What are some good rules of thumb for starting out long-distance biking?

Before you start out on a long distance ride, you must ensure that the bicycle you plan to ride on is of the right fit for you. If you want to have an enjoyable ride, read up about the kind of touring bicycles that are good for long distance ride as you will be required to carry a pannier for tools, spare tubes, food, drinks and other stuff that you may need on the journey.

If you expect that it will rain at places that you will be cycling to, be prepared for it. Make sure that you properly dressed for your ride.

However, if you plan to travel overseas on your bicycle, it maybe a good idea to consider getting a folding bike for ease of moving it on public transport. Find out how you can ship it internationally.
Do you have the stamina for it? Learn how you can build it up. You should also learn how to ride so that you will not tire yourself out sooner than you should. Cycling in bicycle-friendly countries can also reduce the stress of long distance rides.

Learn how to service your bicycle regularly and how to figure out what is wrong with it so that it can be maintained to run efficiently. The very basic that you must know is how to change your tyres and tubes.

For your own safety, make the following checks before you start your ride.
Checklist before going on a bike ride

I like the idea of getting a road bike for exercise but skinny tires scare me. Does something like a hybrid bike exist?

Road bikes run on 700x23C slick tyres. Fixed gear bikes on 700x28C slick tyres. 700C indicates the diameter of the rim while the 23C or 28C indicates the width of the tyre. The larger the number is, the wider the width.

Usually customers on the heavier side are concern about its width when they consider buying road bikes. Hybrids also run 700C slick tyres which are wider than 23C and with deeper threads.

They are not installed with drop down handlebar that you see on road bikes. So, cyclists who like riding on larger wheels with slick tyres would prefer to buy a hybrid if they do not like the idea of bending forward to ride. Hybrids are similar to touring bicycles except that the later are installed with heavy duty front and rear carriers for carrying bags or panniers.



Unlike the road bike, for a hybrid you have the option to choose one installed with suspension.



A 700C tyre is there about 28-29” in diameter. Some brands have markings on their 700C tyres and tubes to indicate their size in inches. Example, a Schwalbe 700X35C tube can also be used on a 28X1 5/8-1 3/8” tyre, as indicated on the tube.

While you cannot change a 700C slick tyre to a knobby type as there is none in that size in the market, it is possible to change knobby tyres, usually installed on a MTB, to ones that are slick.



So, if you like the idea of riding a bicycle with a large wheel diameter and slick tyres, you can consider buying a 29” MTB and change both the tyres to slick type for speed, if that is what you are aiming for. This should take away your fears of riding on skinny tyres.

Some customers buy a second wheelset for their MTBs to install slick tyres so that they can use them as and when required by interchanging wheels. But it can be costly as you have to also install another set of freewheel or cassette if it is a geared bike.

You can also change the upright handlebar on your hybrid to the drop down type but you will also have to change your brake levers.

How many miles should I bicycle per day before I start on a world tour?

The best way to test and build up your stamina for long distance ride is to get yourself a bicycle trainer. Mount your bicycle on it and start cycling on it. This will also help you build your muscles for endurance ride.

The gluteal muscles you build up on your buttocks will also act like a cushion so they will not hurt as much during long distance rides.

You must also learn not to cycle against the wind and to change your gears correctly for uphill or downhill rides.

To know how well you are doing on your trainer, you can install a bicycle computer on your bicycle so that you know the distance you have cycled, your average speed and the total distance you could cover in a day considering that you will be called away while training or taking breaks for meals or toilet breaks.


There are meters that can also read if you have high pedal cadence as it tells how fast you can pedal. The higher it is the faster you can go which means that you can cover a longer distance without getting tired at the right gear speed.

Consider installing a butterfly handlebar on your bicycle which you will be touring on.

That way you can “exercise” your hands by moving it along the sponge grip so that it will improve blood circulation and relieve you from hurting due to compression of the nerves of your palms.

As for wheel size, cycling on a 700C wheelset will get you further per revolution vs cycling on a 26″. Most touring bikes are installed with 700C wheelset. Though there are also touring bike with 26″ touring bikes in the market.

700C Touring Bike


However, all 700C tyres are manufactured slick so you will have difficulty cycling your bike over rough terrain. So, you have to decide if you need a bicycle with knobby or slick tyres.

Should bicyclists obsess less over their component selection and focus more on developing their motor?

Getting a bicycle is not as straight forward as that. I am serving a generation of customers craving instant gratification with their purchase. Here are some points to note when choosing a bicycle.

When customers enter my shop, the first question I will ask is if they are cycling with their friends. It defeats the purpose of buying a mountain bike if the group of friends you are joining are riding road bikes. Your cycling skills can’t help much here as you will be struggling to catch up on your knobby tyres as your friends sped by on their road bike with 700C slick tyres, heads bent forward on tarred road.

Similarly, size of wheels also matters. In Malaysia, it is now popular to choose bicycle with wheel size of 27.5” or a 29er. So, if you were to buy a 26” bike, you may have a problem chasing after your friends cycling on a 27.5” or a 29er, as with each revolution, it can go a bit further than a 26er.

Once my customers have that settled, they will then have to decide if they would like to consider buying bicycles similar in standard to what their friends are cycling. If they just opt for a cheaper model than there is an issue of "losing face", a cultural behavior that the Asians will understand. That is, the feeling that you have lost self-esteem as “what you have is not better than theirs”.

This is how I help my customers overcome that problem. The general idea of most customers is that better components will be installed on a higher priced bicycle. In order to help them make the right decision, I will let them compare components on one bicycle with those on another instead of comparing price of each bicycle to make the decision to purchase. Sometimes, a less well known brand may have better gearing system installed vs one that is branded even though they are similar in price. Then you will have to decide if you would prefer the brand you are seeking and pay more for higher end components installed, which tend to be lighter in weight.
I let my customers feel the mechanism of the bicycle so that they can tell, for example, the difference of using a bicycle with mechanical disc brake over one with hydraulic disc brake or one with V-brake. I let them lift up a 20” steel folding bicycle so that they can imagine how heavy a steel bike with 26” wheelset or higher would be like. Then they can decide if it is best that they pay more for bicycle with alloy, chrommolly or carbon frame.
The important thing as a customer is that you must ask the shop if spare parts of components on the bicycle of your choice are easy to find and replace. So, even if you opt to choose a lower end bicycle due to current budget, you know that you can upgrade the components at later stage when you understand bicycles better as you ride and are sure that you are serious about cycling.
Once you have cycled on your bicycle (or your friends’) and have a clearer idea of what you really like, you will have reached the stage to be obsessed about components. But this time it is because you want to build up your cycling skills with the right components.