<p>So, Nrdsb4, I’d advice you look for a 5-speed or 7-speed upright bike. The Civia Twin Cities that mstee bought might be the right bike for you, too. I’d recommend the 5-speed version, since you don’t have many hills:</p>
<p>There are many other bikes that you might like. I recommend test riding a few. It looks like Transit Bicycle Works might be a good shop for you to visit, if you’re in the Dallas area.</p>
<p>I just purchased a new bike. I found in test riding that my lower back is just pathetic. Pain ensued even after short rides in the parking lot. I also found that for my height, I have short legs and arms. Figures.</p>
<p>I tested one this morning that gave me the good upright position I need, and it felt good. Got a silver helmut, a cable lock, a water bottle holder, and a rack which attaches into the trailer hitch of my car and is under 20 lbs. It holds 2 bikes, so hopefully DH will join in. Oh, I also had to purchase the bar to put on the bike when mounting to the rack, since it is a step in.</p>
<p>I got a Trek and am sorry I’m working tomorrow so I can’t practice in the morning. It’s too hot right now, but maybe once it cools a little this evening, I’ll be able to take it for a spin.</p>
<p>Thank you, Cardinal! I hope to fall in love with biking in a way I just couldn’t get myself to with running. Who knows, maybe I’ll progress to the point where I will be able to join a little club or something. That would be very nice. :)</p>
<p>By 7 o’clock last night, I was impatient with the weather, as it was still in the 90’s. I finally decided to go ahead and test out the new bike. Something I’d forgotten about, since I really haven’t ridden since childhood: the breeze as you peddle away! Ahhhh…nice. I kept it very short, only a few miles, and felt it in my legs when I hit an incline. But it was fun! It was the perfect time to ride in my little neighborhood-it’s a gated community, so no through traffic, and I saw only one car, though plenty of dog walkers. It was a great way to spend time doing something other than watching the boob tube on the sofa, so I may do a short ride every evening until it gets cold, even if I’ve managed to get a better ride in during the morning hours! </p>
<p>I do need to read my owner’s manual regarding gear shifting, because I felt pretty clueless about it. Gear shift on the left vs. gear shift on the right, I had no idea.</p>
<p>I just searched this thread to see if this question has come up, and either it hasn’t or the search function is weak. </p>
<p>My bike is good enough, my seat isn’t. It hurts my lady parts. I ride a hybrid, I think the brand is Specialized - it’s about 10-15 years old. I went to my local bike shop, and the best they could offer me was a $160 model, or a $100 one that was out of stock. The bike shop recommended that I get a narrower seat than what is currently on the bike, and since I seem to be sliding forward on the seat, that may be a good idea. I went on Amazon and I see options in the $30-$50 range. Any suggestions? </p>
<p>Saddles. That’s a difficulty. The discussion can get rather more graphic than might be seemly here, with discussion of exactly where it hurts. What makes a good saddle is individual. For example, many people swear by Brooks Pro saddles. I swear AT them.</p>
<p>Those wide, soft saddles found on low-end bikes turn out not to be comfortable for many people, once they start actually doing rides on their bike instead of test-riding around a parking lot. You’re better off with something narrower and harder. Unfortunately, picking the right saddle tends to be trial and error.</p>
<p>A good bike shop lets you try and return saddles. </p>
<p>Bike seats are an uncomfortable subject for many women, including my wife and daughter. The only way to know for sure is to spend hours on a new one. Terry Falcon X is one of the most used for women specific saddles, but pricey. Wife uses an older San Marco with cutouts. I’ve been on the same Selle Italia since the 80s.</p>
<p>Fireandrain–no idea where you live, but see if you can find a local bike shop with a saddle tryout program (send me a PM if you live in Portland (OR), our shop has one). It took me FOUR saddles to find one that wasn’t a problem (and then I wrote an article about it for our shop blog). I ended up with the Selle SMP TRK (women’s) (and did a nine-day 400-mile trip comfortably). My sister tried it–and hated it. But her husband liked the men’s version. In short, your mileage WILL vary. I know lots of women who ride Terry saddles–they didn’t work for me. My daughter rode 4000 miles on her Brooks saddle and loved every minute of it–but they cost a fortune and require a fair amount of maintenance.</p>
