[879] Bike Goals

I've been having very good discussions about bikes with a friend of mine. He does a better job of researching about lots of bike things and is a bit more experienced with newer tech bikes. Let's just say, as an example, that all I know about bikes is frame size and cassettes and chainrings. Meanwhile he already knows about head angles, crank length, and other more important technical things.

My near daily conversations with him has made me realize that while yes, I still want a gravel bike, I need to be a bit more specific about things I want to have on my bike. And what my priorities are before I even start buying, and possibly building, my own bike. So in this blog post I'll try to write down my priorities when I build a bike.

1. Comfort for posture. I'm definitely aiming to get a frame that is the right size for my height. Then find a seat height, handlebar height, and stem length that will be more on the comfort side than the aero/aggressive side of gravel bikes. Another reason for this is I'll be another year older in a few weeks, so I'm not as flexible as I used to.
2. Comfort while pedaling. I'm not building my bike for speed. More than likely I'll be looking for an 11-speed cassette with 11T-38T cogs, with a 38T chainring up front. I won't be going as fast but at least I also won't be exerting as much effort pedaling. I just want to be able to cruise with my bike.
3. Safety. This means I'll need reliable wheels and brakes. I'm looking to use mechanical disk brakes, and this will, I think, be the first time I will be using disk brakes on a bike. For tires I'd think the minimum width I should have is maybe 38mm. It's not like I actually have grave trails nearby. I'll also be adding rear lights and front lights, even if have no plan of riding during the evening. Plus I also plan on buying reflective tape to add to the bike in key locations.
4. Weight. Frames are expensive. Even the chromoly steel frames here are priced at an amount that makes my eyebrow go up. Or maybe I'm just a solid cheapskate. Still, I have no plans to go racing on this bike, my biggest dream is to do long distance biking. I have no idea how much of a factor weight will be. Also the bike I'm using now is probably way heavier than modern bikes so I'm not really sure how big a factor weight is.

And there you have it. I guess I'll be going over this list again as I approach the day I decide to buy a bike, or bike parts. I still have a lot of things to learn about bikes before I decide to pull the trigger, but I'm slowly getting there.

Meanwhile I'll keep riding my old bike and gaining strength, stamina, and confidence.

Out.

[878] Bike Progress

Quick post about my biking progress. I'm using the same route I use when I walk, this is because I do a little over 1km per "lap" and this gives me a decent gauge of my progress.

Progress has been good so far, my stamina is getting better as well as my speed. I've been averaging over 13kph per session, which is a lot faster than when I started. I'm also able to do more laps, usually five or six, instead of just four. I'm trying to "offset" the fact that I can do four laps in less than twenty minutes and want to do a minimum of a twenty minute bike ride every MWF.

Legs still get sore when going up the steep part of the village but I'm now using the middle chainring. I also noticed that I'd rather pedal at a slower cadence but with more effort rather than a faster cadence with less effort. I guess I prefer to get the climb over with sooner rather than later. I can also recover from the climb faster than before.

In fact earlier this morning my average speed was up to 15kph, a far cry from my first few attempts. I should probably try to maintain 13kph to 15kph average speed and work on stamina next. Plus fix all the bad habits I have when biking. Off the top of my head the things I need to improve upon are:

1. Stretching my legs. Out of habit I always coast with my right leg at the 6 o'clock position, even when I can feel my left knee needing a stretch. So I always consciously need to have coasting periods where the left leg should be at the 6 o'clock position.
2. Better balance while biking with one hand, both hands. I can do well with my left hand solo but the right hand needs a lot of work. I still want to have even better balance and control.
3. Twisting my torso left and right to look back while maintaining balance. Right now I'm relying on the side mirror mounted on the left bar end of my bike to check my six but I really should start practicing twisting my body and head as well.

Anyway that's all for now. I still do my HIIT during TTh, and for that I've started doing double 20 pound kettlebell squats instead of a single kettlebell goblet squat. Hopefully that helps strengthen my quads, which I need for cycling. I'm also doing double kettlebell calf raises as well.

I've also started doing suitcase deadlifts instead of single or double kettlebell deadlifts.

Out.

[877] Bike Related Stuff

I went biking yesterday morning, and if I start taking a real serious liking to it then I may just push through with my gravel bike build. I did notice that my average speed inside the village was 10kph. I don't mind this at the moment since I just started all over again yesterday and I do believe I can improve my pace, stamina, and desire to go biking.

I've also been doing more research about gravel bikes, and I have some new opinions about my target parts for my gravel build.

