Being a new cyclist can be hard, watching loads of other cyclists pass you, looking like absolute pros. But really they’ve come from where you are too, and they probably made a few mistakes along the way! Here are 6 which you should try and avoid!

    Chapters:
    0:00 – Intro
    0:45 – Pants Under Bib Shorts
    1:55 – Not Unclipping
    3:14 – Upside-Down Maintenance
    4:24 – Braking Incorrectly
    6:00 – Riding The Right Gear
    7:15 – Overeating On A Ride

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    we all make cycling mistakes even as perfect gcm presenters [Music] when i first started cycling i used to wear underwear underneath my cycling shorts which i soon learned is a big no-no and i even forgot to unclip at a junction and i fell flat on my face we live and we learn but us here at gcn we have made pretty much every single cycle mistake under the sun and hopefully you can learn from our mistakes and not do them yourselves but in this video we’re going to chat about beginner cycler mistakes that we have all made in our cycling lives so let’s get into it now imagine wearing shorts or jeans and not wearing any underwear underneath it it’s a bit weird isn’t it and when in our whole lives we’ve been told to keep our pants on but as soon as you come into the cycling world everybody encourages you to take your pans off but there is actually a good reason behind it let me tell you so cycling specific shorts have a padding in them called a chamois and this is basically going to make sitting on a saddle a lot more comfortable and they’re designed to be worn without underwear and it might be a little bit bizarre but but trust me you do get used to it and if you do happen to wear underwear underneath your cycling shores you will basically shave a lot and it will not be very comfortable or pleasant on the bike but if you do see someone with underwear lines on the bike just give them a little nudge tell them they don’t need to wear underwear take them off although i still haven’t quite found a way to tell someone politely take your underwear off you don’t need to wear underwear underneath your cycling jaws i know it does seem weird but as i said cyclists are a weird bunch just go commando be free [Music] now this next one has to be the worst feeling in the world when you can feel yourself falling in slow motion and at some point in your cycling knives you’ll fall down the hole of clipless pedals now they’re great when you remember to clip out you’re just riding along enjoying your ride and you come to a junction and then you completely forget that you’re pretty much attached to your bike you try and unclip you unclip your foot from the pedal it just won’t budge next thing you’re falling over in slow motion you can feel it happen the panic the fear it rushes through your body but there’s nothing you can do it’s too late now and then you’re laying on the floor and everybody’s looking at you and it’s quite embarrassing they have to get up i miss the beanbag now if this has happened to you do not worry we have literally all been there anybody who has tried clipless pedals has fallen over whilst trying to figure them out but little piece of advice before you head out on the open roads using your new clipless pebbles have a little whirl around in the garden learn how to unclip quickly knowing how the maneuver kind of works and it also helps to do it on grass gives you a bit of a softer landing speaking from experience now when you begin cycling a bike’s a bike but very soon as you grow to love our sport of cycling more and more this bike will become your pride and joy it’s only a matter of time before it does happen but one of the biggest mistakes that we see in beginners is when they do this to do any sort of mechanical thing to their bike they’ll flip their bike upside down and rest the bike on the saddle and the handlebars no no no and to me this it doesn’t really make any sense everything’s upside down which confuses things i mean i’ll be honest i can’t even put a rear wheel in when the bike is upside down like this but not only that your saddle and your handlebars are touching the ground they could scratch and plus a gust of wind could come and it could just knock the bike over then you have scratches all over your bike you do not need to do this if you do need to do any mechanical assistance to your bike you could lean it up against a fence or a wall that doesn’t scratch it you can get a friend to hold it or you could even just hold it up yourself and do some tweaking just just don’t do this so confused [Music] now once you get the hang of this one you won’t even need to think twice but in a lot of beginner riders we see a them not knowing the difference between their front and their back brake b just using one brake at a time and see not knowing how much brake they need to use to come to a stop but it’s especially important to know the difference between your front and back brake and you can do this by standing off the bike and just spinning the wheel and then just pulling one of your brakes and you can figure out where is your front and what is your back and it’s kind of different on every bike depending on where you are in the world basically if you pull your front brake and just your front brake very hard this is essentially what’s going to happen and you’re going to fly over the top of your bike and that’s not going to be very nice but on the other hand if you just pull your back brake very hard you’re going to be scaredzilla and that’s not good either and also how much pressure to put on the brakes to come to a stop and this one you kind of get used to it the more and more you ride and you literally get a feel for it most of the time it’s more of a feathering technique to come to stop you don’t need to you know take a big handful of break and pull them to stop because you will stop very abruptly it’s more of a feathering technique and i tend to use both the brakes i’m just going to feather them at the same time but if you are riding a new bike or you’re not very used to the brakes on the bike i recommend just having a ride round on the flat and you know just getting used to them see how sensitive they are before you go zooming down a massive descent because that’s a recipe for disaster as well gears are your friends and when you learn how to use them they make cycling so much easier but you do see a lot of beginner riders riding around in the long gear they’ll easily be riding in a massive gear like this one grinding their way through the lanes or they’ll be an easiest gear spinning their legs really fast like a catherine wheel but the sooner you learn how to use them properly the easier the riding will be and i’ll be honest i had no idea how he has worked when i first started cycling didn’t know how to change gear and i had no idea what gear i needed to be in when i was going up a hill on the flat or anything so let me try and explain but to keep it nice and simple if you’re going up a very steep climb you need to be in your easiest gear and this is pretty much having your chain in this one here but if you’re going on a flat road or a downhill road you need to be in the smaller cogs down here going uphill in the little ring going down the hill or on the flat big ring simple it’s not actually that simple there’s a lot more to it you can then go into rpm leg speed all that which is um a whole another cattle fish but if you did want to learn more about that we’ve got other videos on the channel now don’t get me wrong stopping at a cafe on a ride is always a good idea but one mistake you can make at the cafe is ordering too much food because eating a massive meal like this for example when you get back on the bike you’re going to be very full very sluggish and very sleepy and you’re just not going to want to ride a bike so try and keep it light at the cafe a little sandwich and maybe a cake that’ll do a portion of fish and chips is not a good idea not a good example um of what you should eat but i just had to test it out today just to make sure it’s a bad idea and um well i’ll soon find out i’m going to check into this lovely fish and chips but thank you very much for watching this video and the biggest mistakes that we’ve all made in our cycling lives but let me know down in that comment section below what the biggest cycling mistake you’ve made out on your bike and i’m now going to eat this chip and stop pointing at you and i’ll see you in the next one there’s no chance i can even ride a bike right now

