Does Roadmaster have a homepage?

jm said:

with the bike manuals? Thank you. I couldn't find it.

Don't know, but what do you need to find out in a manual?
Bike manuals I've seen are fairly useless generic things
with little or no information on the specific bike. "If your
bike has coaster brakes, than...If your bike has handbrakes,
then...If your bike has dereailleurs, then..."

(jm) said:

with the bike manuals? Thank you. I couldn't find it.

Roadmaster is a mass-market label owned by Pacific; their
manuals are of the one-book-fits-all bring-it-back-if-it-
breaks variety. They don't contain any tech info.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to
reply via email. Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

"David Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jm said:

with the bike manuals? Thank you. I couldn't find it.

Don't know, but what do you need to find out in a manual?
Bike manuals I've seen are fairly useless generic things
with little or no information on the specific bike. "If
your bike has coaster brakes, than...If your bike has
handbrakes, then...If your bike has dereailleurs, then..."

Actually, I was hoping it would explain how the gearing
works and what gear to use in a given situation. I have
googled and read several articles on bicycle gearing
(charts, graphs, tables, calculators and so on), cadence,
etc., but nothing simple like, if I am going up a steep hill
what gear should it be in?

My Wal-Mart cheapo Mt. Fury has on the left handlebar Hi and
Lo and on the right 1 - 5 and I don't know what to use
where. I know what will allow me to get up the hill, but
that's about it (If I remember right it was the lower gear
to get up the hill, but could be wrong here). I don't know
what to have it in on "normal" conditions. I am riding on
paved surfaces, if it matters.

Ideally, *I think* is for me to be able to pedal most of the
time without too much coasting. I am mainly doing it for
cardiovascular exercise and not just for the joy of touring
(no offense.)

Thanks for any input.

On 11 Jul 2004 14:08:59 -0700, [email hidden]

(jm) said:

with the bike manuals? Thank you. I couldn't find it.

Dear John,

As Werehatrack points out, RoadMaster puts most of its
effort into high-quality craftsmanship, not idle literature--
what I found in the overflowing box of manuals where I
tossed my Fury RoadMaster manual several months ago is
absolutely generic, without even a brand mentioned.

You could try stopping by WalMart or wherever you bought
your RoadMaster and seeing if they have your model. If they
do, a quick look might answer your question.

Otherwise, take a stab at explaining what you're looking for--
people are awfully helpful here.

Carl Fogel

jm said:

"David Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jm said:

with the bike manuals? Thank you. I couldn't find it.

Don't know, but what do you need to find out in a manual?
Bike manuals I've seen are fairly useless generic things
with little or no information on the specific bike. "If
your bike has coaster brakes, than...If your bike has
handbrakes, then...If your bike has dereailleurs,
then..."

Actually, I was hoping it would explain how the gearing
works and what gear to use in a given situation. I have
googled and read several articles on bicycle gearing
(charts, graphs, tables, calculators and so on), cadence,
etc., but nothing simple like, if I am going up a steep
hill what gear should it be in?

My Wal-Mart cheapo Mt. Fury has on the left handlebar Hi
and Lo and on the right 1 - 5 and I don't know what to use
where. I know what will allow me to get up the hill, but
that's about it (If I remember right it was the lower gear
to get up the hill, but could be wrong here). I don't know
what to have it in on "normal" conditions. I am riding on
paved surfaces, if it matters.

Ideally, *I think* is for me to be able to pedal most of
the time without too much coasting. I am mainly doing it
for cardiovascular exercise and not just for the joy of
touring (no offense.)

Thanks for any input.

Dear John,

Aha! You've come to the right shop!

I chance to have a Fury RoadMaster.

There are three front sprockets. The smaller the sprocket on
the front, the easier it is to pedal.

There are five rear cogs. The bigger the cog on the rear,
the easier it is to pedal.

In general, for easy, flat, or downhill riding, try
the higher gears--H for high on the front and 5 for
high on the rear.

For toiling up hills or into the wind, drop down a gear or
two on the rear first--from 5th to 4th to 3rd. Still too
hard? Shift the front down from H for high to the middle.
Stiil too hard? Put it in L for low on the front and 1 for
first on the rear.

There are lots of combinations, but you're likely to find a
few that suit your normal ride.

