Back into cycling after 37 years

[LJR69]

'It's like riding a bike. You never forget!' - I'm surprised just how true that statement is. So my father has Parkinsons and is at the stage where he can no longer cycle (he used to cycle a lot). So he gave me his 2016 Ridgeback World Voyage touring bike. Here are my first impressions of getting back on a bike just two weeks ago (in case anyone cares ).

1. "How the [redacted] [readacted] do you change gear on this [redacted] thing?!" (my 17 year old son worked it out for me in the end, btw it's a Shimano Sora 3x9). Way back you used to have those two levers mounted on your frame. I love how it is now.
2. "Blimey, this is a lot more comfortable than a) it looked like it was going to be, and b) I remember"
3. "Where can I go without any traffic" - this is the biggest inhibitor to getting back on a bike - riding on public roads. As a kid of 14 I didn't care a jot, but I feel more of a sense of my own mortality now. I've now done some 'not too busy' roads and getting my confidence back. My first ride was around Greenham Common for just 4.5km (all tightly packed gravel) which went well. Since then I've done two 10 mile rides.
4. "Should I join a cc?" - I'm still battling this question. The most I've done so far is 10 miles, one purely on gravel, and the other on roads (with a cheeky little 7.6% grade of about 600m, which I nearly blew up on). I don't have a clue yet whether my avg speed is good enough for the distances of, say 20 miles.
5. "Woah! The maintenance/engineering aspects of cycling are a ton of fun!" - really enjoying getting to catch up on the technology, learn about my bike, spending two days prepping it for my first ride, etc. I love this aspect of cycling.
6. "Am I overthinking what pressure my tyres should be?" - if you want to see a ton of seemingly conflicting information out there, then this is the topic. I'm also a gentleman of a more generous carriage (around 90-95kg) and so some calculators don't even go up to that lol. Anyway, my tyres are rated for 85psi and I've got them at 80psi for now - seems okay
7. "Cycling clothes are not for lard arses getting back on a bike" - yeah....still battling with that one. Have since found Fat Lad At the Back who cater for people like me (didn't link in case that's against forum rules)
8. "Drop bar, hoods, the flat bit of the bar when you really do have to sit upright...I'm like I have ants in my pants...I need to know which to ride and when a bit more consistently. Luckily I have the flexibility to ride all those positions still. I tend to be riding mostly on the hoods now. (assuming I've got the right term there)
9. "The state of our roads in this country...I mean wt.." - even though I knew our roads were pants, this has been like taking a microscope to them!
10. 'I can't believe just how much fun AND addictive it is' - I have to be honest here, I've caught the bug big time. I've even, perhaps prematurely some may think, bought a Cannondale Topstone 105 Carbon which I pick up on Friday just to have something different, good all rounder, and really nice to ride around the New Forest. Also my mate has a MTB which he's now dusted off as well.

Anyway, if you read this far.....why aren't you out on your bike instead!

Also, if anyone wants to give me their view on what pressures I should have in the Topstone's 700c x 37c tubeless tyres (for say 60/40 road/gravel riding) for a weighty 90kg lump - I'm all ears (I'm thinking 42 psi front and rear, perhaps slightly more at the rear)

 

[mjr]

Also, if anyone wants to give me their view on what pressures I should have in the Topstone's 700c x 37c tubeless tyres (for say 60/40 road/gravel riding) for a weighty 90kg lump - I'm all ears (I'm thinking 42 psi front and rear, perhaps slightly more at the rear)

There's a BQTireDrop PDF graph out there somewhere, but I think 37mm width are actually quite easy in that a good starting point is for the two tyre pressures to add up to roughly your body+bike+luggage weight, assuming it's within the pressure range on the tyre sides. So maybe 40 front and 60 rear?

Experiment if you like. Too soft and it'll feel hard work and you may "bottom out" crossing kerbs, most likely getting a typical "snakebite" puncture. Too hard and it'll feel awful. Far too hard and it can push the tyre off the rim and pop, but I've only seen that happen twice in 40+ years.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

45 psi front will be in the ball park. I have 37mm front and have them at 40 psi. I weigh 71 kg.

