of the following point. Not every reaction on the part of another road user is necessarily intended in a malicious way,” says Risser. Often, we are unsure how to judge the reactions of our fellow people on the roads. In our uncertainty, we tend to “automatically assume the worst intentions on the part of the other person. This negative tendency presupposes that the other person’s behaviour is wrong, stupid or malicious.” With this type of negative tendency, conflict is then more likely to occur. However, it does not need to be this way. We don’t need to view everything based on this negative tendency. This thought should also be promoted to the public in campaigns. If you make a conscious decision against this negative defensive position, then you are giving yourself...

Whether for short trips or vacations, as a forerunner of emancipation or the theory of relativity: the bicycle has many sides to it. The different roles it can play in people’s lives can be seen in this collection of bike quotations from famous personalities in politics, economy, arts and science. Top 5 Bike Quotations by Famous Personalities Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence. Susan B. Anthony American feminist (1820-1906) Life is like a bicycle, you need to keep moving lest you lose balance. Albert Einstein German-born phisicist (1879-1955) What the computer is to me: It’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with, and it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds. Steve Jobs Co-founder of Apple (1955-2011) Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. John F. Kennedy 35. President of the United States (1917-1963) No other inventio...

If you want to travel quicker, diminish those parking worries, save money and the environment then hop on your bike and let the efficiency commence. Want to know how, just take a look at the facts…. Rush hour: You are 5-8mph faster than motorised vehicles Commute by bike in the UK’s major cities and you’ll get there in half the time of other road users. In fact, if you drive in Cardiff’s rush hour, you’ll spend over 30 minutes going absolutely nowhere and average just 7mph, compared to averaging around 12-15mph while cycling. You travel around three times as fast as walking For the same amount of energy and that’s with taking into account the ‘fuel’ (food) you put in your ‘engine’ (stomach), you travel three times faster by bike than by walking. Humans on bikes move more efficiently than any other creature on earth In terms of energy efficiency, on bikes humans have even surpassed natural evolution: to move 1kg of body mass 1km, a cyclist on a normal bike uses only 0.136 calories wh...

And then everything’s in motion, at least officially. Sometimes, the order allows for a few more minutes of waiting at home, to go back into my own little world for a little while – only to be brutally ripped out of dozing off by the dispatchers. But then, at the latest, you dive back in: into the maze, the chaos, the wilderness of the (big) city traffic. Your bag on your shoulder, your lock stowed in place, your helmet strapped on, and the post is off – no, I don’t like to be called a postman. The first pick-up brings me right into the city centre. I should take it easy, something else could come my way, and as long as the order hasn’t been placed as ‘urgent’ (called express, VIP, rush or something like that in the professional jargon), there’s no reason to burn out already right at the start of the day. So I swim quietly along in the morning traffic toward the centre, enjoy the first sunbeams and notice how my head switches from tiredness and hangover mode to concentration, focus a...

Most of the same reasons why bicyclists will drive towards the center of a lane are good reasons for leaving the bike lane. Even in states with mandatory bike lane use, the law allows cyclists the same exceptions as it does to keeping right in general. Here are just a few reasons: Bike lanes collect the debris and glass that is swept off the road. Sometimes you can see it because it’s big, like tree branches, but sometimes only we can see it. A small shard of glass can cause a flat tire. (How many tires did you change on your way to work today?) Many bike lanes are designed poorly or just plain dangerous. Bike lanes next to parked cars are often entirely within a hazard area we call “the door zone.” A suddenly-opened door can kill a cyclist. When approaching intersections, or in areas with lots of driveways, a bike lane puts us in a conflict zone (shown in the above animation). Bike lanes increase our risk for all of the common crossing and turning crashes. It may not be a bike l...

It is no minimum age limit for the issuing of fines in the traffic regulation by the police. Bicycle riders who break the road rules will be given the same fines as motorists, but will not accumulate demerit points. Offences common to both bicycle riders and motorists include: failing to stop at a red traffic light disobeying a 'no U-turn' sign at an intersection failing to stop at a 'stop' sign at an intersection using a mobile phone exceeding the speed limit in a speed zone by less than 13km/h. Common offences specific to bicycle riders include: carrying more passengers than a bicycle is designed for failing to give way to pedestrians on a footpath or shared path failing to display a light at night or in hazardous weather conditions failing to wear an approved helmet. Motorised bicycles Legal motorised bicycles You can ride a motorised bicycle on all roads and paths, except where bicycles are prohibited. There are two types of legal motorised bicycl...