Comfort
Bikes Are
you sick and tired of winter? Depressed
from the lack of sunshine? Just
itching to get on your bike, feel the spring breeze in your
hair, cruise the bike paths, welcoming the onset of spring,
BUT…………….....the sore bum, aching
wrists, sore neck, and tired quads are holding you back? Not
to worry, even though you may now own a great bike. It may
just be that the bike you own is simply inappropriate for
the type of riding that you do. Studies
have shown that due to the fact that our population is aging,
as well as the style of riding that the greater part of the
population is participating in. Many of us are on the wrong
bike.
Enter the “comfort bike”. These
bikes originally started their design life as a basic mountain
bike. There are however some major changes that enable the
intended user to have a more enjoyable experience. Let’s
look back to the list of aches and pains we read about above.
#1) in most people’s mind seems to be the sore
bum. Enter gender specific, soft tissue relief saddles.
These saddles are designed to accommodate the anatomical differences
between men and women as well as take pressure away from some
of the most “sensitive “areas in both dimensions.
#2) would be the aching wrists and sore necks.
The solution here is simply a “ergo” style stem
that is adjustable so that you are able to sit in a more upright,
relaxed position with the end of the handle bars simply falling
directly under your hands (a neat idea), through the use of
many different style and shapes of handlebars.
#3) those tired quads. While many of us could
and should just admit to being a little out of shape. Why
on earth do we need to pedal around on a bike with tractor
style tires, when the most adventurous that we will ever be
is to ride the gravel at the curb while trying to get to the
ice-cream stand? The bottom line is that a smooth or semi
smooth tire will do the job as well as make the rolling resistance
drop substantially. These tires are fine on cinder paths,
bike paths, wet roads or gravel country roads There
are two other items that have come to the forefront in the
last several years. Front suspension on a
comfort bike takes the jarring from the roadway away from
our wrists. The seat post suspension combines
with the new saddles to aid in lower back comfort. When
you combine all of these features and benefits, along with
the staggering array of accessories, racks, panniers, fenders
etc, etc, etc. It becomes easy to see that you can pick a
bike tailored for your individual needs. It need not be a
“daunting” experience. Simply show up in some
casual clothes, have one of our specialists size you up and
get you fit. After that the seat of your pants will tell you
the rest. For
those of you who have not ridden in a few years and are a
little apprehensive about that first ride! “Don’t
worry, it’s just like riding a bike”. Get
out there and have some fun.
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