Cycling M A G A Z I N E

U LT I M AT E G U I D E215 TIPS TO MAKE YOU A BETTER RIDER!

Issue number: 402Date: December 24 1992

Price: $0.39

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ExclusiveHOW TO MAKE YOUR BIKE FASTER!

ARE YOU READY?GUIDE ON HOW TO HAVE THE RIGHT SET UP FOR YOUR BIKE TO MAKE YOU READY TO HAVE AN ULTIMATE CYCLING EXPREINCE!

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FEAR!HOW TO TACKLE STEEP ROLL-INS & DROPS WITH CONTROL AND CONFIDENCE

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8 SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR BIKE FASTER!

1. Keep it clean

There is no doubt that a clean bike is a fast bike. That means cleaning your bike is not only for shine and glimmer, but also to improve your speed. This would allow the mech-anisms on your bike to function correctly and effieniently if you have a clean bike. The best way to ensure you achive this is to clean and wipe your bike after a ride and make sure you do not allow dirt to get trapped in tight spaces and build up.

Now, cleaning your bike can be a right pain.The easiest way to keep your bike clean is to get into a rou-tine. Take five minutes after each ride just to give everything a quick wipe down, and then schedule in a more thorough clean after the big weekend ride. And never let your bike get too dirty, as the dirtier it gets, the more hassle it’s going to be to clean, leading it to be less effiecnt.

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2. Lube the chain

Now you’ve scrubbed away at that drivetrain and got it so shiny that it looks like new, you’re going to want to make sure it’s running smoothly too. A well-lubed chain will make your drivetrain more efficient, meaning that none of your effort is wasted through mechanical inefficiency, and will also decrease the amount of grime that the chain picks up on wet rides.

It is essetnial to ensure that you add the right ammount of lube to your chain, not too much and not too little. Slowly add the lube to the inside of the chain while rotating the cranks, and when you’re done be sure to wipe off any excess. When lubing your chain make sure not to over lube it, as this could lead to the lubed chain working againsit you rather than with you. This is because the over lubed chain could become detatched from the chain links and could become jammed.

3. Lower the front end

Here at cycling magzine we are convinced that mproving aerody-namics is the easiest way to ride faster. we have also done experi-ments and tests to try and prove this, and we concluded it is faster on whatever terain it is. if you dont want to splash out and buy a new areo bike you can still take adavan-tage of this by lowering your front end and riding at a lower and more aerodynamic postion.

If you have spacers between your frame and stem this should be pret-ty easy to do. Simply just remove the fork and take out a couple spac-ers so that you can lower your front end. However, be careful when you do this, as your body might not be able to cope with a sudden change in position. take them out maybe one at a time so that you can cope with the heiught and that this does not injur you.

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4. Adjust pedal tenstion

The bad news is that if you don’t properly adjust your pedal ten-sion, then you may as well be using toe clips. Different pedals sys-tems will have different ways to adjust the spring tension, so you’ll need to do your own research here, but make sure you adjust it to give a small amount of float to avoid injuries, while still holding your cleats firmly when riding out of the saddle.

Adjusting the pedal tention will allow your pedals to float ef-feciently and to go with the movement of your feet rather than against it. This will allow all your effort to be put into use, so it is worth doing.

6. Make sure your saddle height is right

It sounds really simple and easy, but its amazing how many people either have their saddle height too high or too low. Having your saddle height at the incorrect height can cause you injuries not just discomfort, but this will also make you slower. Decreasing the efficiency of your pedal stroke and not allowing you to put full power through the pedals.

The distance between your bottom bracket and the top of the saddle should be your inseam measurement minus 10cm, this shopuld now give you an idea about the right saddle height, and now therfore you should be able to go faster.

5. Check your tyre pressure

Of all the tips on this list, making sure your tyres are at the right pressure is not only the easiest, but might also give your the greatest benefits too. Having a low tyre pressure will give you more resistance, therfore more grip on the roads, having a higer tyre pressure will give you smooth-ness and will allow you bike to glide accross terains.

Running a lower tyre pressure of around 90psi might not be as fast on smooth roads, but will mean increased grip, allowing you to go round corners quicker, and improved comfort, decreasing fatigue in your legs over long miles.The varies depending on the type of tyre and ammoiunt of grip the tyre had upon it, but this should give you an idea.

7. Make sure your gears are adjusted properly

Poorly adjusted gears can ruin any bike ride. In fact, I have to admit to coming to home after only a mile or two on a couple of occasions when my gears have been skipping all over the place, due to not being adjusting properly. Making sure your gears are working properly will increase the efficiency of your drivetrain and leave you more confident to to power through terainsm particularly on steep and fast gradients knowing that you’re not suddenly going to be thrown into another sprocket and mess up.

We’ve written a step-by-step guide on how to adjust your front and rear derailleurs on page 46 so there should be able to do it your-self, it might get abit fiddly but the guide should get you through it all smoothly and correctly.

8. Make sure your brakes are properly adjusted

Making sure you can brake properly might not seem like a way to make you faster, but if you can brake later going into corners and carry more speed out of the other side, then you’ll quickly see your speed increase and go faster.Especially if you ride is through tight, narrow and techni-cal lanes.

Especially over winter and bad weather, your break pads are going to wear quite some much so ensure to tightne them to keep the distance between the pads and rims consistant for maximum performance. Also make sure to check you braking cable for signs of wear and tear to en-sure that it does not get jammed mid- break and during a ride, which will not result nicely.