The Biking Thread

[GolferGal]

I am currently in love with my new bike and thought it might be fun to have a biking thread. If we have any bikers on here you can share about your rides, your bikes, or whatever else.

I rode my bike to Publix today to pick up something I needed to make dinner tonight. Got a nice 8 mile ride in. I know we have a lot of long distance riders in here, but for me in this heat I was happy with that.

 

[War Eagle]

It's so freaking hot, that most of my long training rides is indoors on the bike trainer.

Did take my ebike for a sunset spin after the gym tonight, a 6 mile ride to Sarasota Bay and back.

 

[El Rayo X]

I do 25-30 miles 2x a week.
Lately starting out at 0530 to beat the heat. Avg speed 14-15 mph, about 800ft elevation gain. Approx 1.5-2hrs

 

[PPFour12]

I am currently in love with my new bike and thought it might be fun to have a biking thread. If we have any bikers on here you can share about your rides, your bikes, or whatever else.

I rode my bike to Publix today to pick up something I needed to make dinner tonight. Got a nice 8 mile ride in. I know we have a lot of long distance riders in here, but for me in this heat I was happy with that.

What did you get?

I really want to get a bike. I’ve been looking at gravel bikes lately. I think it’d be the best fit for me around here. But, damn, they’re so expensive! I do think I’d get full value out of it but some of the entry level rides are still running around $2K.

 

[War Eagle]

I do 25-30 miles 2x a week.
Lately starting out at 0530 to beat the heat. Avg speed 14-15 mph, about 800ft elevation gain. Approx 1.5-2hrs

This time of year, I'm typically on my road bike on Tuesdays (36 miles) & Thursdays (32 miles) and a gravel bike ride on Sundays (60-80 miles). But the freaking heat has been intolerable, so havent ridden out door much the last few weeks.

 

[War Eagle]

What did you get?

I really want to get a bike. I’ve been looking at gravel bikes lately. I think it’d be the best fit for me around here. But, damn, they’re so expensive! I do think I’d get full value out of it but some of the entry level rides are still running around $2K.

Gravel Bikes are easily the best selling category of bikes these days.

 

[El Rayo X]

This time of year, I'm typically on my road bike on Tuesdays (36 miles) & Thursdays (32 miles) and a gravel bike ride on Sundays (60-80 miles). But the freaking heat has been intolerable, so havent ridden out door much the last few weeks.

I want to add about 10 miles to my rides, but the heat’s rough here in the desert. And right now we’ve got some humidity early.
I know it ain’t Florida humid, but still

 

[War Eagle]

I want to add about 10 miles to my rides, but the heat’s rough here in the desert. And right now we’ve got some humidity early.
I know it ain’t Florida humid, but still

I have family in Scottsdale, and my nephew is training hard for a MTB race right now out there. No clue how he is doing it.

 

[gkeller813]

I don't bike a lot, but do enjoy getting out. My wife and I used to bike a lot before we had the kids, but this past weekend we went out with the 3 of them for a family ride on some local trails. We did 8 miles in total, with an ice cream stop in the middle. Our kids, age 5-7 did great, and may have done more if it weren't for rain heading our way. Looking forward to many more.

 

[PPFour12]

Gravel Bikes are easily the best selling category of bikes these days.

Diverge Comp E5

Whether your goal is to escape on gravel back roads, far from cars and crowds, toe the start line at your first gravel race, or simply get the most vers...

www.specialized.com

I was looking at something along these lines.

 

[War Eagle]

Diverge Comp E5

Whether your goal is to escape on gravel back roads, far from cars and crowds, toe the start line at your first gravel race, or simply get the most vers...

www.specialized.com

I was looking at something along these lines.

I ride a Diverge and love it. Phenomenal bike. The E5 Aluminum is fantastic, and the carbon fork is nice. Definitely want the 1x drivetrain on there, and the SRAM on that model is great.

 

[sunshine]

Diverge Comp E5

Whether your goal is to escape on gravel back roads, far from cars and crowds, toe the start line at your first gravel race, or simply get the most vers...

www.specialized.com

I was looking at something along these lines.

I’m saving up for a bike and have kind of realized that 2k-3k is likely what I’ll need to spend

 

[PPFour12]

I’m saving up for a bike and have kind of realized that 2k-3k is likely what I’ll need to spend

Yeah. Seems to be the sweet spot. I’m selling off some stuff around the house and I think I’m going to use that extra money to get a bike.

 

[War Eagle]

I’m saving up for a bike and have kind of realized that 2k-3k is likely what I’ll need to spend

Yeah. Seems to be the sweet spot. I’m selling off some stuff around the house and I think I’m going to use that extra money to get a bike.

Prices are starting to come back down, if you arent super urgent in needing to get one, I think Specialized is about to do another round of price reductions in the coming months. The did a "Summer sale" and the prices never went back up, and now I think we see that "sale" go to Roubaix, Diverge, and Tarmac to make room for new models coming out soon.

