Cycling 2016 bump - finally got out on a real ride on Sunday, just 50k / 30 miles or so but enough feel tired, hungry, and sore. While I did use the spin bike over the winter, clearly not enough, and as I get older it’s slowly getting to the point that I can’t just hop on in the spring and be at 90%.
My 2 year old wants a bike. We bought her a tricycle last year which was a waste of money; poorly designed, not adjustable, and her feet don’t reach the pedals despite her being fairly tall for her age. At the bike shop she fits a proper bike with rubber tires and training wheels; a 12-inch frame fits great, even a 16-inch is just a bit big on her.
However… they also have those push bikes which are new to me. Anyone have any experience with them? Some cursory research is that training wheels (in use since forever) have always been a terrible way to learn to ride a bike; they teach pedaling when it shouldn’t be the focus, but actively teach the wrong approach in terms of balance, steering, and momentum. That makes sense to me. Thoughts before I spend $100 on one?
Push bikes (I’ve always heard them referred to as balance bikes, since there really isn’t anyone pushing the kids) are great. The kids end up going super, super fast on them. They also get the hang of balance really quickly. On switching over to real biking, pedaling is also a necessary skill, too. For both of my boys, they also spent a bit of time on training wheels to get the hang of pedaling. I do think the balance bike time helped them transition faster.
They’re vey good to learn but it’s a short time requirement. My daughter used one for a couple of weeks and then leapt a normal bike and didn’t look back.
Our local bike shop charged rent for the balance bike most of which they discounted when we bought her first bike from them.
I think it depends on the age. We had our oldest on a balance bike just before his 3rd birthday. We didn’t feel comfortably with him being on a full bike until he was 4-ish, so he was on the balance bike for over a year. Interestingly, he still liked to get on the balance bike even after he learned the pedal bike because it is a different experience—much faster starts and stops on the balance bike. Sharper turns as well.
Anonymgeist, just realized your bike has disc brakes, and for that matter it’s not strictly a road bike. What size tires are you running and do you like the discs?
It was billed as an adventure bike, but I don’t know if that’s just a marketing thing. Either way, I love the setup. I’ve got 700x28 Continental Gatorskin tires on there, and while I haven’t noticed a huge difference in stopping power with the brakes in dry conditions, they seem markedly better when it’s wet out–and when commuting in and around Seattle, that’s pretty often.
Huh, wouldn’t mind trying a 28mm tire. With younger kids I want to and will need to do more trail riding in the coming years; north of Toronto there are ‘rail trails’ that tend to have a fine limestone gravel which is quite hard but not ideal for a road bike, but not great for my mountain bike either. This gives me an excuse to research my next bike… thanks!
We have a lot of similar gravel trails in the area and this bike handles them wonderfully. I always felt nervous when having to ride over surfaces like that on my old bike.
Huh, we have a bunch of those in my area too, and I’ve ridden them a lot. I’ve never had any issue doing 60 miles on them with my 23mm tires. It can get mushy in spots, or have areas where the gravel isn’t packed down, but that’s rare. Ours is a really fine crushed limestone gravel, pieces probably average 3/8" long by 1/4" wide. I wonder if they use the same stuff in Toronto.
Yeah I’m actually about to put 700 x 25mm tires on my other road bike (my older entry-level bike) to make it a bit more comfortable as a commuter bike, so that should help. It’s also personal tolerance with those soft spots and 23mm tires.
Good eye. Yes, that’s my TL Type-s 2007. Still runs pretty great with > 140K miles on it. Though it did just get dinged up a bit in a hail storm :-( I just got the insurance check and can’t decide do I want to fix the car or basically got my bike for free.
Oh hey, this thread got bumped! Last month, I started biking in to work again, having taken a couple of months off after moving in November. My new commute is just a hair over 20.5 miles each way, and ends in a mile climb at 11% grade with no shoulder. 904 miles so far and my legs hate me.
I’m struggling to get enthusiastic about commuting right now – DC area in Spring is pretty damned wet. The last three days I’ve gone to bed convinced that I’ll bike in to work the following morning, only to hear rain on the windows the next day and wimp out. This morning I was strong enough to grit my teeth and bike in through the drizzle, but I was pretty much soaked through by the time my 10 miles were over and I’m not looking forward to putting on all that wet gear this afternoon for the trip back.
Also, I was sitting at a crosswalk this morning and a car kindly stopped to let me cross. Not wanting to delay the guy I tried to jump back on the right pedal (my left foot was already clipped in), missed, and perforated my shin in two place against the bike. However, I didn’t notice at the time because my crotch came down HARD on the horn of the seat and that pain pretty much drowned out all the others.
So I arrived at work with a trickle of blood turning my wet sock pink and an awkward walk. More awkward than normal.
Ouch! Just reading about that made me wince. I still haven’t come up with a good solution for drying my gear during the work day, but thankfully the weather in Seattle has been nice enough that it hasn’t been too much of an issue. Not that I can count on that to last, though…
As a roadie I’m always on the lookout for my next frivolous purchase. I like my helmet, a Bell Slant, but it’s going on 6 or 7 years now and the padding on the forehead is completely worn thin. Can’t find replacement mesh, tried a headband and didn’t like it. Thing I love about this helmet is its snug fit, it seems like almost every other brand is like a salad bowl on my head; I guess my head is more oval and most bike helmets are round?
The latest trends in road cycling fash are more rounded aero-style helmets (though not quite full aero which become too hot in the sun).
So the Met Rivale at $160 seems like the best option… just need to find one and try on.
Giro helmets seem to fit a bit too round on my head.
Also like the look of the Giant Rivet.
Summer update - how’s everyone’s cycling going? I’m having a good year, not that many rides due to kids and life, but some really nice day trips here in Ontario Canada. Tell me about a ride you liked.
