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The Pad Makes a Difference

05.25.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

A short while ago, we were discussing the pros and cons of different saddles.

But I’d like to offer a different take on the comfort issue.

What about your shorts?

Different shorts have different styles of chamois pads. And in my experience, these pads perform differently on different saddles. Here’s an example.

On my Selle San Marco Ponza saddle, I could wear only my good Pearl Izumi shorts with a “Race 3D” chamois. It’s a large pad, with different thicknesses in different sections. It proved to be the most comfortable for the longest time on that saddle.

I also have a pair of Sugoi shorts with an even larger pad than the PIs.  But surprisingly, that didn’t work as well on the Ponza. I got uncomfortable a lot faster than I did with the PIs. I also have a couple of pairs of older Nashbar shorts with minimal thin padding, and found that they were to be avoided altogether.

The Pearl Izumi pad, left, and the Nashbar pad, right.

Now that I have my new WTB saddle with a squishier feel, I find it reacts differently to different shorts. The Sugois are now terrific. My favorite pair of PIs are still OK, but not as good as they were with the Ponza, and no longer as good as the Sugois. My PI bibs, which I had always considered to be an inferior pad to the shorts, even though it’s the same model pad, are now excellent.

The other morning, I rode in those old, cheap Nashbar shorts.  I’ve avoided these ever since getting the Ponza saddle. But now they’re just fine. I rode about 15 miles in a little less than an hour, and didn’t notice my bottom the entire time.

That’s not to say I’m endorsing cheap shorts with a simple thin pad over the high-priced ones.  There’s still a problem with the shorts.  The material is thin, it bunches, and doesn’t hold everything in place as well as the more expensive shorts. Still, I have to say with my new saddle, the thin pad works.

It’s kind of like getting two new pairs of shorts, since I hadn’t worn them for at least a year. The cheapies can be used for hour-long rides. I had what I call a one-hour saddle — these can be one-hour shorts.

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Categories // Equipment, soreness Tags // bibs, chamois, shorts

Is Cycling Dangerous?

05.23.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

Our friend Don Blount got some bad news last week: In addition to a broken wrist from a fall during his first century ride, it turned out that his arm was broken, too.

Don had surgery on the arm Friday, and says it went well, but he’ll be off the bike for six to eight weeks while he heals.

That gives him time to do some thinking. He’s been thinking about his second major crash in the last nine months, and breaking the same wrist in those crashes. On top of that, many of us rode in the Ride of Silence last week, which commemorates riders who died in bicycle crashes.

So Don poses the question: Is cycling dangerous?

Don says some of his non-biking friends are telling him to give up cycling, because it’s “too dangerous.”

A couple of studies done in the 1990s found about 500,000 visits to the emergency room each year in the U.S. as the result of bicycle crashes. Just a small fraction required a hospital stay.  Over half the accidents involved motor vehicles, and road surface and mechanical problems with the bicycle are also common causes of accidents.

That reminded me of a club ride I was on a couple of months ago. We were nearing the end, but had to ride for a short distance on a two-lane highway with no shoulders. The road is hilly and curvy, and we mostly avoid it. When we turned off it to cut across a parking lot to another road, one of the riders remarked how glad she was to have survived another ride.

“Well,” I said, “it seems to me that every time we get on our bikes we’re taking a risk. It could be the car that doesn’t see you, or the car that does, and wants to ‘teach you a lesson.’ Or you could hit some bad road surface and lose your balance, or any number of things. But usually we don’t. We’re smart enough to know the risks and we watch out for problems.”

I guess that’s how I’d answer Don’s question, too. Cycling can be risky, but it’s not inherently dangerous.

Don concurs. “I never thought of riding a bike as dangerous,” he emailed me, “probably because it’s something I learned to do as a child. And if I felt it was dangerous, I doubt I would have taught my children to ride.”

He says his injury occurred because he became overly concerned with one risk factor – cars – and lost sight of another – a railroad track at an intersection bad for riding.

But he also notes that other adults get hurt in sports like skiing, soccer, or basketball, and don’t think twice about getting back to them.

And after his convalescence, he says, “I intend to get back on my bike as soon as I can. After all, I received my new helmet just a few days ago.”

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Categories // crash, Injury, Safety Tags // crash, Injury, Safety

Breaking Out the Mountain Bike

05.20.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

The other morning, my road bike was out of commission. I had taken off its handlebars in anticipation of replacing them with a different pair. As the previous post mentioned, that didn’t happen. And when Pat suggested we get out for a short morning ride, I thought I’d have to decline. Then I remembered the mountain bike.

Why would I forget I have a mountain bike? Because this is the way it spends its time.

It’s not exactly at top of mind. But I did remember it, and realized it would be an excellent way to ride with Pat, and stick close to her. Usually when we ride together, I’ll get way ahead, and stop and wait for her.

So we rode. The fat knobby tires and the squishy front suspension really slowed me down from my usual speed. Several times, Pat pulled ahead of me and stayed there for awhile. Because she had to take a work-related call, we couldn’t ride long. But we did 40 minutes on a favorite neighborhood route, and I got a nice reintroduction to the bike. It has some possibilities.

The first thing that came to mind was that I have to get serious about using it for an errand bike. I’ve run errands on it from time to time, like going out to our community mailbox to pick up our mail. But the supermarket is only a mile from the house, and I should be taking the bike. It’ll just be for the small, occasional items we always seem to need, like milk, bread and cookies.

The second thing to come to mind was modifying the bike. Those knobby tires suck on pavement. I’m going to have to get some narrower, slick tires. Then a rear rack of some kind — and maybe a milk crate to mount on top of the rack to carry larger bags of groceries.

The third thing was — this bike needs help. It will be a great opportunity  for me to develop my repair skills without messing with the road bike.  The mountain bike won’t shift out of the middle ring, and only has use of five cogs there. So over the next few weeks, as the spirit moves me, I’ll be getting some derailleur adjustment time in.

And back when Pat gave me the bike as a birthday present, I never bothered to get a fitting. Time to fiddle with the seat height and fore-and-aft position.

Hey, this ought to be fun. It’s almost just like getting a new bike.

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Categories // Bikes, Maintenance Tags // mountain bike

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