Sherri Byer, CBN coordinator and mechanic, was asked recently to give online cycling tips in a live chat hosted by CBC.

Here's a couple examples of the questions Sherri answered. They ranged from the mechanical to the legal (though one wonders why people are asking a mechanic such questions):

Jeff

Winnipeg

I'm debating on putting a different type of tire on my bike. Can you tell me the advantages and disadvantages between the size and style of tire? (knobby, slick, semi-slick)

Sherri Byer: Jeff,

This decision always depends on the terrain you normally ride on. If most of your cycling happens off-road, on rutted, rough, or gravelly terrain, then knobbies are your best bet. The nature of lugged design will allow the tires to grab whatever surface they encounter. (In that case, you also want to keep the tires somewhere within the optimum PSI level, but not at maximum, for best traction.)

If you are someone who always rides on paved surfaces, then slicks are the answer: you want the most tire-surface to ride-surface contact for best traction, so slicks on pavement make the most sense, as the tires is always touching the road.

On the other hand, if you mainly ride on roads but want to have the option of doing light off-road from time to time, then go with the semi-slick option. The slick surface in the middle of the tire will allow you to get good traction on paved surfaces, while still offering back-up traction from the side lugs.

annie

toronto

I know I'm not supposed to bike on the sidewalk but the traffic in Toronto frankly scares me silly. I don't feel the least bit comfortable or confident enough to ride with ongoing traffic. Does that mean that I can only ride recreationally and will never be able to commute by bike?

Sherri Byer: Annie,

Absolutely not! I have known people to *start* riding a bike as adults, learn to ride confidently in traffic, and go on to become what I’d call “hard core” commuters!

My suggestion to you is to get training from someone who is confident and knowledgeable about cycling and road rights/responsibilities, such as a CanBike instructor. If you are serious about wanting to be able to commute in the city, then spending the time and money on one of these courses is definitely worthwhile (less than driver’s education!)

The official Can-Bike site does not seem to be updated with local 2008 schedules, but if you Google Can-Bike for your specific city you will be able to details on this course, in addition to finding local schedules.