What Kind Of Bike Is It?

(This article was originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled

in the July 31 to August 6, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle

--- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

According to the intended use and for which the bike is designed, adult bicycles can be broadly categorized into four types: ROAD BIKES, CROSS BIKES and CITY or CRUISER BIKES, and MOUNTAIN BIKES.

While there is a lot of use overlap in bike design, each type of bike is designed to provide optimum performance, comfort and safety under specific use conditions. So which type is your bike?

The ROAD BIKE, sometimes called a racing bike because it is derived from the bikes used by bicycle road racers and tri-athletes, is for fast travel, hard training and competition on paved surfaces.

Because it is generally ridden on relatively smooth paved roads, its frame is made as stiff and light as possible and its frame geometry is designed to give it quick, very precise response to rider input. Its components, especially the wheels, tend to be lighter than those for other categories, again because they are not designed to get banged around as much.

Its dropped handlebars, sometimes equipped with aero bar extensions, are designed to give the rider good leverage for climbing and sprinting, and to position the rider in an aerodynamic ‘tuck’ for speed. Its high-pressure, narrow tires reduce rolling resistance to a minimum.

BUT: The rider tends to be so stiff for comfort on rougher surfaces. The frame and components are too light to take the pounding of off-road excursions. The handlebars position the rider in a way that many find uncomfortable for more casual riding. The narrow tires are not recommended for use on loose surfaces.

The CROSS BIKE, also often called a HYBRID, CROSS TERRAIN BIKE or FITNESS BIKE, is like a Swiss Army Knife. It’s a versatile tool that does many things.

The Cross Bike is a good choice for the rider who is not looking for ultimate in performance either on or off the road, but who wants a bike that will handle paved roads, bike paths, graded fire trails and dirt roads. It is not as fast on pavement as a road bike nor is it designed for hard off-road use on single-track or rocky, rutted, rugged terrain like a mountain bike.

By changing tires, handlebars and shifting and braking controls, your dealer can alter a cross bike’s performance range to favor either paved road performance or dirt road performance, to suit your intended use.

The CITY BIKE, also called a CRUISER or COMFORT BIKE, is designed for comfortable, low-maintenance, casual riding.

It is often equipped with three, five, seven or more gears which are housed in a rear when hub. Its frame is designed for comfort rather than for high performance, and its fat tires are designed for solid, rather than loose, surfaces. It is ideal for around town, for gently rolling or flat rural roads, for a ride around the park, or for a quick trip to the store.

The MOUNTAIN BIKE is designed to give the rider maximum control and durability on a wide variety of harsh terrain.

Everything about Mountain Bike is more rugged. Its frame geometry provides maximum ground clearance and allows you to quickly and easily shift weight to change the balance of the bike as terrain conditions dictate.

Its wide, high-volume tires absorb shock and provide a bigger, more stable footprint on loose or slippery surfaces. Its wide-range gearing, usually with 18 or more speeds, provides the right choice for almost any condition. Many Mountain Bikes come equipped with suspension systems which help absorb the shocks and vibrations of rough trails.

BUT: A Mountain Bike is heavier than a road bike. Its wide tires have greater rolling resistance that road bike tires. While more comfortable for many people, the rider’s more upright position is aerodynamically inefficient. A Mountain Bike is not the best choice for long, fast rides on paved surfaces.

And while the rugged appearance of a Mountain Bike might suggest that they are indestructible, they are not. They are tough and sturdy, BUT as with any machine, abuse soon takes a toll on their ability to perform.

Mountain Bike riding is very different from riding on road. For starters, it is almost certain you will fall off.

Off-road riding usually involves many variables such as changing traction, obstacles, line of sight, uphill, downhill, soft surfaces, dry surfaces, wet surfaces. Off-road riding requires managing complex and constantly changing rider-to-bicycle feedback loop of traction, weight distribution, application of power, application of brakes, and steering driver by the conditions one encounters.

The complexity and ever-changing nature of off-road riding requires focus, concentration, strength, fitness and learning to read the trail. The art of managing these while surrounded by nature makes it a wonderful and exciting sport.

If you have ridden your mountain bike on a paved road, or on a gravel or dirt road, you have done very little in the way of learning to mountain bike. Learning to ride off-road is a process. It does not automatically occur because you have a mountain bike. Learning to ride off-road does not come from watching “extreme” mountain bike vides of T.V. In fact, the riders in those films are professional entertainers and/or lunatics, not teachers.

Get training. Join a club and find experienced people to teach you. It is likely that your retailer can hook you up with local riders. Practice and learn to stay in control. Carefully, progressively, learn to expand your limits, but always ride within them.

