Confused Moutain Biker (roadie help)

Tri/TT bikes out you in a more aggressive position.

Tri bikes also use different leg muscles due to seating position. They are very fast in a straight fast line. They tend to not climb well or descend well.

 

Oh, don't forget

"The Rules"

These are deadly serious. To be taken with one's toungue firmly planted in one's cheek.

 

I agree with the compact vs standard crankset. I did just fine on that and am firmly committed to it. I would get your wife a compact, too. The only time you really need that huge gear is in the pro1/2/3 sprint.

Don't be fooled by the flat bike trails, eventually you'll want to try the "7 Sisters" in Laguna or GMR, maybe even Palomar. Plus, with a steady headwind, the small gears are nice on long rides. Triples are for Freds (sorry Fred, but you know what I mean - not you) or for guys traveling cross country with paniers.

The tan line rule is dead serious. Also, there is another thread about roadie hand signals. If you ride in a group, you will learn these and should know them. However, if you ride in a group, don't pull until you get to know the group and signals. You are a mountain biker. Mountain bikers go over things that roadies know to shy away from when they have skinny tires. Roadies do not like when you lead them through pot holes, bunny hop branches, and jump curbs.

Climbing on the road bike is still climbing, but descending is a blast, especially with roadies. You will probably descend better than half of the roadies. Remember this when you hit a descent. Unfortunately, I don't know of any hills that have an open descent. I think the roads used for the Everest Challenge are nice, but don't think of climbing those until you hit Palomar (I enjoy driving them; I need to find a roadie shuttle partner).

**I just finished reading Eric's link and it goes into more detail about what I said. He is a bit quicker wit than me. BTW, funny does not mean not true.

 

Rule #55 Rachel

Rule #55 // Earn your turns.
If you are riding down a mountain, you must first have ridden up the mountain. It is forbidden to employ powered transportation simply for the cheap thrill of descending. The only exception to this is if you are doing intervals on Alpe d’Huez or the Plan de Corones and you park your car up top before doing 20 repeats of the climb.

Rule #55... LOL!!!

 

:lol:

Not trying to bust your balls, but exactly "which different muscles"? I know TT/Tri bikes are nearly suicidal to stand up on so your glutes get a break, but you still use primarily 3 "muscle groups" pedaling anything: Quads, Calves, and Hamstrings. When we fit a TT/Tri bike the goal above all is to "get aero" AND try to maintain a balanced pedaling position. not always easy.

BTW, fitting is not a black art, and I don't believe the average person benefits from an expensive high-tech fit more than if they would take the time to learn and do it themselves. Competitive Cyclist is a great place to start.
Even though mtb, endurance road, racing road, and TT/Tri are all different bikes, your pedaling geometry *should be* the same. After you get a road bike and put down some miles, you might want to readjust things a bit on your mtb...

Coolbreeze: Sorry to hear about your wife's first adventure. I hope she still wants to do this. You may need to spend more time in the parking lot then on the road until she is confident with the brakes and shifting.

 

My understanding is that you use your glutes more to help save other muscles for the run in a Tri......but I could be wrong.

 

Dood, I thought you were a man. Why didn't you catch her??

 

You, sir, will NOT be my roadie shuttle partner. Freeken rules n shyte. Rule #9 3/4: there are no rules in roadie club.

For a nice, pretty road ride, I'd suggest riding along the beach boardwalks, but they are packed full of tourists right now. The section on HB between Warner and Goldenwest is pretty nice and typically not as busy. Just be ware of the weekend you attempt this. Do not ride anywhere during the surf stuff.

 

Yes, but you are a man among boys. :clap:

As usual, herzalot posts the laugh of the day. And yeah, Schleck is scary - 6'1" and 160 lbs...a walking Q-Tip. Andy, you're effectively out of the TdF again, so feel free to have three peanuts for dinner tonight instead of just one. And feel free to learn to ride a time trial (he says from the comforting embrace of the internet).

Good stuff here on Art's Cyclery's Tips page:
http://www.artscyclery.com/learningcenter/handsignals.html

 

I attempted to add the HB boardwalk to a SA river path ride recently - bad idea. Way too crowded and I nearly went down because some kids on fixies were goofing off and crashed into each other right in front of me. One guy learned the hard way why you might want to wear a shirt and helmet on a bike. Never mind. He probably didn't.

But the scenery was outstanding!

 

Yikes! I used to live off Warner & PCH. Between dogs on those 20' retractable leashes, drunk tourists weaving around in rented pedal cars, little kids thinking only about their ice cream cones while running across the path, surfers who seem to forget they're carrying a 9' board, stray kites, etc., etc., it can be total mayhem on that path in summer. And yeah, if there's a surf contest going on -which seems like every weekend anymore - it's even nuttier. I think I'd rather do a 10 mile hike-a-bike through the Santa Anas in 100 degree temps while being chased by rabid wolverines.

 

uummm....man, not superman

 

Once you get up and going, do yourself a favor and get some of this or something similar if you don't already have some-
http://www.amazon.com/Chamois-Buttr-8-Ounce-Skin-Lubricant/dp/B000HZGTUS

 

I usually avoid the beach area during summer (I live about 3 miles up from it), but during winter it's nice. The access street is great, but again, I don't think it is during summer unless you're there in the early morning. I would not go farther than Goldenwest. Also, the bike path north of Talbert is usually better than the area by the beach. However, once you get to the area alongside the park, you have kids wandering on, dogs, roller bladers, joggers, etc. There really isn't an area that is free from all but bikes of which I am familiar. This is probably why most roadie rides start way before I am ready to get up (hence my aversion to road riding).

 

TT bikes meet UCI rules, Tri bikes don't have to. Some bikes are TT/Tri bikes others are Trii only as they won't meet UCI rules. Typically it's the SA that is even steeper on a Tri bike.

And I have also heard that a Tri specific bike is designed help to limit the use of hamstrings.

 

I might end up regretting this but....who wants to come up for a road ride?

http://www.toughascent.com/blog/2010/06/05/santa-barbara-gibraltar-road-climb/

And this one isn't too bad, it's on the way home if I decide to take this route then ride down Gibraltar.

http://www.toughascent.com/blog/201...san-marcos-painted-cave-climb-brutally-steep/

 

I guess I've been outted. I dream of rapha, custom steel, coffee, windy roads, embrocation, and veiny calves haha

 

Ha ha...and I called you superman today too!...that's funny.

 

'cuz I can fly?

 

Yep!...now let's see if spandex is your cryptinite. :lol: