Come on over to the Dark Side, Ranlee.
make the change! yes, no real need for 52:11 max gearing. unless you need to get to Manx Missile speeds
from memory, i found 50/34 and 11/25 was too hard. the 11/27 and then later 11/29 made a mountain of difference. especially in one’s advancing years (not that i’m putting that onto you!)
After 3-4 years on 11-28 cassette and swapping to 11-30, I will never go back to 11-28 knowing it was just painal on the high gradients.
I’ve seriously considered going 48/32 as I have been quite curious how that stacks up on the flats and climbs. It would be a huge jump from 52/36.
Late afternoon / evening ride yesterday along the riverside paths, into town, and a Cubano at Chinita’s Cubano (Facebook link): good-sized and very tasty sandwich for the middle of a ride, but not exactly convenient riverside access!
The rain worked out well: a heavy shower when I was on Jianguo, so I took shelter under an awning, read on my phone for 15 minutes or so, and then the rain was done.
That’s the most city / traffic riding I’ve done in a while, which was a bit stressful. And it’s always amusing to me when I go into Taipei City on a bicycle: my “MRT” map of the city doesn’t correspond to my cycling map of the city. Like it’s almost a surprise when places can connect by surface roads, without the need to hop on a train underground.
The new saddle … um, felt fine during the ride. But I guess I now have my first saddle sore ever? I always thought those were more like blisters; I didn’t realize they could be more like cysts / bumps under the skin (one article).
So now I get to judge how long to rest (so perhaps just 2-3 days?), when to tell if it’s OK to get on a bike again, and whether or not the new saddle is a poor choice for me, or if I should be easing into it a little more. Or, of course, the fitting issues. I suspect I sit too far forward, so should perhaps try moving the saddle forward a little.
A few days ago I did try lifting the seat, but almost definitely overdid that and was quite uncomfortable by the time the 101 climb above Danshui was done. I lowered it back down to my current comfort level. However, with these adjustments I never know how long to try them - in a way they’re always going to be uncomfortable at first, I think, simply because it’s a new position.
Took me a minute to understand that one 
Totally agree. if you know the road well too, you can say in the big gear just putting less and less effort into (and slowing down some) so that you just reach a flatter section by the time you run out of grind ability.
that’s how i used to really good times on Graveyard, because most of the effort pitches are only a few 100 meters long.
You’ll soon realize that bicycle is really one of the best ways to get around the city. Not as much in the summer though, as you end up being drenched in sweat at your destination.
I really can’t speak from experience as I have only ever used one saddle since I started cycling. However, you can consider going out around home with the sole purpose to adjust your saddle/seat post. If you end up just not being able to figure it out, you could extend your ride to the shop to see if they can help.
The worst thing that can happen right now is you end up being injured with improper fit. So, make sure you aren’t pushing on segments before you are used to the saddle position.
Yeah, that’s sort of the weird part. Last night’s ride felt really good - I was trying to do more of what I learned upthread is called spinning (finally that exercise name makes sense - to me spinning always implied a lack of effort), and got some personal best times on riverside segments that I’ve done many, many times. Wind and lack thereof did help! But then discovered I’ve got (what I assume is) my first saddle sore.
Oh, I cycle-commuted in Tainan for a couple of years - it mostly worked well, except for the sweatiness, and it was amusing last night to remember old traffic techniques I haven’t used in a very long time. And on my previous bike I often rode from Danshui to Tianmu for groceries. But now I have no saddle bags, and I don’t want to lock the bike outside for shopping errands anyway; and since I live in Danshui, using my own bicycle for getting around Taipei City doesn’t usually make much sense. I will use YouBike on the rare occasions I’m going, say, 1-4 km between places in the city.
I have been too wary of going far into the city. The twenty minutes on Jianguo to get from the riverside to the restaurant wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. When things cool off I need to make more of a habit of heading into town to try out different places for lunch or dinner; I’ve been limiting myself unnecessarily to only places quite close to the rivers. But last night I felt a bit bad for the woman sitting at the counter beside me. I certainly looked like a sweaty mess, and probably smelled like one too.