<p>When you try a saddle, think about where your sit-bones land on the saddle. If they make no contact, you’ll slosh around and end up with saddle sores (and bruised soft lady parts); if they make too much contact (one saddle I tried had high spots that hit my bones precisely), that can leave bruises (I finished a forty mile ride with five miles of standing on the pedals because they hurt so much). </p>
<p>I like riding my bike when it’s hot out. I think of bike riding as a hot weather activity. Running on the other hand is best when it’s 55 out :)</p>
<p>Went for a bike ride yesterday along Lake Michigan! It was perfect!</p>
<p>The closest bike shop doesn’t have a saddle try-out program, so I’ll have to see what else is in my area. I’ve never thought about my sit bones and where they contact my seat; I just did a google image search to understand how this works! I just ordered something on Amazon, so we’ll see how it goes. </p>
<p>One of our female employees (who is an endurance rider who does things like 24-hour rides) pointed out to me that there are three points at which you contact the bicycle: feet, seat, and hands. If your feet are bothering you, put more pressure on your hands and seat; if your seat is bothering you, more pressure on your hands and feet (stand up to pedal for a bit); if your hands are bothering you, more on your seat and feet. My husband pointed out to me (when we were training for our bike tour) that you should stand up for little bit every mile; I started standing to pedal for ten strokes every mile and found it made a huge difference in how everything felt, not just my seat, since it kind of got the blood flowing to everything because it changed all the pressure points. </p>
<p>Also, fireandrain, you mention sliding forward on the seat. Have you made sure that a) the seat is at the right height (not too high or too low) and b) at the right angle? You can adjust the nose up or down just a touch to see if it helps. My seat is one millimeter lower in the front than level–and that was the difference that made it go from “it’s sort of okay” to “I keep forgetting about the seat.”</p>
<p>I think adjusting the seat will be a good idea, but I still think I need a new seat. I’ve never been able to pedal standing up – I’m really not that good of a bicyclist, just a recreational rider, really. </p>
<p>If you have a geared bike, put the bike in a gear that is difficult for you but not impossible. That makes it MUCH easier to stand up and pedal. I think if you get in a high gear, you’ll discover that you can pedal standing up.</p>
<p>I keep hearing “Don’t cross chain when you shift gears.” Well, I don’t know what that is, other than you are causing the chains to pull diagonally. What I don’t understand is how this translates to what I am doing with my hands.</p>
<p>I have 3 gears on the left hand, and 6 gears on the right hand. If I am primarily on a flat surface, should I have the left on 2 and make the other adjustments with the right hand? If I approach an incline and it begins to get difficult, do I downshift with the right hand, or should I decrease the left to 1? At what point would I be “cross chaining,” and I would I be able to tell?</p>
<p>If you stand over your bike and look down at the path your chain takes, you’ll see that you have three gear rings in the front and six rings ranging from big to small in the back. Cross-chaining would be if you were in the left-most ring in the front and the right-most ring in the back (or vice versa). If you’re in the left-most ring in the front, you want to be in the left-most rings (the left three) in the back; the middle ring in the front lets you use the center four rings in the back; the right-most ring in the front gives you the right three rings in the back. Practice looking at both rings while you’re in a nice large deserted flat area, like a parking lot. Listen to what happens when you have it cross-chained–it makes a noise as things rub.</p>
<p>There are two ways to approach gear shifting. Personally, I like to keep things in the middle gears in the back as much as possible and just shift the front gear. But that’s because I’m lazy. So as I approach a hill, I change the front gear to the easiest ring (I only have two in the front, so it’s left or right) and THEN shift the back toward easier gears as I slow down. Again, practice doing your shifts without looking in a parking lot or on a flat uncrowded trail.</p>