Headed out this morning on the bike, which has been serviced and fixed. Just went for a short 30 minute ride so as to break my seating muscles!! I headed out the narrow (and hilly) country roads and covered about 7 miles. Not far I know, but it is my first time on a bicycle in around 15 years so I was glad just to survive.
One thing about the bike that I have borrowed is that has a full suspension frame. The guy who serviced the bike, when he heard that I intended doing a triathlon on it, sorted of laughed and wished me all the best. He said that the suspension will absorb a lot of my pushing energy and will bounce a lot. In fact, he said that in the bicycle business these bikes are called 'bouncers'.
I kind of thought 'How bad could it be?', but today I found out! When going up a hill, if you stand up to pedal hard, the bike nearly flips you off because it bounces so much. It really is impossible to stand up and pedal. So I may have to look at getting my hands on a proper road bike. If anyone has a decent one lying around unused and wouldn't mind lending it for a few months, give me a shout.
1 comment:
The one benefit however of a bouncer is that if you train on it, when you get to a road bike you'll fly. Around 20-30% of the energy you're exerting is lost through the springs, so theoretically if you train in it for a while and then switch you'll be able to do a lot more. Not sure just how scientific that is however :)
I've suspension forks on the front of my bike, so I use hose clips to lock the suspension out and save the energy (it was cheaper than new forks or bike!)
Simon.
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