I have a bike, finally

I'm too frazzled and emotionally spent, to get on it.  But it does look nice in my living room.  It's a Trek, men's, which I don't know how to shift.  They were out of helmets in silver like I see ppl in magazines wearing, I did like the blue, but will wait on silver.  I have a chain I can't open and they forgot to ring up the pump, but I can go back to get it.  I have a bike rack and can put that on. 

Can't wait to ride it........a new way to exercise!!!!!!!!!!

thanks everyone for all your help.

Congratulations!  Enjoy.

Woo hoo!  Riding my bike around is my favorite thing to do in the world.

If you get in to the habit of riding everywhere, it is really great for fitness even if you aren't an athletic rider.

Cheers.

I have a Trek too, I just got it about a month ago. It is a 7.3 FX love it...too hot to ride, but as soon as it cools down will be hitting the trail again...I have put about 150 miles on it already...Enjoy yours, if you have any questions feel free to PM me...shifting is easy. Right hand side is for the small gears finger is up thumb is down...the other side is for the larger gears...I think it is thumbs up and finger down on that side if you have the same set up I do...

Yay! Congratulations :-) I'm sure you'll figure out the gears just fine. It took me a couple of rides to get really comfortable with shifting gears correctly, but I am very thankful to have them when I have to go up a hill! I'm still biking with a Rollerblade helmet, oh the shame ;-)

Congrats! You'll have a blast on it.

I hope its the right fit.  I do like it.  BUT to have my leg almost straight, on the down pedal, the seat is high enough that when I stop, I can only touch the ground with my tip toe.  I feel a little insecure because of that.  It's a 15" and doesn't come in a men's 14".

Maybe this is normal.

Congratulations Laura!  I think that height of the seat is probably normal, it just takes getting used to.  The frame isn't too high as long as you don't bang your private parts when you hop off the seat- and you'd already know if that was a problem!  (It's kinda hard to forget;P)

I wish the 'bike fitting' sites had more pictures.  Since this is a Hybrid (guess thats the reason) the center bar is sloped kind of like a girls bike, so I'm not in danger of bumping anything.  I just feel like I need someone to lift me up into the seat.........ha.

If the sales folks didn't show you how to shift the most important thing is that you have to be peddling for the the chain to move. Also, you shouldn't be able to sit and have your feet touch the ground so when you come to a stop you have to get off the seat.

srrussell3:  the guy in the store told me 2 gears I shouldn't use together, which I made a note of.............then left at the store.

Mostly I was worried it was too tall for me, but if I'm to hop off when I come to a stop and not sit propping myself upright with one foot squarely on the ground, then it really must be the right size.

I was thinking, even if I found a mens 14", my leg is going to be the same, so my seat will always be raised to the same heighth away from my foot, so on any bike I wouldn't be able to put my foot completely on the ground.

that's going to take some practice.

thanks

It sounds like you're ready.  Just get comfortable standing up on the peddles without sitting down; that will make starting and stopping with the seat at the right height. It's easier with the bike rolling, so as you start off you have to straddle the bike (without sitting), put one foot on a peddle, push off to get the bike rolling then stand up to put the other foot on the peddle, then sit down. Stopping is just the reverse, while you are breaking and nearly stopped, stand on the peddles, come to a stop then step off the peddle.  Don't try and shift when you are standing, 2 hands on the handle bars and good luck.

srrussell3:  that was the BEST advice.  I seem to recall seeing bikers doing that.  whew.  Feel like I crossed the biggest hurdle. 

I need to google 'road rules' as the county road near me has a bike lane, but I'm not sure if bikers stay in that, regardless of the direction (with or against) traffic. 

Congrats!! :)  If your Trek is like mine, you have gear shifters on both handlebars - one should read 1 - 3 and the other should read 1 - 7 (those numbers might be different if yours has more/less gears,) these are for front and rear (though I can't remember which is which lol.)  As you are pedaling forward, you just turn the shifters and the gears will change.

