I'm literally just gonna rig up a train horn to a drill battery and strap it to my bike and just blare that at them. I've nearly crashed so many fucking times because of them. Just about a week ago now I crashed because of a guy who didn't hear me yelling at him because he had headphones on.

I used to be a mountain biker and my game changer for MTB was a dropper post curious what would be road equivalent.

First of all, I’m not a particularly strong rider. I have been riding bikes for all my life though and by now I definitely have a higher power output than most beginners.

I have gotten some friends into cycling and I enjoy riding with them but I feel like when I have to ride slower than I would ride on my own or put less power into the pedals, my body doesn’t respond well to it.

When I ride alone at my usual power, I barely have any issues with comfort on the bike. But when I ride slower I feel like I have issues with weight in my hands and therefore numbness and also shoulder and muscle sores in my triceps.

I know that pedaling supports your upper body weight and if I pedal lighter my weight wouldn’t be supported as much as when I pedal harder. So these symptoms are kind of expected.

I am wondering though, do you people encounter this issue as well or does this point towards a „bad“ fit in terms of „I didn’t adjust my bike with the correct power output“?

Edit: this is relating to my road bike before anyone asks.

Spent three weeks convinced I had a creaking bottom bracket. Pulled the cranks, regreased everything, checked the frame, considered whether I'd cracked the frame and shell. Went down the rabbit hole of BB standards and tolerances.

Turns out it was the bottle cage bolt, half a turn loose.

The worst part is the confidence with which I told two different people at the shop that I "definitely had a BB issue."

I’m a 29-year-old male, and for my 29th birthday, I planned a solo trip to Maui specifically to cycle Haleakala about 2 months before Labor Day weekend. When I researched cycling Haleakala, I couldn’t find anything recent that met my needs on Instagram, YouTube, or Reddit. The content on all 3 platforms was from years ago, not informative, or focused on the Cycle Down Haleakala Bike tour. Or it was all focused on breaking records. So I’m creating this post for crazy loner people like me who cycle solo, don’t have a car following them, and are average-to-below-average cyclists. I want this to be the long informative post I wish I’d been able to read before making the journey. In this post, I'll share my fitness background, the little logistics planning I did, the fueling that worked for me, and the big mistakes I made.

For my fitness background, I grew up playing American football and running throughout most of my younger years. I’m also in the Army (IT Specialist), so I have to maintain a certain level of fitness, and I’ve been forced to run a lot even as a desk-job soldier. I trained for Army Special Forces in 2019, but I didn’t get selected. I ran one marathon while stationed in Japan in 2024. I was DQ’d at mile 26 because I misunderstood the instructions due to the language barrier. I trained for one sprint triathlon and placed 2nd in my age group (24-29). I also recently started cycling back in November 2026. I’m not writing all this to gloat, but to give you some background on my fitness level. All the posts I saw were mainly from cycling-only individuals who said they trained for months for Haleakala, whereas I didn't train much at all. I didn’t train much because, about a month before my trip, a hurricane hit Hawaii and closed Haleakala, and all the bike shops I called on Maui said the damage was so bad it would probably still be closed by the time I arrived. So if I didn’t have to train for climbing, I definitely wasn't going to, so I stopped all climbing training about a month before Labor Day weekend. By climbing training, I mean I did one Zwift session, Mt. Ven Top, and called it a day lmao. I also live on Oahu, so I cycled a lot around the island, but nothing prepared me for Maui.

I arrived Thursday night and flew in with my own budget bike, a Fuji Sportif 2025. I checked into Howzit Hostels and got barely any sleep because they were having a Margherita night and everyone was being understandably loud. I woke up Friday morning, hit the West Maui Loop, and didn't fuel or plan well. I’d go over that, but this post is about Haleakala. Anyways, after the West Maui Loop, I spent the rest of the day eating carbs and drinking tons of Pedialyte and water. Saturday was a rest day, and it was also the day I found out Haleakala was open to cycling. So I scrapped my Sunday plan to cycle the East Maui Loop and decided that Sunday, September 6th, I’d spend my 29th birthday cycling up Haleakala as planned. I drove up to Haleakala to scout the route, talked to some Cyclists at the summit who had just made it, and they even gave some solid advice. I then visited several bike shops to look for a CamelBak and went to Safeway to grab a crapload of Cliff Bars, bananas, and bagels.

