Reply to: Cyclists again!

[DaveB]

Heuvels fietsen op de Overijsselse Heuvelrug: Grote Koningsbelt, Holterberg, Lemelerberg, Eelenberg, Noetselerberg, Hellendoornse Berg

Well yeah, for Holland they would count

[mudskipper]

Heuvels fietsen op de Overijsselse Heuvelrug: Grote Koningsbelt, Holterberg, Lemelerberg, Eelenberg, Noetselerberg, Hellendoornse Berg

I ran that page through google translate. Zwaarte (kip) translates to Gravity (chicken).

[Mich the Tester]

And what part of Holland would that be?

Heuvels fietsen op de Overijsselse Heuvelrug: Grote Koningsbelt, Holterberg, Lemelerberg, Eelenberg, Noetselerberg, Hellendoornse Berg

[darmstadt]

Just cycled two hours with the speed skater I met last weekend and one of his team mates. I am now completely and utterly knackered to the point of falling over. Stupidly agreed to meet up again next Saturday morning to ride a few hills seeing as they're happy to have an extra man who can keep up .

Will now go the pub and eat a couple of bowls of pasta.

And what part of Holland would that be?

Mmm, pasta:

[Old Hack]

Just cycled two hours with the speed skater I met last weekend and one of his team mates. I am now completely and utterly knackered to the point of falling over. Stupidly agreed to meet up again next Saturday morning to ride a few hills seeing as they're happy to have an extra man who can keep up .

Will now go the pub and eat a couple of bowls of pasta.

Did an hour across the levels just now, with a bit of a hooley shouting across the way. Now safely ensconced with a glass of wine, legs quite stiff.

[Mich the Tester]

Just cycled two hours with the speed skater I met last weekend and one of his team mates. I am now completely and utterly knackered to the point of falling over. Stupidly agreed to meet up again next Saturday morning to ride a few hills seeing as they're happy to have an extra man who can keep up .

Will now go the pub and eat a couple of bowls of pasta.

[mudskipper]

Why not do some offroad riding? There's some great routes through the woods and common near you, and it gives a much better workout for the distance covered. I did a 12 mile offroad last Sunday - was much more knackered than the 30 on road the week before.

[Old Hack]

Weights king, and rolling resistance. When I use the MTB on road, I pump the tyres up to 50psi, which makes it an awful lot easier to cycle. However, the bike will also weigh an awful lot. On the flat, you can pump out, easily, 20-25 mph with a good road bike, but a MTB will struggle at between 15-18, no matter who is riding it.

In my bike club, I am the largest at around 80-85 kilos, and you can see it on the climbs. Losing weight will always help you.

[mudskipper]

I was going to suggest some hand sewn tubulars but you probably need some steel belted radials.

You should be able to get some slicks or near slicks that fit your wheels. Pump them up good and hard. At speed aerodynamics is a bigger factor, that is where road bikes have a great advantage due to the riders position which reduces frontal area a lot compared to the upright posture of an off road bike.

Uphill weight matters more. Try eating less.

WHS - it's the spare tyre that you need to get rid of.

[doodab]

What type of tyres should I use?

I was going to suggest some hand sewn tubulars but you probably need some steel belted radials.

You should be able to get some slicks or near slicks that fit your wheels. Pump them up good and hard. At speed aerodynamics is a bigger factor, that is where road bikes have a great advantage due to the riders position which reduces frontal area a lot compared to the upright posture of an off road bike.

Uphill weight matters more. Try eating less.

[mudskipper]

Done 44 miles so far this week and slowly working up each time. Probably 30 miles the previous two before that.

Excellent. Little and often is good.

[MarillionFan]

For riding on road, pump your tyres up to max PSI. Less knobbly tyres will help on road, but not so good off-road. If you're only riding on-road, then get road tyres. If you're doing road and towpaths, get hybrid tyres. But if you want to go play in the woods, keep your knobblies.

But I suspect the big problem is the engine.

Done 44 miles so far this week and slowly working up each time. Probably 30 miles the previous two before that.

[DeadEyedJacks]

Power to Weight Ratio

Yep, don't worry about the bike so much as the rider...

road bike weighs 7-12Kilos, rider weighs ten times as much.

Experience, practice and conditioning count for a lot.

As a weekend cyclist, I can complete 25 miles on road bike in under an two hours,
but my brother a live long cyclist can do 50 miles in the same time without effort!

[Paddy]

I don't think my tyres are helping. Just been out for two hours and covered 20 miles. 10mph average.

Even on the flat I'm only getting up to 12-14 mph with a slight down hill maximum 19.7 mph. Up hill is a slog.

I noticed that when I got onto a rough Tarmac my tyres which are super thick, wide, deep grooved off road tyres felt like treacle.

What type of tyres should I use?

[mudskipper]

I don't think my tyres are helping. Just been out for two hours and covered 20 miles. 10mph average.

Even on the flat I'm only getting up to 12-14 mph with a slight down hill maximum 19.7 mph. Up hill is a slog.

I noticed that when I got onto a rough Tarmac my tyres which are super thick, wide, deep grooved off road tyres felt like treacle.

What type of tyres should I use?

For riding on road, pump your tyres up to max PSI. Less knobbly tyres will help on road, but not so good off-road. If you're only riding on-road, then get road tyres. If you're doing road and towpaths, get hybrid tyres. But if you want to go play in the woods, keep your knobblies.

But I suspect the big problem is the engine.