Until then and have a safe ride all the time. Put on that cycling helmet each time get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.* (SP10)

Giving Your Brakes A Break

(This article was originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled

in the July 24 to 30, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle

--- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

Brakes are designed to control your speed, not just to stop the bike.

It is important to your safety that you instinctively know which brake level controls which brake (front or rear) on your bike. In the U.S., bikes are required to be set up with the right brake lever controlling the rear brake and the left lever controlling the front brake.

The braking action of a bicycle is a function of the friction between the brake surfaces --- usually the brake pads and the wheel rim. To make sure that you have maximum friction available, keep your wheel rims and brake pads clean and free of lubricants, waxes or polishes.

Make sure that your hands can reach and squeeze the brake levers comfortably. If your hands are too small to operate the levers comfortably, consult your dealer before riding the bike. The lever reach may be adjustable or you may need a different brake lever design.

Most brakes have some form of quick release mechanism to allow the brake shoes to clear the tire when a wheel is removed or re-installed. When the brake quick release is in the open position, the brakes are inoperative. Make sure you understand the way the brake quick release works on your bike and check each time to make sure both brakes work correctly before you get on the bike.

Maximum braking force for each wheel occurs at the point just before the wheel locks up (or stops rotating) and starts to skid. Once the tire skids, you actually lose most of your stopping force and all directional control. A locked up front wheel is not steerable.

You need to practice slowing and stopping smoothly without locking up a wheel. The technique is called PROGRESSIVE BRAKE MODULATION. Instead of jerking the brake lever to the position where you think you will generate appropriate braking force, squeeze the lever, progressively increasing the braking force. If you feel the wheel start to lock up, release pressure just a little to keep the wheels rotating just short of lockup. It is important to develop a feel for the amount of brake lever pressure required for each wheel at different speeds and on different surfaces. To better understand this, experiment a little by walking you bike and applying different amounts of pressure to each brake lever until the wheel locks.

Some bicycles brakes such as disc brakes and linear-pull brakes are extremely powerful. You should take extra case in becoming familiar with these brakes and exercise particular care when using them. Applying these brakes too hard or too suddenly can lock up a when which could cause you to lose control and fall. (CAUTION: Disc brakes can get extremely hot with extended use. Be careful not to touch a disc brake until it has had plenty of time to cool.)

For most effective braking, use both brakes and apply them simultaneously. Sudden or excessive application of the front brake may pitch the rider over the handlebars, which may result to injury or death.

When you apply one or both brakes, the bikes to slow but you body wants to continue at the speed at which it was going. This causes a transfer of weight to the front wheel. This weight transfer is even more pronounced if you bike has a front suspension fork which ‘dips’ under braking, increasing the weight transfer.

A wheel with more weight on it will accept greater brake pressure before lockup while a wheel with less weight will lockup with less pressure. As you apply brakes and your weight shifts forward, you need to shift you body towards the rear of the bike in order to transfer weight back on the rear wheel.

The keys to effective speed control and safe stopping are controlling wheel lockup and weight transfer. Practice braking and weight transfer techniques where there is no traffic or other hazards and distractions.

Everything changes when you ride on loose surfaces or in wet weather. Tire adhesion is reduced so the wheels have less cornering and braking traction and can lockup with less brake force. Moisture or dirt on the brake pads reduces their ability to grip. The way to maintain control on loose or wet surfaces is to go more slowly to begin with.

Do not rice the brakes since overheated pads and rims can cause fading of the brakes or tire blowouts. To slow down, brake regularly for short intervals. For panic stops, learn just how hard you can brake without having the bike skid out from under you. Use both brakes but be cautious about applying maximum force to the rear brake. As you brake hard, the center of gravity tries to move forward and most of the force is applied to the front wheel which therefore has more traction. Panic squeezing of the rear bake will lock up the rear wheel and can cause a skid. Be particularly careful when braking on curves, sand and gravel.

Under wet conditions, the sopping power of your bike (as well as the brakes of other vehicles sharing the road) is dramatically reduced and your tires do not grip nearly as well. This makes it harder to control speed and easier to lose control. To make sure that you can slow down and stop safely in wet conditions, ride more slowly and apply your brakes earlier and more gradually than you would under normal, dry conditions.

Make it a point to check the brakes every time you ride and keep them adjusted properly so that when a difficult braking situation occurs, you will have plenty of reserves. Replace cables that are beginning to fray and housings that are developing too much play.