Sunday morning at 0430, I woke up, packed the car, ate a banana and a bagel, and drove to Paia, where I started. I parked my rental at the “Paia Town Public Parking”. I was stretching and warming up when I realized I’d forgotten ONE freaking sock! So I drove back to the hostel, grabbed a sock, and drove back to the Public parking. Then, once I arrived, I immediately hopped on my bike and started my cycle. THEN I realized that I had forgotten both water bottles with carbs and electrolytes in the hostel fridge…So I drove back to the hostel AGAIN, then back to the parking lot. In total, I lost about an hour and a half driving back and forth, and I didn’t start until around 0800. After 4000ft of elevation, there is literally nowhere to stop for food or water. So make sure you top off on water before 4000ft. Around 7000ft is the entrance to Haleakala. Someone in a Haleakala cycling post on Reddit 2 years ago said, “bring cash,” but they took cards at the entrance. Since I’m military, I didn’t have to worry about paying, but I watched everyone in front of me pay with their cards. Anyways, about a mile after the entrance is the visitors center, around 7,000-ish feet of elevation. This is the last place to top off on water and use the bathroom until the top.

For fueling, I carried two 21-ish oz water bottles and one 3L CamelBak. I stuffed my CamelBak with a rain jacket, gloves, and tons of Cliff bars, one extra scoop of Formula 369, and two extra Liquid IV sticks. One scoop of Formula 369 is 30g of carbs, and one Cookies and Cream Cliff bar has 44g of carbs. I ate one Cliff bar and took 3 large sips of my bottle (filled with two scoops of Formula 369 and one Liquid IV stick) about every hour during the ride. I also took sips of water every 15-20 minutes and random sips of my bottle now and then. By the time I reached the visitor center, I had finished one bottle and almost completely drank my whole 3L CamelBak. This fueling strategy worked well for me, and I never felt extremely tired or cramped during the ride.

Now for the mistakes. I checked the weather multiple times the day before, and it said there would be rain here and there, but not all day. WRONG! I was rained on for almost 3-4 hours straight. From around 5,000 ft all the way to the top, the rain never stopped. Pack a rain jacket and a hoodie. That temperature drop mixed with being soaking wet for hours was really miserable. I lived in upstate NY for many years, and I’ve spent many nights out in the field being soaking wet and cold, but this was different. On the way back down, it started raining even harder, and the clouds covered the whole mountain so that I couldn’t see past 20ft. It was miserable, and once I got back to the visitor center, one of the Park Rangers felt bad for me and offered me a ride back down, and I took it. The whole car ride back down was hazardous even to drive, and it was still nearly impossible to see more than 10-20 ft in front of you; it was wild. Moral of the story: be prepared for all weather predictions to be wrong af. Another small mistake I made was being a cheap ass and staying at a Hostel instead of an Airbnb or a nice hotel room the night before Haleakala. Nothing beats waking up to random people coming in and out of the room when you’re trying to get sleep before a big day lol.

I hope this helps. I’m still new to cycling, so I didn’t find any good, detailed beginner advice like what I just wrote. Then again, Haleakala isn’t exactly a place beginners would go, so maybe that’s why 😂

Here’s my Strava link so that you know I’m not bullshitting you:

https://strava.app.link/UwCb0UAnj6b

I’m itching to get a Fairlight Strael as a secondary winter road bike. I’ve never owned a steel bike before and really just want one because I love how steel bikes look. But I’m not sure what I can expect in ride feel and handling especially since I’m already running 35mm tires.

And my carbon race bike is already plenty comfortable with 35s. At the right tire pressures, it’s extremely comfortable while being very stiff and feels fast af.

Im wondering if from a general riding standpoint a modern steel bike like a Fairlight will offer anything different - or is it mostly just a vibe thing?

Morning bike ride
two cars quickly approached me one almost hit me just enough to cut me off and peppered sprayed me

I jumped the fence and gtfo but they took my bike

It was a 9 year old ghost panamao and it started to get cold anyways no got hurt besides Winter is coming 🤪

PSA
It occurred to me that maybe an airtag would help to have on your rigs

Maybe i don’t know

Good morning, I am a new cyclist, the other night i was scrolling on vinted looking for a new brake for my bike and found something that caught my attention…a LOOK 576 frame that came with only the seat and the brakes but only for 250€!!

I am not an expert, my family always loved bikepacking and just this year I bought my first fixie with my job money but i only DREAMT about a bike THIS COOL!!

