Getting Back Into Biking

[AndyCr15]

I'm a rather large guy that is generally more suited to lifting large weights in the gym, but I've just put on too much weight over the last few years, I need to get back in shape. (I touched 21st 8 two weeks ago.)

I have a Carrera Subway at the moment, I think I paid about £300 for it 5 or 6 years back when I was last cycling a reasonable amount. I've been using that again over the last 2 weeks that I've been getting back into it. (Lost 9lbs so far )

I find the brakes aren't great and the left gears (large cogs round the pedal crank, no idea what you calls these bits ) doesn't always change reliably, so today I'm wondering about getting a better bike.

At the moment I'm looking at the Boardman HYB 8.9. I do prefer the idea of a hybrid, there is one route I go that gets a little muddy at times. I like the idea that this bike only has one set of gears, 1 to 11 I believe. Thoughts on this idea?

Also, at the moment I use my phone on a bracket on the handle bars to record my cycling on Strava, but I'm tempted to try the Wahoo ELEMNT bike computer. I like the idea it can sync in my Strava routes and I'm not worried about my phone flying off as I go over some bumps. Thoughts on this too please

To clarify, I'm not a serious cyclist, I tend to (at present) only ride 3-6 miles at a time, but I hope to improve this as I get fitter/better.

Thanks for any input.

 

[AndyCr15]

No opinions from anyone?

 

[AndyCr15]

Thanks guys.

Where exactly are you going to be riding? That hybrid would be fine, but it won't be very comfy if you venture over bumpier stuff, and it'll cover ground quickly and efficiently but that may not be what you're after.

Tbf, the comment on cycling in mud was the first time I've cycled in mud... almost all of my cycling is on the road. A friend was trying to persuade me to get a road bike, but they generally don't look sturdy enough, hence I was thinking hybrid. In North London I don't have much access to the off road type tracks.

As a big guy myself (120kg at the moment) I don’t know how much I’d trust a hybrid especially at that price point.

I guess £1,000 is still considered cheap? I know you can spend thousands here...

I'm open to suggestion if there's a much better bike up around £1,500 or £2,000. I don't know I would end up going that high, but if there's benefits, I might consider it.

 

[AndyCr15]

I test rode the Boardman 8.9 Hybrid this morning and have to say I really liked it. I was a little surprised how much of the road surface I could feel (mainly based on comments in reviews about how the graphite frame helped) but I guess I shouldn't be surprised as there is no suspension and the tyres are quite small too.

I did like having... 1x(?) gears. Really nice just going up and down, nice and smooth and they seemed to cater for the different gradients I could find on my test ride. The brakes also felt very good and I understand might get even better once bedded in.

Annoyingly, if I put in for my cycle 2 work vouchers now, they wont get processed until the first of the next month and the Halfords trade in offer ends on April the 3rd. I doubt I'd receive the vouchers in time. The guy did very kindly offer to sell it to me now with the trade in, then I come back and he refunds and sells to my voucher when I get them. Even when it's not me doing the naughty though, it makes me uncomfortable. I guess it's not a bad thing to wait, use vouchers at full price and keep my mountain bike for any occasions I do want to wander off road.

 

[AndyCr15]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I have already wondered about getting some different wheels for the Boardman if I fancied going off road. Are wheels expensive? The dual sport does look good, but I kind of need to buy through Halfords.

The Voodoo Bizango does look good. I'm running a little short on time now though with the offer ending soon, but I found I would hopefully get the vouchers in time so I've put a request in for my Cycle2work voucher, which I don't believe I get any change from if I buy a cheaper bike Maybe I'll see if I can squeeze in a test ride on one though.

 

[AndyCr15]

Yeah, I think I get 10% of the voucher in free accessories already though! And I don't really need much more at the moment, maybe a jacket... if I can find one that fits.

 

[AndyCr15]

Have you got your current bike serviced? Might fix the issues you have with it.

