Hey All, I got myself a bicycle, just your basic schwinn. And i have a pretty elementary understanding of how the gears work, nothing past lower gear for hills and upshift on a straight away for more speed.
But I see people fly by me like I am standing still when I am on the bike path, and half the time they aren't even pedaling, I pedal as hard as I can to catch up with them, but they just pedal lightly and zoom away from me.
What am I doing wrong? How can they go so fast?
You need to put it in a higher gear, eg so that it's harder to push the pedals around, but you go further/faster with each circle of the pedals. :)
As in schwinn road bike?
Well there are multiple explanations. One they are in much better shape then you are. Another one if they are in a group a rider that is following closely behind another rider is doing about 25% less work. This is called drafting. A group would move, on average, faster then a single rider. Because it allows one person in the front to work hard, then drift in to the group to recover while someone else is working hard. That being said do not draft from random strangers, it is considered rude.
As for gears, don't get hang up on them too much. Just pick the one that would allow you to maintain higher cadence, number of revolutions a crank makes a minute. Aim for 90 or so.
Well there are multiple explanations. One they are in much better shape then you are.
How you gonna come at me like that?
ha?
Are you actually pulling one pedal up at the same time you're pushing the other one down? If you have appropriate shoes, it's much easier. More muscles are working and it's very effective.
it also can depend on how many front rings is it 2 or 3, if your on a 2 and they are on on 3 they have a whole other set of gears make sense??? it will also depend on how long you have been a rider.
What kind of tires? I bought a mountain bike and it is not very fast on pavement. There are road bikes with smoother tires that make it easier to go faster on. I had my hubby change my tires from the really knobby ones to a medium tread. It was much much easier to pedal on concrete after that.
Also - check the air pressure.
is it a road bike or a mountain bike or a hybrid??
Original Post by heatherlanders:
it also can depend on how many front rings is it 2 or 3, if your on a 2 and they are on on 3 they have a whole other set of gears make sense??? it will also depend on how long you have been a rider.
Gears make difference in two areas. One is it allows for more combinations so it might be easier to maintain "optimum" cadence depending on the terrain. Second area are hills. With a tripple much easier gears are available to the rider. So a rider can maintain higher cadence while going up a hill. Doesn't make them faster, but it is easier on the knees and it relies more on aerobic system.
They're probably on a different type of bike than yours. Some road bikes made of carbon fiber weigh VERY little. They can move WAY faster because of it.
The difference between an experienced, fit cyclist and a beginner is *vast*. It's not unusual for a fit rider to be able to cruise at well over 20mph on the flats.
The difference between a road bike and a hybrid/mountain bike is vast. The road bike typically weighs half as much as the mountain bike, road bike's crouched riding position and narrow frame and tires offer one *third* the aerodynamic resistance (the effect of this cannot be understated) as well as greater muscle recruitment (the crouch brings the hamstrings, glutes, and core to the party in addition to the quads), and offers dramatically less rolling resistance (skinny tires @ 110psi or more) than does the mountain bike (fat tires @ 50psi or less) or the hybrid (medium tires at about 80psi). The road bike is also geared very differently (typically 52 or 53 teeth on the big ring of a road bike versus 42 or 44 on a mountain bike or 48 on a hybrid).
And, yes, the suggestions others have made to upshift when you're going faster are well-stated. I typically carry a very high cadence (100-110rpm), but that takes a lot of practice. Most people, especially beginners, are a lot more comfortable at 70-90rpm; however, that requires a lot more leg strength.
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