Part:2 Buying the saddle "Making a male road bike fit a female body"

Saddle sore?

Saddles shouldn't hurt you, full stop. 

This is when you DO need something female specific. We are fundamentally different from men down there, so getting something designed just for us is essential. Most saddle makers have researched the female riders anatomy and offer saddles with cut outs in them, specific padding, curvature etc.

If you go to a good bike shop they should have a way to measure your sit bones which will determine the width of the saddle. Essentially you will sit on a gel pad, and your sit bones will leave an impression which can then be measured. Whatever your measurement is, you will need 1cm on either side to get the perfect fit. If your saddle is too wide, it will rub your inner thighs. If your saddle is too narrow, your sit bones won't be sitting on it and it will cause you a lot of pain. It's tempting to opt for a nice thick squishy saddle with lots of padding, but more padding doesn't always mean comfort, and can actually end up rubbing more on the sensitive bits. 

Once you've got your measurement and you're in the female saddle section, you can start narrowing it down. The biggest factor that helped me was price. I didn't have much of a budget, and the shop I was looking in had saddles ranging from £20-£120. The assistant was really helpful and said that they can be quite trial and error, comfort doesn't necessarily get better with the price increase, you've got to just give it a go! Most shops will offer a 30 day return policy so long as you return the saddle in good condition.

A higher price normally means more expensive materials have been used, and the saddle will be ultra light for racing etc. 

Some brands of saddle makers have tools which can help you select the right saddle according to the type of bike, sex, riding position & desired padding level. So long as you remember your saddle size, you should be hunky dory getting a bit of advice in this way. Some good links I've found are;

Specialized have done a lot of research which has fed into their Body Geometry range, they help you choose your saddle here.

http://www.specialized.com/gb/gb/ftb/saddle-finder#

Fizik have a great spine/posture analyser on their site, unfortunately this fit hasn't yet diffused into their female saddles. 

http://www.fizik.com/spineconcept/

When trying out your new saddle, remember the following points;

- your saddle should be at the correct height. Your knee should have a little bit of a bend in it on the down stroke. 

- your saddle should be level

- wear good quality padded shorts for your rides

If all of the above are in order, and it's still not comfortable after giving it a good go (test it out for about 40-60 miles before making your final decision) it's time to take it back and try out another.

The good thing about finding your perfect saddle is that it's really easy to fit it to another bike if you upgrade your frame in the future!

Happy hunting! 

Have you got any hint or tips you've come across to find your perfect saddle?

Part:1 Buying the bike "Make a male road bike fit a female body"

If you're looking for your first road bike, the amount of choice available to you can be extremely daunting. What I'm trying to do in this post is demystify the process of choosing a bike, so you can get out there and enjoy riding it instead!

Let's have a quick look at the anatomy of a road bike before we start.

The first decision to make is your budget, take into consideration the fact that you will probably need to buy yourself some new gear too, things like cycling shorts, jerseys, base layers, jacket, helmet etc. 

If you have a modest budget you can buy yourself a brand new bike for around £275. 

Some points to consider if buying a new bike:

- It will be heavy

- Have the lowest spec gears, brakes etc (this can be tricky if you need to replace a single faulty part in the future, you may have to replace the entire thing if it's a no-brand fitting)

- Being brand new it will usually come with some sort of guarantee

- It won't be worn at all, so easy to keep on top of cleanliness, maintenance etc

With the same budget, you could purchase yourself a second hand bike that perhaps retailed originally for around £800 - £1000.

Some things to consider if buying a second hand bike:

- It's likely to be much lighter

- It will usually have much higher spec gears etc

- If you're lucky the previous owner may have even upgraded certain elements.

- The owner will usually be more than happy to give you lots of advice and show you how to work it.

- Some people buy a high spec bike with the best intentions, but never give it much use, in this case you will have a great bike with hardly any wear, just make sure it had been properly maintained.

- Serious cyclists often have both a summer & winter bike. The winter bike is used in cold, wet conditions where grit may have been spread on the roads, and the summer bike is ridden in lovely dry conditions. I wouldn't recommend purchasing a second hand winter bike, but if you can get your hands on a second hand summer bike you are normally onto a winner as it will have been meticulously cared for.