1. Drop bar width should be around 44 to maybe 46 cm. This will depend with how low or high I plan to mount the bar with regards to the saddle. My goal is comfort, not the super aero racing pose. And yes, I want to try drop bars since I do have a really old mountain bike here.
2. Drop bar ideally should be compact, meaning the drop and reach aren't that big. Again, the reason for this is comfort.
3. Definitely aiming for a longer chain stay for the bike frame. This supposedly makes the ride more stable.
4. Still hoping for a 1x groupset, while replacing the front chainring with a 38T to at most maybe a 44T oval with narrow wide teeth, if all factors allow it. Again, my goal for this theoretical build is a casual road bike I can take off road. I'm not after speed.
5. I'm sticking with the 700 x 38c tires instead of 40s. That might be too wide anyway for the bike's purpose.
6. Cyclocomputers are expensive, even more so if I plan to add a power meter and a cadence meter.

And that's it. I continue with my research and continue with using my old bike just to get a feel for things again.

Out.

[876] Size is Relative

Some of the videos I enjoy watching on youtube are about small houses or apartments. The way these people solve the storage and functionality challenges that arise from have a relatively small space.

In the Philippines a 50 square meter apartment or condominium is usually very expensive and already has maybe two bedrooms if it's one of those condominiums targeted for the middle class. I guess the higher end condominiums could have a one-bedroom 50 square meter floor area, but obviously I'm not the target market of those things, not that I can even afford the middle class units.

One of my favorite youtube channels have videos with titles like "Small Apartment 50 sq meter" or something similar. Then when I watch the video it's usually in some first world country in Europe or Australia. These apartments are usually big one bedroom units that they usually rent out as AirBNB units or something. The few videos that feature actual homes are interesting but I wouldn't be surprised if the homeowner was also renting out storage lockers because their house is so spartan.

Don't get me wrong, I like seeing their units and seeing some solutions they have for their relatively small spaces. I just don't see the practicality of some of the set ups. One man's small is another man's huge, I guess. I just wish they would feature more units that are compact and actual homes, not gorgeous AirBNB units with so much space but little storage.

Out.

[875] A Gravel Bike

I got curious what these gravel bikes were a few months ago and tried the most basic research attempt -- watching youtube videos. I've come up with some ideas for an ideal gravel bike build for myself, not that I've been biking my whole life.

As a side story, during the Halloween break way back in 1994 I was biking around the village with a friend when he "accidentally" cut me off because I made a snarky joke at him. Cutting me off caused his rear tire to hit my front tire and made my front tire turn 90 degrees to the right, launching me into the air. I didn't know what to do in that situation so I fell on the right side of my face. Strangely enough this happened right in front of the house across the street from my house.

Ever since I rarely rode my bike. The last time I had a relatively long bike ride was in Bohol with my dad, around 2012 or so. We found out the resort we stayed at had mountain bikes that they let guests borrow so my dad and I went a few kilometers outside Bohol. Lack of practice and stamina made me go maybe a total of 2 or 3 kilometers. Round trip.

Anyway I have no idea why I became fascinated with gravel bikes, even going so far as to imagine myself going on really long bike trips by myself. I have no idea why, maybe because I'm getting older and I'm looking for something to do aside from playing video games.

Based on what I've read and watched online I've come up with this rough build on my mind.

• Size 54 bike frame. This was the ideal size for someone of my height, which is around 177cm. Frame should have enough mounting points for two or three water bottles and maybe some backpacking bags.
• 700c 40mm tubeless gravel tires. Decent size and width would be okay for a casual like me, plus I'd mostly be going on roads with the occasional trips off-road.
• Schrader auto valve for the tires if possible. These are the same valves cars use and almost all decent gas stations have automatic air pumps that fit this kind of valve. Sure you can bring along a hand pump for Presta valves, but Schrader seems more logical for me.
• The flared drop bar should ideally be around 500mm wide so it won't be too wide on the road. Flare shouldn't be too extreme, maybe around 10 degrees or so.
• Brakes should of course be disk brakes. Most likely mechanical instead of hydraulic since I'll most likely be using this theoretical build only inside the village.
• I'll be going with a 1x11 group set. Front chainring should be narrow wide oval. Maybe 38T since I'm old and I don't think I can maintain a high cadence to actually ride up to the max speed of the front chainring. So just a relatively small chainring with a gravel bike rear cassette so I have no problems climbing and won't go too fast going down.
• I'll be going with a standard mountain bike flat pedal so that I can use the bike anytime.

I'm sure I've missed some details for the build, but it's not like I'm going to be building it anytime soon.

Oh, and I'd like my bike frame to be reflective yellow so I can be easily visible on the roads. Of course I'll be mounting front and rear lights for safety, and maybe a cyclocomputer so I know my speed, cadence, and other important details.

So that's my idea for my gravel bike build. Too bad there's a pandemic so I can't go out to check prices in bike shops. My plan is to buy components and assemble the bike, instead of buying a fully built one.

Out.