KraneXL

Enhanced sensory perception. That may be true in the short run. Not so likely in the long run. On the other hand, you could just be using the wrong gloves? Like pillows that are too hard, or too soft.

livedarklions

Don't know how you define the long run, but I rode 200miles this weekend and 110 miles on July 4 without gloves, and my hands are fine. I won't be glove shopping.

dennis336

Well, that was a very useful bit of advice. I'm going to check that out - speaking as someone with small hands! Thanks for the tip!

BrazAd

Things I've learned after 1 year and 3,250+ miles of cycling...

1) Don't let your front wheel overlap the back wheel of the rider in front of you. Ask me how I learned this - ha!
2) The 3 'touch-points' of the bike are vital as far as comfort goes. Don't skimp on shoes, gloves or shorts!
3) Riding with a group will help you ride more miles and push yourself more than you will when riding alone.
4) Explore! Look around! Have FUN!! :-)

Gary

jfoobar

You also avoid the obnoxious glove tan lines.

Dirt Farmer

I've learned that zig-zagging up very steep hills does ease the pain a bit!

Hiro11

I started racing in 1987 and I just realized that drinking Gatorade really helps on long, hot rides. I was one of those "pah! energy drinks are a ripoff!" guys previously.

livedarklions

Thanks to some very friendly drivers peppering me with advice while driving, I have learned a number of surprising rules in the last month:

1) If I am to the left of a right turn lane, I am required to signal that I am going straight.

2) If the shoulder of a road is marked off with a white line, the shoulder automatically becomes a bike path, and I am required to confine myself to the right of that line regardless of the condition of the shoulder.

3) I should ride on the sidewalk.

4) If I am the first vehicle to a red light at a busy intersection, I must move to the right to facilitate a right turn on red by the car behind me even though that will put me in the blind spot of cars turning right after the light turns green.

5) I should watch where I'm going but it's ok to completely obstruct the rear window of a car with stuffed animals (still don't know what that guy was babbling about, but apparently he was my "bro").

6) I should get off of the road.

7) If I'm in a nearly empty convenience store/gas station parking lot, I am required to follow the arrows as if I was going through the donut drive thru or the gas pumps, even though that's actually about 1/4 mile around the lot, and I can see everybody entering and leaving the parking lot and the blacktop is incredibly hot. Otherwise, I am asking to be killed. (A pedestrian taking the exact same route out of the parking lot would have been perfectly safe and not challenged).

8) If I am on a state road, and I roll through an intersection while the truck on the side street waits at the stop sign, I should express my gratitude to him for not rolling the stop sign and killing me.

ctpres

@79 I can still RIDE!

KraneXL

Similar with your definition of "fine". Gloves can have many purposes: Sometimes they serve as a barrier to protect from pathogens or caustic chemicals. Other times they serve as a cushion.

Sure you can have a better feel sensation without gloves, but that's not always a good thing. Just try boxing or using high voltage without gloves and see how long you last. I'm met many people (particularly men) who brag about and feel its "fine" to have rough, dried, cracked and calloused hands from farm work or other similar "dirty jobs."


Anyway, it all depends on what you need the gloves for. I use mine for cushioning. Particularly the meaty part of the palm. Believe me once you've fallen off your bike onto that part of your hand, you won't ride again without them.

Rje58

I find it more comfortable to wear gloves, but I also wear gloves for hand protection. I've only gone down once that my hands hit the pavement, but my half-finger gloves saved me big time - and I wasn't going fast.

livedarklions

I have callouses from weight lifting and the elliptical machine, so that ship sailed years ago ( gym gloves actually made that worse as a lot of people discover). I also have never considered callouses as any kind of big deal as I have had plenty of them from musical instruments over the years. Otherwise, I'm 57 years old, the skin on my hands has never been better, and it definitely does better in the open air. No offense, but I know a lot more about what does and doesn't work for MY hands than you do. And yes, I have fallen on my hands both with and without gloves, and I don't think the marginal difference in protection is worth the trouble gloves were causing me.

MartinGerhard

The height of post should suitable with your leg length ,it will make you have a comfortable riding

Hiro11

I like this list of Critical Knowledge All Cyclists Should Know (CKACSK).

To it, I'll add:
1. It's illegal for bikes to be on the road.
2. If you are using a crosswalk with the "Walk" sign on, you must give way to drivers turning right and you must give way drivers turning left, otherwise these innocent drivers are perfectly allowed to drill you. Because it's really hard to look in front of you while driving and missing something like a person is very easy and understandable.
3. The presence of lycra on my person is a clear indication of my sexual preference.
4. At a stop sign, cyclists should not take the lane and should stay to the right. Clearly, being "out in traffic" is crazy. Simultaneously, a cyclists who stays to the right to go straight suddenly becomes invisible and thus completely deserving of being creamed by a car turning right.
5. While approaching a stop light, a reasonable thing for drivers to do is to dangerously floor it around a cyclist and then slam on the brakes to narrowly miss the car in front of them. Because Cars Must Go In Front Of Bikes At All Times (easy to remember mnemonic: BCMGIFOBAAT).
6. The best time to pass a cyclist or group of cyclists on a road is around a blind curve with a double yellow line, preferably while flooring it. BCMGIFOBAAT.
7. Cyclists wearing brightly colored clothing and covered in bright, flashing lights in broad daylight are really, really hard to see. Almost invisible, in fact.
8. A pickup is a manly vehicle suitable for a manly man driving like a man should. A bike is... not.

MikeyMK

lol

MikeyMK

Its only illegal to do something if you get caught. This is the beauty of having 2,000 watts at your left thumb.

AlmostTrick

A few years ago I learned that even though I regularly use 6-8 gears when riding my work commute on my geared bike, riding it on a fixed gear doesn't take me any longer... I learned to stand and power up hills, and (really!) spin my way down!

rydabent

My biggest surprise is cycling came in 2005. I got my first recumbent, a RANS Tailwind. My surprise was that cycling no longer has to be a pain in the neck or ass, even the first ride in the spring.

ksryder

Shoot that reminds me I need to finish making my BF Bingo card

McBTC

New for me to have just two chain rings. All the road bikes I've owned over the years were triples... I weigh more but have higher gears.

spinsheet

I learned that even minor adjustments (seat height, cleat position) can have an enormous effect on comfort and pain relief.

McBTC

Alloy bikes aren't cheap anymore...

Brocephus

I've learned that a bike doesn't have to be all lathered up with XTR/XT or Dura-Ace/Ultegra, a King headset, a Thompson post, an Italian ti-railed saddle, etc.etc., in order to be a decent, solid bike that's worth owning.
(Who knew !!! )

ksryder

Exactly, all you need is Campy!

cthenn

I'm finding out that you're never too skinny to lose weight, and that losing said weight trumps everything else in terms of increasing fitness and speed.