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If I ever get into recreational cycling I need to make a mental note to not read about any performance stuff ever again. I'll get something rigid with relativel

• mperham 4y ago
  A good amount of “legacy” bike advocates are actively hostile to e-bikes, equating them to “cheating”. It’s gatekeeping bullshit. Anytime someone asks me bike buying advice, my only reply is “go to your local dealer and talk with them”. That relationship and taking a few test rides are far more important than any spec on a sheet.
  • mauvehaus 4y ago
    ... and if the first shop you visit isn't vibing with what your goals and/or personality are, try another. Shops that cater to commuters and transportation cyclists are very different from ones that cater to hardcore road or mountain bike riders.
  • fluoridation 4y ago
    The thing about bikes is that if you want to go fast, you have to put in kilometers on the saddle. That trains not just your body, but also your mind, and teaches you how to behave on the road. An electric bike allows someone with little training to go much faster than they would be able to otherwise. Now imagine that you're an experienced rider going at a cool 35 km/h and as you're about to pass a newbie on an electric bike they swerve into you because they don't yet have the habit of looking back before moving sideways. Yes, it's a mistake of that particular person alone, but it's a mistake they were able to make because e-bikes exist.
    • deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    • tiahura 4y ago
      Children master bike riding in a few days. Let’s not overcomplicate things.
      • LAC-Tech 4y ago
        Learning to ride a bike and learning to ride one on public roads with traffic are two different skills.
      • wl 4y ago
        There's a huge difference between being able to handle a bike at 5 mph, 15 mph, and 28 mph.
      • fluoridation 4y ago
        Oh, they master it, do they? So, you'd let a child who's been riding a bike for a week or so ride with heavy traffic, right? They've mastered it, so there's nothing else for them to learn.
      • burnished 4y ago
        20 year old me who just ate pavement because they didn’t know how to safely navigate street car rails would disagree.
        • toast0 4y ago
          That was 40 year old me a couple years ago. Street car rails are terrible, bad for bikes and pedestrians, a lot of expense, and doesn't provide much more than a bus.
        • eythian 4y ago
          You should have watched this video: https://youtu.be/sEON08d76oE?t=112 https://youtu.be/sEON08d76oE?t=112 it nicely explains the importance of things like tram rails, and keeping a potato in your pants.
  • dahart 4y ago
    E-bikes are great for bike advocacy - what I’ve noticed is that a lot more people are biking because of them. I bump into lots more older people riding canyon roads than I used to, and people going grocery shopping or out to the pub on e-bikes. Friends who have been indoor people and not fit are buying e-bikes and getting out. This has nothing but positive effects on local traffic laws and bike lanes, and local trails and bike paths. I don’t have an e-bike yet, but I will get one eventually, maybe when my interest in climbing wanes, or maybe sooner just to increase my range.
  • mihaaly 4y ago
    My over middle aged colleague got into and enjoying cycling again with an e bike. And he gives no dammn if this is cheeting according to some condescending self righteous hole of excretion. Did not even hear about those poor people. He just likes to move more and that's it.
• MezzoDelCammin 4y ago
  Try to get a bike fit first. Ideally after some basic stretchwork / few classes of mobility training just to get the feel of what Your body is capable of in the short term. It sounds like waste of money for something people feel like they should be able to judge themselves, but bikes aren't shoes. The issues often develop only after some hours of effort. If You're a beginner, chances are the flexibility of Your back / hips / joints will be the most limiting factor.
• Zigurd 4y ago
  Buying a racing bike, which a lot of people do, is as silly as buying GS racing skis, which hardly anyone does for recreational skiing because it's a Bad Idea. You won't like it unless you are as fit as a racer. Even then you won't find either the bike or skis pleasant for any purpose other than training to race. Elite athletes are a different species from you and me.
  • jupp0r 4y ago
    That's absolutely not true. Commuting on a nice road bike is awesome. There's a trade off curve in regards to weight so it's really not necessary to spend 5 digits for the casual rider of course.