 

[Grant Fondo]

'It's like riding a bike. You never forget!' - I'm surprised just how true that statement is. So my father has Parkinsons and is at the stage where he can no longer cycle (he used to cycle a lot). So he gave me his 2016 Ridgeback World Voyage touring bike. Here are my first impressions of getting back on a bike just two weeks ago (in case anyone cares ).

1. "How the [redacted] [readacted] do you change gear on this [redacted] thing?!" (my 17 year old son worked it out for me in the end, btw it's a Shimano Sora 3x9). Way back you used to have those two levers mounted on your frame. I love how it is now.
2. "Blimey, this is a lot more comfortable than a) it looked like it was going to be, and b) I remember"
3. "Where can I go without any traffic" - this is the biggest inhibitor to getting back on a bike - riding on public roads. As a kid of 14 I didn't care a jot, but I feel more of a sense of my own mortality now. I've now done some 'not too busy' roads and getting my confidence back. My first ride was around Greenham Common for just 4.5km (all tightly packed gravel) which went well. Since then I've done two 10 mile rides.
4. "Should I join a cc?" - I'm still battling this question. The most I've done so far is 10 miles, one purely on gravel, and the other on roads (with a cheeky little 7.6% grade of about 600m, which I nearly blew up on). I don't have a clue yet whether my avg speed is good enough for the distances of, say 20 miles.
5. "Woah! The maintenance/engineering aspects of cycling are a ton of fun!" - really enjoying getting to catch up on the technology, learn about my bike, spending two days prepping it for my first ride, etc. I love this aspect of cycling.
6. "Am I overthinking what pressure my tyres should be?" - if you want to see a ton of seemingly conflicting information out there, then this is the topic. I'm also a gentleman of a more generous carriage (around 90-95kg) and so some calculators don't even go up to that lol. Anyway, my tyres are rated for 85psi and I've got them at 80psi for now - seems okay
7. "Cycling clothes are not for lard arses getting back on a bike" - yeah....still battling with that one. Have since found Fat Lad At the Back who cater for people like me (didn't link in case that's against forum rules)
8. "Drop bar, hoods, the flat bit of the bar when you really do have to sit upright...I'm like I have ants in my pants...I need to know which to ride and when a bit more consistently. Luckily I have the flexibility to ride all those positions still. I tend to be riding mostly on the hoods now. (assuming I've got the right term there)
9. "The state of our roads in this country...I mean wt.." - even though I knew our roads were pants, this has been like taking a microscope to them!
10. 'I can't believe just how much fun AND addictive it is' - I have to be honest here, I've caught the bug big time. I've even, perhaps prematurely some may think, bought a Cannondale Topstone 105 Carbon which I pick up on Friday just to have something different, good all rounder, and really nice to ride around the New Forest. Also my mate has a MTB which he's now dusted off as well.

Anyway, if you read this far.....why aren't you out on your bike instead!

Also, if anyone wants to give me their view on what pressures I should have in the Topstone's 700c x 37c tubeless tyres (for say 60/40 road/gravel riding) for a weighty 90kg lump - I'm all ears (I'm thinking 42 psi front and rear, perhaps slightly more at the rear)

I was going with 60 psi on my 700x38c gravel bike during the winter. Swapped to Conti 32c@ 80 psi over summer, faster but still comfy

 

[LJR69]

Thank you all for the tips. I've gone with 40 on the front and 60 on the rear at the moment following mjr's 'rule of thumb' advice. I'll see how they feel this evening.

 

[Older then dirt]

I'm in the same boat lol, only recently rode a bike after 15/20yrs, had a old MTB give me.....it's ugly but has two wheels. I had a falcon road bike yes ago, 12 gears ......the bike I have now 21 gears, grip shift (oh yes very interesting), brakes I found out have knoodles fitting......ok. I'm just fluffing along on 5 mile round trip lol, I'm a lard bucket so doctor told me. All in all fun, but this new tech ain't easy lol