Motivating Yourself to Ride

This week I discovered the best motivator to get someone to ride their bike. Take their car away! I was in a fender bender the other day, fortunately everyone was ok, but my truck got enough front end damage that it overheats if I drive it very far. So, I have turned to my bike to get everywhere. I could have and should have been riding my used road bike more places to begin with but it’s easy to come up with excuses when you’ve got a car in the garage. These excuses for me were usually something with the weather, it’s too hot, too cold, too wet, etc. After riding now for a few days I’ve realized that they really are just that…excuses! I feel better from the exercise and in Atlanta, you can keep up with traffic really well so the time it takes isn’t much longer than driving. I also started looking for other ways to use public transport and realized I have been under utilizing it big time. I’m still getting my truck fixed, but I’m planning on continuing to ride as much as I can when I’m just trying to get around town. Obviously, not having other forms of transportation is the strongest motivator to utilize the road bike but I’ve also been thinking what else might help motivate people. Some of them were discussed in previous posts but I’ll mention them again here.

Motivators:

- Cost – This was always my biggest motivator, bikes are extremely cheap when compared to a vehicle.

- Exercise/Health – This is more of a side benefit for me that I’m sure I’ll notice as I get older.

- No Car – When you have no car and you need to get somewhere you have got to find another way.

- Fostering Friendships – Getting rides from friends and meeting new people when you ride are both benefits that you likely don’t think about.

- Environment – The most natural and non-polluting form of transportation I know of other than walking is the bicycle.

- No Tickets (parking/speeding/DUI/etc) – I’ve heard stories of people getting tickets on bikes, but it’s definitely much more rare and very inexpensive if you do get one on a bike.

- Cross Training – This goes alone with the health aspect, but cycling is a very good cross training sport and building your abilities on a bike, will carry over to other sports/activities.

- Adreneline Rush – Depending on how and where you ride, it can be a very exhilarating experience to ride.

I’m sure there are many other things that motivate people to ride and I’d be glad to hear about them in the comments. These are just a few that resonate with me that I hope will also help others realize the benefits of riding used road bikes.

Gearing: Pros and Cons

From previous posts you now know how to covert your used road bikes from multiple speeds to a single speed. It is also possible to convert to from either of those to a fixed gear. I may show you how to do that at some point in the future, but this post will focus on the reasons for converting and the pros and cons of doing any type of conversion. Below is each type of bike setup with a quick definition and what this type of setup is typically used for and below each type are some of the pros and cons of using that type of gearing.

Multiple Speed

A multiple speed is any bike that has more than one gear ratio. Typically, it is accompanied by a shifting mechanism which allows the rider to decide the gearing ratio, depending on the conditions. This type of bike setup is optimal for long distance riding and multi speed bike racing. Since the rider can change gears this setup is also the easiest on the rider. If they get tired they can gear down, if they want to go really fast they can gear up slowly as they pedal, etc. There are also races that are much better suited for multi gear bikes, such as the Tour de Georgia.

Pros:

- Makes long distance riding easier/more efficient

- Allows you to accelerate quickly with less effort (by shifting up as you pedal)

- Efficiency in general

Cons:

- Adds weight

- Additional parts means there are more things that can potentially break or fail

- Rider can get somewhat distracted by the decisions required to change gears

- Typically more expensive

Single Speed

A single speed bike has just one gear ratio and has a freewheel or cassette that allows the rider to stop pedaling and coast.  This type is good for shorter distances and single speed bike racing.

Pros:

- Lighter (no need for a shifter or the extra gears)

- More reliable (less parts means less potential for part failure)

- More mechanically efficient (losing the detailer lets the chain rotate more smoothly)

- Builds strength (since there are no other gears the rider must make up for any changes in terrain)

- Less distractions (the rider can connect better to the bike and the road by not having the distraction of changing gears, it is hard to explain, you have to experience it to really understand)

- Rider can rest while riding (the freewheel or cassette allows the rider to rest while on down hills)

Cons:

- Takes more effort (rider cannot change gears as the conditions change)

- Freewheel or cassette are still moving parts that could break or fail

Fixed Gear

A fixed gear is a bike with a single gear ratio and a ‘locked’ drivetrain.  In other words, the pedals move with the wheel and thus the rider must always be pedaling when the rear wheel is rolling.  This type of bike is also used for shorter distances and typically track racing.

