Numbness is due to poor fit. You may need the angle or height of the seat adjusted.

What you don’t want is the no-nose seat. You actually use the nose of your saddle more than you think you do, for steering and balance.

Some people claim it works well. I’ve never tried it, though, as I’m fairly happy with the seat I have now.

I saw one at a bike expo year before last that took out the “nose” portion entirely – it looked like two pads that your glutes sit on.

I’d love to try a recumbent sometime. Those seats look comfy.

I am in total agreement that riders should be more aware of their situations. Chilly Hilly is a classic example of a long, steep hill that riders bunch up on. It’s been a few months since some were on the bike. Pulsing with pain, they forget to downshift, stay/move to the right, etc. I think the riders racing up are also partially culpable for inadequate spacing and being unaware at how much the rider in front of them is visibly struggling. (Fluctuations in pedaling rate and bike bobbling occurs before the tored rider in front does the Picard Maneuver.) OTO, I’m unsure how one learns group etiquette without actually going in a group. Maybe start out with friends?

Chris: The ergonomic saddle didn’t work well on my new bike, I’d speculate because there’s more flex. I currently use a Brooks B17, all-leather and am pretty happy with it. Though there’s obviously a lot of variety, the saddles are popular with the rando folks.

Claire: The PowerGrips sound like a great idea. I can’t think of any benefit in SPDs, especially if R is happy with the PowerGrips. I may email you privately for ideas on tandeming and how to encourage my kids cycling.

Doug: Over the top.

Living in Anacortes, I rode the Lopez ride (on the cleat-less mountain bike) with my family and another one last year. Given the size of Lopez Island, I was a bit frustrated that so many people were trying to turn the ride into some kind of race. It’s too congested for that kind of riding. We had fun, but I skipped the event this year. I can go to Lopez Island and ride any time I want without the frustration of the event! Even on event rides, myself and my riding partner often find ourselves frustrated with much of the biking culture, and I am picky about events because of that. I hope I am not lumped into that category just because of how I’m dressed!

Lots of people do not have good “hill” etiquette, or even good group riding etiquette. I have taken a fall due to someone stopping suddenly, without notice, on a hill. They didn’t stop because they had cleats, or had not shifted gears, or anything else – they were just tired, and unfortunately unaware of (barely) faster people riding up behind them. My point being, I don’t think it’s fair to pin that problem on riders with cleats.

That said, if they are functional and you don’t look like me in them, which you obviously don’t, Viva La Biker Shorts.

Black shorts vs. other colors: one time my husband did Flying Wheels in a set of grey bib shorts. It rained. His bike didn’t have fenders, and muddy rain water splashed up all over his rear. The fabric went transparent. You could see not just, uh, details through the fabric, but the mud made it look like he had lost bowel control on the ride. It was quite amusing for me, drafting him. I don’t know how anyone else on the ride might have felt.

Clipless pedals: My Mother’s Day present was a set of Power Grips for the stoker on the tandem. The difference in my 12 year old’s output as stoker with the Power Grips is quite palpable. We did a hilly loop out to Duvall and Carnation on Mother’s Day, and I was glad glad glad she had the Power Grips. Would SPDs be any better?

I used to ride the off-road SPDs, but switched to SPD-SLs a year or so ago. It (combined with a stiffer sole) got rid of the hot spots I used to have on the sole of my feet. They also have plenty of float, which my knees appreciate.

The SPD-SLs are somewhat walkable – you obviously don’t have a normal angle while you wear them, but they have a couple of soft plastic pads so you don’t get to go skating every time that you wear them – I can’t recall them slipping at all.

I didn’t learn to ride until I was 26, couldn’t afford a bike as a kid or a student. In 1988 I started out with regular toe clips. The two mods that I did that made a difference were bar ends and SPDs. I found the bar ends a huge advantage in climbing, the SPDs speak for themselves. I actually kept those shoes and pedals and was using them until this year, I tried replacing them several times but in the end I have gone back to a shoe very like those I had in 1988, Shimano’s SH-M180. Oh and I changed to Crank Brothers Eggbeaters pedals, for the good reviews and amusement factor in fairly equal measure. The Eggbeaters work fine but they feel a lot softer on insertion, but they are still very secure, strange.

When I was shopping for my latest shoes, which are finally as comfortable and effective as the first ones, I asked a number of people if there was any good reason for the impractical nature of the road shoes. All they could tell me was that they thought the road shoes were a bit stiffer and that some roadies wouldn’t be seen dead using MTB shoes.

I also found a saddle at least as comfortable as the ‘racing’saddle that came with my bike in 1998. In the junk box. It had been rejected off a new bike by someone who wanted something that looked more comfortable. When my saddle was wearing out I tried a couple of those ‘ergonomic’saddles they were trying to sell us a few years ago, they were horribly uncomfortable. Now I’m back to a tiny sadlle that someone who never tried one might think was a terrible design, but there are good long term reasons for these designs.

Curiously when I was talking to my mother about this she turned out to know all about it, they already knew how to make saddles back in the 40s and 50s.

I can’t do bib shorts, I’m too long in the body.

Now I’m on the hunt for real life non-black bicycle short guys.

There is a huge black bike riding dude who on my bus in the mornings. Really well cared for dreds. Black pretty much everything in his bike clothes. Really nice looking guy but huge – I mean don’t mess with me huge – and he always wears an expensive size appropriate backpack that is – I swear – pink. I need to get a picture. And I’m not at all sure why I’m sharing this…

I added a disclaimer about the photo.

What’s really funny about the attire is the tan line it imparts at the end of the summer.

> Bib shorts

I agree with Doug about the shorts. Bibs are more comfortable, but they’re a bit harder to deal with at rest stops.

But, really, seriously, for the black bike pant info… I’m at work and I think I just looked at porn in the office. Guess I won’t be running for mayor of Spokane.

Oh, and I recently switched to bib shorts.. love ‘em. So much better than standard shorts.. but it’s a personal perference.