TL;DR - It was fine, though I know my limits. Test in safe place if you want to try. Biggest issues are condensation making the mask slip down and finding a way to cleanly pack it away.

Although I'm lucky to have a rail trail in my city, I have to ride beside vehicles for most of the trip to get there. This includes getting over some fairly substantial hills which obviously makes me breath quite heavily. Usually I would run out of breath on the second hill and have to take a break, but recently I've also been having coughing fits. This might be psychosomatic as I've learned about how bad exhaust fumes are for your health (thanks NJB). Regardless, I started wearing a cheap respirator from the Orange Box store.

Certainly it makes it more difficult to breath, but for me it's a net gain. No more coughing fits, I can make it over that second hill and the dummy in the massive cope-wagon doesn't bother me as much.

The only trouble I have is packing it away once I get to the trail and the moisture from my breath builds up in the mask so it starts slipping down my face and blocks my nose. I think I'll have to get a more expensive mask to solve that issue.

As a disclaimer, I've been in the cadets and have years of martial arts training, so I know my limits. I suspect some people that try to wear a respirator while cycling might pass out, which is not a good thing to do when the people beside you are putting their convenience over your health and safety.

Stay safe (and healthy) out there.

Hey y'all! Wondering if people will share their opinions please on these two new Gravel bikes I am looking at.

First, I ride casually, on the weekends. I want to spend equal time on- and off-road; there are lots of compacted gravel and dirt roads near me I want to ride. I have a road bike now, but its 25mm wheels and its slicks don't do dirt and gravel like I want.

First, the Salsa Warbird C GRX 600 1x: https://www.salsacycles.com/bikes/2024-warbird-c-grx-600-1x

$3300 USD MSRP but a LBS has one for $2800.

> Warbird C GRX 600 is a carbon gravel bike with a few tricks you won’t find anywhere else. The frameset features our gravel race geometry, a perfect blend of stability and comfort that only comes from decades of gravel riding experience. Our Class 5™ VRS (vibration reduction system) cuts chatter — and fatigue — from rugged roads that would otherwise beat you up.

OTOH, the Canyon CF SL 7: https://www.canyon.com/en-us/outlet-bikes/gravel-bikes/grail-cf-sl-7/3095.html

Actually a mix of GRX 600 and 800 parts and an FSA Crank.

> If you need to shake up your riding routine, then gravel is the answer. The lightweight Grail CF SL 7 is a hugely versatile bike ready for all your year-round off-road adventures, and comes complete with Shimano’s GRX810 gravel groupset.

I'm leaning toward the Canyon, but would appreciate any feedback / other ideas you all have for a gravel bike in the same price range, available new in the US. Cheers!

Edited for clarity.

Saturday evening casual rides, as it cools down after a hot day, are the best.

I'm considering Fiido Titan as e-bike for shopping and short distance commuting. It's hilly where I need it. Any thoughts on bike quality or anything else? From a review on YouTube it seems decent enough. TIA

My first thought was that it is a stick, but then I saw that it's moving.

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After a conversation in this community and people showing off their bikes I wanted to share mine too. My Zero AM made by Bird.

Started like this in October -

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Over the winter I stripped it down and painted it all myself in pink with a yellow pearl. Replaced a few bits that needed it like headset and BB and serviced everything else.

!

Current spec is:

XT group set with Raceface Aeffect cranks and Raceface Chester pedals.

DMR wingbars, grips and stem with a nukeproof headset and Rockshox Revelation upfront

Halo Vapour 50 rims with Maxxis Minion DHF 2.8 on the Front and Vittoria Mazza 2.6 on the rear

Generic dropper post and saddle.

I even colour coded my brake levers -

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I'll post my commuter / training bike after I've given it a good clean next, if anyone is interested :)

So I have "new" bike (subjectively) about 9 months. And I spent about 2000 € on it (bike, and some accessories - rack, bags...) and I can tell that it is lot of bike for not that much money.

So now when I look back I can't see it as "expensive" bike, just as reasonably priced for its purpose. I use it every day to commute and as bikepacking/touring bike so now it has ~6000 km.

So how much are you willing to spend on bike?

Edit: So I read your comments and I probably need to clarify little bit.

• I use the bike for everything instead of car so even nicer more expensive bike for me is justifiable.
• I also think that the bike industry is bonkers right now about shiny new expensive things.
• For me there is few types of riders and all parties try to upsell them some shit, there aren't any 500€ bike with flat bars and rigid fork where I am. All of the bikes at this price point have shitty suntour fork, bad saddle, useless pedals and shitty tires. From my perspective they are expensive on the parts that don't matter and cheap out on stuff that matters. If someone sell something like that (flat bar gravel with quality parts where it matters) it would be gamechanger.
• I had to build my bike, nothing like that (full steel gravel/bikepacking/do it all bike) wasn't on the market/second hand market. It add to the price a bit. And it was about month before the prices get down to reasonable levels after pandemic.

After wanting a modern mountain bike for the past 5 years, I finally went and got one. It's a lot of fun.

This is replacing a ~2006 Schwinn Mesa that I never ride anymore, because the trails are too rough for it where I live.

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The dropper post is compressed if you're wondering why it looks like the seat is too low 😊

Had it for a few days already but finally got around to taking a decent picture.

File under: random stories from the history of cycling

Just tried commuting on my bike from Santa Monica to downtown Culver City today. I took the Exposition bike path, which was fine until I needed to get off of it to head south.

Google recommended I take National and--lo and behold--there's no bike lane with cars flying past at 55mph+ on blind hills. That's a death trap.

On the way home I left early to avoid traffic. I took Venice Blvd, since it has a protected bike lane all the way until McLaughlin which Google Maps called "bicycle friendly." No bike lane, of course, with cars flying past leaving a foot of distance between me and death. One testy driver in a BMW didn't want to wait the 15 seconds for me to pedal into the left turn lane to get back onto the Exposition bike path, honking and then flying by nearly killing me. Jeez lady, I'm not the city planner. Don't kill me to save 15 seconds.

How does Culver City put zero bike lanes going north to south connecting to the Exposition path? How do these drivers maintain their licenses?

What's a cyclist to do?

Eurosport started sending e-mails that they are discontinuing streaming (premium) service in favor of HBO MAX. Which is much, like 3x more expensive if you happen to watch only bicycling or some other sports and you don't care about other stuff. Even more odd is that they were sending e-mails like a couple of weeks ago that they were just increasing the price. So, that's it for me watching bicycling, I guess. It's been nice while it lasted, then corporate greed took over.

Hello,

I have an ELEMNT BOLT V2 GPS BICYCLE COMPUTER. Now I'm planning a longer bike tour with breaks. The bike computer stays on. Can you turn off the bolt to save power and then reactivate it to continue recording?

Best regards

Hi friends! I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads with my cycling journey right now, and I'd really love to get some feedback from some of y'all.

For background, I started getting into longer distance cycling events last year as a way to stay healthy and fit, especially since my partner and I have an 18 month toddler. Cycling is both a mental health and physical fitness outlet for me.

I'm riding a Surly LHT with 700x32 Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, so I'm almost always at the back of the pack. I am not part of a team, so I'm never able to draft behind people either.

Last year I completed 2 Gran Fondos, one of which was the Whistler Sea to Sky Fondo. Yesterday was my first ride of the year and despite spending all winter with TrainerRoad 3 times a week, my time was actually slower than it was a year before and I missed the cutoff time.

Granted, I had an exhausting week leading up to their ride, I got slightly drunk 2 nights before the ride which resulted in bad sleep, and then a toddler-induced bad nights sleep the night before the ride.

Needless to say, that was pretty discouraging, especially since my plan has been to try and go for even longer rides this year (a 157km ride on July 1 and a 200km in September). My partner wants me to back down from leaning into these fondo style rides (and the longer ones too obvi), and in my disappointment from this weekend I'm inclined to go along with that.

But here are my questions:

• How much should I read into my results this weekend? Could it just be chalked up to a hard week and a bad nights sleep?

• If I had a really hard day going for 120km on June 9, should I pull back on trying to go for 157km on July 1 and 200km in September?

