Le Tour De France

2009 Tour Divide Race (START)

A bike to ride in the city?

I want to buy a bike that I can ride on the road/sidewalk in the city, something nice and light. I may ride on city paths that are dirt not cement, but mostly on cement. I want to be able to go fast and ride good distances but I’m not going to be doing the Tour de France or anything lol. I want it to be comfortable and not too big for me – I’m 5′2 and three quarters. Also, I hate gears! I don’t know how to work them. So maybe a bike without gears or with very few settings would be nice. Ummm and I want it to be black or red lol. Price limit is under $1000 (Canadian dollars). Thanks!

Lena

Face it girl, you are afraid of gears. Gears are easy. They make riding distance with speed and no fatigue possible. Get over the fear!

You want a hybrid bike…. PERIOD.

Next learn how to pedal correctly. YES pedal correctly. To properly power the bike you spin the pedals (yes, like spin class) at 7- rpm or higher with moderate pedal pressure. You objective is to pedal the bike , for the entire distance of your rides, at the same rpms / cadence and pedal pressure. You do this by changing the gears!

As the terrain gets a little steeper, you shift using the right hand (it control the gears / gogs on the rear wheel) to a lower / easier gear so that you can keep the same cadence and pedal pressure. As it gets even steeper, you keep shifting down to accommodate your needs. As it levels out you shift to a higher / harder / faster gear to again keep that same cadence and pedal pressure.

You use the left hand gears (that control the ‘chain rings’ on the pedals) as follows: the smallest (and easiest) gear is ONLY for climbing hills. The other two are used for flats and downhill. You use them only a couple of times per ride…. and only when making big jumps in gears.

With a little practice, and spending a little time watching and asking questions, it will become natural and automatic for you to change the gears. You will even hear the others on the road with you change the gears…. it would be a good sign for you to do the same….

The correct bike, knowing how to pedal and shift, allows modern bikers to bike long distances with speed, yet without fatigue. Interestingly enough, you also burn higher calories by cycling correctly vs incorrectly.

Get the right bike, learn to cycle correctly, you will become a good rider….. and, that is what you want!

Here is a sizing chart. You are hereby empowered to look up your own size. Besides, we need the inseam to do it even close to accurately! Just click on road bike and complete the data.

http://www.ebicycles.com/bicycle-tools/frame-sizer

Stay with Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, or Giant. You are well within the budget to get a good bike.

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