Manatee Mentors 2016 - Manatee à trois (Page 18)

Originally posted by juniperjen

Originally posted by marysia83

Originally posted by brigby1

Originally posted by marysia83 Biking shoes question: my local bike store has deals every week. This time they have 40% off on bike shoes. I want to take advantage of it, but I have no idea if there's anything I should pay attention to. Does it matter for biking just like it matters a lot for running? Or is it only a matter of comfort?

Mary, just to check, are you looking at pedals too?

Yes, my plan is to have shoes and pedals. I don't want to try pedals before the Sunday race (obviously), so I wanted to do it post racing. I just got that e-mail about the deals on shoes and decided it's great time to use it. I was thinking of waiting until they have deals on pedals too (they have different deals every week). Do you think I should buy everything together? I know nothing about shoes/pedals, and anything else that comes along...

Yes, shoes and pedals go together - you'll install the cleats of the pedals you chose on to the bike shoes. If you don't have pedals and cleats with the shoes they won't be terribly useful.  That said, you it's not a package deal, you can often install any sort of pedal cleat with your shoes ... 

At the very least go in and check out the selection. So you can see what you want. In my experience the supply of what is available for women is limited and if you are flexible about what you want you can get better deals. 

I have a pair of road shoes i got on sale. Road bike shoes are different from Tri bike shoes mostly in the upper. More expert people can chime in. Tri shoes generally have a big velcro strap that make them easier to change. As well as more ventilated, easy dry material. The road shoes are more stiff and often have  different straps or closures (mine have two velcro straps and then a plastic one that snaps and tightens). the soles on both are very stiff and not really meant to be walked in. 

Anyway, that's my low-tech help ... those with more technical knowledge can pipe up ... 

What Jen said, not all shoes and all pedals are friendly.  Road/Tri shoes accept different types of cleats that MTB shoes. Do you have a trainer?  That's a relatively easy way to learn clipping in/out.

Originally posted by marysia83

Originally posted by brigby1

Originally posted by marysia83 Biking shoes question: my local bike store has deals every week. This time they have 40% off on bike shoes. I want to take advantage of it, but I have no idea if there's anything I should pay attention to. Does it matter for biking just like it matters a lot for running? Or is it only a matter of comfort?

Mary, just to check, are you looking at pedals too?

Yes, my plan is to have shoes and pedals. I don't want to try pedals before the Sunday race (obviously), so I wanted to do it post racing. I just got that e-mail about the deals on shoes and decided it's great time to use it. I was thinking of waiting until they have deals on pedals too (they have different deals every week). Do you think I should buy everything together? I know nothing about shoes/pedals, and anything else that comes along...

Ok, good. You can buy separate, but buying together is something to consider, as Dave suggested. You really want to at least look at what you'll get with the first purchase to make sure things work together then maybe hope for a sale. Something to look at from the start is what all you might want to do with the shoes. The reason being is what cleats are compatible. Largely it'll be between two styles in the shoes. Mountain bike (mostly Shimano SPD) uses two slots to bolt up the cleat while road & tri use 3 bolts to work with several types of cleats (major ones are Shimano SPD-SL, Look, or Speedplay). Some tri and maybe road shoes can have both types, but not sure that many do. The two basic bolt patterns of mountain vs road aren't even close to working with each other.

For me, what to consider here with that is how much you might walk around with these shoes. Mountain shoes have been substantially better for that as they have additional molded cleats on them so you get a good grip. Road shoes can be like walking on ice. You get used to it, but it's never great. It does vary with cleats and some have cleat covers to help and try with a little bit of softer material on the sole, but it's still been a pretty big difference from what I've experienced. Road systems can have a few types of straps or attachments that it's probably better trying out than explain. It'll work with overall shoe comfort too. Tri shoes tend to be designed with quicker on/off in mind in the strap design, more ventilation, and tend to be sockless.

There are some differences in the road cleat systems, but that's probably enough to think about for now.

For some reason I'm thinking your bike may have down tube shifters, so some steel toe clips could be in order?  Just kidding. Don't do that. A number of races might not even allow them.

A little more seriously, there are pedal options like these where one side is clip-in like you're looking for and the other is still a flat like you're used to. I don't know everything you may want, and taking the idea of being completely new to this quite literally, so trying to show options and thoughts in a way that makes some sense. Often times with clip-in pedals you have to wear the shoes as the pedals are awkward at best with anything else.

Something to know is that shoes & pedals tend to last a long time. I still have the first pair from 11 years ago. Think I got them for just under $100 altogether by watching sales. A pair of road shoes lasted ~7 years before the straps wore down. Those went through some heavy usage as I'll put up some of highest mileage totals on the board year after year. Think Dave may have some longer examples as I was on gym shoes before that. The cleats will need replacement here and there, but the more expensive shoes and pedals tend to last.

Just to clarify what we are talking about.  

MTB Shoe Example

Note the the cleat is a bit recessed so that you don't step on it when you walk around.

