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Comment by fire_lake | Hacker News Reader

We take up running to get fit and then spend hundreds of dollars on footwear to reduce the effort it takes to run. People are funny :)

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I run to get fit but it is also freeing to know your body can cover distance without much effort. If the coffee shop is a mile away but you are a decent runner you can go there and back in ~20 minutes without getting tired/sweaty. No car, no bike or other equipment, just step out the door and go. If a pair of shoes could extend my range I am all for it.

it's even worse with cycling. You could get fit cycling a heavy bike around the neighborhood instead you spend thousands to go 100kms. And accidents always happen at the point most distant from home. And you get more flats the further you go

I took my (cheap and heavy) bicycle to the shop. The guy was going to oil the chain, but I told him not to, as my commute is fixed and I want it to be good exercise.

I guess that, when you're racing, you want to win, not necessarily to expend max effort. For a commute where I use a bicycle instead of motorcycle specifically for the exercise, I want the opposite.

This would lead to increased component wear though.

I was going to say the same thing. A poorly maintained chain wears and “stretches,” and in turn wears gears faster. There’s no need to intentionally wear out components for better exercise - just ride a longer route faster, throw rocks in a backpack, etc. A poorly lubed chain only adds maybe 5-10 Watts, which is not much in terms of fitness improvements. And a worn chain and drivetrain is more prone to slipping or breaking, which is a good way to get injured.

Edit: I just realized nsteel said pretty much the same thing below.

Yeah, definitely. I expect I'll have to pay something to keep fit, and the chain and gears are probably cheaper than a gym subscription. They're also not very good components, which puts them in the bottom end of the price range, so that's good too.

Please do be careful and monitor the condition of your chain if you're going to deliberately let it degrade. You can cause yourself quite a nasty accident when your chain snaps, or even slips on the teeth at an unfortunate moment. I'd personally find a different way to increase the effort e.g. carry more mass

Not to mention that a broken chain means an inoperable bike, and replacing a chain on the go is a messy job. And if the chainrings are worn due to a poorly maintained chain, a replacement new chain may not even fit correctly.

So, even without injury, a broken chain even two miles away from town and a bike shop is no fun.

The only good thing about not lubricating your drivetrain is that replacing/fixing it won't be so messy!

This is real, it happened to me and it hurt.

A trailer is another nice handicap that has the benefit of greatly expanding cargo space. Cumbersome in an urban environment, however.

If you want it to be even harder to bike, try releasing some air from the tires :)

Oh I do! I pump them up to considerably less than full.

You think that having a dirty chain is improving your fitness as compared to not having a dirty chain?

Obviously yes, as it has more friction.

But you could just ride harder with a smoother chain, or like, carry a pack of gum with you? If you carried an extra water bottle, it'd be orders of magnitude harder for you than the difference the dirty chain makes. This is hands down one of the silliest things I've ever seen discussed in my decades of being a cyclist and working at bike shops, etc. If you want to exercise there's a million better options than purposefully neglecting your bike.

I took up running again, primarily to become fitter. There's muscular adaptation. There's cardio vascular adaptation. I don't know how much skeletal / ligament adaptation there is, especially at my age.

I recently purchased a nice pair of running shoes after doing some research - fortunately, they were on sale and not much more expensive than my relatively entry level pair that I needed to replace.

There was zero breaking in - they fit perfectly, felt amazing right away. They cushion better. My running distance hasn't gone up, but I'm recovering faster and able to run more often.

Running on pavement isn't kind to the body. If shoes can help reduce injury, then some people will use that to push harder while others will be glad that they're getting fit without getting hurt.

Same thing happens without the supershoes...

Start running to get fit, expending X calories per mile.

If you lose weight due to all the running/exercise, well, then, you've made it easier for your body to cover the same distance since you weigh less now.

But your weight loss will decrease if you keep your running distance constant since your lighter body requires fewer calories to cover the same distance.

On the flip side you can now cover more distance in the same time and training feels better.

Good news is that to take advantage of these shoes you need to be already doing close to 5 minute miles

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