Others have said similar. The gears are really annoying me at the moment, they don't always change when they should (I'm told a service and alignment would sort this) and tbh, when I change the left gear (front) and then have to adjust the right to get back to the right gear, it's quite a disturbance to my flow! 1x was much niver

I also like the fact you can get 20% off, just buy a cheap kids helmet for £5 and give it to them. You can get extra 10% using apple pay.. so those Boardmans HYBRIDs are a bargain.

Do you have a link to where either of these is explained? I'm getting 20% off for trading in my bike anyway, I doubt the offers stack? Tbh, I've now ordered my £800 of cycle2work vouchers, if I don't use it, it's gone anyway, so getting more discount doesn't really help! I think I get 10% of the voucher price to spend on accessories though (safety accessories?) so I'd like to get a reflective jacket too, if they have one that fits!

**EDIT** Oh wow, I see. I can actually trade in my helmet, keep my bike and still get 20% off?! That's actually pretty crazy. I just got a new helmet, so they can have my old one and I get £200 off my new bike?!

I can then get my current/old bike serviced as advised

 

[AndyCr15]

So I did just trade in my old helmet, huge thanks for that tip. I did that on Monday and I got the call today to say it's ready, so I pick it up tomorrow

I am wondering though, at the moment I'm cycling around 5 times a week. Am I perhaps overdoing it? Should I rest more to let my body and my quads recover? (I also have knee pain today, but I don't want to talk about medical things and get the thread locked!)

 

[AndyCr15]

Today was my first real ride on the new bike... wow... I covered 18 segments and made 16 new PR's! I didn't imagine it would make that much difference. I didn't feel I was pushing it that hard (I've got a cold, so thought I was going a little easier) but at the same time, I think my average heart rate was up. One uphill segment, my previous best this year was 11:11 and I did it today in 9:19! I really didn't think the bike would make that much difference!

 

[AndyCr15]

I got my old bike back from Halfords after a service and replacement of back wheel and cassette, new chain, new brakes, new cables and and all round clean up. Felt weird riding it home, but I can keep that should I ever venture to places off road... Things are building nicely though, did just over 10 miles this morning, either side of lifting weights at the gym. 16lbs off in the first month

I ask the below again. Maybe I should start a new thread asking about recovery times?

I am wondering though, at the moment I'm cycling around 5 times a week. Am I perhaps overdoing it? Should I rest more to let my body and my quads recover?

It's interesting, now I have a HRM plumbed into my Wahoo, it gives me a 'Relative effort' score for each ride. After today's ride I've hit 145 for the week and it tells me - "You're building fitness nicely. Try to keep the remainder of the week under 168." Last week I totalled 215, so I guess that means another 168, not stop at 168.

 

[AndyCr15]

I guess my problem is, I love the tech involved, I love chasing the PR's and seeing progression. I like to put numbers/ratings to everything, that's how I am. I do see your point, but if I wasn't recording it and seeing how I did, how far I went, did I get any PR's, I'd likely lose motivation. Having said that, the other motivation is that I'm losing weight better/quicker than I ever have before. But again, I have scales that connect to my phone and I can track my weight loss in an app!

I definitely see your point and I'll try to accept the joys of cycling more. It's a little like the gym though. I've been going for about 30 years now, I don't enjoy it, but I have decent self motivation I guess and keep going as I know it's good for me and I like the results of it. I suppose as the weather gets better it's easy. I wonder how I'll cope as we head back into winter in a 5 or 6 months time...

 

[AndyCr15]

Thanks, will give it a try

 

[AndyCr15]

Well that was quick. Had my new bike nicked already. From my garage... As far as I know, it was never left unlocked and there's no sign of forced entry, so a little confusing. I don't (yet) have any extra locks, so I guess they might have picked the lock???

Got one of those big garage defenders being fitted tomorrow along with a couple of ground anchors and also have a decent Abus D ring lock on it's way.

It's a good job I kept my old bike (and that the thief didn't want that too!) so have been out on that this morning. Wow it feels slow and heavy!

