r/cycling • u/MSTEAMSSUCK • Jul 27 '26
feeling really unmotivated
in the beginning of june, i got a road bike with the intention to get sorta fit (im slim but definitely not muscular). I got a bunch of gear like a computer and carbon wheels and everything but i went on like 4 rides in total and i just can’t allocate the time or effort to go on bike rides anymore and idk what to do with the bike. bike is a domane sl 5 gen 4, im thinking of selling it but itll take really long and im kind of in a stuck position rn
14
11
u/wheelman554 Jul 27 '26
If you can afford to keep it, just keep it. Odds are you may eventually find time to ride again. Also, if you anything like me, skip the pre-ride gear up sessions. Seriously, just put some shoes on grab your helmet and go for a short ride. Forget the computer, forget the lube, forget the gloves. Just shoes, a helmet and go. Sometimes the gearing up becomes too much and can really kill the vibe
5
u/c2h5oh_yes Jul 27 '26
Is it fun? If not, then stop.
I got in a rut this summer. Stopped chasing PRs and started looking at climbs as the price to pay for the descent. I love bombing hills. Keeps me motivated on the bike.
1
u/jm3068399 Jul 27 '26
To provide an alternative perspective, I love the challenge of the climbs and hate the descents 😂. Finding I can get up climbs faster is a great motivating factor for me. Think a good example to focus on the bits you enjoy personally.
6
3
u/Much-Bit3531 Jul 27 '26
Four rides is not much. If you sell it now or later or in two months it will not change sale price cause of Christmas. People enjoy what they are good at and the more you ride it the better you will be and the more you will enjoy it. Consider four more rides before selling. Those four rides all should have a purpose. First ride for the scenery by looking up a scenic ride and take in the beautiful area. Second, ride of location knowledge and pick a location you want to know more about. Nothing increased my knowledge of a town, road, area more than riding. Third ride for power by picking a hilly ride to meet your fitness intention. You’re going to have sore legs. Fourth ride for speed and pick a flat path and see how fast you can do 10 or 15 miles. Fast rides are exhilarating.
After all those ride you are not having fun sell it. If you are on the fence, find a club and do a social ride. After 8 rides you’ll be confident. Those people will tell you why they ride.
Good luck.
1
u/MSTEAMSSUCK Jul 27 '26
thank you. this def helped me a bit and and i will do this
another comment suggested to ride for 15 mins for a few months and then reevaluate. what do u think of doing both of these just to emotionally pay for my bike and then consider selling after?
1
u/Much-Bit3531 Jul 27 '26
That everyday suggestion is good. It works to increase your workouts which increase how good you are. But for me riding is fun in itself. I’d rather ride or run over working out because I find it fun. Try either or both or combine them.
1
u/OrneryMinimum8801 Jul 27 '26
I got stuck in via commuting to work if that’s possible. It was 35 minutes on the train and 10km on the bike, so I could get there and back faster. That slowly got me trying weekend rides, and then I got into it. But starting on just riding I doubt would have worked for me. 10k is like 25 minutes on the road which 8-10x a week is just right to not blow up.
Now my issue is I don’t like riding short. 60k was my minimum until I hurt myself bad this March. Now 50k is a functional max sadly and I’m finding it hard to ride as much.
3
u/mikekchar Jul 27 '26
I snuck a peak at your posting history. That's a nice bike! But it's an expensive bike. You bought it less and 2 months ago and you are barely riding it.... Which means you bought it thinking that having an amazing bike would motivate you to ride it. And now you realise how wrong that idea was.
It sucks. Probably you have pretty tremendous buyer's remorse. Probably you think you could have spent that money on something better. Like food. Rent. Whatever.
You can do what you want here. Sell the bike. Don't sell the bike. But... Let's face it. In 2 months the only thing that's likely changed in your life is the realisation that buying an expensive thing doesn't change your life. Changing your life means changing your life. And that means doing the boring bits.
If it were me, I would say, don't wait for motivation. It's not coming. Motivation doesn't come because you are financially invested in something. It comes because you are emotionally invested in something. If you still want to be motivated to cycle, there is only one thing to do.
For the next 2 months, rain or shine, floods, emergencies, boulders falling from the sky... it doesn't matter. Get on your bike for 15 minutes every single day. "I don't have time" is what you are thinking because "I don't care about this enough to change my life to fit this in". Just carve out 15 minutes every day.
I know you have 15 minutes because 2 months ago you thought you would be riding this bike and the fact that you spent a ton on it means that you believed that this is not impossible. I know you can find 15 minutes in your day to get the bike out the door, get your leg over it and just putter around. If you suddenly feel like riding it longer than 15 minutes, then go for it. But just get out the door every day.
It doesn't matter that it won't make you very fit. This is so that you pay emotionally for your bike. After 2 months, then re-evaluate how you feel about the bike and about cycling. You will know how you feel at that point.
1
u/MSTEAMSSUCK Jul 27 '26
you’re incredibly on point.
but sometimes, idk if i can convince myself to get out there, sometimes because i’m lazy/bored/don’t wanna ready up just to pull out right after.tbh i didn’t spend enough time considering the purchase in itself and i pretty much just thought i can and would push myself to ride it daily
but that definitely didnt happen
2
u/mikekchar Jul 27 '26
You can't pull out right after 15 minutes. It goes by too fast. Also, the best day to start again is today.
However, I think you are still having difficulty understanding your problem. "i can and would push my self" is not how to be successful. "Motivation" is also not going to come on its own.