Until then and have a safe ride all the time. Put on that cycling helmet each time get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.* (SP9)

The Night Rider

(This article was originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled

in the July 17 to 23, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle

--- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

Riding a bicycle at night is many times more dangerous that riding during the day. Riding at night should be avoided unless very necessary.

If you MUST ride at night or under conditions of very poor visibility such during an inclement weather, VISIBILITY is the most important factor.

Even on day rides, it pays to think things ahead. Always anticipate flat tires, mechanical problems or inclement weather which could radically slow delay your schedule. Always consider the consequences of getting off schedule. Riding after dark without proper lights or reflectors is totally insane.

The items that you need to carry “just in case” do not have to be elaborate. Though traffic is usually minimal at night, adequate lighting still is essential. Dusk and dawn are times when lighting is particularly essential because dim lights and reflectors do not show up as well at this hour, yet visibility is still quite poor.

When choosing lights, remember that there are two distinct functions you may want them to serve. The first is to make you a stand out so that drivers approaching you can see spot you from a long way off and won’t run you down. The other is to light up the road ahead of you well enough so that you can stay on the road, avoid most of the worst obstructions.

Modern reflective materials simplify the problem of making bicycles visible at night. You should make as much use of reflectors as you can since they require no batteries, using the bright lights of cars to achieve their luminosity. Reflectors weight less than any light and are brighter than most bicycle lights.

But it makes far more sense to mount several large reflectors on the back of your bicycle or on your jersey by arranging them to be easily removable that it does to fool around with a small, red light shining under your butt. Bike lights are usually so weak that if they are fixed and shine steadily, few drivers even notice them among bright signs and road reflectors.

It makes a good habit carrying a roll of Scotch brand reflector tapes in your repair kit to put on your bike and clothing if you are accidentally caught in the dark.

But reflectors have limitations and you should not rely on them to alert drivers of your presence. Flashing and moving lights are by far the most effective ways of attracting the motorist’s attention from the monotony of the white line or the confusion of other lights. The leg light has long been used for this purpose and is strapped to the traffic-side leg at the ankle or the calf just below the knee.

Riding at night also requires a slower speed than you would have during day time.

Until then and have a safe ride all the time. Put on that cycling helmet each time get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.*

-o0o-

Self-Propelled and the Baguio Chronicle pray for the immediate recovery of veteran newsman Gerry Evangelista, Sr. who is now under the watchful eyes of his doctors at the St. Louis University’s Sacred Heart Hospital.* (SP8)

Road Hazards

(This article was originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled

in the July 10 to 16, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle

--- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

There are a lot of obstructions on the road waiting a cyclist. It is therefore very important to remain constantly watchful for these hazards and to be ready to stop or take evasive actions in time.

Holes in the pavement can be large enough to badly damage a wheel or to swallow it so deeply that you and the bike are pitched forward into the road ahead. Gratings and expansion joints in bridges have slits running parallel to the roadway that are wide enough for your bike wheels to disappear into, although a car tire can pass over them without much trouble.

When crossing bumps (known in the Philippines as “humps”) that are not large enough to require a stop, slow down, stand on the pedals and hold the handle bars loosely. The two ends of the bike then rise up separately, each pivoting on the other wheel. As the front wheel hits the hump, instead of having part of your weight pressing down on the handlebars which are pushed up rapidly, your weight rest on the pedals and cranks, and your mass is lifted a lesser distance around the pivot of the rear wheel. (The frame of the bike acts as a lever, lifting your body on the fulcrum of the rear axle. Your weight on the pedals is closer to the fulcrum and does not have to be moved as far.)

The same thing happens when the rear wheel hits the hump. Rising up fro the saddle and holding the bike loosely as it crosses the hump thus eliminates the impact on your hands and posterior and reduces stress on the bike.

Oil patches are also potential dangers. They are worse when they get wet. A light rain causes the road become very slick. This is very true after a long dry period. The water forms a suspension with the oil that has gradually collected on the pavement. Take extra care in this kind of situation.

As with traffic problems, the most important habit to develop in avoiding road hazards is to be alert at what is going on around you. If you remain constantly aware of what is behind you, then you know at all times whether it is safe to swing into the main roadway to dodge obstacles.

Hazards can be anticipated even they are seen. Exhaust coming out of tailpipe of a car on the curbside is a good warning that the driver is about to pull out while a head visible in the window or a rearview/side mirror of a parked car is a warning to watch out for an opening door. A large piece of glass typically is surrounded by many smaller bits and so on.

If you are aware of hazards in your community, point them out to the appropriate officials, noting that they can sued for any injuries resulting from such dangerous situations. If you receive cold shoulders, you may document your warnings through a letter and have it formally “RECEIVED”.

