New guy 53 getting a bike

[garagecapital]

Been thinking of getting a road bike after doing a lot of spinning.
But two things have lodged in the back of my head: 1) I notice getting
on my spin bike is hard, lifting the leg way up and onto the seat; I
often cheat by getting on with one leg through in front of the seat.
Can I do that on a bike --or do I need to? Maybe spin bikes are
taller? 2) and related to that, the clips I use, seems like they will
be hard to pop into while riding. Do I do one while stationary? And
what about stopping/falling? Locked into clips. Wow, that sounds like
a potential hazard. Any other guys who haven;t been on a bike in 35
yeas go through this?

[rechungREMOVETHIS@gmail.com]

On Feb 22, 8:26 pm, garagecapital <garagecapi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Been thinking of getting a road bike after doing a lot of spinning.

Congratulations on getting back to biking. Your questions are common
ones for someone who hasn't been on a bike for years. However, this is
rec.bicycles.racing. A better place for you to ask your questions is
rec.bicycles.misc, where you will find riders who, like you, have more
recent experience with transitions such as yours.

Good luck.

[Kurgan Gringioni]

On Feb 22, 8:26*pm, garagecapital <garagecapi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Been thinking of getting a road bike after doing a lot of spinning.
> But two things have lodged in the back of my head: 1) I notice getting
> on my spin bike is hard, lifting the leg way up and onto the seat; I
> often cheat by getting on with one leg through in front of the seat.
> Can I *do that on a bike --or do I need to? Maybe spin bikes are
> taller? 2) and related to that, the clips I use, seems like they will
> be hard to pop into while riding. Do I do one while stationary? And
> what about stopping/falling? Locked into clips. Wow, that sounds like
> a potential hazard. Any other guys who haven;t been on a bike in 35
> yeas go through this?




Dearest Newbie -


Please go away.


thanks,

K. Gringioni.

[TM]

<And what about stopping/falling? Locked into clips.

Odds are you will fall at least once.

[Davey Crockett]

garagecapital a écrit profondement:

Snipped Lotsa ****

Give the Give this Wanker 100 Bragging Points for Troll of the Week

Then tell the Kangaroo Kunt to blow up the Famous Opera Haus in
KangarooReich and then take a Flying **** off The Sydney Harbour
Bridge.

--
Davey Crockett
-
Driving a Stake through the
Heart of the Politically Correct
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/sylviastolz/freesylvia.jpg

[Fred Fredburger]

TM wrote:
> <And what about stopping/falling? Locked into clips.
>
> Odds are you will fall at least once.
>
>
>

Step 2: Feel really embarrassed.
Step 3: Resolve to never do it again.
Step 4: ???????????
Step 5: Make millions.

[RicodJour]

On Feb 23, 7:59 am, Davey Crockett <r...@azurservers.com> wrote:
> garagecapital a écrit profondement:
>
> Snipped Lotsa ****
>
> Give the Give this Wanker 100 Bragging Points for Troll of the Week

Unfortunately, Davey, your awarding points is offset by your failure
to do the most rudimentary due diligence - checking the guy's posting
history. In other words, you ****ed up. You don't **** up all that
often, so I'll let you live.

To the OP: You didn't mention why you have such difficulty throwing
your leg over the bike, so it's hard to recommend whether you need a
different sort of bike or if you need to start a stretching and
flexibility program. Here's a hint - you're 53 - it's time to start a
stretching and flexibility regimen.

If there is an underlying structural problem such as arthritis or hip/
back injury, then you might want to look into what is called a mixte
or step-through frame http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_m.html Some
people refer to this as a lady's bike, but **** 'em, you should be
past the vanity stage by now. If not, welcome to the newsgroup!

As far as the clipless pedals, the odds are good that you will take at
least one spill. It will happen when you are standing still and
trying to unclip, usually when you've stopped for a light. This is
rarely an injurious event, but it is highly amusing for the people in
the cars around you. The trick is to unclip a little bit before you
have to stop if you aren't confident about unclipping. Clipping in
rarely causes anyone to fall unless they're stomping on the pedals
immediately and they fail to engage. Some clipless pedals are double
sided, like the Speedplay Frogs, and others like the Crank Brothers
Eggbeaters are four-sided. That simplifies, somewhat, getting the
pedal orientation right to clip in, but as with anything, the more you
practice the easier it will become, regardless of the pedal.

On a bit of a tangent, you probably will want to look at mountain bike
shoes instead of road shoes. They're usually far easier to walk in.
I've seen more people fall from slipping while walking in their road
shoes than from failure to unclip from the pedals.

Have fun with it!

R