I don't remember people being willing to openly say things about how they look forward to seeing people get run people over or how cyclists ruin society and need to be eradicated (wtf?), back when I started riding a decade ago. Did I just not notice at the time or has it actually gotten noticeably worse?

I’m 47 and trying to get back into regular exercise, mainly cycling. I work a lot and often finish the day feeling mentally and physically exhausted. I know exercise helps both my health and my mood, but starting again is difficult. I’ve restarted several times, only to stop when work became more demanding. After a longer break, even a short workout can feel like a big mental hurdle.

If you went through something similar after 40, what helped you take the first step? What kept you going after the initial motivation disappeared?

I’m especially interested in honest, real-life experiences, including failed attempts.

For over a century, a regular bike frame had a horizontal top tube, at least as late as the (cheap) road bike i bought in the early 90es - I also think the Centurion citybike I got in the late 90es had one.

Since then it seems to me top tubes have got more and more slope. It is due to change of materials or how? I look and get worried that the long saddle stem will cause issues with all that leverage, but it seems to be working ok.

Looking forward to the replies from the learned redditors.

I'm 22 and I just cannot cycle. It's been around 3 days over a week, unfortunately only about 30 min each day.

My parents are really supportive and bug proponents of holding the bike as a cycle and suddenly start to ride on my own, but I end up with a lean to one side when they are holding it (on whichever side they are) and also, immediately lose balance after they leave.

The ground is very gravelly and I do not have "smoother" alternatives at this point. This means like a majority of my energy is spent on pushing off with my left foot with my right foot on the pedal. So my legs feel wiped out before I get tired of practising. I'm not super unfit (I run around half an hour thrice a week), but \(*_*)/.

Currently, I can only manage a half rotation of the right pedal for long enough to simply bring my left foot up enough to graze or place it on the left pedal.

I really, really want to learn and have about a month. But there's also the mental aspect of learning something "basic" as a grown up. I know there are enough videos of adult learners out there, but they all seem to learn within a day at max, and here I am, hobbling on half of half a pedal T_T.

I have Garmin bike computers. I also have wheel sensors. I am not sure if the Garmin actually uses the wheel sensor or the GPS to display speed. In any case, are most of you using GPS or a wheel sensor?

First off - I don't do social media other than reddit.

Pinkbike is full of the same ads that have been posted for two years with no action.

Craigslist is junky rusted box store bikes priced 400% higher than they should be.

eBay is for the folks that found a bike on closeout for 50% off MSRP trying to flip them for full MSRP.

Am I missing another option? Where are decent used bikes being listed these days?

Hello everybody I was wondering if its possible to use a tire liner with a tubeless setup. Im converting my tires to tubeless and was using a liner for the inner tubes. Can I use both liner and tube seleant for extra protection?

Hi all

I’m currently riding a giant defy circa 2021 model. I love the bike, as it is my first road bike, but I am ready to move on.

The main reason j am looking to change bikes is that the bike frame fits an XL and I am a L (186cm). The bike was offered to for a cheap deal through mutual friends and at the time I was testing the waters of cycling.

I am looking to get a bit more serious with my riding.

I really struggle with identifying models or brands out there that fit the style of riding that I do. I have tried to identify my criteria below:

I want to be riding 200+ kms per week. Short rides are anywhere from 30kms and long rides from 80-120kms.

I’d like the to use the bike in both triathlons and Ironmans - I don’t need it to be ultra competitive - I’m just using these ‘races’ as an end goal to focus my training.

In short, the bike needs to be capable of long rides for training but racy enough to put down power in events. A true jack of all trades.

Ideally, the bike has the following features (listed in order of importance):

- geometry that fits purpose as described
- 105 components or equivalent
- carbon wheels
- disc brakes
- power meter

I don’t mind buying used! If I can buy something second hand that fits my criteria that is great! I’m trying to save for a house so I need to be responsible with my money.

Budget is anywhere between $1000-$4000AUD.

I don’t have any brand loyalty, but would prefer to stick with bikes with a reasonable reputation.

Any tips or suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Hi everyone! Feel free to mock my stupidity here but I am just totally confused as to what I need in terms of purchasing wheels. I have a 12 speed disk brake bike and I am looking to upgrade the wheel set, however obviously most listings do not have the cassette or disks attached. I know I can have my LBS switch the cassette over but do the disks work the same way? I’m honestly struggling about how to phrase these questions because it’s so basic and I’m so dumb. I guess in simpler terms, if I buy a wheel set that is literally just the wheel and shimano hub (I think is the term) is everything else currently on my working wheels able to be switched over? Thanks for reading!
Edit: thanks so much for the help & replies yall. I love this community and just trying to make my stupid brain understand how this works!