• If anyone is a toddler-parent who works full time and engages in long-distance cycling, I'd love to hear how you make that work

Paywall-free link: https://archive.ph/3tLtL

The crash occurred on September 25, 2021, the first crisp day of fall after a hot Texas summer. Claudius Galo intended to ride a hundred miles or more that morning. “There was a chill in the air. It felt so good. The energy was high,” he recalls of the small group that gathered to ride with him.

Galo had moved to the Houston area from Rio de Janeiro, about 14 years prior. A calm and inquisitive engineer who works in the oil and gas industry, Galo had become unhealthy and overweight in his late thirties. He tried running but got hurt, so his doctor recommended adding swimming and cycling. Now 45, he’d lost 60 pounds and completed six Ironmans and almost a dozen half Ironmans. Tamy Valiente, 45, had come to the United States from Costa Rica nine years before. Inspired by the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, in her twenties, she’d dreamt of becoming a competitive bike rider, but first, “I had to raise my babies,” she says. After going through a divorce, she eventually saved enough money to buy a bike frame and slowly began building her first racing bike part by part. She would often wake at 4 a.m. to train on the narrow roads close to her home back near San José, where buses crept by within inches of her handlebar. To Valiente, the U.S. felt like paradise. “The roads seemed safe. The traffic laws were actually enforced,” she says.

On the day of the crash, David Reynolds, a 45-year-old tattooed photographer with two teenage children, had ridden 11.5 miles to meet the group at Hockley Community Center, about 30 miles west of downtown Houston. Cycling was his “Zen time,” when he could zone out and let all his worries wash through him. Though he wasn’t training for an event, he had ridden for nearly 600 consecutive days. “I just like to ride,” he says. The group that rolled out that morning included three other experienced cyclists: Craig Staples, Brad Stauffer, and Keith Conrad. The six regularly met up to ride through Waller County, an agricultural and ranching community just outside the sprawling metropolis. The group would become known as the Waller 6.

. . .

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15834699

> Ooga Booga

Biking in this petiod can be a pain for people with pollen allergy.

Do you gave any tip to share? Do you wear a mask? What kind? Anything to protect your eyes?

Thsnk you

(Picture source: Brainwashed https://www.flickr.com/people/39453974@N04 )

My bike is exposed to the sun on the balcony where I keep it. This is probably not so great for the leather saddle, so I improvised a sun cover from some wire and folio. This highly advanced design doesn't trap heat underneath.

What do you all think of this company's idea? You can lease a bike from them, to get started riding without the "big" expense of buying a bike up front.

I guess the big question is just, will this get more people riding then would otherwise happen? If so, seems OK, but generally, I'm resistant to this idea that literally everything needs to be done via subscriptions.

Is this available in your area and if so, is it working well or no?

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/19380584

> cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/19380579 > > > Cyclists blame "utterly ridiculous bike prices" for brands' ongoing struggles, after Giant's sales slashed again; Visma–Lease a Bike's cursed 2024 continues; Devastated Arsenal fan turns to... Lance Armstrong; Bargain hunting + more on the live blog

Dumb question, but new to cycling, and the person at the store adjusted the height of the back via the tab. The Trek manual and video are absolute garbage, so we can't figure out how. Can anyone help?

Inspired by me seeing a tall bike in NYC and wondering WTF it was.

Keep your behind dry and clean, folks!

Hi all, I hope my post doesn't violate any rules, because of the links, if yes, please let me know.

I am a beginner with road bikes, I was always a MTB person, but I decided to get a road bike for my cardio exercise as I turned 40 and I have less option in my area for MTB rides.

Since Im a beginner with road bikes I would need some advice to not mess up my purchase. Of course I done some research as well, but never know what I missed.

Im in the EU and my budget is 700-750 EUR, so yes, it will be a budget bike. I will ride 3-4 times a week for 50-70 km distances. Some hills, but nothing serious.

I found two possible candidates:

Triban RC500 The obvious choice, many reviews calling it the best budget bike under 1000 EUR, some compromises, but I think it would be perfect for me. Price: 750 EUR where I live.

Sava Vegur 1.2 A bit of a wild card, its currently on half off sale with a reputable online retailer for 680 EUR, but cant decide if its the deal of the year or I should be cautious. I know, I dont need a carbon bike for my needs, but still, Im curious if anyone ever had experience with the brand? I found reviews, opinions, etc but nothing which would tell me to buy or not buy it specifically. Its a Chinese brand, but thats about it from what I can see.