    35 Comments

    1. Suggestion #1, my anatomy requires the complete opposite. I wear a bodysuit that snaps in the middle and it is waaaayyy more comfortable in the saddle. I have zero chaffing and my girl thanks me. Some suggestions, you truly have to do what works for you, and not necessarily what’s suggested. It took me a while to realize this. Do what is comfortable, and what works for YOU🎉🎉🎉

    2. Gotten used to where I want my front brakes to be put… I always change them wherever I go. Irrespective of the laws. So my front brake will always be on the left…😊😅

    3. 1. Not proper Saddle height As a beginner, (a myth : to have feet touching the ground when sitting on saddle ) that height is inefficient .
      2. Back pedalling or harsh pedalling during changing the gears.
      3. Not a proper suspension adjustment according to weight if you have an hardtail Mtb.
      4. Max air in tyres , unknowing.

    4. Flipping the bike upside down to do any form of maintenance is definitely not a beginner mistake. It’s completely necessary in almost every outdoor maintenance situation

    5. I always wear compression underwear under my riding shorts and I never get chafed. I feel that if I fall and tear my riding shorts, at least will have one more layer before they see my butt… not a good sight. And when I did not have a stand to fix my bike… yep, upside down it was!

    6. I do upside down. I’m not precious about my bikes. Scratches happen.
      And I’m used to seeing things upside down.
      I would never go without underwear. Athletic poly gitch works fine for me.

    7. If there's a soft area like grass nearby then I always flip the bike over, a lot easier to fix a puncture that way/straightening a rotor etc, some things are just easier that way.

    8. I felt like I'd unlocked an achievement when I realised how easy my bike was to work on upside-down. Are there compelling reasons not to do so? I did wonder if it might be bad if you have hydraulic brakes.

    9. 5:57 i just got a MTB today and I was about to go throw myself off a cliff right away.. but i decided to go home instead and play around with it. Turns out my breaks had never been used.. idk how hydraulic breaks work but, the first times I used the breaks I had to really squeeze, after some use, the pressure became “normal”. I’m so happy I don’t throw myself off a cliff with a brand new bike with out stress testing the breaks.

    10. Funny points. I have regularly got out of my peddles in emergency situations. Usually by hitting a solid object like the road, a car door, or the car itself. What I hate the most is that slo-mo fall when you realise you are screwed and become a scene from the Looney Tunes set. The last time it happened, I was cut off by a car that came out from in front of a bus. I was in the middle of changing gears and the chain derailed as I braked. No purchase with my peddles I could not snap our until I hit the tarmac in front of the bus, who politely waited for me to get out of the way rather than driving over me. I told my Dr I had completed my bone density test for the year and he was impressed, I did bruise the hip though.

    11. The other comment I have is a question. I was told years ago that the gears you use on the back wheel are dictated by the gear you use on the front. Given that rear cassettes are now 10 rings or more, it is wise not to go above, in my case, ring 6 on the back if the front is still on the small ring. And not to go below ring 5 on the back if you are on the big ring at the front. Why? Torque on the chain. If you look at the chain when the bike is on the smallest ring at the back and smallest ring at the front, there is quite a bit of lateral tension on the chain as it twists across an inch or two while under stress from peddling. Any comments?

    12. Ok.. these are real beginner issues.. if you have any support around you, they will instill these pitfalls ad nausem.. getting to the next level.. two things to improve are learning to always keep feet moving unless conditions warrant it, AND riding in a straight line even during a sip of the bottle. So, keep your feet moving, remain steady and straight while eating and drinking during your ride..

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