Bicycling Articles of Interest
Cycling’s Greatest Challenge
Bicycling is an all encompassing activity. Part transportation; part relaxation; part exercise. But for many would-be cyclists, the lack of access to safe and convenient bike routes prevents many from using their bikes more often for commuting, family riding or recreational touring.Keep Bicycling Simple
John F. Kennedy once said, "Nothing compares with the simple pleasure of a bike ride." I agree. Bicycling combines exercise, transportation and fun into a single activity for people of all ages. What other activity can claim all that?
One of the biggest appeals to bicycling is the simplicity. You get on, pedal and go. So my question is: why are today's advancements in bicycling designed to make them more complicated? New advancements such as exotic frame materials and increasingly complex gearing don't make bikes simpler to operate or easier to maintain. Instead, they do the opposite:
Rider Tips: Hill Climbing Techniques: How to Make Mole Hills Out of Mountains
Hill climbing is all about momentum - pedal momentum that is. When going up hill, the bike will naturally slow down, but your pedal speed should not. Rather than standing up on the pedals which strains your muscles and creates a loss in momentum, let the bike do the work; that's what the gears are for. The key is to keep as constant a pedal speed as possible throughout the hill climb, downshifting sequentially through the gears to keep your pedal speed constant as the bike slows. Here's how:Winterizing Your Dynamic Bicycle
If you are putting your Dynamic bike away for the winter, here are some quick and easy hints for storing your bike until Spring:
1. Wipe down the bike with a clean, damp cloth, especially the spokes, rims, headset area, brake arms/cables/pads and front fork stanchion areas (piston part of front fork). This will ensure that you remove any contaminants you may have picked up along the way that can corrode components (especially salt)
2. Keep the bike in first gear (Gear 1). This will reduce tension on the shifter cable to prevent stretching and extend the life of the cable.
3. Detach the brake cables where they attach to the brake arms. This is done by squeezing the brake arms together against the rim of the wheel and releasing the brake cable from the swing arm on the left brake arm. (See illustration.) This will reduce tension on the cables to prevent stretching and extend the life of the cable.
4. If you store your bike in the garage (or other area with cement floor), we recommend that you elevate the bike tires off the cement. There is no need to release air pressure from the tires; the cold will do this for you.