Thanks for the time and I would prefer constructive feedback if possible :)

Hi everyone, i hope to find any of the r/Velo geeks here as well.

I finally got myself a nice carbon Wheelset, Lun Winspace Hyper 23 SE 40mm, it has a 21 internal width and nearly 28mm outer width. Now i am undecided which tyres to fit the set. I have the choice out of two sets that i have laying around in fairly mint conditions. The first is the conti gp5000 S TR 28mm and the second the conti gp5000 AS TR 32mm. I got the latter to fit my winter configuration, and I have enjoyed it on the Aluminum DT Swiss P1850 wheels, internal width 19mm.

Winspace specifies the Hyper 23 SE is best matched with 25-28mm tires, following the transition from rim to tire is nearly flat, beyond the 28mm you can get a little bulp, potentially sacrificing aero benefits. Peak torque had made a very insightful video about this too where he concluded the airflow might not attached back to the rim using the wider tire. Now, i am not a racer, but i do enjoy optimising the configuration.

Another point of consideration is the weight, it seems the S TR 28mm weighs around 280 grams, and the AS TR 32mm a full 105 grams more. That is 210 grams for a set. Around me, the area is flat as a pancake, but next month I aim to cycle the Amstel Gold 150km, that will have a more fluent course where lower weight can help me getting up the hills faster for less power. Saving me energy to help avoid being slowest in our group of friends.

Bicyclerollingresistance has made analyses of both tires, but categorised the AS TR 32mm as a gravel tire, so i can’t make a head to head comparison on the site. They did have the AS TR 28mm in the road category to compare with the S TR 28mm. The 32mm and 35mm supposedly have a higher thread thickness compared to the smaller. Wet grip is also noted as a pro of the AS TR with a slight penalty on rolling resistance.

Many will say 32mm is simply more comfortable then 28mm due to lower pressure they allow. I am pretty lightweight, i think the system weight will tally up to 75 kg maybe, so i am not confidant i will get my best bang of comfort over mm when going from 28mm to 32mm.

Any opinions anyone has to share would be greatly appreciated

I thought this would be dead simple but trying to label a road as "bike-friendly" isn't as intuitive as one would hope (am I "adding" a road even though it's technically there or reporting "wrong info" piece by piece?)

Which are you using?

For most things (day trips, few km after work...) I use multiple of them.

Mapy.cz

• online and offline mobile app
• trip planner works pretty well
• you can check out places (photos, reviews...) when online
• well maped whole Europe
• not enough information about roads (asphalt, paved, gravel...)
• basically interactive version of KČT maps

Cykloserver.cz

• can't find app
• basic planner, but better for drawing your route
• much more helpful info about roads
• it is just automatically scaled paper map, so you have to know how to read it

Osm clients - I tried multiple of them.

Paper maps - from the same company that makes the Cycloserver maps. You can get set of them for about 100€ (CZ not sure about SK). There is just something special about planning trip on paper maps.

amcargobikes/amladcykler Ultimate Harmony cargo e-bike review

I've had my cargo bike for about six months now. I thought I'd write a review of it, because (1) I love it, and (2) I had loads of questions before buying it, and thought I could help future cargo bike buyers.

Anyone have a method for determining the best stem length and rise? I'm a casual road cyclist and I feel like I have too much weight on my hands, noticable more on longer rides. I kinda feel like it should be an inch (2-3 cm) shorter, but not sure how rise would impact that. How do I go about finding whats right without trying 4 or 5 stems? Any help is appreciated!

My everything was sore when i got back because I'm out of shape but it was worth it. Had some oatmeal after setting everything up and enjoyed myself.

I had been looking for a bike to get around my local city and managed to snag a Huffy cruiser for $50. It is in decent shape with only some superficial rust on the pedals. This will be a big learning experience for me as I haven't ridden a bike for nine years. I'll both learn how to use a bike to run errands and how to do some of my own maintenance. Maybe even customize it a bit by adding a frame lock and a 3 speed gear hub. I guess we shall see how far I get in this learning and fitness quest.