How do you find the right seat height?
If you ride with the seat too high or low, you risk knee injuries, lower back pain and reduced pedaling efficiency. So, you can see why we feel that seat height is one of the most important bike adjustments. If you wish to make the adjustment on your own, however, here’s one easy method (all you need is a helper):
Put on cycling clothes (including shoes) and start adjusting by leveling the seat and centering its rails in the seat post clamp. Now, to find the right height, place the bike in a doorway so you can hold yourself up. Have your buddy stand behind you where he can watch your legs and hips. Get on the bike, place your heels on the tops of the pedals and spin backwards. The seat height is perfect when your legs are completely extended as the pedals reach the bottom of the pedal stroke with your heels on the pedals. If your hips rock sideways, the seat is too high. If there’s any bend in the knees, the seat is too low.
With the seat at this height, you’ll have to bend your knees slightly, when you’re riding with the balls of your feet over the pedals (where they belong), which should be the most comfortable, efficient and injury-free saddle position.
Now that you’ve taken the trouble to find the best seat height, it’s a great idea to mark the setting by wrapping a bit of tape around the post. If you have any questions or need help adjusting your seat height, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help.
How high should the handlebars be?
The bars should be adjusted so that you’re comfortable. But, before you do anything, keep in mind that it’s not always easy to raise or lower bicycle handlebars. So, your first step should be to come by or call us to explain what you’d like to do. We can then help you with it.
As for what height is correct, don’t assume that the higher the bars are, the more comfortable you’ll be, because that’s usually not the case. In fact, if the handlebars are too high, most of your body weight gets shifted to the seat, which usually causes saddle soreness. Worse, high bars can spur lower-back pain because jolts from bumps come up through the rear wheel and pound your posterior and back.
Ideally, the correct handlebar height results in a comfortable riding position that balances pressure on the body’s contact points so no one part suffers. Your hands, arms, shoulders, back and neck should feel relaxed and natural when you’re riding. What’s right for you also depends on the bike and how you ride.
To evaluate handlebar height, lean your bike against a wall and place a yardstick on the seat (if the seat’s not level, make sure the yardstick is) so that the end of the ruler extends over the bars. You can then see how high the handlebars are in relationship to the seat height, which is a good way to judge bar position.
Most cyclists prefer a bar position that is about the same height or slightly higher than the saddle. But, folks who ride more, maintain a faster pace, and are more flexible, generally like having their handlebars below the height of the seat.
What can I do to prevent flat tires?
The first step is getting a good bicycle floor pump. Once you have a floor pump, use it to check your tires regularly and ensure they’re properly inflated. This is important because the number-one cause of tire problems is riding with too little air pressure. This happens because bicycle tubes naturally seep air, so even if your bicycle is just parked in the garage, the tires soften over time.
Soft tires make it harder to ride. Worse, they increase the risk of flat tires two ways (this holds true for road and off-road rubber): They’re more likely to pick up debris, which may work into the tires and pop the tubes. Second, when you hit holes, ruts, rocks, etc., soft tires can deform to the point that the rim pinches the tube (between the rim and obstacle) and cuts it in two places, which is what’s known as a pinch flat or snakebite puncture (because the holes in the tube resemble a snakebite). Besides damaging the tube, this impact can bend the rim, leading to an expensive repair. Under-inflated tires also lack the sidewall rigidity needed for safe cornering. And, too-soft tires wear quicker, too. So, save yourself a lot of hassle and get a good floor pump and top off your tires regularly. We recommend pumping before every road ride and once a week on your off-road bike.
It’s also important to keep an eye on your tires for wear and tear. With enough miles, the tread will wear out or the sidewalls might crack or tear, and when worn like this, tires are much more susceptible to sharp objects. On some road tires, it’s hard to tell when the tread is wearing out because it’s very smooth even when brand new. One way wear is apparent on your rear tire is that it will tend to square off. When the flattened top of your tire is about 5/8 of an inch across, it’s time for new rubber. Also, whenever you can see wear spots on the tread where the threads in the tire casing show through, you know the tire’s worn out. Tracking mileage is another way to gauge condition. Road tires generally last about 1,500 miles when used on the rear and about twice that on the front, though this varies according to the weight of the rider, bike and equipment, and the roads you ride. If you’re unsure, feel free to drop by and we’ll be happy to inspect your tires.
Besides watching for wear and tear, regularly check your tread for cuts and debris. Sometimes a small piece of gravel or glass will get stuck in the tire leaving a small gash and hiding beneath the surface. If you spot these and carefully pick them out, it’ll help ensure they don’t keep working their way through your tire causing a flat.
Flats aren’t always caused by outside objects. Sometimes the culprit is something sharp inside the rim, such as the edge of a nipple hole or a jagged rim seam. Fortunately, there’s an easy trick for telling what’s causing flats. When you get one, remove and inflate the punctured tube, and find and mark the hole. If the hole is on the “belly” of the tube (the same surface the valve is on), something inside the rim popped the tube. If the hole is on the outer surface, it was caused by something that penetrated the tire and tube.
Of course, it’s very important to find and remove anything that caused a flat. Run your glove or a rag around the inside of the tire in both directions and it will snag on anything sharp, which you can then remove. For punctures on the tube’s belly, make sure that the rim strip is fully covering the nipple holes and that it can’t move out of position. If you find anything sharp on the rim, sand it smooth with a file or sandpaper.
If you follow all these steps and still suffer more than your share of flats, there are several additional options available, such as flat-resistant tires and tubes, and sealant, which is injected into the tubes to fix flats automatically. Just ask and we’ll discuss your tire trouble and recommend a solution to make flat tires things of the past.
How do I keep my chain clean?
The best way to keep those links looking good is by lubricanting the chain sparingly. Apply a drop to every other link any time you notice that the chain is beginning to look dry. The sign that you’ve waited too long is squeaking. That’s bad. It means the links have become dry and that if you keep riding, you’ll accelerate chain and sprocket wear (it’s also a lot harder to pedal). So lube the chain immediately.
When you apply lube, let it sit a bit and then wipe off the excess. You don’t want too much oil on your chain because it’ll pick up dirt (which makes things wear faster) and increase the amount of grime that builds up in your sprockets and derailleurs.
If you make the mistake of using too much lube or a heavy oil not made for bicycle chains, you’ll probably turn the drivetrain into a black mess. Depending on how filthy it is, you might be able to clean the links by thoroughly wiping the chain with a rag. Then, spend some time wiping at the links until the chain is as clean as you can get it. Also, wipe the chainrings and derailleurs to degrease them. Doing this once will convince you that it’s worth it to use the right lube and not too much of it.