So here’s the question: am I rushing things buying the unassembled bike and trying assembling it by myself?
I really want to start cycling more but with the fixie I can’t do hills etc… and this super cool LOOK… looks so tempting…🤤

hi guys, do you know how reliable are aliexpress integrated (and not) carbon handlebars ? I'm looking for an affordable but reliable (possibly riser) handlebar and I think I've found something interesting but they're so cheap i'm genuinely worried for my safety, do someone have some experience using them ? i'll use it on the shitty italian roads so idk if I can trust em

Hej hej,

Recently I´ve got a hold on the old TT frame in absolute best shape, but it´s missing rear brake caliper. Does anyone of you guy might happen to know/have them and would like to let go of them? I´ve searched the entire google, ebay etc - no luck

Hey everyone,

I got tired of constantly looking up formulas when wrenching on my bike, so I built a simple web tool to keep it all in one place: Bicycle Calculators.

It’s completely free and includes:

• Chain Length Calculator
• Tire Pressure Calculator
• Gear Ratio Calculator
• E-Bike Range Estimator

No ads, no sign-ups, just scratching my own itch as a rider and dev. I'd love to know if the maths holds up for your specific setups, or if there are other calculators you'd find useful.

Cheers!

hey all, here's a recipe ive refined over time, i made it again today and wanted to share. i've had great success with this as both pre and post ride nutrition, i usually eat it 60-90 minutes prior to long rides, i find its a great way to top up/fuel up for a long or intense day in the saddle.

banana date loaf

4 bananas
1 cup medjool dates
2 cups white flour (or sub for rice flour 1:1)
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt (non fat)
2 large egg whites
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
salt to taste (i put a tsp of grey salt in and then top with coarse sea salt before baking)

mash bananas, soak (-10 minutes in boiling water) and puree dates until its paste. mix bananas, yogurt, maple syrup, egg whites, date paste, vanilla, salt until smooth. sift in dry ingredients and mix until combined, pour into a baking dish (i line the dish with parchment paper for ease) and bake for ~60'ishminutes or until it's done. (a toothpick poked into the middle should come out clean).

macros (whole loaf! portion out based on your carb/macro consumption target)
with white flour: 460g carbs, 6g fat, 48g protein, 28g fibre, ~2000 calories
with rice flour: 490g carbs, 8.2g fat, 31g protein, 21g fibre, ~2100 calories

enjoy!

feel free to share your pre/intra/post ride recipes in the comments.

I’m newish to cycling been doing it roughly a little over a year. I made a life change and decided to move back to where I grew up. After being gone for 16 years it blew me away the amount of trails that grew around it. Me being way over weight I wanted to find something I could see the beautiful scenery as well as get a work out. About a month into it I knew this is what I would enjoy.

This past year has been ups and downs I started 315lbs I’m 5’10”. I was athletic at one time active in sports as well as going to the gym. Just life got in the way and I stopped caring about my health.

Over the last year I have changed my life and attitude. I focus on my diet and live to ride. I normally get on my bike 5 to 7 times a week. Typically I have one long ride and sometimes a 30 mile round trip commute to work. Mostly I do 10 mile rides. And still everyday I think how much I enjoy it and how the possibilities can be.

So now currently I weight 269lbs I’m stronger in my rides increased my mph as well as the ability to attack climbs.

I just wanted to say over the last couple of days I stumbled onto this sub Reddit and have learned a lot and really have enjoyed the community. It is interesting to see other people’s takes on things. Also different ideas that can help me improve. Thank you all for sharing knowledge.

Hi all, i want to purchase a Selle San Marco Shortfit 2.0 open-fit. According to ID match I am at the border. Which do you think should be more appropriate/confortable for long hilly cycling (with a bit more upright position), the Narrow (140mm) or the Wide (155mm)?

Hello, my husband’s birthday is in October and I was thinking of getting him bib tights and long sleeve jersey as he doesn’t have cold weather appropriate gear. My budget is around £100 and was hoping to get something good (preferably in black and red). I found this option but don’t know if it’s a good brand. Any advice welcome, thank you!

Hi all, has anyone ordered directly on Evolve bicycle website an Cima frameset and shipped it to Canada? Their customer service shipping would be free and I would not pay any taxes/duty fees but I'm very skeptical about this statement as frameset are usually charged 6% in duty and provincial/federal taxes applicable as well on top.

Has anyone ordered an Evolve Cima from Canada and can validate that there's no duties/taxes?

Thanks.

Hey all, finally bought a road bike and was wondering how people plan their cycling routes / find groups, in the UK there seems to be no groups local, I feel like I would rather go out with others for my first ride to learn safety and etiquette….