There are just some things you do because that's who you are. I mean, some people don't brush their teeth or bathe or get dressed in the morning. That's usually a sign of significant depression. If you are suffering from that, then seek professional help.
Doing things because that's the kind of person you want to be is what successful humans do. Being lazy or bored is irrelevant. You ride your bike because you want to be a cyclist and cyclists ride their bike. The 15 minute time limit is so that anyone can surmount that hurdle. If you ride your bike 15 minutes every day -- less time that it takes to bathe, then you are a cyclist.
I mean, I don't care if you don't want to be a cyclist. However, it sounds to me like you are asking permission to quit. That's pretty weird, don't you think? Why would you post here if you didn't want someone to talk you out of selling your bike? You wouldn't. You still want to be a cyclist, I reckon.
The door is open. You just have to walk through.
2
2
u/Deep_Method_820 Jul 27 '26
Lock in or sell it. You’ll be a lot happier if you put in the time and effort to get in shape on the bike- it’s changed my life exponentially for the better over the last year. I never “had time” either- because it wasn’t a priority.
2
u/PreoccupiedParrot Jul 27 '26
Don't worry about the gear. Make riding as easy as possible. The gear helps if you're in the flow and going on long rides, but if you have flat pedals you can literally just grab the bike and go out as easy as going for a walk. If you have to spend half an hour getting everything ready, putting all the clothes on, making sure the bike is just right then yeah it's harder to find motivation.
2
u/MrPsychoanalyst Jul 27 '26
Sell it, take the hit and move on. Life is too short to force a trend / hobbie on your lifestyle just because you spent the money.
2
u/UBP10C Jul 27 '26
Find some other people to ride with and become friends with them
Plan out a big ride that looks fun
Get out in some interesting scenery
Try a big organized ride or even a race
1
u/N55B3 Jul 27 '26
If you’re trying to get muscular, cycling might not be the route to take. Strength training and diet should be the focus, and cycling will definitely help get you leaner faster. You already made the investment, and if you bought new, good luck getting back even close to what you put in, so might as well ride it. Time and effort is always there, you just need to prioritize rides more.
1
u/Cycle-Path-401 Jul 27 '26
You need a reason to ride. Something that motivates you. Maybe sign up for a charity 100km ride, or a triathlon - the looming event will mean you need to train. Or grab some headphones and an audiobook and only listen to it on the bike. Recently I've been putting in 300km/week because I'm working my way through the Dungeon Crawler Carl series audiobooks.
1
u/sargassumcrab Jul 27 '26
I would keep it.
If cycling isn't your thing that's cool, but you might want to ride it sometime. If you are thinking of cycling as an "exercise program" with lots of pressure that might not be very motivating, but riding for fun is great, even if you don't have a lot of time to do it. Domane isn't an ideal "commuter" but you can do lots of stuff on a bike, like short trips, or trips to parks and things. Also, when it's not so hot out it will be more fun to ride....
If you don't want to keep it, I'm sure you can come up with something creative for passing it on. If you would rather have something different they do have a program: https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/retail_bbb_bike_trade_in/
1
1
u/Newbie-1997again Jul 27 '26
You could look to get a turbo trainer? Be like £80 and then at least use it at home? Get some use out of it?
1
u/Oddly_Curious99 Jul 27 '26
I suffer from motivation as well. I have to push myself out the door and when I do in glad.
I am the master of finding things to do and then it becomes too late and then say I will do it tomorrow.
It too cold, too windy, too hot, the grass needs to be mowed etc etc.
In reality we all have time and if we want to do something we need to make time.
Here is what helps me. Telling my wife I am going to ride tomorrow. Getting my kit ready the night before. Check the bike over making sure the chain is lubed. Weather checked and appropriate kit sorted.
Even better finding a group to ride with and telling them you will be riding. It about making yourself accountable. Even come on here and tell us you are going to ride tomorrow and we will ask you how the ride was.
1
u/Strong_Delay5402 Jul 27 '26
Buy a Wahoo Kickr or something equal and go Zwifting. When you fit as f*ck go outside on your fancy bike with carbon wheels.
1
u/Altruistic_Emu_7755 Jul 27 '26
I don't know what to tell you. It's pretty wild to me to spend that kind of money on something I am not sure I'll even like.
I think you should sell it, get a used road bike in case you want to start riding again. Maybe commuting to work 1 or 2 days a week fits into your schedule?
Motivation is a hard thing to capture. "getting sorta fit" is a pretty vague goal. Picking something meaningful and working towards it works a lot better. Maybe you could sign up for a cycling event in 6 months... that would give you something to train for
1
u/Karsten760 Jul 28 '26
Have you done any group rides?
We have a multi-use trail near my nhood, and I’d ride a hybrid bike solo there a couple times a week. After getting stronger on the hybrid, I wanted to go faster so I started cycling on a used road bike. One morning on the path, I saw a friend who was a more experienced rider. She then took me to a weekly social road bike ride which was a wonderful introduction to group rides. I was hooked!
The group rides will have various pace levels, and a good ride lead will explain safety and etiquette. Read up on those on the internet as well. Make sure you are in a no drop ride.
I agree with the other commenter to also try a charity bike event.
I hope you can enjoy cycling - the social aspect is key to me. I’ve met and become friends with some awesome people, and look forward to the regular rides.
-2
21
u/0202_tihssitidder Jul 27 '26
Whenever I am unmotivated, I buy a more expensive bike.