Spring Time - Learning To Ride Time

[hoyden]

"I don't recover very well from the veers on uphills. Maybe, I panic a little and don't use my skills."

Learning how to recover is another skill that gets better with experience. The bad or scary maneuvers and recoveries define my learning envelope. I try to make safe choices when and where to press on the envelope.

In aviation I learned wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.

 

[ReklinedRider]

Another key to me is having cleats/pedals that are as fast and natural to come out of as platform pedals.
Tuesday I was on an unfamiliar street and went into a corner at a reasonable speed and hit a medium sinkhole...I somehow didn't see it.....medium but big enough to bounce me up and off kilter so that I would have gone down hard to the inside, except that I was able to slam my foot down and hit the pavement hard enough not to go down, keep my balance and keep going. A buddy who was a bit behind pulled up and said 'dang, nice save!'
Only possible because the pedal/cleat allowed me to unclip with zero thought or delay; my brain never said 'unclip!', it just happened as reflex. I am positive that couldn't have happened with any other cleat; certainly not with the Shimano SPD's I used to use.

Advantage: Speedplay Frogs. I'll never leave home without 'em.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Another key to me is having cleats/pedals that are as fast and natural to come out of as platform pedals.
Tuesday I was on an unfamiliar street and went into a corner at a reasonable speed and hit a medium sinkhole...I somehow didn't see it.....medium but big enough to bounce me up and off kilter so that I would have gone down hard to the inside, except that I was able to slam my foot down and hit the pavement hard enough not to go down, keep my balance and keep going. A buddy who was a bit behind pulled up and said 'dang, nice save!'
Only possible because the pedal/cleat allowed me to unclip with zero thought or delay; my brain never said 'unclip!', it just happened as reflex. I am positive that couldn't have happened with any other cleat; certainly not with the Shimano SPD's I used to use.
Advantage: Speedplay Frogs. I'll never leave home without 'em.

Couldn't agree with you more Kline, Gotta love the Fogs.

 

[ccf]

Another key to me is having cleats/pedals that are as fast and natural to come out of as platform pedals.
Tuesday I was on an unfamiliar street and went into a corner at a reasonable speed and hit a medium sinkhole...I somehow didn't see it.....medium but big enough to bounce me up and off kilter so that I would have gone down hard to the inside, except that I was able to slam my foot down and hit the pavement hard enough not to go down, keep my balance and keep going. A buddy who was a bit behind pulled up and said 'dang, nice save!'
Only possible because the pedal/cleat allowed me to unclip with zero thought or delay; my brain never said 'unclip!', it just happened as reflex. I am positive that couldn't have happened with any other cleat; certainly not with the Shimano SPD's I used to use.

Advantage: Speedplay Frogs. I'll never leave home without 'em.

I've been riding on Speedplay Ultra Light Action for just that reason. Sometimes when riding in city traffic it is unclip or die.

-Cliff

 

[cranky cyclist]

One thing we forgot to ask' what size front tire do you have 700x (___) and what PSI are you inflating them too? And are you checking the pressure each ride. Silvio can be a handful if the front tire gets below 80 psi.

Also did you pump up your front shock to 150psi using the fork-pump.... And did you find the instructions on using the pump (I used mine wrong for 6 months until someone point that out to me)

I have 700 x 25 tires and inflate the front tire to 95. I have to check my shock again but had it inflated to 170 psi. Is 170 to much? It says the max is 190 psi. I do not have the pump that came with the Silvio but I checked again with the meter on the pump after inflating to 170 and it read that again. So I think that I am maintaining that pressure in the shock.

 

[ratz]

I have 700 x 25 tires and inflate the front tire to 95. I have to check my shock again but had it inflated to 170 psi. Is 170 to much? It says the max is 190 psi. I do not have the pump that came with the Silvio but I checked again with the meter on the pump after inflating to 170 and it read that again. So I think that I am maintaining that pressure in the shock.

95 psi should be fine on the front tire. Just want to make sure it wasn't falling into the 70's giving a loose ride feeling

The bladder in a shock is tiny; that's why a shock pump is needed so that you can seal the value at the desired pressure level. So just taking a pressure reading on it can lower it considerably.

http://cruzbike.com/DOWNLOADS/KindShockPumpOperation.pdf

 

[Robert O]

Another key to me is having cleats/pedals that are as fast and natural to come out of as platform pedals.
Tuesday I was on an unfamiliar street and went into a corner at a reasonable speed and hit a medium sinkhole...I somehow didn't see it.....medium but big enough to bounce me up and off kilter so that I would have gone down hard to the inside, except that I was able to slam my foot down and hit the pavement hard enough not to go down, keep my balance and keep going. A buddy who was a bit behind pulled up and said 'dang, nice save!'
Only possible because the pedal/cleat allowed me to unclip with zero thought or delay; my brain never said 'unclip!', it just happened as reflex. I am positive that couldn't have happened with any other cleat; certainly not with the Shimano SPD's I used to use.

Advantage: Speedplay Frogs. I'll never leave home without 'em.

I'm running Time RXS. They're quick to disengage, and easy to clip into. A few years back in my DF days, I was at the back of a training paceline on an evening ride in West Seattle. We were running down Harbor Avenue, with Puget Sound to our left, when the front of the line came to a panic stop. Everything accordioned, and my buddy Jake swerved right as my front wheel passed him due to my reaction lag. Jake weighs about 260, so he went through my wheel as if I wasn't even there. I started falling left, but kicked my left foot free and pogoed off the ground before losing it completely. We all came to a really shaky stop, and at the back of the line, we were screaming at the front riders trying to figure out what happened.

