> > On Sat, May 9, 2009 at 7:02 PM, paul stenquist > <pnstenqu...@comcast.net> wrote: > > I ought to start riding a bike. I run five days a week, but > my knees and > > legs are getting too old for that. I have a Nishiki > Colorado trail bike > > hanging in the garage. It's about 25 years old. Needs a > fair amount of work. > > Is it worth fixing? Or should I just spring for something new? > > Paul > > As others have already said, it's hard to say if it's worth fixing - > it depends on what it needs. Parts are readily available, but if > you're going to need new derailleurs, cables, brakes, wheels, you > might as well buy a new bike. If it's a matter of a tune up and new > rubber (tires, tubes, brake pads) it's likely cost effective to put > that sturdy frame back on the road. > > Unless you're planning on doing a lot of off-roading, get those knobby > tires off the bike and replace them with smoothies. You'll be much > more comfortable and less fatigued that way. > > And, remember, keep your pedaling cadence up. Low cadence will ruin > your knees. Keep it up around 80 or 90 rpm - it's your most efficient > use of energy and easiest on your knees. >
I'm having a lot of parts replaced and upgraded on my bike at the moment. I spent some time working out the gearing I wanted, so I've put the spreadsheet on my website if it's of any use to anyone. It was useful to me in working out what looks like a good touring / commuting chainset. Put the rear cassette cog details along the top row of each table, and the chainwheel details along the left column and it calculates your gear inches. In the tables on the far right it shows the speed in mph or km/h for a particular cadence you enter - read off the speed against your gearing. If you have small wheels (ie not 700C) you'll need to enter their diameter in inches at the top. www.web-options.com/Gearing.xls Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