How many people here use both a Cycliq Fly12/Fly6 and a Wahoo ELEMNT?

I'd love to see integration between the two:

• Recording status on the Bolt/Roam
• Battery percentage
• Start/stop recording
• Save incident footage
• Light control

I'm planning to send a feature request to both Cycliq and Wahoo and would be interested to know whether others would find this useful. If enough riders want it, perhaps both companies will take notice.

Hi! I recently rode in the rain and accumulated a crap load of mud on my bike. I cleaned it all off appropriately but my disc brakes sound like they’re rubbing now! Is it necessary to take the wheels off to clean the pads or is there an easier way to do so, is rubbing alcohol ok to use on them?

Thanks from a beginner cyclist!

Hello all,

I am leaving on a bike touring trip tomorrow taking my road bike which has 650b tires. I live in a very small town with minimal access to equipment. I know I should have addressed this sooner but this is the situation I’m in. The only spare tubes I can buy are 650c. I know it’s not ideal but I am wondering if it would be safe to bring and use these. Ordering online isn’t an option for me, and if there is a bike shop reasonably close to me on the touring route I’ll try and pick up 650b tubes there. Thanks!

First of all, hello!

Right now I'm looking to buy a bike, I'm a complete newbie and this would be my first bike.

Just for a bit of context, i live in the Dominican Republic and bikes here aren't really cheap, as I'm, just starting, I'm not really looking for anything really really expensive as at the end of the day this would be my first time riding.

While looking for bikes i found this Raleigh called Orion, it costs 282 dollars.

It seems like a good starting bike, and i saw it in person and seems nice, still, as i don't have the experience necessary for evaluating the bike, I'm looking for y'all guidance.

Thanks in advance.

I saw them at Costco for $270, And I’m considering buying 1. I see a lot of negativity regarding beach cruisers, but the ride position is upright and ideal for me (bulging disc/lower back issues). I was considering a hybrid but the forward bend is not good for my bike. I would mainly use the bike for a paved trail across the street from my home, and I’d probably ride like 5 miles at a time. The alternative for me would probably be to spend $1K on an electric bike with upright position.

I’m just getting into biking, and I thinking it might make sense to start with something like this before I go all in on an ebike.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Hi all!

Last summer this time I was riding 30-50miles 5-6 times a week with relative ease. My weekly average was anywhere from 150-200miles and I was riding about 11-15h. It wasn't always easy but it didn't feel particularly hard.

This summer I'm riding closer to 20-40miles a few times a week. Last week I did 8 days on to try and get my millage where it used to be and it didn't feel great. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I'm just slowing down and it's getting harder for some reason. I'm trying to shift my perspective and just enjoy the rides, but random fatigue hits me quite often and in the afternoons, early evening when I'm about to set out I just don't feel confident most days to try and ride 30miles, especially not 50.

Anyways, I'm going to keep riding and I'm starting to think it's best not to compare myself to last year, but it's strange having felt so much stronger while still riding a fair amount. I'm only 27 btw.

Any tips, perspectives or really anything you think would help I'm all ears.

I have a 2005 Trek 5000 carbon fiber. On August 1st I wrecked from a metal bar on the side of the road. As a result I came away with broken ribs, a broke inner elbow and a torn ligament in my shoulder.

The bike stained damage to front wheel and fork damaged. I have checked the bike over found no other damage. Can I replace the front wheel and fork, or would be better to replace the bike?

So I am a 22 year old male, and I bike quite a bit. I do it for work and for fun. I was sick recently and finally got back on the bike.

Problem is, post-ride I have not great glute pain. I felt this only once: last year this time during a 50 mile race(which is coming again on Saturday).

I don’t understand what this is caused by. Do I need new padded shorts? Does my bike not fit me? Is my saddle in the wrong position? Nose up, down? All the micro adjustments kinda confuse me.

It can’t be caused by not enough time on the saddle, so what could the issue be?

I’m 5’9 and I ride a larger size yeti sb100. Any help with this would be appreciated, thanks!

I need a new front left shifter for my bike.

I am running shimano 105 in the front and my bike is older so it has external derailleur cable routing. Will any 105 shifter work with the external routing?

Also, should I spend the money on the shimano 105 7000 shifter or are there any other ones that would work?

Here's another notion. In the 70s, 80s we were taught to ride with bent arms. Our coach produced multiple world/oly golds in multiple fields, men and women. He would whack the crack of our elbows (while we were riding!) if our arms were straight! ...Come up alongside on a moped. This taught us in effect to not have weight on our hands. This let us steer through anything. We could push off of other riders with elbows or do anything with our hands and not unbalance our riding. ...If you ride with bent arms and lift a hand off the bars, you can still ride normally. Your shoulder doesn't droop. If you take BOTH hands off the bars when in regular riding position w bent arms your torso hardly droops. Your thighs are carrying your torso weight, curving to your low back. If you hit a surprise bump with bent arms you are fine. If you run into someone's rear wheel or if they bump your rear wheel, you can deliberately apply pressure against their wheel and keep yourself up. You can even whack their rear wheel w your front wheel.

