Mountain bike components are designed to withstand more abuse and extreme riding conditions. These components are heavier, sometime larger and more durable then road bike components. Sometime you are riding on dirt, rock, or in water, etc and the components need to be durable enough so they can withstand abusive treatment.

It just so happened that my rear derailleur broke on my full suspension mountain bike. I was riding a down hill trail and lost control of my bike. The rear of the bike ended up hitting the face of a rock and I was left with a mangled rear derailleur. So I looked at the positive side of the accident and said to myself now is the time to upgrade.

I could find new or near new parts on Bike Servant which is a mountain bike classifieds website and lists mountain bikes for sale, bike parts and race events but I was in the car with my bike so I decided to go to the store.

On the way home from the trail I stopped at my local bike store to buy a new derailleur so I can resume riding as quickly as possible. I told the bike shop guy my situation and she asked me which aftermarket Shimano derailleur I wanted to buy. Not knowing anything about the different categories in the Shimano product line I asked for help and this is what she relayed to me.

Shimano Deore is their entry level category. These products are inexpensive and meant for the occasional or enthusiast rider. These components are stocked on entry level mountain bikes.

Shimano Deore LX is their next level in higher quality. This category level consists of a more durable product. The main difference that I noticed is that Deore LX is lighter then Deore. My derailleur was a Deore LX and it has shown me proven quality and reliability for many years.

Shimano Deore XT was referred to as their heavy duty category. This product category is not considered race quality performance but they are light weight and more durable then the LX category. The price difference between the LX category and the XT category was noticeable.

Shimano XTR is considered their high performance category. Again these parts are lighter then the XT category. As a consumer I took notice to the price increase from XT to XTR. It appeared to me that this category appeals to the racers that demand light weight and high performance.

Keep in mind that this is not a complete list of Shimano’s product line. It is the list that my bike store carried. You bike store might carry more bikes for sale and part to suit your needs.

So in my quest to buy a new derailleur I decided to purchase the Shimano Deore XT because of its light weight, durability and price. I had the bike shop install it for me and I was back on the trail in no time.

 Mechanical Parts & Concepts of Mountain Bikes
Shimano vs. Shram Mountain Bike Shifting
 

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–About–

By JJ Servant - Experience with full suspension and hardtail mountain bikes, bike parts and organizing race events for mountain biking. mountain bikes for sale

Source: Cool Biking Zone - Your source for great cycling, sports and fitness articles!

As reported in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recently published Calories Count - Report of the Working Group on Obesity, people who are overweight is a serious public health problem in the United States. Since the late 1980’s, adult obesity has steadily and substantially increased in the United States. Today, 64 percent of all Americans weigh too much and over 30 percent are obese; in 1988 through 1992, fewer than 56 percent were overweight and fewer than 23 percent of American adults were obese.

The trends for children are even more worrisome. Recent research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 15 percent of children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 are overweight – double the rate of two decades ago. As Americans get heavier, their health suffers. Overweight and obesity increase the risk for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. According to some estimates, at least 400,000 deaths each year may be attributed to obesity.

What people must know is that you can improve your health quickly with just a small amount of weight loss. “We know that physical activity along with reduced calorie consumption can lead to the 5 to 10 percent weight loss necessary to achieve remission of the obesity-associated complications,” says William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to Ken Black, founder of www.weight-loss-discovery.com, “losing one to two pounds a week is safe and recommended by most doctors for most people. This breaks down to 250 to 1,000 calories per day. You can achieve this easily if you follow some or all of the following guidelines” :

• Use skim milk instead of whole milk or cream in your coffee.
• Eat low fat yogurt instead of ice cream.
• Eat more bright colored (green, yellow, orange, red) fruits and vegetables.
• Eat more lean fish, chicken, or turkey and cut down on red meats.
• Eat whole wheat or multigrain bread, instead of white bread.
• Use a sugar replacement instead of sugar (avoid Aspartame).
• Drink water instead of soft drinks.
• When you eat out, avoid fried foods.
• Walk or do similar exercises (e.g. Golf, Tennis) at least 20 minutes a day.

