Breathe to Bike

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If you are a cycling fanatic, you must know the importance of breathing, especially, when you ride uphill. Your lungs give up and you know how it can hinder your cycling performance and you can’t go any longer. If you learn specific breathing techniques through perfect yoga regime, then you know that you can boost your cycling performance drastically.

Let us learn about the techniques that can increase your endurance as well as boost your speed while cycling. Various breathing techniques are –

  1. A few days before you prepare for cycling outdoors or at least a day before that, spend some time learning to breathe properly. Simply find a quiet spot and focus on your breathing pattern. Breathe slowly and make sure you feel light-headed. This will have a massive impact on your cycling performance.
  2. Yoga: Yoga can accentuate your cycling performance immensely. Especially if you are going to participate in a cycling rally or any other competition, then this can work wonders in increasing your breathing performance. There are many breathing techniques of Yoga which can be helpful –

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  • Deep Yogic Breaths: Deep yogic breathing technique will maximize the capacity of your lungs and help your posture as well. Simply breathe through your nostrils rather than your mouth. Breathing through nostrils is effective at transporting oxygen as compared to the mouth breathing. Take deep breath, sending it to your belly so that the abdomen expands. The abdomen should expand so much that the diaphragm and intercostals muscles should also move.
  • Pranayam (Alternate nostril breathing): First breathe through one nostril while closing the other one with your finger and then release the breath through the other one, while holding the one through which you inhaled. Complete the sets of alternate breathing. Around 50 sets are sufficient.
  • Ardh Matsyendrasana (Sitting half spinal twist): The sitting half spinal twist will open up your chest and lungs. You could feel the air gushing into your lungs. This will increase the supply of oxygen to your lungs and this will reduce the probability of breaking down while cycling for longer hours.
  • Setu Bandhasana (Bridge pose): The bridge pose is extremely helpful in opening up your lungs and chest cavity. It is very effective for asthma patients or those who encounter breathing problems. This easy posture can be vital for your cycling performance and will make you sustain for longer time without taking frequent breaks for rest.
  1. Performance Breathing: Specifically designed for cycling, this breathing technique will increase your endurance and cycling time. It increases the utilization of oxygen by our lungs thereby opening up our lungs and increasing their capacity. The technique is performed by following a “2,2,4” count. Each breath cycle involves two counts, holding your breath on a count of two, and then releasing it on count of four. As you start, you will follow this count. As soon as you get accustomed to it, you can increase this to “4,4,8” and then to “5,5,10”.

“Never run out of air again.”

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All Things Chain

blog2a Keeping your bike well lubricated is crucial to maximizing its performance. Applying oil to its chain and moving parts when required are part of giving care to your bike. Chain maintenance is among the most controversial facets of bicycle mechanics.

What to use?

Bicycle chain lube of course! They are formulated especially to penetrate into the tiny rollers of the bicycle chain. Motor oil/Singer oil is too thick and can’t penetrate each of the tiny areas of the bicycle chain properly. WD40 or equivalent evaporates quickly.

This is often the most overlooked aspect when choosing a bike lubricant.

With so many choices in the market ie Wet, Dry, Ceramic, Wax, Spray etc. It’s easy to get confuse. Follow a simple rule: Choose one that works for your precise needs matching your terrain condition…period. Dry lubes in poor weather will simply washed out at the next puddle and wet lubes will gunk out in similarly weather.

blog2bNot all are created Equal

Some lubes like DumondeTech Pro X series are true polymer-based. It’s a liquid plastic that turns in to a solid plastic as you ride and your chain’s metal parts work against each other to create pressure and small amounts of heat. This polymer is attracted to heat and will migrate aggressively towards it, unlike many oils that will move away from heat. Basically, the harder you ride, the cleaner it gets! This falls into the family of self-lubricating plastics which are significantly more slippery than Teflon with none of the wax based coating and more towards a very clean oil look.

When to Lube? That is the question.