Technically, you'll find it easier to shift and things will
work better if you avoid extreme high and low combinations.

If you're in H for high on the front, stay in 3-4-5 on the
rear.

If you're in L for low on the front, stay in 1-2-3 on the
rear.

For casual riding, it's common to find a comfortable gear
and cruise along in it without worrying too much. I
expect that you could start off and cruise along
comfortably in H and 3.

L 1 Steep or slow L 2 L 3 L 4 L 5

M 1 M 2 M 3 Medium speeds M 4 M 5

H1 H2 H3 H4 H 5 Flat, downhill, fast

Good luck,

Carl Fogel

jm said:

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 14:08:59 -0700, jm wrote:

Actually, I was hoping it would explain how the gearing
works and what gear to use in a given situation. I have
googled and read several articles on bicycle gearing
(charts, graphs, tables, calculators and so on), cadence,
etc., but nothing simple like, if I am going up a steep
hill what gear should it be in?

My Wal-Mart cheapo Mt. Fury has on the left handlebar Hi
and Lo and on the right 1 - 5 and I don't know what to use
where. I know what will allow me to get up the hill, but
that's about it (If I remember right it was the lower gear
to get up the hill, but could be wrong here). I don't know
what to have it in on "normal" conditions. I am riding on
paved surfaces, if it matters.

Simplified gear rules:

Avoid being on the big front/big rear combination, (1/hi, I
think--I don't look at gear numbers) or the small
front/small rear combination (5/lo). It's OK for a very
short distance.

Figure out how hard and fast to pedal comfortably. You can
get the same amount of power by pedaling hard and slow, or
fast and easy. Shoot for faster and easier than you would if
you weren't thinking about it, but not so much that it's
uncomfortable.

Shift the rear gear to maintain this pedaling speed. If you
have to pedal too hard, shift to an easier gear. If you have
to pedal too fast, shift to a harder gear. You'll probably
shift a lot, that's good.

If the next shift of the rear gears is going to violate the
first rule, or you don't have another rear gear in the right
direction, shift it the other way about two clicks and shift
the front. Different bikes need a different number of
clicks, but the result should feel like the next gear.

If possible, just before you come to a stop, shift the rear
to the easiest gear, to help you start easily.

If you are going to stand up and pedal, shift to about 2
gears harder before you stand, especially after you get
comfortable with the fast and easy technique. It's harder to
pedal fast while standing.

Quoted message said:

Ideally, *I think* is for me to be able to pedal most of
the time without too much coasting. I am mainly doing it
for cardiovascular exercise and not just for the joy of
touring (no offense.)

Pretty close. You might pedal a bit harder up a hill,
and rest a bit coming down. Stand occasionally to rest
your butt.

I like cycling, but partly because it's the least boring and
obnoxious form of excercise I know.

jm said:

"David Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jm said:

with the bike manuals? Thank you. I couldn't find it.

Don't know, but what do you need to find out in a manual?
Bike manuals I've seen are fairly useless generic things
with little or no information on the specific bike. "If
your bike has coaster brakes, than...If your bike has
handbrakes, then...If your bike has dereailleurs,
then..."

Actually, I was hoping it would explain how the gearing
works and what gear to use in a given situation. I have
googled and read several articles on bicycle gearing
(charts, graphs, tables, calculators and so on), cadence,
etc., but nothing simple like, if I am going up a steep
hill what gear should it be in?

My Wal-Mart cheapo Mt. Fury has on the left handlebar Hi
and Lo and on the right 1 - 5 and I don't know what to use
where. I know what will allow me to get up the hill, but
that's about it (If I remember right it was the lower gear
to get up the hill, but could be wrong here). I don't know
what to have it in on "normal" conditions. I am riding on
paved surfaces, if it matters.

Ideally, *I think* is for me to be able to pedal most of
the time without too much coasting. I am mainly doing it
for cardiovascular exercise and not just for the joy of
touring (no offense.)

Thanks for any input.

Dear John,

To boil it down, on a Fury RoadMaster, push either thumb
shifter clockwise for higher, faster riding.

If it's too hard to pedal (uphill or wind or whatever), push
then counter-clockwise, one at a time, until you're
comfortable.

Carl Fogel