If you do even just a couple of these every day for the next month, you’ll feel much better and you will lose weight.

And if you are concerned about getting hungry all the time, or losing your energy, try taking a safe appetite suppressant, like Herbal Phentermine. This supplement is not to be confused with the drug Phentermine, which has side effects like stomach upset, dry mouth and sleeplessness. The herbal variety is a non-prescription medication and has been tested for years to be safe for most people. It contains ingredients like green tea, acetyl L-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, biotin and others, that control your appetite, yet increase your metabolism and energy.

However, do not take any herbal supplement without checking with your Doctor first, if you are on any prescription medications, due to possible interactions between the two, or if you have a special medical condition.

If you follow these simple steps, you will surely reach your weight loss goals and become a much happier, healthier, and oh yes, lighter person.

Eat Snickers and Lose Weight - The Calorie Principle

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–About–

By Ken Black - Ken Black is the Founder of http://www.weight-loss-discovery.com, a website dedicated to helping people lose weight.

Source: Cool Biking Zone - Your source for great cycling, sports and fitness articles!

Lose 10 lbs a week - some people think those are the five sweetest words in the English language. But is it possible to make such a dream come true?

The answer is: “Yes, but.” You really can lose 10 lbs a week, but it will either take extremely hard work and/or a disaster happening to your body.

Look at it this way: One pound of body fat equals about 3500 calories. In order to lose one pound you must either take in 3500 fewer calories and/or engage in activities to burn 3500 calories.

Now, multiply that by 10 to see the calorie totals to lose 10 lbs. That’s right: You would have to reduce your weekly calorie intake by 35,000 calories or burn 35,000 more in a week to lose 10 lbs. When you consider the average adult takes in about 2,000 calories per day (14,000 in a week), you can see you would be depriving your body of a great deal of its stored energy. To lose 10 lbs a week can cost you your good health.

Many experts believe that by resorting to a diet this drastic, you would be forcing your body into a survival mode and thus sabotage your weight loss efforts. Your metabolism would slow to allow your body to conserve as much energy as it can. Thus your body would not be using its energy efficiently. In addition, once you resumed a more normal eating/exercise program, you would likely regain all the weight you lost - and then some.

As you can see, your body was not meant to lose weight that rapidly. However, there are ways you can lose weight safely and quickly. Just follow these common-sense measures.

• Eliminate junk food. Stick to what your body needs: healthy amounts of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and protein. Fill up on these foods and get rid of the fat, sugar and salt that damage your body.
• Say no to second helpings. If you think you are hungry, try drinking a glass of water instead. Sometimes what we think of as hunger pangs are actually the first signs of dehydration. Water will fill you up without calories.
• Exercise. Try walking quickly for 30 minutes. If you already do some exercise, try doing so for a little longer or at slightly greater intensity. For example, if you are able, try running, which burns up calories very quickly.

Losing 10 lbs a week is possible, but it is very risky. Your best bet is to lose weight slowly and steadily so you can keep it off for good.

One Pound of Fat Lost a Week

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–About–

By Anthony J. Carter - For further information or inspiration with your diet or weight losing attempts, fat loss idiots is a site that tries to answer your questions, especially when it comes to the famous diet program Fat Loss 4 Idiots.

Source: Cool Biking Zone - Your source for great cycling, sports and fitness articles!

How to lose 10 pounds is actually easier than you imagine. The only reason that losing weight gets portrayed as such a difficult thing to do is to keep the whole weight loss industry going - once you know some facts you begin to understand how easy it can be. Check out the rest of this article to find out how to lose 10 pounds.