It is dependent on the conditions you ride in. You can’t say categorically that wet or dry conditions require more care as along with moisture, sand and dust also damage the it. I clean my chain after every ride and apply a new film of lubies.

 

Side note: What motivates me? Put it this way, the cost to replace a chain and a drivetrain is a lot..alot..more.

 

Some advocates degreasing, other don’t. For me, so long as I stick to the same lube like Dumonde Tech where degreasing is only required on the very 1st application just to strip off and reset the chain condition to “clean”.

 

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“I’m only one drop away, I’ll be there to save the day, Superman got nothing on me, I’m only one drop away”  

 

Remember

  • One small drop per link.
  • Use the right lube for the right condition. There is no point slobbering the entire bottle of a light lube for foul weather ride.
  • Be careful not to accidentally coat your rotors, which could impair braking
  • Lube the inner side of the chain as it has greater contacts with the cogs and chainrings.
  • Let it sit a couple of minutes before wiping off the surplus lubricant.

Always have a little lube handy in your bike kit. Remember, the health of your bicycle starts from the chain.

The Joy Of Hardtails

hardtails1In one word: Simplicity

The above is my beloved, All-terrain, all-mountain, all-you -can-do, all-weather, all-purpose, “All-some” bicycle: – Zealous Division 29er married to a sexy Lefty Supermax with two sweet Carbon Derby children.

Before I begin, mind you , I do like full suspension bikes. The squish, the ability to damper all the trail chatter and crazily fast technical riding One case of more is good ie the more the travel, the better it is.

Even if you don’t own a hardtail I’m sure you already understand some of the benefits of having one – easy to clean, reliable, lower maintenance, cheaper, less grease, fewer creaks, less stress – but there a few more reasons to own a hardtail than you might realize

 

  1. “Less parts, less cost”

This is the first selling point right here. Hardtails are cheaper. You are going to get better frame and components for the money you’ve set aside with a hardtail. The main reason for this is because the manufacturer wouldn’t go through the trouble of installing a pivoting rear end as well as a rear shock. He also wouldn’t have to invest the money for it which would result in a lower end cost for you. Use the savings and get better component weaponry.

  1. “They are usually lighter”

The rear shock that we mentioned above, as well as the extra tubes and all the pivots are going to be stacking up the weight substantially. While manufacturers are going to try to compensate for this through the usage of lighter materials, the weight of a solution of the kind would be definitely greater. With a hardtail bike you wouldn’t have to go through this problem and your bike is going to be a lot lighter. If having a lighter bike is something that matters a lot because you like climbing the hill first, than a hardtail should be the choice for you.

  1. “Simple Simon”hardtails2

Hardtails are mechanically simpler because they have no pivots as well as other complications. This is the main reason for which there is a lot less room for something to go wrong. In the end, you are going to be able to spend a lot more time riding and enjoying the bike instead of maintaining and repairing it. This is also more reasonable financially.

  1. “You are really riding”

Relearn using your arms, legs correctly while riding.you will be forced to use th emost important
element of your body correctly..including weight distribution. You will start reading lines, get instant feedback, become more controlled and eventually faster.  There is no room for error and you will quickly release the mistakes you have been making as there is no suspension to suck it up. Tech poweress goes up big time. When you get back on the suspension bike..you will be a better, smoother rider.

  1. “Old trails becomes new”

When you strip away the suspension, “easy” trails are made harder. You are going to be able to test your own capabilities to the fullest as it’s going to be more challenging to handle the bike and the overall experience if you are riding a hardtail.

In any case, there are quite a few different reasons for which you might consider a hardtail bike but the truth is that you have to take your own personal preference into highest consideration. If it’s comfort that you are seeking than a hardtail might not be the best option for you. Go full suspension and enjoy that extra layer of comfort. However, if it’s primal adrenaline and challenge that you love than a hardtail is the obvious choice as it’s going to provide you with all that and a lot more.

 

Ride Hard, Ride Safe.