Pros:

- Even lighter (the single cog is lighter than a freewheel or cassette, and with a fixed gear it is possible to ride without brakes)

- More reliable (even less moving parts)

- An even better rider/bike/road connection

- Builds strength and endurance (since the rider cannot change gears or stop pedaling the rider must keep up with the movement of the bike)

- Better handing (since you essentially ‘feel’ the road through the bike, the rider can better handle wet/icy conditions as well as maneuver better through turns and over bumps or gravel covered roads)

Cons:

- Potentially dangerous (the ‘locked’ drive train will tear apart anything that gets caught in it from clothing to shoe laces to fingers; also, if you remove the brakes this could be dangerous if you do not know what you are doing)

- No coasting

- Typically requires a new hub or wheel

- May be difficult to convert to if you have vertical dropouts (no easy way to tension the chain)

- If you use the fixie skid method of stopping you can burn through tires

Any bike is more fun than no bike and as you go down the list above each seems to add a new level of funness to cycling.  There is increased commitment and responsibility for the rider as you progress from one type to the next as well.  The best thing in my opinion is to try it out, keep your old parts so you can go back if you decided you don’t like it but trying it is definitely the only way to get a real perspective.

I’m sure there are also a few other pros and cons that I forgot to mention but for most people this will give you a good idea of what to expect.  If you do have any thing to add or any other pros or cons, please mention them in the comments.

Why Buy Used Road Bikes?

Time to discuss something I probably should have written to begin with and that is why would anyone want a bike, especially one of the many used road bikes I told you how to find. Of course there is the obvious answers, it’s cheaper, helps you avoid traffic, its better for the environment, and it provides good exercise. But the real question is, are these things valuable enough to you and others and at what point does it make sense to invest in used road bikes?

The obvious reason many people would want to buy and ride used road bikes is because of the savings associated with bicycle transportation. If you use the techniques mentioned in the previous post, you should have no problem finding a decent ridable road bike for less than $30 (or find a non working one for cheaper and learn how to make the simple repairs for well under this amount to get a good running bike). Now, let’s take a good look at this.

Depending on what kind of car you drive, you likely spend this much on a single tank of gas or double this is you drive a gas guzzler. The typical vehicle gets an average of 350 miles per tank (or per $30). Lets assume you buy a road bike and ride it 10 miles (which is hardly anything on a road bike) per day instead of driving…whether it be to a friends place, the store, work, etc. By doing some simple calculations, you’ll see that it takes approximately 35 days to save a tank of gas. This means that after just over a month, the bike has paid for itself. And every month after that you are saving $50 by riding just 10 miles a day instead of driving. What could you do with an extra $500-$600 a year?

This is all assuming you still need a car for other things…which many people do. But if you live near the city, work from home, or live close enough to all the places you visit regularly and don’t have to own a car at all then you’ll have enormous savings from: the cost of a car, maintenance, insurance, tax/tags, etc., which could easily amount to $5000 or more per year. What could you do with an extra $5000 a year?

I’m sure at a later date I’ll discuss the health, environment, and time benefits of riding a road bike, but I think this single example gives you enough incentive to at least start searching and considering the potential of used road bikes.

Another quick thing I’d like to address is why buy USED road bikes? Why not just buy a new one? A few reasons. One, is because the more you spend on the bike the more it will need to be ridden to pay for itself. This is fine if you know you are going to be riding it a lot, which leads me to the second reason. Many people buy brand new bikes then they sit in their garage or basement for weeks, months, years and hardly ever get used. By buying used road bikes you’ll be able to get the same result by spending much less, then if you don’t use it as much as you had hoped it’s no big loss (you’ll have a road bike for your neighbor when s/he comes a knockin’). The point is, new road bikes are pretty, light, comfortable but they still only get you from point A to point B, and used road bikes can do this just as well at a fraction of the cost.

That’s all for now…subscribe/stay tuned for tune up and maintenance tips!