• The first step to any serious permanent weight loss is to understand the principles- how can you hit your target without knowing HOW to lose 10 pounds?. Your body takes in so many calories a day through eating and drinking. It burns these calories to keep you alive and to give you the strength to go about your daily business. The rest is just simple math - if you eat more calories than your body burns through exercise, your body stores the excess as fat, which is why you get heavier and get those love handles. If you burn more than you eat, your body has to eat the reserves of fat to keep you going.
• This method of how to lose 10 pounds is like a double helping-In order to get permanent weight loss, you have 2 choices - you can either alter your eating habits permanently, by eating healthier food, and less of it, or you can take up regular exercise. A combination of the two is best. Have you ever seen the people with big flaps of skin hanging from them? Those are the guys that lost a ton of weight through dieting alone. Toning up your muscles as part of the process can stop you having the baggy skin.
• Speak to a doctor before you begin. It’s always wise to get a medical opinion before you start any kind of weight loss regime, especially if you are specifically trying to learn how to lose 10 pounds, as it’s enough weight to cause problems. They will be able to give you some tips on staying healthy while you do it, and these can really help you trim the pounds. Also they will probably give you a quick once over to make sure you are healthy enough to undertake the task - not a bad thing!
• Be sensible about it - losing 10 pounds really isn’t an impossible goal, but if you restrict yourself to eating stuff you hate to get healthy, in all reality it’s not going to last. The trick is to eat things in moderation, so why not break up your normal meals with more salad and vegetables, and replace your between meal snacks with fruit? These are great ways to cut the sizes of your portions, and to really learn how to lose 10 pounds safely and healthily.

So there you are, how to lose 10 pounds in 4 easy steps. The fact is, you could lose even more by following this advice, but the rest is up to you. Good luck! Check out the links below for some more advice.

• Click Here to find out how to lose 10 lbs fast- it’s right here, and it’s fast and easy - Click Here for the best weight loss resources on the net - we’ll even show you how to get a free weight loss book right now.

Lose 10 Pounds

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By Emma Green - Emma Green is the webmaster at http://www.fastweightlossreview.com

Source: Cool Biking Zone - Your source for great cycling, sports and fitness articles!

By Joel Owens

Skateboarding is for bums? Take a good look at the professional skateboarder’s body. Have you seen, in his MTV show, Ryan Sheckler shirtless? He’s got a well toned body. The guy is stringy but is ripped like Brad Pitt! Imagine that. Take a good guess at which physical activity can be most attributed to his ripped abs: skateboarding. How can skateboarding get you the muscles you want? Read on then to discover the facts and great exercise techniques to get ripped like Ryan Sheckler shirtless.

Keeping balanced is not as easy as it looks. Balancing on a skateboard is much harder because you need to shift your body’s weight left and right, forwards and backwards. Remember that you are supporting a lot of your weight. Therefore, all the work of supporting your upper body in this way funnels down falls to your torso, your abs, then to your legs. Your arms also play some role when shifting your weight. If you are starting to learn skateboarding, you’ll be spending hours and hours supporting and shifting your weight. More so, you are doing this unconsciously. Before you know it, you’re already addicted to the fun of skateboarding and you’ve been unwittingly working out your abs and legs for hours on end. Now, imagine how it would be if you start trying out and mastering progressively harder skateboard tricks one at a time. You’d be spending more and more hours, and you’ll also be using more muscles since these tricks are really hard to do. That’s exactly why those professional skaters like Ryan Sheckler, shirtless and sweating, look like they’ve been working out so hard in the gym.

Here are the best and easiest tricks you can learn that give the maximum workout:

The Ollie

• This is one neat skateboard trick which opens the door the so many other skateboard tricks. Learn this one and you are on your way to learning a lot more. This builds your calves and sculpts your butt. Not to mention trains your feet coordination since you have to kick down your skateboard while jumping in the air. The effect being that your skateboard seems stuck to your feet while airborne.

50 - 50 Grinds

• Grinds, as with any other skateboarding trick, require so much balance. You will need to use your hands, and your whole body to keep the grind going. Thus, this not only develops your arms, but also tones your torso.

