Apparently there are some cycling enthusiasts on here so I figured I do a thread about it since I've been getting into it again.

Post your gear, experience, recommendations, questions here.

I'm not new to cycling at all. I've started at a pretty young age thanks to my dad who is an enthusiast. In my teens he took me on my first longer rides of 50km and from there it absolutely escalated like with most of my hobbies.

My day tours got longer and I was quickly doing day rides of 180km and more. I was always more interested in endurance than racing and I love being by myself for long stretches of time so touring came absolutely natural for me. It all culminated in my first bikepacking tour through Germany at around age 18 or so. It was 2000km across all of Germany in 12 days. Alone of course. Planned and booked everything by myself and spent my own money on it. It was a time before Smartphones so I went equiped with a bunch of giant paper maps and a genuine compass. Made the whole trip with only minor hickups.

After that I settled down for a bit and only rode occasionally, some years not at all.

Picked up riding last year again and went full hog when I got my first ever road bike this year. That was basically a complete revelation for me since I only ever rode heavy trekking bikes before. Road bikes felt like absolute cheating. And then I discovered clipless pedals and found the easy mode to cycling. I've been driving weekly ever since.

I recently climbed one of the toughest mountains in Germany and it got me hooked on mountains. Currently looking into more routes in the mountains and a good gravelbike to be able to go off the path.

My current setup is this:

- Scott Addict 20 Disc with enduro geometry and reinforced wheels for heavier loads
- Shimano PD combo pedals
- Shimano SH-XC7 shoes (amazing things)
- Topeak MTX Trunkbag and Rack combo for longer tours
- Garmin Fenix 5 Plus
- Bose Quiet Control 30 Wireless Headphones
- Generic bike helmet for anything longer than 50km

In my last town I rode about 30km a week, which prompted me to upgrade my bike from a cheap bike to a Giant Escape R3. The difference was substantial, and makes me seriously consider buying an even better bike instead of saving up for a car. In my new town I ride about 20-25km a week, and I considered going to the nearby town which would be a 50km trip one way.

However I feel the bike tires are already feeling their age, the roads here are often poor and degrade the quality quite rapidly. I estimate I put on around 2000km since I bought it last year. I definitely consider buying more stylish bags and shoes that would also be more efficient, because when I ride without the backpack, the drag difference feels so good.

Sadly don't have a bike right now (sold my old one before emigrating, but now I'm back home), but this new Trek bike is on my shopping list: https://www.trekbikes.com/lu/fr_LU/vélos/vélos-de-route/performance-route/domane/domane-al/domane-al-2-disc/p/33083/?colorCode=blue_black

I've went for the very first time with an E-Bike (Pedelec) Trekking bike for this year. And I am in love with it even if a certain someone doesn't appreciate it. 

I just wanted to replace my 10+ years old Trekking Bike with something new, and with something that makes it different. So, I got me the Pegasus Solero E8 plus 2020 model. 

I replaced the saddle and seatpost. 

I'm more of a casual cyclist. I go from streets, to gravel through forests and over hills. I've chosen the 500 watts battery for long distances. And it also got the newest Bosch Engine Active Line Plus (They are simply the best). 

I took the bike to the extreme to see how much it can do off-track, uphill on uneven terrain, and I was amazed that I could go up the most steep routes. 

It certainly is a lot of fun. 

I do a lot of cycling, between 60 and 130km routes at a time depending on time availability. Between 200 and 300 km a week, about 5,000 km a year from April to early November. (16c or above, I switch to jogging when colder) I keep a map of everywhere I've cycled in Ontario



My bike I bought around 2007

Pretty much only the frame, handle bars and saddle are still original, replacing parts every year. I go through one or two sets of tires a years, a bunch of inner tubes, patch kits, new chain every year. I have some tools in the saddle bad, a spare inner tube and patch kits. I've found glass, nails, rocks etc in my tires and also had complete blowouts, inner tube failure. Hence the spare, can't repair giant tears. Best is not to wait too long to replace the outer tires, keeps the amount of road side patching down. I mainly cycle on gravel trails/roads, lot of wear on the tires.

No splash guards so I come home completely covered in mud when I get caught out in the rain on dirt roads. Literally the back of my helmet is caked in mud and from there down lol.

I'm itching to go out cycling again already after ending up in the ER 2 days ago. Car clipped my back tire, I'm all right, just sore. Bike is in the shop, needs a new back wheel. Best is to cycle to a lake, swim as a break then cycle back. I haven't reached the lakes this year yet though, kids always home and beaches overcrowded. I take my kids cycling as well and usually end up pushing them. They're 8 and 10, leap frog launch one ahead then the next lol. Perhaps I should get them little E bikes then we can go far together :) When they were younger they were in the trailer, now I use the trailer to get pool supplies.

I'm very low tech when it comes to cycling. Nothing electronic on my bike, don't have a phone with me or anything. Sandals and shorts, usually no shirt either. It gets hot here. When I go somewhere new I memorize the map before I set off. I used to make paper print outs for directions but I'm so familiar with the area nowadays that I can't get lost anymore.

This is always a fun climb after 65 km, my bike is not that light. 164 flights of stairs to get the heart rate up.

Hamilton area is a good workout, 200 meter height difference resulting in a lot of ups and downs. According to Google my routes there have 5,200 meter elevation changes added up.

Cool stuff. I'm currently looking into getting a new bike. Since my current one is 100% road I run into issues some times with bad roads and I really fear for my bike and my wrists. MY bike has zero suspension and I tend to keep my tires rock hard at 7 Bar. I have given up commuting because the roads and bike lanes to my work are just a nightmare for my bike. I've been looking at mountainbikes and found that there are quite a few hybrids between MTBs and road bikes, which is ideal.

It seems my ideal hybrid would be a Gravelbike that's made for comfort and endurance. Some broad tires and suspension in front and back would probably be enough to be able to go a bit offroad. My dream is to just start my trip and then drive in any direction using any road, take a break when I need and then just stop at a hotel whenever I'm too exhausted to go further. Bikepacking really is my jam.

Cycling sure is nice, although I don't really do very long routes or have invested too much in it. I think my longest route has been between 20 and 30 km, and usually I do quite short routes. Pretty much all equipment I have for cycling is my bike, which is sold as a city bike, so it would probably fit best in the trekking/commuting category in the poll here. I don't really have any desire for a better one for my needs, so I'm quite happy with that.

Before coronavirus, I used to commute via bike whenever possible, but now it's all been remote work, so I've probably cycled a lot less than before. Still, now that it's summer, I've cycled a decent bit anyway.

Even a little cycling is good cycling.

Gonna have a small little tour of 115km tomorrow. Trying to beat my current speed record for 100km+ tours. Starting at 6 AM, trying to be back before 11.

Damn that's just over 100 psi, I keep mine at 80 psi back, 70 front. It's a hybrid though and the max rating for the tires (80 psi). I use Specialized Crossroads tires, 700 38c, good grip on any terrain. Front suspension is essential for your wrists. Still hurts with all the bad roads around here and after a long ride my arms and wrists tend to cramp up. (And my legs the next morning, yay for getting older)

I've used that hybrid bike on anything, very nice to be able to go from a mountain bike trail to get up to speed on smooth asphalt and back. The tires are wide enough for moderate gravel but will still dig in in loose sand and piled up gravel.

My decision process where to go is usually based on wind direction. Start out against the wind, wind behind on the way back.

115km small little tour lol :)

The fastest I did my 109 km route was 4h 15 minutes. I currently aim to go between 3 to 4 hours at a time, my knees are starting to get older unfortunately. I'm 46 now, 42 was about my peak year.