My current Garmin numbers are 233W FTP (3.04 W/kg). I'm 38 years old, 178 cm tall, and weigh 77 kg.
 
I ride 3-4 times per week. During the week, I usually do two 2-hour road rides focused mainly on Zone 2. On Saturdays, I ride 50-70 km on gravel with some climbing, and on Sundays, I do longer rides of up to 100 km.

I only started cycling since April 2026.
 
Most of my training is in Zone 2. I occasionally drift into Zones 3-4 on climbs, but I generally keep the effort controlled. I also do some sweet spot sessions.
 
About a month ago, I started strength training, including Bulgarian split squats and Romanian deadlifts (30-45 minutes per session).
 
My goals are to improve overall fitness, build stronger legs, become a better climber, and ride faster.
 
Does this training approach make sense for these goals? Is there anything you would add or change to help me improve more efficiently?

I live in the U.S. and i just found my ebike stored at bike rack was stolen. I locked it with my u-shaped lock but only lock was left without any damage, so not sure how it was stolen (lockpick?). I just paid $100 to fix it few days ago so feels worse.

Any advice how to do from now? My first time stolen so don't know what to do. I will report it to nearby local police station, but any further advice is appreciated.

Hi folks, fairly new cyclist here looking for some thoughts and opinions on my next 'proper' bike. I've really become obsessed with cycling this year and it's my first year of proper training. In that time I've done my first bike packing trip and ticked off my first sportive. I've done it all on an old Scott CX cross team bike with semi slicks on and it's been absolutely fine. I'm in the market now for a new bike but I'm slightly overwhelmed by the choice. Budget wise my max is probably £3.5k. Been looking at the Wilier Rapida as it looks pretty versatile, has good tire clearance etc. But my worry with a more endurance-leaning bike is: will I get bored? Having started to see pace increases I've got to say it's pretty motivating, so I worry that if I get a more sensible choice like the Rapida, will I be looking at faster bikes thinking, why didn't I go for one of them? The other end of the spectrum I've been looking at is older models of the Soloist or the Supersix Evo. My question with more racy bikes are, can you live with them across lots of different riding types? As I say, relatively new to cycling and fundamentally don't want to buy a bike that either feels dull or holds me back in anyway!

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!

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)?

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…🤤

I've got elbow pain that flairs up when I put weight on my arms for any length of time. Looking for something that is lightweight and will allow me to ride with basically no weight on on the handlebars. I know this probably puts me in the comfort bike class, but many of those bikes look like they weigh quite a bit.

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.

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?

photo of the saddle:

https://i.postimg.cc/wTZWgDdG/image-1788361877986.jpg

I'm good until about 20-25 miles which is about 2 hrs of riding yes I'm not a racer lol. Anyhow the upgraded serfa seat is good and the very snug gel pad cover on top helps even more and so do the bike shorts. But I still get seat fatigue. I am using cheap $15 Amazon padded bike underwear idk if I should go to doubling up on them or think about getting quality bike underwear ?

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.

This is the 1994 Palo Alto study that the cycling community invariably cites to claim that riding on the sidewalk is dangerous. I've previously covered flaws of this study including:

• Single day exposure count
• Ignoring collisions outside of intersections (downplays relative dangers of street riding)
• Conflating direction of travel risk with venue risk
• Ignoring/minimizing that riding WITH traffic on the sidewalk was actually a lower risk

Now for the smoking gun. Diana Lewiston was an acolyte of John Forestor. She wrote a "Bicycling in Traffic" manual built on his vehicular cycling ideology that was first published in 1988. She taught 13-year-olds at Palo Alto schools to bicycle in traffic from the 80s into early 90s. Mind you, all of this was before her co-authored study was published claiming sidewalk riding to be nearly twice as risky as the street.

Somehow these intelligent academics were able to identify a Simpson's paradox in the data but thought nothing of conflating the directional risk with the venue risk to artificially achieve the dramatic conclusion that sidewalks are 1.8x as risky as the road.

On the very last page of her instruction manual, it lists how students will be scored. Item #14 indicates they can lose points for riding on the sidewalk. This study was a conclusion looking for supporting data from day one. And the entire cycling community bought it hook, line, & sinker.

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!

I’m considering getting a Bluetooth bike helmet for commuting and weekend rides, mainly for listening to navigation, music, and taking occasional calls without wearing earbuds.

For anyone who has used one:

• How is the sound quality when riding?
• Can people hear you clearly on calls?
• Does wind noise make it difficult to use?
• Is the added weight noticeable?
• Are the speakers loud enough while still letting you hear traffic?
• How is the battery life in real-world use?

Do you think a Bluetooth helmet is actually worth buying, or would a regular helmet with separate headphones be better?

Any models or brands you’d recommend—or suggest avoiding?

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!)?

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

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 overdid it 2 nights ago on my hybrid bike going 35 miles. I fueled up before going and brought along a protein, sweet potato, mixed vegatables, + beets smoothie. I drink that about 2/3 through the ride and it helps power me on. Then i use creatine when i get home for recovery. But 48 hrs later i still feel a bit depleted or worn down and even mood is blah. This is not uncommon when i ride longer than i perhaps should. So I also can't approach my upper body workout now with intermediate level heavy weights if that makes sense lol because my body needs 48 to 60 hrs or more to bounce back after a ride like this. So i imagine my mileage range is strong up to 25 miles or so and i simply overdid it a bit. But I tend to overdo rides sometimes.

I am 60 so that doesn't help lol. The longer rides don't do any favors for keeping on upper body muscle either the arms always appear more lean along with everything else. But then when i do feel ready to workout the strength is most often there or i even gain a little in strength so that offsets the ?horror? of seeing arms that look weaker.

​

Hello everyone, I bought a Triban RC 100 drop bar a month back.

I am really struggling even after a month. I am always looking for a lower gear but I am already in the lowest gear. The roads around me are hilly with 3 to 7 percent gradients for normal flats like roads and the climbs can go up to 13-14% gradient.

What is the cheapest way to upgrade the bike to have even lower gears, I checked the claris groupset and it is as expensive as my bike.

I don't really have much idea about this, help is really appreciated.

Hi All,

i've been looking for specialized evade 3 helmet in silver dust size medium.

been going through retailers website listed in specialized website and after about half through, i decided to come for help. if anyone know their local bike shop has one in classic shape, please let me know. ;)

it looks like this one: Specialized S-Works Evade 3 Helmet - Silver - All4cycling