Kickflips

• This is considered by some people to be an intermediate skateboard technique. However, if you get this one down, you will reap the benefits of cardio work out as well as a whole body workout. That is, while you are mastering the technique.

So there you have it. Try mastering these techniques and time will fly by so fast before you know it, you’ve already ripped like Ryan Sheckler. Shirtless will no longer be a non option for you. You will take your shirt, be in the nude and get worshipped by the beach bunnies.

• Freestyle tricks involve balancing on some other part of the board than all four wheels, such as two wheels or one wheel, the tail of the board, or the edges on either side. Various ways to flip and manipulate the board in and out of these stances were invented in the earliest years of skateboarding and these form the basis of freestyle or flatground skateboarding.
• Aerials involve floating in the air while using a hand to hold the board on his or her feet or by keeping constant and careful pressure on the board with the feet to keep it from floating away. This class of tricks was first popularized when Tony Alva became famous for his Frontside Airs in empty swimming pools in the late 1970s and has expanded to include the bulk of skateboarding tricks to this day, including the Ollie and all of its variations.
• Flip tricks are a subset of aerials which are all based on the Ollie. The first such trick was the Kickflip. You can spin the board around many different axis, and even combine several rotations in to one trick. These tricks are arguably most popular among street skateboarding purists, although skaters with other styles perform them as well.
• Slides and Grinds involve getting the board up on some type of ledge, rail, or coping and sliding or grinding along the board or trucks, respectively. When it is primarily the board which is contacting the edge, it’s called a slide; when it’s the truck, it is a grind. Grinding and sliding skateboards started with sliding the board on parking blocks and curbs, then extended to using the coping on swimming pools, then stairway handrails, and has now been expanded to include almost every possible type of edge.
• Lip tricks are done on the coping of a pool or skateboard ramp. Most grinds can be done on the coping of a ramp or pool as well, but there are some coping tricks which require the momentum and vertical attitude that can only be attained on a transitioned riding surface. These include Inverts and their variations as well as some dedicated air-to-lip combinations.

Skateboarding Tricks & Maintenance - How to Do a Kickflip on a Skateboard

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–About–

By Joel Owens - A Computer Engineering student and loves to travel. Reading current news in the internet is one of his past times. Taking pictures of the things around him fully satisfies him. He loves to play badminton and his favorite pets are cats.  More of Ryan Sheckler here.

Source: Cool Biking Zone - Your source for great cycling, sports and fitness articles!

Pro-Tec Classic White Skateboard Helmet

By John Pauls

The desire to skateboard is one many people are very passionate about. At the same time though their personal safety should be a priority. You will find that there are many different styles and brands of helmets you can select from in order to reduce the risk of a serious injury. However, it is also important to understand that they aren’t all the same. Too many consumers think the value lies in the price of them but that isn’t the case at all. Here are some great tips to help you get a skateboarding helmet that you can rely on.

You definitely want to check the overall approval on any skateboarding helmet. If you have one you already use for biking that can be used as well. Many of them on the market have been approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It is a good idea to pass over those that don’t meet those conditions as they may not offer you the same level of protection. It shouldn’t cover your line of vision though and it shouldn’t move from side to side or up and down as you are skating.

A proper fit with any skateboarding helmet is very important. If it is too tight you may not be able to hear well with it on. You may be putting yourself at risk too if you are concentrating on the feel of the helmet rather than your skating. Look for those with padding inside that will offer you more comfort. You don’t want it to be heavy either as that can affect your balance and control over the skateboard. The helmet should be snug though and not moving around as you skate. It should sit low on the forehead too so that some protection can be offered there as well.

To help ensure your skateboarding helmet will stay securely in place, get one with straps that buckle under the chin. Most of them have adjustable straps so you can move them as a child grows too or if they aren’t comfortable. You don’t want it too tight though so use the two finger rule. This implies you should be able to fit two fingers between the chin and the strap and it is securely tightened enough.

