Aug 06 2010

Why It’s Time to Go by Bike with Trek Mountain Bikes and Road Bikes

Posted by biker in Mountain bikes

The Trek bicycle corporation is as well known for its advocacy work as it is for the quality Trek mountain bikes and road bikes that it produces. Now, this month it is supporting some of the biggest cycling advocacy groups in the UK by lending its support to Go by Bike month for the second year running. Through the month there’ll be offers at participating dealers of trek mountain bikes and road bikes so if you were going to treat yourself to a Trek, do it this month! Throughout June, buying from the range of Trek mountain bikes or road bikes will get you a year’s free membership to either the LCC or the CTC. There’s also a free cycling information pack from sustainability group Sustrans. In addition to all this, buying Trek mountain bikes or road bikes will get you a free helmet in June.

Trek first launched the Go by Bike campaign in June 2009. Its bottom line aim was to encourage people to use cycling as a means of transport and leisure. This year’s campaign aims to do the same whilst offering additional support to existing cyclists. This is the reason why there is more than just offers on Trek mountain bikes and road bikes available this year. Trek believes that giving free membership to either the LCC or the CTC will give existing cyclists the support they need as well as giving new cyclists confidence. Boosting the numbers of people regularly using bikes to get around has many benefits to health, finance and the environment and increased support for cyclists is always welcome. This all means that this is the month to invest in one from the Trek mountain bikes or road bikes collection.

Aug 04 2010

A Guide To Different Types Of Mountain Bicycle Forks

Posted by biker in Mountain bikes

Changing a mountain bicycle fork is a good way of upgrading your mountain bicycle. These days, forks customarily come with suspension features, to assist with a bike’s handling and maneuverability on rougher terrain. Mountain bike forks are classified in line with the expertise integrated in them. Some bike forks embrace 4X and Soar suspension forks, Freeride / Mountain suspension forks, Every type of suspension fork has its own advantages and downsides, and is developed for explicit surfaces and uses. Important facets of suspension forks embody travel, which is the measurement for the movement of a suspension coil from motion to rest.

Bounce and 4X forks are sometimes have short travel, coil-sprung forks. The coils transfer from eighty to a hundred millimeters sometimes and are made to cushion heavy landings without an excessive amount of entrance-end compression, enabling the rider to instantly recover and continue riding. These are secure forks whose weights are straight in proportion to their durability. These suspension forks are probably the most sturdy.

Freeride Lite or Mountain suspension forks journey more than cross-country forks, with motion as much as round 6 inches at maximum. These forks are expectedly heavier than other fork sorts, rendering lockout even more important. With these forks, most riders are inclined to go along with coil-sprung forks vs air-sprung ones. The coils do make the forks heavier, yet much less on the mercy of harm as soon as the topic of powerful impacts.

XC cross-country forks sometimes have low degrees of journey, and are constructed for gentle weight. These single-crown suspension forks have, on the common, from 80 to 1 hundred millimeters of travel. Forks built for cross-nation bikes now more and more utilise air springs, whereby air stress takes the place of elastometers or springs. Since these already talked about parts are now not current or wanted, the bike’s total weight is lighter. These kinds of suspension forks are additionally simpler to adjust. Nonetheless some riders and manufacturers still use elastometers and coil-sprung forks as these want much less maintenance and take more punishment than XC cross-nation forks.

Cannondale Lefty’s and Headshocks have extra modern suspension fork technology, which integrates all mechanisms contained in the frame of the bike. The fork is quite reliable, with some high-finish variants coming with lockouts for easy adjustment. These forks usually end in extra responsive handling, with active suspension and better traction.

Aug 03 2010

Mountain Biking for Men

Posted by biker in Mountain bikes

Whether you’re looking to get back in shape or simply want to enjoy the outdoors, purchasing a men’s mountain bicycle is most likely the greatest investment you will ever make. After a long and cold winter, most of us are eager to shed off the couple of extra pounds and one of the fastest and at the same time much more pleasant way to do that is biking. You are able to bicycle either on your own, while listening to some great music on your mp3 player, or you can bike with close friends, family or your kids.

Mountain biking, however, is really a completely different story – it is most suitable for men who not only love the outdoor activities, but have excellent passion for adrenaline sports. Going off-road and testing your bike and your own physical abilities to the limit isn’t only challenging, but very rewarding as well.

Nevertheless, the range of mens mountain bike types that are being sold these days is very wide, so what is that you should take into account before buying one?

First of all – don’t let the price be your sole deciding point; numerous stores come up with great offers for men’s mountain bikes, but in most cases these are not mountain bikes at all. The genuine men’s mountain bikes are created to last, they are rigid, but light, with solid frames, up to 32 gears and built for difficult terrains.

The frames with the men’s mountain bikes are sturdy and also the suspension extremely good – in fact, the men’s mountain bikes come with different kinds of suspension namely rigid, soft-tail, hard-tail or dual suspension. Now, which 1 of those you choose depends completely about the terrain that you intend to concur.  Most guys will go for the rigid suspension, but even though this might be a good choice for an uphill men’s mountain bicycle, downhill bikes are completely different story – then you’ll require a minimum of 5 inch travel full suspension (front and rear).

When buying your bike, make certain that you choose one that fits: although this may sound like common sense, it is something that first-time buyers easily overlook. Whether you’re heavy guy, medium-built or skinny, make certain which you really feel comfortable on the bike – if at all possible, ride it for a few minutes and if anything simply doesn’t really feel correct, take a look at another 1.