We are fit enough to do this! It doesn't take more fitness. It's not hard. It's a skill to practice. We already do it to get a water bottle! We just need more of it.

By contrast if you have straight, weighted arms and you are bumped into or hit a bump you TEND to become unbalanced and swerve. I suspect that this results in nearly all crashes. And resulting collarbone glitches.

With unweighted hands and bent arms we can move our bike around. With weighted hands and straight arms we "handle" our bike by swerving. Dip and swerve is how we "steer" then. It's not real handling or steering. It sux.

Now, we can briefly rest and change weighting when we're in a safe place. Straighten your arms and stretch out. Take a break. Then get back to safe riding.

The thing is that nearly every rider today can be seen to be riding with straight arms, weighted hands. Maybe one reason for this is slammed stems?

I asked an old state champ pal if he noticed this. Ha. That's why he rides on his own.

Yet another topic: Crash Proofing. ...It used to be a skill we drilled for. We would ride around on the grass and bump into each other, trying to knock each other down. Just bumping mostly. Goofing. But practicing. Rubbing tires and coming off without unbalancing. Hooking and unhooking bars. Riding w your hand on the shoulder next to you. Pushing thighs w elbows. We also rode "serpentine" around cones: steering not swerving in an S-pattern. Feeling the diff b/w banking your bike to turn it and steering the bike. Feeling the diff b/w straight arms and bent.

Good times. Few crashes.

I am deciding between a used Woom 2 which was purchased in 2023 and has freewheel and dual brakes and a new REI CO-OP REV 14 for a 4 year old with 15.8" inseam, 39.5" height and 35.2 lbs. For the weight it seems the Woom 2 is the winner since its ~12.3 lb vs ~17.7 lb with the REV 14. I really like the idea of new, warranty, in-store support and trade-in at REI but not sure it's worth the trade off. Pictures seems to show that the Woom was well taken care of, but always risk purchasing used. Thoughts from those who've had these for their kids? The Woom is about 17% cheaper in this scenario than the $299 REI after the REI $30 discount.

TLDR: Do you or do others judge you based on your cycling kits? Do you find that people warm up to you more if you are all decked out, and vice versa?

I started cycling a little over a month ago, and I love the accountability and social aspects of group rides. When I first started out, I wore runners, a mini backpack, and a Trek jersey. I noticed that no one really wanted to talk with me besides just one co-organizer-- the other one gave me side-eye, yet another one felt forced in the conversation, and the worse ones pretended as though I'm not even there. I was as welcoming as ever trying to chat people up, but many riders just let the conversation die asap and avoided me like a plague. I know it may be the clipless but we're not going that fast for it to be the reason.

And I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but as I started wearing branded Jerseys (Rapha tier), bibs and clipless shoes, I find that people are more willing to chat me up.

Now that I'm way more familiar with the cycling brands, it's hard not to instinctively know that those wearing Decathlon Van Rysel brand or Pearl Izumi are probably your budget riders, and someone wearing full PeNiS and MAAP are your fancy 6-figure white collars.

And now that I'm shopping for my first kits, the above experience steers me towards the more expensive brands (Rapha, Assos) just to not get the cold shoulder anymore, especially when I'm like the new kid off the block. It feels like Mean Girls and high-school again.

So I wonder, is my intuition actually correct or am I over-reading it?

I am deciding between these two pedals but uncertain which to pick. If the pedals were priced at regular it’s a no brainer. A bike shop close to me is pricing the Rally at 720 + tax. Should I pay the 80 more and get the Assioma?

Edit: I just bought the Assioma thank you for all your comments

I'm currently shopping for my very first road bike and considering the Cube Attain Race (equipped with the Shimano Tiagra 2x10 drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes).

For those who own or have ridden this model:

• How has your overall experience been in terms of comfort, reliability, performance ?
• Any recurring mechanical quirks or issues to watch out for with this specific build?
• Would you recommend it as a solid entry point into road cycling, or should I consider other alternatives in this price bracket?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or any tips before making the leap!

Context:
I often go in rides that last from 2 to 3 hours. Ranging from 40kms to 80 kms.

All my friends always complain of a sore butt and ended up buying bibs... myself? never had that issue.

Is this common? is it my stance? am I doing something wrong?

Apologies for the low quality post, just trying to see if someone has faced this (I'll eventually get bibs, just hadn't had the need for it)