This cleat (above) use pedals like this (below).  Most spin classes will also use this type of pedal by default. Some also support the road pedals shown in the next section.

Road bike shoe example

One type of road shoe cleats, note the three holes for attaching to shoe.

This cleat (above) uses pedals like this (below)

Tr-specific shoe example

(same cleats as road shoes above)

Originally posted by marysia83 THANK YOU all, so much info!! I guess i will see how much all those components cost. I agree that it will make sense to buy everything together. I would also be able to start riding with the whole thing as soon as possible (and not waiting until maybe new deal on cleats comes in few months). But then again, I have no idea how much each part costs. I don't think I will go with mountain shoes, as I don't have mountain bike and I really enjoy triathlon biking and riding to/from work, and bike paths on my road bike. In that case, i will take a look at road vs. tri shoes and go from there. I will definitely watch the video (when I'm out of work). Thank you!!

I have stayed out of the discussion up until now (darn job!) but I will say that my tri shoes have been fine for eveyday riding, my road shoes didn't work great for triathlons. They work, but not great. My tri and road bike now have the same pedals, and I need to get a third pair for my fixie, although swapping pedals is a 3 minute job, so I'm in no hurry. The only other part is that some cleats may look the same, yet are sized differently. My Origin8 pedals look like many Shimano pedals yet use a slightly smaller cleat. Easy to figure out how I know this, huh? So, if you are buying from your LBS, you'll save yourself some frustration of figuring out what goes with what and how do I tie it all together. They should put it all together for you (bring the bike). Also, don't be afraid to walk a few steps in the store in the entire shoe/cleat combo, just to see the Ice rink Ben mentioned.

Congratulations Laura on another first.

I'd agree with the replacement, just from a mental comfort aspect. The tire would probably be fine, and I'd keep it as a spare anyway.  But if I had to guess, I'd think you'd be thinking about it just about every time you hit a bump or roll through some debris on the road. You race in a few weeks, so if I were you, I'd make the change.

Which brings us to tire choices. What is everyone riding on the road these days? 23's or 25's? Tire changes for race day?

Wht kind of mileage do you have on them?

I was riding between the Continental Attack/Force and the GP4000S II. 23 on tehe GP and the A/F only comes in 22f, 24r, so I don't know if they would be so good for some of the newer fast rims. Fine for my current wheels, but for something like the Bontrager Aeolus D3 they would actually be small. 25 at least for those or the rims can hit the ground when you turn. Probably so for a few others too.

Ah, a timely subject!  I have Gatorskins on for training and was just thinking about putting my slicks back on for my race this weekend.  I have 23s.

On the subject of bikes...

For the Harvest Moon aquabike in CO in Sept, I'm renting a Specialized Roubaix Comp Disc road bike because I don't want to deal with flying my bike out there.  It (the Specialized) has a 50/34 crankset and 11-32 cassette.  Rico, my tri bike, has the same crankset but a 12-25 cassette.  Will I be searching around for comfortable/comparable gears or will it be a mostly seamless transition?  It's a rolling course, from what I hear, will this be OK gearing for such terrain?

You might notice some. Depends on a few things. I notice gaps less now than I used to because my cadence range is wider than before. If you're going from 10 spd to 11 spd, the gaps will be less as part of that will be from an additional gear. Then there is how the term "rolling" is incredibly vague and used to describe most everything. I think with more frequent terrain changes you might not notice as much. I've tended to notice more when things are a bit flatter or steadier as it's more likely speeds will be maintained for longer periods. More frequent terrain changes and I'd be passing through the range fairly quick. Like the Poconos roller coaster or the single track mountain biking could really exemplify that.

Have you used disc brakes before? Especially with the hydraulic, they can grab hold pretty quick and easy. Don't think it takes much to get used to it. Would be a surprise if the first time was in the race though.

With 200 miles on them, I wouldn't worry too much about replacing both, unless the cut one was not the rear trainer wheel. I'm not using a trainer, so I am not really familiar with wear from that sort of thing, but it might help to take a look at the wear dimples. The less of them you see, the more worn the tire. 

Now that you said it with the steep, is this race in Colorado? They can have a different idea of "rolling". That said, is this the event? From there it really doesn't look like trouble. If there is anything hard, it's likely to be shorter at least.

That's what I ride.

With 200 miles on them, just take off the front wheel and go back to the LBS with them, ask them to inspect it and see what they say.  When they inspect it, they should take it off and look at the inside as well. The worst thing that can happen is they will sell you a tire that you don't really need.

Yup, that's the event, Ben.  I get the impression from Mary S. and from looking at the elevation profile that nothing is too terribly steep, mainly longer, extended hills, and the terrain is similar to what I'm used to riding around my area.  Over 1 lap (26 miles) the elevation gain is 1175, less than or around what I generally encounter on local rides.  For example Sat. I rode 21 miles and had close to 1500 feet of climbing but was also seeking out some hills.

Disk brakes: I have them on my MTB, so I have experience with them.