Ouch

Do you spin when you ride, or are you always pushing? The best way to ride is with you feet clipped to the pedals - my preference is clipless pedals - and with power all the way around, not just on the down cycle. (You probably already knew that, but just in case...) Beyond that, you might benefit from stretching as well.

denisegoldberg said:

Do you spin when you ride, or are you always pushing? The best way to ride is with you feet clipped to the pedals - my preference is clipless pedals - and with power all the way around, not just on the down cycle. (You probably already knew that, but just in case...) Beyond that, you might benefit from stretching as well.

Thanks for your quick response. I ride with clips. I try to vary my rides, one ride spinning, one pushing, one with hills (hard to find where I live), and one easy. I'm looking to get clips and shoes in the near future. Right now I'm leaning to Look and SIDI. Any words of wisdom?

I ride only road and touring bikes, and I use Sidi (women's) Dominator shoes with Speedplay Frog pedals - both classified as MTB equipment.

I used to use road pedals and shoes, but I got tired of dealing with the cleats sticking out of the shoes when I'm off the bike. OK, OK, I know I can change my shoes, but when I'm out riding for the day I'm not likely to carry an extra set of shoes with me... And the Frogs are a free-float pedal system. I've used them for years, and I"m very happy with them.

While I buy most of my clothing online, I'd highly recommend going to a bike shop to try on shoes. The size I take in the Sidi shoes is larger than you would expect from the size of my foot in a street shoe. They fit perfectly once I added a Superfeet insole to the one that was already in the shoe. Sounds like a terrible compromise, but it's not. One size smaller in the shoe was too short, and the size I bought had a little too much room until I tried the extra insole. They are perfect now!

vreese said:

Thanks for your quick response. I ride with clips. I try to vary my rides, one ride spinning, one pushing, one with hills (hard to find where I live), and one easy.

Oh, and on the pushing front - it's not necessary. It's better to spin all of the time!

denisegoldberg said:

I ride only road and touring bikes, and I use Sidi (women's) Dominator shoes with Speedplay Frog pedals - both classified as MTB equipment.

I used to use road pedals and shoes, but I got tired of dealing with the cleats sticking out of the shoes when I'm off the bike. OK, OK, I know I can change my shoes, but when I'm out riding for the day I'm not likely to carry an extra set of shoes with me... And the Frogs are a free-float pedal system. I've used them for years, and I"m very happy with them.

While I buy most of my clothing online, I'd highly recommend going to a bike shop to try on shoes. The size I take in the Sidi shoes is larger than you would expect from the size of my foot in a street shoe. They fit perfectly once I added a Superfeet insole to the one that was already in the shoe. Sounds like a terrible compromise, but it's not. One size smaller in the shoe was too short, and the size I bought had a little too much room until I tried the extra insole. They are perfect now!

Thanks for the tips! I'll try the spinning. I hope it helps. Also thanks for the info about the shoes and pedals. I did try the SIDI and found I needed a bigger size than the chart suggested. The good news is the shoe fit VERY comfortably. So I guess when I get some cash together, I'll take the plunge. In the meantime, you'll see me spinning.

I've heard that if you have aching quads, your seat is too low...aching hamstrings (Calves) it's too high....have you tried raising your seat? Just a few mm's can make a world of difference sometimes...

vreese said:

My quads ache all the time. I'm sure it's from biking. I've been riding more this year than ever before.
Am I doing something wrong?
Any remedies for sore thighs?
Please don't leave me in pain.

cannongirl said:

I've heard that if you have aching quads, your seat is too low...aching hamstrings (Calves) it's too high....have you tried raising your seat? Just a few mm's can make a world of difference sometimes...

You've got me thinking now. I've already got the seat as high as I can tolerate without "swaying" as I pedal. BUT I also have the seat set back as far as possible. I'm gonna try moving it forward a bit. It would be great if I could find a no-cost fix.