On mine, on the shifter marked 1 - 3, "1" is the easiest pedaling, "3" is the hardest.  Same on the right - the higher the number, the harder the pedaling.  So if I have it on "3" and "7", then I'd better be going down a seriously steep hill, because otherwise I'd probably fall off the bike.

It's very easy to get used to though, the gears shift very smoothly, so just start out slow and shift through all of them to get a feel.  Have fun!!!  Just rode mine 12 miles last night! :)

Ohio: Congrats.  Now you just have to put all those things you have been worrying about out of your mind and just start riding.  A couple of notes: You really need to get a helmet as soon as possible.  You might want to check Nashbar and Performance bikes on line.  They have good selections of equipment including helmets, which they will ship to your door for a reasonable price.

The shifter on your left goes with the crank -- so called because your pedals are attached.  You won't be able to shift when unless you are pedalling but you should be able to see the derailleur move when you twist the shifter from one gear to the next.  The shifter on your right goes with the gears on your back wheel.  Again you should be able to see the derailleur move when you twist the shifter.

The gears work in opposite directions.  On the front, the crank, a bigger chain ring requires more effort but it will give you more speed.  The smallest chain ring is for climbing.  It takes the least effort.  On the back wheel, the big cogs make it easier to pedal and they are used for climbing.  The smaller cogs on the back wheel increase the pedaling effort and the resulting speed.  The reason is mechanical advantage.  If you are using your big crank ring, which probably has 52 teeth, and your small cog, which probably has 12 teeth, you have a 52/12 ratio.  This means that your back wheel will turn 4 times for each time your pedal goes around.  On the other hand if your are using your small crank ring, which probably has 30 teeth and your large cog, which probably has 25 teeth, you have a 30/ 25 ratio.  Your back wheel will turn 1.2 times for each revolution of your pedal.

jc343:  I'm going to have to reread this again, to fully comprehend it.  But, I'm surprised I understand it better than expected.  I am anxious to try it out, but will to stay on flat roads my first time out. 

I have a large head size and want to try the helmet so am hesitant to order one.  I'll plan to make a trip tomorrow to get one, even if it's a city farther away.  thanks

justlaura:  I'm anxious to see how far I can ride.  I'm assuming there are 'pedometers' for bikes as I see references on the distance ppl ride.  They told me to shift when I was test riding, but I was afraid to and was concentrating on how it fit.

You'll be fine!  Just start off slow and in a place where you won't have to worry with traffic until you get the hang of it (trust me, these bikes are so nice, it won't take long!) :)

As for logging your distances and stuff, check out this website -  www.mapmyrun.com.  Once you register (it's free,) you can map your ride and log it, and it'll tell you how far you went, as well as calories burned, miles per hour, minutes per mile, etc.  Even better, it saves everything for you so you can see how many miles you do in a week/month/year.  It uses Google maps for its mapping interface, so you can log a route pretty much anywhere on earth!

Congrats!  Enjoy :)

went for a ride today and loved it, loved the wind rushing past.  Was disappointed I got tired so fast, but it was right after a 4 mi power walk.

I have trouble getting off, cause the front of the seat is tipped up, slightly,  and my shorts just don't want to slide off so I can hop down.  Even when I slowed down and stood up on the pedals then tried to get down.  I did practice with the gears.

Ohio:  You can get a bike computer for $20 to $30.  You can do it yourself or the deal who sold you the bike will probably be happy to set you up.  The consist of a magnet that attaches to a spoke, usually on your front wheel,; a sensor that attaches your fork (if the magnet is on your front wheel) and the computer that mounts on your handle bar.  The sensor sends a pulse to the computer every time is "sees" the magnet pass.  The computer multiplies the pulse count by your wheel diameter to compute distance traveled.  Generally, you get about 8 or 10 functions including distance, speed, and trip time.

Most helmets on the market have pretty good adjustment systems.  Some of the helmets come in small, medium, large but have a fairly substantial adjustment range.  Other helmets are one-size-fits-all.