The Unwritten Rules of Cycling That You Need to Know

Cycling is a kind of sport which has many unwritten tradition and etiquette. If you are a novice in this area, then I think what I say later will help you a lot. In this passage, I will try and not spend too much time talking about cycling' unwritten rules?

Question 1:

How to choose the right frame size?

Well if you are completely new to cycling, then actually getting the right position on the bike is something you probably need a little bit of help with, either from the local bike shop or an experienced cyclist. Once you know your preferred position, then you can tell if a frame is the right size very generally by making sure that you don't have loads of seat post hanging out or enough seat post at all, or that you have a stem that's between 100 millimetres and 120 millimetres, and you don't have loads of steerer tube hanging out. But actually, a really cool thing is that you can tell at a glance if a frame will fit you by looking at the stack and reach measurements. Bike manufacturers will have these listed on their websites for every frame size, and you will know if you know your stack and reach measurements, exactly which frame will fit you. Now, if you need help with stack and reach, then this video shows you exactly what they are and how to find them, so it might be worth a watch.



Question 2: people always talk about what foods pro riders eat to enhance their performance, but what foods would you recommend for the majority of people?"

Well, I wouldn't say it's about specific foods, I'd say, first and foremost, you just need a balanced diet. By that, I mean not too much sugar, not too much fat, loads of fruit and vegetables, that kind of things. Now, the video here is actually giving some very solid advice, practical advice on that subject. But the one thing I would say is that if you do take a flapjack out of an oven, that you make sure you wear oven gloves.



Question 3: When should I replace a tire?

Well, if you have a certain tire that will have wear limiters on, which are little indentations, then you will know that when those indentations disappear, that your tire is ripe for replacing. If you don't have those, then effectively you will see the same kind of thing where you will get a flat spot on the tread, so you will literally see that the rubber is wearing out. Or, the other thing to look out for, whether you have got wear indicators or not, in any cuts in the tire. It could be on the side wall, it could be in the tread itself. And those are weak spots that could eventually end up giving you a blowout.

Question 4: We are all aware of the benefits of using nitrogen in our automobile and motorcycle tires, could we see a potential benefit of using it in our bicycle tires? Perhaps helium would be an interesting test."

Well helium I know about actually, because helium molecules are too small, so that when you inflate your bike tire with helium, it will effectively just seep straight out again, so your bike tires can hold normal air, but pure helium just leaks straight out. Chemistry fact for you there! Of which I don't know many, so don't ask more.



Question 5: "With the 6.8-kilo minimum weight for bikes, sorry, why don't they just make crazy lightweight bikes and then bump the weight up by having better brakes on there or am I thinking about this way so simplistically?"

Well, it's definitely a good idea, but the trouble is when you do make bikes super lightweight, is actually, the chance you are gonna lose something in terms of robustness as well. So pro teams, although it might look like they are able to just use bikes and brakes them after a single day, actually they tend to ride the same frames for an awfully long period of time. The other thing, as well, is that if you do happen to crash, you want to be able to get back on your bike again, you don't want to be left holding several different pieces and waiting for your team car. So the robustness, strength, and general longevity is really fundamentally important part of the frame. So going super light just to have better brakes probably isn't practical. But no doubt, people will be doing it very soon.



Question 6: With a 20 kilometer an hour tailwind, are you technically riding into a headwind?

No, you are definitely still riding with a tailwind, but you would conceivably have 20 kilometers an hour wind in your face, but it's still a tailwind. Because you measure the wind speed on the ground.

Question 7: Is it considered taboo to put road tires and the stem on a cyclocross bike"

It is definitely not taboo, it's a great idea. Cyclocross bikes make fantastic bikes for riding on the pavement. The one thing I would suggest that you do, is you take advantage of the big clearance on the bike and actually you put 32 millimeter wide tires on there. So they are really comfy and actually we know now that wider tires roll better and also you can put less pressure on less risk of pinch flat so actually they roll even faster than that. So again, cross bikes on the road, definitely cool.

Question 8: Lately their cranks are making some very loud creaking and popping sound when they ride, how can they fix this problem?"

Creaks on bikes are just the most annoying thing. One of the worst things about it is actually tracking down the source of your creak. I thought I had a noisy bottom bracket the other day and I eventually tracked down the source of the problem as a front quick-release skewer. I kid you not, my front quick-release was making such a noise every time I got on the saddle, but it sounded exactly like a bottom bracket creak. Because of the complexity of this problem, you can check the video below.



Question 9: Should us cyclists play music out loud when riding? Will it annoy other people and other cyclists?"

Which is an interesting slant on the question about listening to music while riding? Normally, it's about having headphones in, and should you do that. Personally, I don't tend to ride with music, because I find it really unnerving if I can't hear traffic coming up from behind. But in terms of playing music out loud, it's a tricky one, that. I don't think it would annoy me if someone did that, but I might think it was a little bit on the odd side. But, if you are in somewhere quiet and peaceful and you are on your own, then play your music! All these questions about etiquette are definitely a complex issue.

unwritten rules while cycling

So here is the end of the passage. I hope this passage do help you in the future when you are cycling. When you have other questions, you can ask your friends who are an expert in the field.