June 9, 2022
11 Tips on How to Ride a Road Bike on Gravel
By Coach John Hughes
You can ride your regular road bike on gravel – I do it all the time. Put wider tires on your road bike and your ready to roll. I ride 28 mm tires on my road bike — the maximum size that fits — and the bike handles well. Some people ride 25 mm and some 30 mm or wider. Read more.
Steve’s Malfunctioning Front Shifting
Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
Let’s start with a quick update on Dick’s clipless pedal problem, which we helped him with last week: Clipless Pedal Trouble. He emailed me saying he’s tried some of our suggestions and tips and he was pleased to report that his right pedal is releasing a little more easily. Plus, great ideas keep coming in, which he appreciates and will try, too. Thank you all for helping! Read more.
You Know What to Eat Before a Ride. What About When?
By Kevin Kolodziejski
Lifting weights is only a small part of bodybuilding contest preparation. In fact, some experts claim elite-level success is mostly a matter of what’s been eaten in the 16 or so weeks before competition. Read more.
Delta Four Free-Standing Bike Rack with Basket – Quick Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
Delta’s new free-standing bike rack is an excellent option whether you need to store multiple bikes for yourself or the family. It saves space, doesn’t require drilling into the wall or ceiling, is free-standing, and its repositionable hooks fit various bike sizes and styles. It’s perfect for the garage or an apartment dweller where space is at a premium. Read more.
Leon Cycle NCM C7 Commuter eBike Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
I’ve never ridden a Class 1 eBike before testing Leon Cycle’s NCM C7 commuter bike, and all I can say is it was fun! If I’m being honest, I was a bit nervous, thinking the torque-assist would act as a throttle, kicking in, and the bike would get away from me, but it wasn’t like that at all. Instead, the C7 uses a torque sensor and not a cadence sensor. Meaning the power assist distributes according to the watts put into the pedals rather than the number of revolutions. Read more.
Endurance Training and Riding
Learn how to train effectively, eat correctly and ride an endurance ride in the bundle of three eArticles, Endurance Training and Riding by Coach John Hughes.
- Beyond the Century describes training principles and different training intensities and how to integrate these into program of long rides. Although written for riders doing longer events, all of the principles also apply to shorter events. Hughes details an 8-week plan to build up to a century and then plans for rides of 200 km ride (about 125 miles) and 300 km (about 188 mi.) The plans could be easily adapted to shorter rides. Hughes explains how to incorporate multiple endurance events into a single season.
- Nutrition for 100K and Beyond provides you with the information you need to fuel your engine before, during and after endurance rides.
- Mastering the Long Ride gives you the skills you need to finish your endurance rides. Effective training provides your base, and proper nutrition gives you the fuel. The key to success is to use your smarts to complement your legs.
Question of the Week
Where do you store your bike?
Cool Stuff to Read
Zwift Insider: The Dramatic Consequences of Avid Zwifting
Bike Radar: New Trek Madone has a hole in the seat tube and looks like a spaceship
VeloNews: How to train for long events with short workouts
CleanCitiesCampaign.org: Londoners share awkward places they store bikes as waiting list for secure hangars tops 60,000
BBC: London cycling: Car parking permits cheaper than bike storage
End Notes
Which is more important in fueling a ride, carbs or calories? I’m a type 2 diabetic and have to watch my carbs. I can get the the calories while limiting my carbs. Will limiting my carbs will I be able to fuel my ride?
Risk associated with Shimano’s GRX (and potentially other) Hydraulic braking systems.
There is a potential risk for their hydraulic brakes to fail unknown to the rider. Shimano has acknowledged that when a rider changes the disc pads in the hydraulic system, there is the risk that back-pressure is generated in the fluid system that can rupture a small rubber diaphragm and cause fluid to slowly leak and ultimately cause brakes to fail likely UNKNOWN the rider. This happened to me twice,
and I believe it is a major risk to riders who quite commonly change their own hydraulic brake pads.
As a result of Shimano’s initial lack of response, I submitted a case report to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (Report No. 20220427-48A6C-2147356492 on SaferProducts.gov). The CPSC reviewed my submission and considered it a valid concern and contacted Shimano directly. I received a call from the Head of product quality (Koichi Tanaka noted below). Implicitly, Mr Tanaka indicated that there is no intention for Shimano to communicate with current or future users to warn them of this problem, and there is no immediate intention to rectify this problem. What they apparently will do is include information in their user guides. Given the potential risk, I am contacting you as a respected media platform to communicate this issue as broadly as possible in hopes that riders can avoid the experience I had – or worse. If you require more detailed information, please contact me directly.
Kevin Weitz Psy.D.
415-706-4827
[email protected]
This is the individual that I spoke with at Shimano:
Head of Product Quality
Koichi Tanaka
Shimano North America Bicycle, Inc.
949-470-4286 (Direct)
949-951-5003 (General)