Always wear your skateboarding helmet, even if you are performing moves you have performed hundreds of times. You also want to regularly inspect your helmet. Should it show signs of wear and tear you will want to get it replaced. If you are in an accident and the helmet is cracked then through it out because the ability for it to absorb future impacts has been significantly reduced.

This is why you should never buy a used skateboarding helmet. While it can be a good way to save money, you just never know what took place with it. The safety of the person on a skateboard is too important to take such a risk. You should be able to buy a very good quality skateboarding helmet for less than $50. This is a great investment and one you will be sure to get plenty of value from.

Even though wearing one is optional in many locations, it is a good habit to get into. Parents should make sure their child has a helmet from the time they get their first skateboard. This way it becomes a habit very early on to wear one at all times. Statistics also show that 1/3 of all skateboarding injuries occur within the first week of riding one so don’t think that is something they don’t need right away.

Skateboarding Tricks & Tips - Start Skateboarding

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–About–

By John Pauls - If you want to buy a skateboard, there are two types you can choose. Complete skateboards and customize skateboards. Complete skateboards are constructed by manufacturer. All parts of skateboard are the same brand. It is a good choice for starter. Many skaters have a long skateboarding experience often like customize skateboards by themselves and have fun in it. Some of the pro skaters also choose complete professional skateboards from their favorite brands.

Source: Cool Biking Zone - Your source for great cycling, sports and fitness articles!

By Todd Martin

Skateboarding is all the fun as it can help your body to remain in shape by burning up those extra calories and flab, that too without affecting your joints; what’s more you will augment your muscle strength and flexibility. You may besides customize your skateboard according to your own specifications, on the other hand if you are a learner, it is recommended you must pick a pre-built complete skateboards. Here are some tips to assist you in procuring a right skateboard to enjoy a range of skateboarding tricks:

Before buying a skateboard, it is very important to decide the style of skateboard according to the type of skating preferred. Skateboards come in three styles- street, park (or ramp), and longboards. Street and ramp skateboards are almost same and the difference lies in the size of the wheels. Buy a street skateboard if your skating involves flip tricks or grinds, and you like skating on the streets. If you like skating at the skate park or vert ramps, then prefer buying the ramp style skateboard. Longboards are used for either downhill racing or transportation and sidewalk surfing. It’s important that the skates offer comfort and rigid ankle support.

Different skateboard decks are used to perform different skateboarding tricks. So, its quite important to know its size and style prior to you buying one. Ramp tricks can be performed effortlessly with the help of a wider deck however flip tricks are hard to achieve with it. Flip tricks or street skating can be performed without any difficulty with the skateboards having smaller decks. Nevertheless a person who wishes to learn both the styles street as well as ramps must look for a skateboard deck that is neither too wide nor too narrow. But if you would like to use skateboards for transportation purpose, then select the bigger boards.

Similarly so much depends on selecting right size and hardness of your skateboard wheels. The size and hardness of the skateboard wheels can vary according to the style of skating chosen. For executing tricks like kickflips and ollies, the street skaters select small and hard wheels. Hard wheels are also preferred for vert skating. The size of trucks to be used depends upon the size of wheels and deck. Trucks of bigger height need larger wheels and your truck size must be within 1/4? of the size of the deck.

Skateboarding is becoming one of the most popular sports in the world; there are increasingly numbers of manufacturers that produce complete skateboard like BP HAWK FLYING FALCON RED MINI COMPLETE. As a result, various brands of complete skateboard come up, such as Plan B skateboard, Zoo York skateboard etc. You can find your favorite skateboard in goskategohome.com which is an online skateboards and accessories supplier providing many brands of complete skateboards and accessories

How to Do Skateboard Tricks : How to Do a Kickflip on a Skateboard

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–About–

By Todd Martin - For all your skateboard needs, do visit Todd Martins site for affordable line of skateboards and Skateboard Decks. For every skateboard requirement, do visit Todd Martins site for high quality skateboards and Complete Skateboard.

Source: Cool Biking Zone - Your source for great cycling, sports and fitness articles!