That’s what I normally do, for example in the riverbank bike paths. It it’s going to be just a few meters that’s the perfect excuse for making a bit of extra effort for a short while, adding a bit of variety to an otherwise pretty much flat cadence ride. I also get rid of rear wheel suckers in that way 
I used to grind more than other people I rode with, but I think I do a higher cadence now. My theory though is that it’s good to combine both things, same with low speed and sprinting.
Maybe @urodacus can chime in on this. My personal experience with saddle sore the following day is to…get back on the saddle. After 5-10km it usually just goes away.
You can try to take different routes to your destination and figure out the best route that does not require you to stop and has less traffic. Since you are on the bike, you can hop on and off the sidewalk and also get into those narrow ass alleys. Explore a bit, but do be careful in the small alley intersections with no traffic lights, motorists often do not yield and just blast past them.
get rid of wheel suckers! Nice call!
i think i am also mostly slow twitch muscle fibers, so the grind is more suited to my muscle type? maybe that’s BS, I’m not an exercise physiologist, and I know i can sprint…
@lostinasia. Yes, bite hard and carry on. But other techniques can be to use vaseline or chamois butter on the inside of. your shorts and on “the affected area”. you do ride in cycling shorts? you don’t have anything rough or sharp on the saddle? I guess you have chosen a new saddle in a new shape family… stick it out and see how you go. you’ll harden up in a few rides, but don’t ride too far now, or climb seated for too long.
@lostinasia, according to a famous bike fitter in Youtube (check Francis Cade channel), saddle discomfort has nothing to do with with the saddle, but with bad position. I am not a bike fitter, so I don’t know how much true there is in that statement. And I guess he’s ignoring the gargantuan saddles that many city bikes have. Since you already paid for the saddle, play a bit with its position. If that does not work, there are many saddles, but we only have one ass.
We’re lucky to have ramped sidewalks in Taipei. When the traffic comes to a stop in front of you, just go up to the sidewalk and you end up at the front of the pack. I also have a habit of not stopping, so when I come to a red, instead of waiting, I turn and continue riding toward the same general direction. It saves on time that would’ve been wasted on waiting for red lights.
I’ve got a few in my life unfortunately
I did a short ride today, after two weeks off the bike. I have never seen so many cyclists in Balaka.
Speaking of the devil, I think my cadence sensor is dead. Changing the (quite new) battery has not worked. Any reliable alternative to Bryton’s sensor? This one has not lasted for long, so I don’t think I’ll buy it again.
Chomping at the bit to ride but scared of lightning 
Thunder storms predicted every day for three weeks, almost be a month. It been raining. No earth to ground lighting until I said F-it I’m going for a ride.
Lighting stops when I get home.
Seriously… Do you just stay home and wait which could be a month or more? Or do you have a formula to predict and avoid dangerous lightning.
Have you ever had to take cover? My area is open swamp or open farmland where I’m the tallest thing in my 20 to 30 k bike ride.
Share your bad weather adventures.
Right now my ride sucks. I’m going no where.
Usually the storm starts around 12:30-13 hrs, so starting early helps if you want to go for long rides. (Bike commuting is also a good way to squeeze sone more kilometers into your day, but you have to be at work in the mornings). That said, some days I don’t make it home before the rain and I end up completely soaked. 
Where are you? In the Taipei area, yeah, that’s been the forecast, but I almost never see the storms start until 2-3pm. And when they do start, they’re usually finished in 15-20 minutes. I vaguely remember the summer weather being similar when I lived in Tainan.
I’m far from being an expert, but in my experience, the real benefits of spinning are gained in the mountains. Even on a short, 30-40 minute course with some challenging hills, I can really feel a difference if I spin much and save my legs for the last 10 minutes or so.
On flats, I actually alternate with more grinding, getting off my seat and powering through a slight gradient, etc.
Maybe others have a different opinion.
I use Snake Brand - prickly heat before and after rides, works great for me also sprinkle some in your socks end long ride with dry feet!!
Took lots of time and adjusting to get my seat position right, biggest problem you have to do a decent length of ride to test .