Wet weather impairs traction, braking and visibility, both for the bicyclist and for other vehicles sharing the road. The risk of an accident is dramatically increased in wet conditions.

Under these conditions, the stopping power of your brakes (as well as the brakes of other vehicles on the road) is reduced and your tires do not grip nearly as well. This makes it harder to control speed and easier to lose control. To make sure you can slow down and stop safely in wet conditions, ride more slowly and apply your brakes earlier and more gradually than you would under normal, dry conditions.

Riding a bicycle at night is many times more dangerous than riding during the day. This will be your Self-Propelled’s topic in our next issue. Until then and have a safe ride all the time by putting on that cycling helmet each time get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EAGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.* (SP7)

Riding Between Raindrops

(This article was originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled

in the July 3 to 9, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle

--- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

Riding under the rain or in an inclement weather is a discipline by itself.

For the cyclist, visibility is a necessity of life, like food and water. Bright clothing and equipment is the cyclist’s first line of defense. Chose the brightest ones you can stand. Think in terms of drivers who are road-weary, timid and inattentive, often with wet or dirty windshields. Wear anything that attracts attention such as reflector vests. Even if you have the best lighting systems, many motorists won’t see you. If you have to ride in an inclement weather or if you are caught in it, be aware that you are virtually invisible.

Wet weather impairs traction, braking and visibility, both for the cyclist and for the other vehicles sharing the road. The risk of an accident is dramatically increased in wet conditions. Under wet conditions, the stopping power of your brakes (as well as the brakes of the other vehicles on the road) is dramatically reduced and your tires don’t grip nearly as well. This makes it harder to control speed and easier to lose control. To make sure that you can slow down or stop safely in wet conditions, ride more slowly and apply your brakes more gradually than you would under normal, dry conditions. Remember that you have to squeeze much harder to slow down or stop when your rims are wet.

The ideal clothing for cycling on a rainy weather is yet to be perfected though they have dramatically improved through the years. The trouble with rainwear for active sports is that any clothing that covers your body and is waterproof traps your perspiration. If the air and rain outside are cool, chilling the clothing, then the moisture evaporating from your skin even though you are not sweating condenses on the inside surface of the raingear like a dew, soaking you from the inside.

Since it is impossible to make a suit that sheds the rain from outside and completely eliminates condensation and perspiration problems, any cycling raingear is bound to be a compromise.

Riding into the rain creates additional problem because rain will pour through any ventilation openings in the front of your protective gear. Even if your bike is equipped with fenders and mud guards to minimize splash from your own wheels, you are likely to catch a lot of spray from cars, generally mixed with mud.

Many cyclists simply ignore the problem, choosing to get wet if it starts to rain. If you are not wearing a protective gear and if the weather is cold, you can lose a lot of body heat, draining your energy reserves and badly chilling the body. If you are cycling in prolonged rain, you may be a lot more comfortable if you can keep the amount of mud and precipitation hitting you to a minimum.

One type of rain garment is the cyclist’s cape which covers the upper body and hooks over the thumbs or handlebars to form a “rolling tent”. One problem though is that it obscures your vision of the road directly beneath you, distorting your perceptions and reactions. In order for the cape to be of any use at all, fenders may be used to cut the spray from below and rain pants may be necessary. But the cape increases wind resistance, flaps badly when riding fast, and acts like a sail to carry you in the direction of the wind whenever there is a gust or a passing truck thereby posing a severe hazard.

A rain suit is another alternative. While it covers most of your body and creates less wind resistance, it increases condensation problems and the trapping of sweat.

The traditional hood used on parkas for mountaineering and backpacking should not be worn while cycling because it is difficult to take a quick glace over your shoulder while wearing one. The hood continues to face straight ahead while your head turns inside and all you can see are the inside seams of the parkas instead of the car bearing down on you from the rear.

First used in 1969 as an alternative to fabric coatings, a film called Gore-Tex® is sandwiched in between a lightweight nylon fabric and an inner material, usually a light, non-woven mesh. The film, made of a material similar to Teflon®, has billions of pores so small that liquid water droplets cannot pass through in most circumstances, but molecules of water vapor can. The material is thus waterproofed but allows water vapor evaporated from the skin to pass through so that condensation and perspiration build-up are far less that with conventional coated nylon.

Gore-Tex® is a great improvement over the other materials. But it is expensive and requires greater care since dirt can act as a wetting agent, reducing the surface tension of water droplets and allowing them to leak through the pores. Fairly frequent washing is therefore necessary. And whether a raingear made of Gore-Tex® is worth the considerable additional cost depends on your budget.* (SP6)