As it turned out, an otter had dodged out of the bushes to the lead rider's right, and had run straight across his path. He had just enough time to lock his brakes so as to keep from hitting 40 pounds worth of running mustelid. The lead rider was born in Japan, and he said that when the otter jumped out of the bushes, "I didn't know the word. I was, like, "ANIMAL"! Miraculously, no one hit the ground. I did feel cheated that I never got to see the otter, it had vanished while I was still trying to get my bike stopped. Like your Speedplays, I was thankful that my Time's worked so well.

 

[bladderhead]

Bears, ostriches, otters. All seems a bit exotic to me. All I see is cats, squirrels, dogs, foxes and geese. Geese do not like getting out of the way.

 

[cranky cyclist]

We have wild Turkeys here. Do not wear red during mating season. They will attempt to attack you.

 

[1happyreader]

All I see is cats, squirrels, dogs, foxes and geese.

Ignoring the regular Florida fauna the weather is mild enough that escaped pets can survive.
I freaked when I saw a ferret on a fence. ( Dr. Seuss much? )
And was amused when I got to share the path with a peacock.
later,,, bye

 

[Dave Arnold]

Couldn't agree with you more Kline, Gotta love the Fogs.

Has anybody tried the new Speedplay SYZR pedals on a Vendetta or Silvio?

 

[trapdoor2]

Has anybody tried the new Speedplay SYZR pedals on a Vendetta or Silvio?

I'll let you know when my Vendetta comes in.
I bought a set of SYZR pedals this weekend and attempted to mount them to my Conversion...fail. Couldn't get the old platforms off. I'll just wait till the V20 framekit arrives.
===Marc
V2/k 700c
V2/k 'fattie cruzer' 3sp
Catrike Speed
Optima Baron
Vendetta (on order)

 

[ratz]

Ignoring the regular Florida fauna the weather is mild enough that escaped pets can survive.
I freaked when I saw a ferret on a fence. ( Dr. Seuss much? )
And was amused when I got to share the path with a peacock.
later,,, bye

The Large water creatures with teeth you to freak me on my Florida rides; I prefer to ride past animals below me on the food chain, not those above me.

 

[ratz]

Has anybody tried the new Speedplay SYZR pedals on a Vendetta or Silvio?

This will be "spring" based and probably not any better than the SPDs they will directly compete against. Definitely need young and healthy knees for those. Held them in the store to confirm that they are basically SPDs. Have not ridden them.

 

[SteveJW]

Well I had a breakthrough ride this weekend. I finally felt comfortable leaving the parking lot again, so I ventured onto roads that wind through the local college campus (College is between sessions, so traffic is very light). This time, I was able to peddle up some hills that I wasn't able to on day three. I really shouldn't have tackled those on day three anyway, but... As suggested here, spending time on bike riding circles, 8's, and slow speed riding, etc. have increased confidence. All the comments and experience on this thread are helping me tremendously. Thanks again everyone.

I also had a guy in a car chase me down to talk bents. He has several RWDs, and lives a few miles from me. I had no idea. We exchanged info, so now I have a fellow bent rider to ride with when I get more comfortable on the road! He wants to try out the Silvio too - of course.

Loving my Silvio!

-Steve

 

[cranky cyclist]

I rode 28. 3 miles on my Silvio today. Sadly I had to walk up 4 hills. Now I need to get used to SRAM shifting. I hate it when I forget and shift into a higher gear. Perhaps that was why I veered left on my ride the other day. Also one of the hills had a short but max grade of 23 %. Have trouble with that on my DF bike. I decided that I am going to use the Silvio for my ride coming up at the end of the week. I wish that I had an 11- 36 cassette though. Next month I will make that change. Still working on head rest issues but I think that I am close.

 

[Dave Arnold]

This will be "spring" based and probably not any better than the SPDs they will directly compete against. Definitely need young and healthy knees for those. Held them in the store to confirm that they are basically SPDs. Have not ridden them.

The SYZRs do look like SPDs, but they have up to 10 degrees of float and are micro adjustable. The float is in the peddle itself instead of in the interface between the cleat and peddle as in the Frogs. The SYZRs look very complicated compared to the Frogs which couldn't be more simple. We use Frogs on all our bikes.

I'm reading mixed reviews on the SYZRs.

 

[ratz]

The SYZRs do look like SPDs, but they have up to 10 degrees of float and are micro adjustable. The float is in the peddle itself instead of in the interface between the cleat and peddle as in the Frogs. The SYZRs look very complicated compared to the Frogs which couldn't be more simple. We use Frogs on all our bikes.

I'm reading mixed reviews on the SYZRs.

For some reason I was thinking they have return to center springs. If they do that's really bad for the knees and the primary reason I avoided SPD for years.

 

[trapdoor2]

Yah, I rode SPDs for years w/o any problems (on various bikes). I was going to go with Frogs this time until I demo'd a set...the total float was too much for me. No likee. I have a tendency for my right foot to float inward and tap the crank arm as it goes by so I need to have a 'stop' on that side.
My LBS had a set of SYZRs in stock and I was able to check 'em out. They appear to be like 'adjustable' SPDs...which I consider a benefit.
I also simply like to try new/different stuff. We'll see.

 

[ratz]

Yah, I rode SPDs for years w/o any problems (on various bikes). I was going to go with Frogs this time until I demo'd a set...the total float was too much for me. No likee. I have a tendency for my right foot to float inward and tap the crank arm as it goes by so I need to have a 'stop' on that side.
My LBS had a set of SYZRs in stock and I was able to check 'em out. They appear to be like 'adjustable' SPDs...which I consider a benefit.
I also simply like to try new/different stuff. We'll see.

Excellent it will be good to get a report on how they work I don't think we have anyone riding them. If that doesn't work out Speedplay Zeroes have inner and outer float stop and are good to prevent heel/crank interference.