very newbie here, my seat hurts help

[Cassandra_Cain]

Hi, welcome

You are making a wise choice by getting back into riding. Not just for your health but it is fun, I'm sure you already know!

Seats are rather specific and a matter of personal preferrence. Some people swear by a particular model, while others may swear at that same model! The easiet thing to do, most practical anyway, is go to your local bike shops and see them in person. You can usually get them to put a seat on a bike, that way you'll have a much better idea of how they feel.

As far as gears, well I don't know the setup on your bike specifically but I can give you a few pointers.

Your bike has gears in the front, where the pedals are, as well as those in the back, at the center of the back wheel. One set of shifters, usually on the left side of the bars, controls the gears in the front, while the set of shifters on the right, controls the gears in the back.

If you want the pedalling to be easy, then use the smallest gear in the front combined with the largest gear in the back. This will make the pedals turn with the least amount of effort, but, the tradeoff, is you'll go slower. If you are just getting started OR going uphill, this might be useful

On the flip side, the fastest (but hardest to pedal) combination on your bike, is the big gear in the front combined with the smallest gear in the back. That will give you the most speed, which is useful going downhill or if you are really strong.

Play with the shifters a little on the bike, somewhere safe like an empty parking lot, and you'll see quickly how the bike responds. Practice a little and you'll do fine.

[mimitabby]

Dear Tallented1
Wow, you have made a big step. Keep reading all you can here and posting too.
I just wanted to address the gears thing.
It took me years to really understand them. (ah, heck, i still don't REALLY understand them)
there are two or three on the front and a whole bunch on the back.

The main thing is you don't need to worry which is which, just learn which direction to push them when the pedalling gets too hard (like up a hill) or when the pedalling gets too easy.. (like spinning out of control)
That's really all you have to know until you start getting more comfortable.
Bike riders arent thinking "hm, i'm in 4th gear, need to go up or down"
they're just pushing levers until they're comfortable.

Keep posting good luck.

[nicola77]

hello im also new on here and have just taken up riding the last time i rode a bike i was 19 im now 28 and very unfit . i really enjoy going out on my bike but lack motivation any suggestions .

[xeney]

For the saddle, you might look around for a Terry Liberator on sale. I have seen them as low as $25 recently; I picked one up for $35 at Performance. It might or might not work for you, but it's a pretty good saddle, and I am guessing you are riding a bike that's fairly upright.

Someone might even have a used one they'd be willing to sell you.

[Cassandra_Cain]

hello im also new on here and have just taken up riding the last time i rode a bike i was 19 im now 28 and very unfit . i really enjoy going out on my bike but lack motivation any suggestions .

There is no other suggestion I can give you (or anyone) than to have fun!

When I do something fun, (ride up a big hill, or whatever), then it stops being work or some chore. Plus I'll do it without needing to motivate myself, etc. Conversely, if something isn't fun, then I know I won't stick with it.

Make your riding fun, however you think works best, and you'll see that getting out to ride becomes a habit.

[matagi]

Hi Talented1,

try the following link for a guide to gear changing .... I hope you find it useful.

http://www.womenscycling.com.au/info...a=4&b=22&c=124

[Trekhawk]

hello im also new on here and have just taken up riding the last time i rode a bike i was 19 im now 28 and very unfit . i really enjoy going out on my bike but lack motivation any suggestions .

nicola77 - do you have someone you can ride with. If someone is waiting for you to ride its a good motivator. If you dont turn up they get grumpy and you dont want a grumpy riding companion.

[DDH]

Tallented1, all I can say is yeah for you!!! I too am fairly new at biking again. I started biking 10 years or so ago with my husband about 2 years after the birth of my son, from the recomendation of my doctor. We rode quite frequently taking my son with us in the pull behind trailor. It was great, but as he got older and too heavy to pull anymore, and couldn't leave him home alone, and work, and just life, we quit. Well, like I said that was 10 years ago. I have now gotten my bike back out to start again, because, I am 42, overweight and want to be around longer and healthy while I am here.
I too have arthritis in my hip, but the biking doesn't bother that to much so I think you need to make sure your bike is fitting you correctly. Even though you didn't buy it from the LBS, try taking it in there, or calling them and ask them if they will help you fit your bike correctly. I'm like you if it is painful and a struggle, I am not going to stick with it long.
My biggest inspiration has been coming to this site and reading all the information. The stories of these women, who all have different shapes, sizes, ablities and talents, and get out there and just do this. These women are the best support and will help you in anyway they can. They help keep you motivated and help with problems, and tell you everything you might need to know or should know.
There is a lot of information on the site if you search for anything you want to know you will probably find many threads on it, but if not, you can always ask again, nobody has seemed to mind that either, or will tell you how to search. Gather all the information you can, and don't give up.
I've been going at it for almost a month now, and the more I go, the more I enjoy it. I still have mornings or days that I don't want to get out there and go, but if I make myself and go, I find that I am very happy for doing so.
I feel worse on the days I don't ride than I do on the days I ride even if it's a short one.
Oh, if you don't want to spend a lot of money right now, Wal-Mart, has some little cheap computers for you bike to give you distance, mph, and so on. I just bought one for 10 dollars for my son's bike because I did not want to spend a lot of money on one for him right now, but he wanted one. I don't know yet how well it works cause like I said I just got i a couple of days ago, and DH has not put it on his bike yet. But that is a thought.
Man, sorry this was so long.

[SouthernBelle]

Hi,

You've gotten lots of good advice about saddles and gears. Until I started riding seriously earlier this year, I really didn't understand bicycle gearing at all. I thought of gears in terms of shifting in a car, you start with 1st, go to 2nd, etc. But with bikes you can pretty much shift to where ever you are comfortable.

I started with 21 gears (3x7). After reading a little on the internet about how to shift, I put the front in the middle (2nd) and rode shifting just the back gears until I felt comfortable. Then I started working in the shifts on the front gears as I rode up and down hills. Sometimes I would end up spinning madly or pumping so hard that I turned blue in the face, but that's ok. It was how I learned.

HTH