Insurance have moved very quick though, Halfords voucher in my inbox within about 30 hours, so new bike is already on order.

 

[AndyCr15]

So the bike was replaced and all is well. A neighbour actually had a photo of the person nicking my bike, van reg and happy to be a witness, but the police weren't interested! Outrageous really.



Anyway, I can't believe how much quicker I'm getting still. I thought it would have plateau'd by now. A couple of days ago I went a route I haven't done for 6 weeks. One particular uphill segment I mentioned earlier in the thread, I had done 11:11 than a 9:19 on the new bike... I did an 8:12 this week!

The weight loss is possibly slowing, but I'm now 2st 2lbs below where I started just over 2 months ago! I've upped my rides to generally be around 10 miles with a couple of 20 mile rides thrown in for measure too.

Someone at work is tell me I really need to get clip in pedals... I think I'm scared of how many times I'm going to fall over with my feet stuck in them!

 

[AndyCr15]

Anyway I can recommend getting new slick tyres on the bike.. it will absolutely fly.. get some Marathon almotions or Marathon Supreme on it.

Interesting idea, thanks. Hadn't thought about that.

 

[AndyCr15]

All is going well, my rides have increased in length so my usual route is now about 14 miles. Last week I did around 78 miles in all. I just can't decide about clip ins. Honestly, I think my big fear is falling over when I forget to clip out. Okay, not a huge thing, but I think about if I do it at lights and fall onto a car and the huge ball ache that could be with the driver etc.

I also posted in the power thread about power meters, I like the Vector 3's, but maybe I should just try clip ins first before I shell out £600 on power meters that are clip ins. So, what's the deal with shoes and clip ins? There look to be two types of attachment on the shoe -



Do I need the right shoe for the pedal I get? I'm sure someone mentioned the Vectror 3's aren't compatible with the Shimanoe or something? I might as well get a system now that I can use if I do get the Vector 3's...

Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks

 

[AndyCr15]

Some great info, thanks. I'll probably search out a few videos now on YouTube. I assume your on Shimano SPD-SL now? Are there two elements then, the clip style itself (how the clip attaches to the pedal: SPD, SPD-SL) and then how the clip attaches to the shoe (2 bolt, 3 bolt)?

Today is kind of my 3 month anniversary of 'getting back into shape' too. I've lost around 3st / 40lbs / 20kg, give or take a couple of lbs.

 

[AndyCr15]

I ordered Shimano ME3 SPD Mountain Bike Shoes and Shimano M424 SPD Pedals. The pedals can, in theory, be used with regular trainers, which is exactly what I need. The shoes look like they'd be okay to go to the gym in too, so I have a few options I guess.

 

[AndyCr15]

Not having a clue what I was doing, it took me ages to get them set up. I basically got a pedal stuck on a shoe too, had to fit it to the bike to be able to use my foot to un-clip it!

Had my first ride, didn't fall off at a junction or something, so all good!

Didn't feel all that different to be honest, unless I actually thought about using the power through the whole circular motion.

The pedals seem ideal though, I think I will be fine using them with trainers to go to the gym.

 

[AndyCr15]

Just to update this, tomorrow will be 5 months since I started cycling and this morning I weighed in at 16st 8.2 lbs, which means I've now lost 5 stone in a day short of 5 months. I plan on eating a little more, at least for a while, to enjoy some slightly naughty foods. I'll keep cycling, which has really picked up recently. I just keep going for longer and longer rides. On Wednesday I went out and did 29 miles before work with my best average speed by far. (In retrospect, it might not have been a great idea as I was pretty tired at work, even people commented on it, but still, I wouldn't have been able to do that at all a few months back.) When I look back at my early rides in March, it's great to see the progression.

Now looking to book a Sportive and some big group rides (Ride London? London to Brighton) for next year. Also have plans for a nice road bike, maybe in March perhaps. (Although I do get impatient and could crack much earlier than that)