 

[sunshine]

Prices are starting to come back down, if you arent super urgent in needing to get one, I think Specialized is about to do another round of price reductions in the coming months. The did a "Summer sale" and the prices never went back up, and now I think we see that "sale" go to Roubaix, Diverge, and Tarmac to make room for new models coming out soon.

Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on that site

 

[PPFour12]

Prices are starting to come back down, if you arent super urgent in needing to get one, I think Specialized is about to do another round of price reductions in the coming months. The did a "Summer sale" and the prices never went back up, and now I think we see that "sale" go to Roubaix, Diverge, and Tarmac to make room for new models coming out soon.

Ahhh. Good call. I like it. Yeah, no huge hurry. I’m all about price reductions.

 

[BigMac]

I can't wait for it to cool off a bit so I can get back in the saddle, it's just too hot to ride right now.

 

[GolferGal]

What did you get?

I really want to get a bike. I’ve been looking at gravel bikes lately. I think it’d be the best fit for me around here. But, damn, they’re so expensive! I do think I’d get full value out of it but some of the entry level rides are still running around $2K.

We have amazing bike trails all over our community so I went for an e-bike, I got the Trek Electra 7D Go! And I LOVE it! I really just use the electric so far to assist when I have to cross a major road to make sure I have enough acceleration to not worry about getting hit by a car haha. But I love knowing it's there if I end up going far and it starts to rain as FL is known to do out of nowhere or if I just get tired or my back starts to hurt I can have a little help getting back.

I rode around 3pm without a cloud in the sky yesterday which was a probably not a great idea, it was like 100* outside, but there was a nice breeze so that helped a lot.

 

[russtopher]

Biking has been one of my absolute favorite pastimes since I was a kid. I raced BMX for a bit and also go into dirt jumping and freestyling for a number of years. Fun fact - the bottom halves of my top two front teeth are fake after I broke them crashing after a big dirt jump gone wrong.

My hybrid is a Jamis Allegro Sport that I recently converted into a trail bike. We have almost 20 hiking trails owned and maintained by the town that I’ve started exploring. It’ll also be a great ride for when it’s wet or cruddy out in the colder months up here.

My road bike is a Giant Defy 2 that I picked up used for a great deal. The big bike shop in our area is primarily a Giant dealer and the service manager is a lifelong friend of my brother so I trust him to take care of things. I try to get in 15-20 mile rides 2-3 times a week when my schedule allows.

 

[GolferGal]

Anyone have a recommendation for a comfortable seat/seat cover? That seems to be my biggest struggle right now with the longer rides. I got one from amazon and it helped, but I can already tell it's not going to be a long term solution.

 

[russtopher]

Anyone have a recommendation for a comfortable seat/seat cover? That seems to be my biggest struggle right now with the longer rides. I got one from amazon and it helped, but I can already tell it's not going to be a long term solution.

Padded shorts are the way to go IMHO. I have ones I wear under athletic shorts when I ride and they make a WORLD of difference for me when I'm out on a longer ride. Anything over 10 miles and I'm wearing those.

 

[Scorp]

Cool idea for a thread. The MTB bug bit me.

Last summer I picked up a Trek Roscoe 7 MTB. It's a hardtail and I like it.

And then earlier this summer I picked up a Specialized Stump Jumper. I like the full suspension more than the hardtail because of its smoother ride.

I try to split my time between each bike so I'm not playing favorites and letting one get jealous of the other.

I only get to ride on the weekend but I like it. There's something up with the rear brake on the Trek though. I rode last Sunday and the rear brake was like "yeah, gimme a minute" and wasn't giving me full stopping power. The bike is less than a year old and I'm not abusing it so everything should still be good. I've got a brake bleed kit coming so I'll be trying a lever bleed first. If that fails then I'm upgrading the rear caliper.

 

[War Eagle]

Anyone have a recommendation for a comfortable seat/seat cover? That seems to be my biggest struggle right now with the longer rides. I got one from amazon and it helped, but I can already tell it's not going to be a long term solution.

Cruiser Select Airflow ES

The Cruiser Select Saddle is crafted with Select Foam, the softest foam available in Cloud-9 Saddles. We have fused a gel-foam pad on top of the traditional Multi-Stage foam to create a feel that is soft yet supportive. The Elastomer Springs absorb small imperfections in the road and the Vented...

cloud-9.bike

 

[GolferGal]

Cruiser Select Airflow ES

The Cruiser Select Saddle is crafted with Select Foam, the softest foam available in Cloud-9 Saddles. We have fused a gel-foam pad on top of the traditional Multi-Stage foam to create a feel that is soft yet supportive. The Elastomer Springs absorb small imperfections in the road and the Vented...

cloud-9.bike

Do you recommend the Lycra or Soft Touch Vinyl?

 

[War Eagle]

Do you recommend the Lycra or Soft Touch Vinyl?

Soft touch vinyl, the lycra ones tend to break down quick and the cover separates from the foam.