- Be prepared for wear & tear

The first thing to note, is that there are considerably fewer choices of female specific bikes out there, than male or unisex. This can be good if you get overwhelmed by choice, but most of the time the bikes are more expensive, with lower spec & are often pink...

Men & women differ in their body geometry. Women have longer legs, and shorter torsos, and men vice versa. This means that even if you are both the same height, a woman can usually go to a slightly bigger frame. There are all sorts of online calculators out there than can help you work out what frame size you need, but it's not just about the height, you also need to consider the reach from the seat post to the handlebars, this is something that can vary widely between frames, even if the height is the same size. The best thing to do is get out there and try some out. It's not really a case of one size fits all, and you can always make little adjustments that can tweak the fit once you've got the frame.

I think if you can get onto the frame comfortably, there is room to move the seat post up and down a little, and you don't feel too stretched out or upright when reaching for the handlebars, you're onto a winner.

Ok so you've got your bike, you've set your saddle height according to THIS LINK taken it out for a good ride, but it doesn't feel quite right.

- are you saddle sore?

- are you pushing yourself forward or backward in the saddle?

- are you resting your hands naturally in a position a bit closer or further away from you?

- do you feel you're leaning too far forward or upright?

- are your knees coming up too high?

- is there pain in your hands from reaching for the gear levers or engaging the brakes?

These are all things that you can easily do something about!

I will be explaining how to tweak the things that will make your road bike fit you better in the parts that will follow this post.

DIY How to clean a vintage bicycle

I LOVE cycling, I cycle to and from my studio every day, rain or shine. Since moving house my beloved bike has had to be kept in the outhouse (with it's front tyre sticking out). Although I use it every day, I really neglected it on the maintenance front.

On the Sheffield hills it was really dragging, making strange clicking noises & it was covered in rust. When I really looked at it in daylight, I was pretty embarrassed by how I had let it get. However, this is a story with a happy ending, with a bit of TLC I have brought my bike back to life and it's whizzing up and down the hills better than ever!

So what do you need? Surprisingly, not a lot.

- Selection of wire brushes

- WD40 (I was told afterwards that GT85 is less corrosive, but I had a LOT of rust to get through)

- Lubricating maintenance spray

- Lube (no tittering please)

- Multitool

- Brooks Proofide (if you have a leather saddle)

- Bucket of warm soapy water (washing up liquid is fine)

- Selection of clean but old tea towels, soft sponge, dish cloths

- Mr Muscle furniture polish (optional)

Ok, that looks like a lot, but most of it you will have lying around the house. 

I started by giving the chain & cogs a good spray with the WD40 so it could do its thing while I worked on the disgraceful wheels. 

Using the stiffest & medium brush I started removing the rust. It's a bit labour intensive, you have to scrub between each spoke, but you get a big payoff really quickly!

Next start scrubbing the chain and cogs with the brushes again. Once you have got the majority of the rust off, you can reapply some WD40 and start moving the pedals backwards while holding a tea towel around the chain.  This will help get even more muck off.

Make sure you are happy with the results of the rust removal before you start cleaning the frame, as it will just flick dirt all over you freshly cleaned bike if you go back to it.

With some hot soapy water and a sponge start working from your seat post and handlebars down onto the frame, clean the wheels and pedals, then do the gears and chain last. 

Dry it off with a clean tea towel, then apply the polish to the frame only! Don't polish your wheels as it will affect the braking power. 

Spray your bike maintenance spray on all the moving parts of your bike, including brake levers, inside the gear changers, pedals, cogs etc. 

Grab the lube and pop one drop on each chain link, then slowly turn the pedals backwards to help the lube soak down. If you have Sturmey Archer gears (built into the back wheel hub) there should be a little cap, open it and pop some lube in there too. 

Finally you can get the Proofide and using a soft cloth, work it into the leather. 

And voila! Your bike is road worthy again and you will be receiving glances for all the right reasons!