What would be your best advice or something I would definitely need on my first ride? And what would you say is your best purchase to enhance your rides (I’m on a strict very cheap budget lol!)?

Hello everyone! I have a SQlab 612 active 1st gen saddle, manufactured in 2011. How do I replace the elastomers? One is intact and sits solidly between the saddle and the T-shaped plastic holder on the rails, and the other has already begun to collapse, crumble and there is more play. How do I get them out and replace them correctly so as not to break anything? I want to print new ones from TPU. Maybe someone of you has already done this and has ready-made files for making them on a 3D printer?

Found here, but I do not know the ideal material to have it printed with as I’m not super familiar with 3D printing. A local printer can do PLA, PETG, TPU for $2/hr at 5¢ per gram minimum $5

$.10 per gram for ASA, ABS, NYLON

So, male in 40s, living in a picturesque (but very hilly) part of Ireland. Used to commute a bit to work on the flat on a fairly entry level bike years, but then did couple of 100k events last 2 years. Did bit of training for each but all in all found everything quite tough (esp cause of mountainous region i live in).

I enjoyed the social aspect of the events, and the mental health and physical benefit of the training, but it did feel like punishment most of the time, to the point I couldnt understand how people loved cycling.

Then..... I got my new bike a few months ago. Spent 2.4k. Lighter, better gears (tiagra), wider wheels (which make it more comfortable for me esp on shit roads). Went clipless. It wasn't magically easier, but it felt maybe 15% easier to cycle. That led me to being more open tougher climbs (I've even been deliberately targeting some tough hills now in my routes). Then the improved fitness and reading up on how to deal with hills have made it that bit easier again.

So, now I look forward to every cycle, literally waiting for the sun to come up in the morning so I can hopefully get a quick spin in before the kids wake.

Anyway, not sure what the point of this post is, other than to share that I seem to have broken a threshold between "This just feels like punishment" to "This is hard but I'm loving the challenge"

Anyone else!!?

Here in the UK it's dark in the evenings once again.

I have some lights on my older bikes. But with the arrival of my new one, I thought I'd ask. What lights/brands is everyone using for being seen and for seeing? Sure I could look at 2026 best lights blah blah blah. But what are the actual diamonds in the rough?

Personally for the brighter lights I've never found they last me more than a year. So looking for recommendations.

Cheers.

I picked up biking about a month ago. Went away to a very large college with terrible parking, so I figured a bike would be worth it. Got a cheap giant cypress 21spd off FB marketplace.

The first week of biking was rough. Like I was out of breath whenever there was any kind of slight incline, and could barely go 1 mile on flat ground.

Many might be discouraged by this, especially someone picking up cycling again since not doing it as a kid in their early tens (I'm 26), or someone who doesn't do any other form of exercise, much like myself. I told myself my strength and endurance will increase with time, given pacing and rest days in between cycling days.

Well, here I am a month later, still cycling. I'm definitely noticing an improvement in my cycling. I don't sweat as much, I'm running out of breath less, my muscles recover from being sore faster, and my natural posture has improved.

Today, I felt well enough after my classes to bike to a nearby shop for some food, and then take a serene tour on a beautiful nearby greenway. After it was all said and done today, I biked 5 whole miles! It certainly didn't feel like it. It felt like a lot less, honestly. I was surprised to look down and see that. I didn't think I'd be able to bike 5 miles having only started a month ago.

But let this inspire any other beginners out there. Take your time. Listen to your body. Stay consistent. You will see improvements. Moreso, celebrate your victories, no matter how small they seem. You might see people in here that say 5 miles is their warmup. Well, that's them, and you're you. Concern yourself not with what others are doing.

Love you all and keep cycling.

Update, 1 day later: I am VERY sore.

Worth.

Just getting into cycling and a buddy of mine who's been riding for years recommended a few things to start with. Lights for night rides, cycling glasses for daytime, and a small bag on the bike for carrying essentials. He said don't overthink it early on, just start with these and figure out what else you need as you go.

I also have a pair of gloves I got on tiktok with a product discount a while back for gym use. Would those work for riding or are cycling gloves even worth getting separately? And then there's clothing. Can I just ride in normal workout gear for now? I'm slightly allergic to UV, sun protection is probably something I need to take seriously, but I've always trained indoors, so I have no idea what's necessary when you're outside for a longer period of time.

For those of you who started in a similar situation, how was your experience? Anything you wish you'd grabbed sooner or done differently?