Long distance Cycling

[akashra]

I'm not trying to sound condescending by this, but I'm sure it might get taken that way. But I mean this in a purely educational/informational way.

Unfortunately those kinds of rules of thumb bits of info you get from the web, as you're using, are only good until you get to a certain level. Once you get to decent competition - ie, if you're racing at any level of A grade or state level Expert/Elite or above, it becomes pretty important to have a 'perfect' fit.

1/4" of an inch is a *massive* amount when it comes to bike fit - that's like 6mm. When we work on retraining our bodies having done bike fits, we generally work on one week for every mm. For me, I'm pretty sensitive to position - I have a tolerance of about 1-1.5mm in fitting/position - anything outside that and it's noticable.
For me, 4mm difference in saddle position equated to 50Watts at my functional threshold - up from 305 to 355W. To put that into perspective, at 305W I do a local hill climb on my doorstep in about 17'15s. At 355W, it's 16'00. That's a massive difference. The current Australian Marathon Champion has an FTP of 370W. Untrained C grader Average Joe at my weight would probably be doing about 230-250W FTP.

There's so many factors that go into bike fit. If you're not using clipless pedals, then really it's just about saddle height measured from saddle to bottom bracket, saddle tip offset to bottom bracket with a large margin of error, and to a limited degree reach from the saddle tip to handlebars.
When you add clipless pedals though, and want to compete at that high level, so much more gets factored in. For example:
Your feet are clipped in, so there's a particular Q-factor. Q factor is the distance between the pedals. On flat pedals you can move your feet in or out. Clipless, you're in a solid position. So your cleats (and cranks and pedals) affect how far in or apart your feet are. Then there's toe in or toe out - ie, whether your toes point forward, inwards, outwards... everyone's different. This affects how your knees not only take the crushing force, but also whether your knee sways in towards the top tube through your pedal stroke, outwards, straight, etc. And there's no ideal - again, it's different for everyone.

And then there's not only reach to your bars, but *drop*. Reach is one thing - I have pretty short arms so it's a problem. But drop - consider this for a moment. Bend your body are your hips so your torso is parallel to the ground. Now try drop your nose another 15mm, keeping your back and legs straight, bending only at your center. Notice any muscles pulling tighter?
For me, we dropped my handlebars by 14mm on my hardtail. The effect of this is I'm more bent over, nose pointing downwards, which not just a little bit, but *massively* stretches out my glutes. And your glutes being the largest muscle in your body, you can imagine there's a lot of power to be had from there.

So yeah. I know it's a little detailed, but thought some might find it interesting - my point being the closer to the pointy end you get, the more important it is for things to be perfect, the lower the tolerances, and the bigger the consequences.

[Ephphatha]

To be honest, I think it's because the gears were a bit shit on the bike I hired - it was a grip-twist rather than a rapid-fire one - and because I kept forgetting to plan everything ridiculously far ahead, I always ended up stopped in too high a gear, and then having to put way too much force down to start. Particularly once I got to the city (the pain started after I'd got that far) and there was a lot of stop-start traffic, emergency stops when buses pull out when you're alongside and so on.

It's not always an option, but try putting a foot down and lift the seat behind you (get the back wheel off the ground), then pedal with your other foot till you shift down a few gears.

[andy33gmail]

Admittedly, this doesn't quite match the "long distance" element in the title. It's looking like I'm going to be commuting about 12miles (19km) each direction every day. Does anyone have any recommendations for choosing a good bike? Probably looking to spend several hundred pounds (circa $1000 US) - I think any more than that and the risk of theft is too great (though I'll get insurance anyway).

The most important aspects need to be speed and reliability.

Andy

[TheSkyMovesSideways]

Admittedly, this doesn't quite match the "long distance" element in the title. It's looking like I'm going to be commuting about 12miles (19km) each direction every day. Does anyone have any recommendations for choosing a good bike?

Don't buy a mountain bike unless you need to pass mountain trails on your commute. Buy from a dedicated bike store. Figure out whether you want a drop-bar or flat-bar bike. (Drop bar is the traditional racing style, allowing more hand positions and more aerodynamic body positioning, but probably being less comfortable. Flat bar bike will be more relaxed in terms of geometry, placing you more upright, making you more comfortable but a lot slower, and will have more powerful brakes. It's pretty much a speed vs comfort decision.)

Don't forget that you'll need to spend more than just what the bike costs due to essential accessories: Helmet, gloves, lock (ideally a small U-lock), lights if commuting in darkness. If you can stretch your budget far enough, cycling-specific shoes (and matching pedals) are excellent, and once you're tried them you won't want to ever go back. Probably get mountain bike pedals/shoes for commuting, since you can walk in them.