After a long ride, you may expect some soreness in your arms and legs as the result of supporting your upper body and cranking the pedals. What you don't expect is pain in your toes. Soreness in the toes may be caused by the wrong type of equipment, but it could be a sign of an injury.

You have a variety of options for converting your bike to a tricycle. Typical rear-wheel conversions are ideal for children and riders with special needs. A front-wheel conversion adds a sporting element to the three-wheel experience.

If you've purchased a bike with a Shimano SIS shift system -- which stands for Shimano Indexing System -- you may find yourself confused as to how the shifts work. The system features a large and small shift lever mounted on the left and right handlebars and comes in both 7-speed and 10-speed.

18 speeds is a common drivetrain configuration for modern bicycles, with options for a double chainring paired with a 9-gear cassette or a triple chainring with a 6-gear cassette.

A single speed bike requires you to exert more effort and physical strength to accomplish various courses and routes. Converting your bike to variable speed provides you the advantage of maneuverability and increased efficiency, but it will also require advanced knowledge of parts and how they work together.

Rust can be a death sentence for some types of metal. Rusting is the chemical breakdown of metal caused by its exposure to corrosive materials and oxygen. Sometimes the elements in rainwater, salt on the streets and other materials can cause rust to develop on exposed metal.

One skill every cyclist should have, besides changing a flat tire, is how to fix a slipped or dropped chain. A bicycle chain usually drops off a gear or chainring because the teeth have become worn and narrow, the chain has stretched or it has a bad link.

Removing the fork and stem from your bicycle isn't a professional task. With a little bit of elbow grease, you can easily swap out a new stem or a new fork without cutting cables or calling upon your local bike professionals.

For those who are physically fit, riding a bike at age 50 isn’t much different than it was at 15. Most 50-year-olds aren’t as fit as they once were, however. They may have heart, knee, hip or back problems to consider. If you’re in that group, don’t let physical challenges stop you from enjoying the sport of cycling.

A loose chain will ruin your ride at best and pose a safety issue at worst. If your bike chain keeps loosening up, you need to find the cause of the problem and address it before riding again. The cause may differ from bike to bike because the mechanics vary.

Most men can tolerate a bit of discomfort and even pain when they're cycling, but numb testicles are likely to raise concern. This concern is well-founded. Although the short-term effects are not serious, cycling can cause damage to the male reproductive organs over time. But that doesn't mean you should stop cycling.

Toe straps on pedals improve the cyclist’s grip while bike riding. The straps are often paired with toe clips, but can also come separately. Riding with toe straps takes some practice and maneuvering. The strap traps the foot onto the pedal.