Well, I picked up the new bike on Friday, which was a bit of an experience. Technology has moved on a lot since I bought my last bike – some time in the 80s I think. I do hope nothing ever goes wrong with it because anything I ever knew about maintenance is not going to apply to this thing.
Almost immediately I was annoyed by those grippy harness things on the pedals that you are supposed to put your feet into. Maybe its something you can get used to, but I just couldn’t. The problem is that gravity makes them hang down, but to get your foot in you really need them on top. I ended up letting them hang down and then got annoyed by them clipping the floor sometimes. I made a mental note to either get used to them really quickly or take them off.
The real problem was the height of the saddle. It seemed OK at first, but after a few hundred metres I decided that it could do with coming up a bit as I could not really extend my legs properly. When I stopped to adjust it I found that, unlike my old bike and the various kids’ bikes over the years, you need an allen key, which I didn’t have on me. After a couple of kilometres it became less an irritation and more of a real problem because it was dead uncomfortable.
When I got home my legs were killing me. Part of that is obviously down to not being used to exercise, but I hope part of it is down to not being able to stretch my legs properly. Back home I dug out an allen key and moved the saddle up. I think I’ll go for a little spin tomorrow to make sure it feels good. Today I also removed those harness things. I’m sure some people swear by them, but I’m a little set in my ways and far happier doing without.
I think I’ll wait to see if the cycling causes any weight loss and firming up before I inflict the lycra shorts on everyone else though…
skud's sister // Jun 29, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Oh, goody. I can put bike maintenance book on my mental list of possible birthday/christmas presents….