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Q. Me and my bf bought mountain bikes from Walmart. (Mongoose) I used to be in a biking club about 11 years ago but that was on a road bike, and my skills apparently have declined greatly. I couldn't make it up a faiir sized hill at all and I want to know if I should get a better bike and until then, what gear should I be in to make it up the hill. I feel discouraged right now.
Answer
Welcome back to cycling. Don't feel too bad, after 11 years, even for those of us who ride all the time our skill have probably diminished, we just don't notice as much until some 18y old kid on a old Schwinn Paramont blows by your fancy-smancy carbon-fiber rig... well that is a story for another day.
I'm just going to go ahead and assume you know all about shifting and big gears/little gears etc and skip right to some thoughts.
A mountain bike from Walmart is probably a gosh-awful heavy bestie to pedal up anything. There is little you can do about that right now. If you are used to road bikes the first time you clip into a mountain bike and encounter a big hill the instinct is to power up it like on the road. However, if you are on dirt or single-track on the mountain bike this really is the wrong approach and it is best to stay in the saddle and choose a very easy gear and patiently spin your way up the grade. The keeps your rear wheel from slipping in the dirt. Don't be afraid of the triple chain ring and drop to the smallest ring before the grade so you are not shifting rings on the hill, but concentrate on spinning through on the very small gears of the mountain bike (that is what they are there for after all!).
Welcome back to cycling. Don't feel too bad, after 11 years, even for those of us who ride all the time our skill have probably diminished, we just don't notice as much until some 18y old kid on a old Schwinn Paramont blows by your fancy-smancy carbon-fiber rig... well that is a story for another day.
I'm just going to go ahead and assume you know all about shifting and big gears/little gears etc and skip right to some thoughts.
A mountain bike from Walmart is probably a gosh-awful heavy bestie to pedal up anything. There is little you can do about that right now. If you are used to road bikes the first time you clip into a mountain bike and encounter a big hill the instinct is to power up it like on the road. However, if you are on dirt or single-track on the mountain bike this really is the wrong approach and it is best to stay in the saddle and choose a very easy gear and patiently spin your way up the grade. The keeps your rear wheel from slipping in the dirt. Don't be afraid of the triple chain ring and drop to the smallest ring before the grade so you are not shifting rings on the hill, but concentrate on spinning through on the very small gears of the mountain bike (that is what they are there for after all!).
What happened to having flags attached to bikes?
2short4lif
When I was a kid, I remember people having flags attached to their road bikes. Now, I haven't seen it in years. What happened???
Answer
The degree of benefit that flags give is debatable. Against that, they are a danger when getting on or off the bike, because if you hook your leg on the pole you can fall and break your arm or wrist. Anyone riding behind you can get hit in the face with it. And, since most of them mount via a clamp at the rear axle, they cause the axle to be mounted less securely in the rear dropouts. This creates a safety hazard if the rear wheel slips. If all that isn't enough, they look dorky and they cause a noticeable amount of drag.
The degree of benefit that flags give is debatable. Against that, they are a danger when getting on or off the bike, because if you hook your leg on the pole you can fall and break your arm or wrist. Anyone riding behind you can get hit in the face with it. And, since most of them mount via a clamp at the rear axle, they cause the axle to be mounted less securely in the rear dropouts. This creates a safety hazard if the rear wheel slips. If all that isn't enough, they look dorky and they cause a noticeable amount of drag.
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Title Post: What is the best gear to be in when you are going up hills?
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Rating: 94% based on 932 ratings. 4,1 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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