A low-sweat bike?

I was wearing a wicking base layer (and little else) earlier, but the sweat was still cascading from my barely evolved brow. And there was cooling air flow.

Despite working frantically hard*, however, I was only sustaining 0mph.

*not wanking in an airing cupboard

I think with a lighter gear he will sweat less, not a heavier. The harder the gear, the more effort to push it, the more you'll sweat. Compare it to weight training. I could probably do 100 squats with 20 kg and not break into a sweat, but 10 with 130 and i'm be dampening....

really? i don't think i could do 100 squats with no weight without sweating! i agree with your main point though

I think he'll sweat less as his body gets used to the particular exercise.

likely

Since I started using the Brompton between stations and destinations, and cycling in normal clothes I have found just going a little slower helps a great deal. I still get a little sweaty but thats when the wicking base layers and the padded shorts comes in.

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22176/92372-don-t-sweat-it-hows-whys/2

can't find another source now but I heard this before

http://trainright.com/chris-carmichael-blog-does-sweating-more-mean-youre-more-fit/

That is true. I have experienced it on myself.
Few years ago i wasn't sweating at all, maybe just a tiny bit of sweat under the armpits.
I wasn't excercising much. Just a bit of run or sometimes gym.

Then i started swimming and cycling, riding a bike everyday and swiming few times a week.
From someone who was always cold and wearing few layers of clothes i turned into someone who rides in a jersey and shorts all year round and breaks a sweat after couple of minutes of excercising.
It looks silly sometimes, covered in an even layer of sweat only after short ride to work like if i just had finished a marathon on a hot summer day. No dry spot on a jersey.

My body reacts this way whenever i do something demanding just a bit
of physical activity like hoovering etc.

Plus side is that i usually stay warm when people around me complain on being cold.

I guess that's how your friends body works as well. Putting him on some 20kg pashley won't do much difference.

Nice light carbon fibre road bike that's been "scoble-fied" with rising stem, lots of spacers. A really high gear will probably make him sweat more than a low gear, with massive efforts required to get started and stop, ride hills etc. So best bet would be a very light bike, because they require the least effor to accelerate, ride up hill and so on, maybe some really deep carbon rims to help maintain at speed. Gears, maybe Campag Super Record, will mean he can always be in the right gear, so can trundle along at just the right cadence without raising a sweat.

You called?

You called?

Perfect. No matter what Mr Ed says you are going to sweat less riding a more efficient bike at the same speed as a stupid 50kg dutch shopper. The real trick is to not ride fast, which an overly upright position, basket and sprung seat seem to assist with.

Are these suggestions of shit, heavy bikes with massive gearing actually genuine?

That Gazelle?? Fuck my clogs...

clogs... not dogs.

a good solution* to stop any sweating is to get a full body botox treatment.
May be expensive and may cause death from overheating so would need to be managed.

*when compared to some of above

Are these suggestions of shit, heavy bikes with massive gearing actually genuine?

That Gazelle?? Fuck my clogs...

Only in that they make you want to ride slowly, whereas road and track bikes make you want to ride fast.

Mind you, you've seen the speed at which I ride my Raleigh, so it's not exactly science.

its been so cold out there of late they should try cycling nekkid, they'll not sweat in this weather

Give him a single-speed with 60 gear inches.

If he's not a spinny person, then it's very low exertion and he'll just pootle along without breaking a sweat.

When I was riding into Holborn from Brentford but had cancelled the gym (so I had no shower at the destination), I worked on finding the optimal speed for getting there in a reasonable time but not breaking a sweat. For me, on a Rohloff, it was gear 9... which is two 13% steps down from the direct drive gear of 76 gear inches... the first 13% step down removes 10 gear inches, and the second 13% step down removes 9 gear inches... so a non-sweat gear for me is 57 inches.

So yeah... low gear... pootle along.

It's definitely a non-sweat gear.

If he breaks a sweat, he's going too fast.

BTW, I spent far too many days trying to figure that out so that it worked in all weather and seasons.

But it does assume you don't race everyone and let yourself be overtaken by others from time to time. You can't let your competitiveness get involved if you want to arrive without humming.

Give him a single-speed with 60 gear inches.

If he's not a spinny person, then it's very low exertion and he'll just pootle along without breaking a sweat.

When I was riding into Holborn from Brentford but had cancelled the gym (so I had no shower at the destination), I worked on finding the optimal speed for getting there in a reasonable time but not breaking a sweat. For me, on a Rohloff, it was gear 9... which is two 13% steps down from the direct drive gear of 76 gear inches... the first 13% step down removes 10 gear inches, and the second 13% step down removes 9 gear inches... so a non-sweat gear for me is 57 inches.

So yeah... low gear... pootle along.

It's definitely a non-sweat gear.

If he breaks a sweat, he's going too fast.

sense

Thanks, some of the advice sounds very reasonable indeed.

I think then the best solution for him is really to get himself a relaxed, upright-position bike that makes you go easy just by its concept, like a dutch bike or whatever.

What I never understood: why does relaxed/easy/city/dutch-bike always mean it MUST be heavy at the same time? It seems to be impossible to buy a dutch-geometry frame that weighs less than a ton -->> scandalous market niche?

What I never understood: why does relaxed/easy/city/dutch-bike always mean it MUST be heavy at the same time? It seems to be impossible to buy a dutch-geometry frame that weighs less than a ton -->> scandalous market niche?

Simple fact that a lightweight dutch bike won't make you sweat less, it just encourage you to push it a little more when it easier to accelerate.

I'm talking about 3/5 speeds dutch bike, not singlespeed (which is ONLY suitable for flat terrain and not the ascend of clerkenwell road).

you can buy a light dutch bike but it'll cost a lots more than £500.

^ sure the bike would be actually "light", i.e. <10kg? or just light in the dutch understanding, like 15kg instead of 22?

I see no reason why a frame has to weigh 300% more just because of different angles -->> market niche

...cheap old dutch bike that flex more than a West Midlander's pregnant teenager would do the job.

Personal experience?

absolute usual bollox, more like

The Gospel According to Ed...

Hmmm.. someone who literally does not want to break into a sweat clearly isn't that bothered about the exercise benefits of the pedal bike. I recommend a scooter.

Or an Oyster Card.

Dumb question - if your mate doesnt want to get places sweaty why doesnt he just unzip his jacket a bit a little while before he gets to where ever hes going and dry out?

Clean fresh sweat doesnt smell when it dries out. Works for me and I'm the type of person that will have an all over sheen before I even get out of breath. Open your jacket a bit a few minutes before you reach and nobody will ever know.

absolute usual bollox, more like

I've been commuting on this monstrosity 11 miles each way and it's singlespeed, I sweat on the hill because I didn't have a lower gearing (singlespeed), now fuck off.

Thanks, some of the advice sounds very reasonable indeed.

I think then the best solution for him is really to get himself a relaxed, upright-position bike that makes you go easy just by its concept, like a dutch bike or whatever.

What I never understood: why does relaxed/easy/city/dutch-bike always mean it MUST be heavy at the same time? It seems to be impossible to buy a dutch-geometry frame that weighs less than a ton -->> scandalous market niche?

Going for a heavy bike == more exertion to move it == more sweat.

I'm not sure who suggested it, but it's a dumb idea.

Go for a light bike, and with 60 gear inches, and just go slower. Very little exertion == little to no sweat.

It's not a hard equation, I'm surprised there are 50 posts to answer this.