The brakes of the men’s mountain bikes are of two types: disk brakes and rim brakes; the disk brakes use newer technology and they provide much much better braking and are preferred by most bikers. Nevertheless, they are slightly heavier and a tad pricier, so if this is essential to you, you might opt in for the rim brakes.

Let’s face it – purchasing a good men’s mountain bicycle will cost you at least a couple of hundred, so you ought to make certain which you get it right the very first time. Consult your more experienced friends, ask questions about the forums, and once you have created up your mind, shop around for a better deal. And when you get your dream bike, simply go out and have a great time!

Aug 02 2010

Tips for Buying Men’s Mountain Bikes

Posted by biker in Mountain bikes

Buying a men’s mountain bike can be a pricey affair.  If you’re a first-time buyer, there are many choices obtainable and the costs of the bikes range from a couple of hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.  The first step is to determine your budget for a new mountain bike.  Remember to keep cash aside for essential security gear such as gloves, helmet, short and cycling glasses.  If you’re paying the mountain bicycle off, you should also budget for bike servicing costs.  Depending on how much you cycle, your gears and suspension will require expert servicing at regular intervals.

If you’re serious about mountain biking and want to do a fair amount of cycling off-road, then stay away from buying your bike from a cheaper mass-retail store.  Instead, buy it from a dedicated cycling shop.  You’ll get great professional advice from them, too as better after-sales service.  Figure out where you’ll be riding your mountain bicycle most from the time.  Should you intend to ride on trails in your area, then discover out how rough the terrain is and how steep the inclines are.  You will find plenty of types of mountain bikes that cater to specific disciplines and terrains.  If the trails are mostly flat, with few steep inclines, then it is a not advisable to purchase a bicycle designed for high speed downhill racing.

Men’s mountain bikes have numerous frame kinds and various suspension systems.  You will require to find out what is much better for you: a comfortable mountain bicycle with soft rear and front suspension, or a slightly harder setup with limited front or back suspension for much more competitive riding.  Usually, the more travel the shock absorbers have, the much better suited the mountain bicycle will be to rough terrain.  Mountain bikes with independent front and rear shock absorbers tend to be less efficient with pedal energy than the stiffer single suspension bikes.  This only truly matters in races.  For casual cycling, concentrate more on comfort and safety than speed.

Pieces for off-road bikes can give you a lot of opportunity to modify your bike for your riding style and also the terrain you ride on.  Mountain bicycle tires are manufactured for all types of surfaces.  This means that some tires are smooth, others have some tread for on and also off-road bicycling and many are devoted for off-road with knobs and tread.  There are even tires manufactured for cycling in rain and snow.  The next large component selection after frame and suspension types, is the braking system.  You’re capable to select conventional rim brakes, or the a lot more modern disk brakes.  Disk brakes are a lot more costly and a bit a lot more maintenance and they are heavier.  However, disk brakes permit for much more stopping power and are a lot more versatile for stunts and tricks.

Select a good, reliable dealer when purchasing your mountain bicycle.  Make sure they are reliable enough to service and repair your bike in the future.  Arrange to test ride as many various types of mountain bicycle as you can to discover what ride suits you.  Find reviews on men’s mountain bikes on the internet and in biking mags in order to complete your selection.

Aug 01 2010

Cycling and Wheels

Posted by biker in Bike Models

The first bicycle wheels were made from horse drawn cart wheels!   Wooden wheels with a metal band around the bicycle rim were very hard and uncomfortable to ride.  Cycling became much more fun when the pneumatic tire was invented and tarred roads came along.    And after the first wooden rimmed wheels there  came steel, alloy and now if you can afford it, carbon.  When you’re getting some bike wheels these days you can choose between a heap of things  including the material used, the shapes/cross-section and the hub construction ( spoked or solid ).

Out of all the bicycle parts the wheel rim can make a big difference to how your bike handles .  If you’re into bike workouts where you’re moving fast, this can be important, and if you’re a sprinter or climber then you need light wheel rims so that you don’t get slowed down.  With road biking, where the surfaces are flat and even, it’s easier to get the wheels rolling and then the weight gives you good momentum to keep moving  .

Flat rims are best for climbing, as aerodynamics are not so important on a hill, while a deep section, aerodynamic wheel rim will help you cut through the air if you’re moving fast ( you can get some handling problems with these in strong cross-winds though  ). So the shape of the rim can be important too.

The material used in a bike rim should be taken into account.  Steel is heavy can be hard to repair if a wheel gets damaged, but it’s also quite difficult to bend in the first place and cheaper than all the other materials.

Alloy is probably the most popular now-days.  It can be made into any shape and profile, flat or aero, but not too deep as it would then weigh too much.  Most deep section rims have an alloy braking section nearest the tire which is then mounted to a carbon deep section for lightness and aerodynamics .

The best wheel rim would have to be an all-carbon one.  Carbon is strong and very light, but in wet conditions their braking isn’t so good.  so you need special brake blocks for carbon which are quite expensive.  Also the rim has to be perfectly round and not have any bulges in the rim wall or the braking can become erratic.  Carbon is a difficult material to work with and must be well looked after.

The type of tire you intend using also influences what rim you go after.  There are two types:

  1. Tubular tires are glued onto the bicycle rim.  They cost more and are difficult to repair after a puncture,  but for racing they feel and ride terrifically.
  2. Clincher tires fit into the rim.  They’ve improved a lot recently and are nearly as good as tubulars for performance and are easily repairable and cost far less.

So there’s a lot to decide on, but one good thing these days is that wheel are are manufactured in all these variations and in sets  – Mavic, Shimano and Campagnolo are probably the best known, and there are other brands as well.  The manufacturers produce the wheels as complete units so that you can buy them already set-up for whatever style of riding you’re into  .