    • dilyevsky 4y ago
      It’s awesome if you work at a place small enough that you can take it next to your desk or if they have security-manned bike room
    • Zigurd 4y ago
      There are road bikes for fitness rides and touring, and there are racing geometry road bikes. Most people are better off with an endurance geometry road bike or a gravel bike. My point is that more people buy racing equipment for cycling than do skiers for skiing. It is more obvious that a straight sidecut on a long stiff ski won't be fun, than it is that a low stack height and high seat will hurt your neck. You'll see a loot of kludges to fix these decisions: adjustable stems, steering tube extenders, etc.
    • jjav 4y ago
      > That's absolutely not true. Commuting on a nice road bike is awesome. OP said racing bike not road bike. I agree commuting on a nice road bike is awesome and the comfort/endurace category of road bikes is great for that (e.g. Specialized Roubaix, Trek Domane, etc.) I wouldn't want to commute on an all-out race bike though. Too stiff, too uncomfortable geometry.
      • 4y ago
• jupp0r 4y ago
  Make sure you never ride a friends carbon bike then. The experience is really nice imho, independent of the weight.
• rhn_mk1 4y ago
  Mass matters for the simple reason that if you need to climb a hill, the energy required to lift a mass is proportional to the mass. Granted, barring extremely heavy bikes, ~3/4 of the mass is the rider.
  • fluoridation 4y ago
    The human is more like >80% of the mass of the entire system, not ~75%.
    • layer8 4y ago
      Not sure why this is downvoted. A normal bike shouldn’t weigh more than 15 kg (some weigh just half of that), so a human at 75% would only weigh 45 kg at most. Maybe people are thinking of e-bikes, which are a lot heavier.
      • mshroyer 4y ago
        My steel touring/commuter bike (not an e-bike) easily weighs more than that, at least if I count the lock and repair kit I keep attached to the frame.
        • fluoridation 4y ago
          Just how much extra equipment are you carrying? I would expect a bike like that unloaded to be around 12 kg.
        • layer8 4y ago
          Fair enough, but for a human, let's say weighing 70 kg, to be 75% of the total weight, the bike plus whatever is attached to it would have to be above 23 kg. You only reach such a ratio with extra luggage.
  • kqr 4y ago
    Also you reclaim the energy on the downhill. Mass doesn't matter as much as people used to think. (Hence no modern bikes being made out of drillium.) The one thing where I suspect mass might matter is in the wheels. It's a huge difference between getting a heavy wheel spinning and a light one, and at least for commuting/recreational usage, most of that will be bled off as heat anyway.
• wnolens 4y ago
  I ride daily, to commute and workout and just for joy on a Sunday. In a city. I've never considered anything but a steel frame (most common), in the realm of $1000 or less fully built. Sure, I desire more. But we're talking about 10% satisfaction improvement for my (our) needs. And I definitely will splurge on a new bike soon, but only because I have money to burn. I am contemplating a $3-500ish fitting with all the latest tech and a trained expert. That feels honestly worth it for anyone because it will likely save you injury.
  • fshbbdssbbgdd 4y ago
    If your budget is $1000, you could find something really nice on the used market.
  • skeeter2020 4y ago
    The funny thing is you can go really expensive with steel as well. If you're at the $1000 price point you're probably not using really good brakes or wheels; both can vastly improve your ride and enjoyment.
    • wnolens 4y ago
      I agree. There's always more to pay. But I've never thought to myself "geez my brakes aren't enough". Disc brakes are too powerful IMO, and thus dangerous. And honestly I don't even know what difference wheels would make? Mine are circular, stay true. Why do folks pay thousands on hand built wheels? Gears/derailleurs I have a tough time with.. even nice ones seem to need constant adjustment so I ride a single speed now and feel like I discovered a bike secret. I'd spend on fit, frame, seat, tires as a min bar to be picky about.
      • prmoustache 4y ago
        > Disc brakes are too powerful IMO, and thus dangerous. Not true at all. People learn to modulate instinctively in a matter of seconds when switching from different bikes/brake systems. Besides deoending on pad compound and rim material many v-brakes are very brutal with a low curve between doing nothing and grabbing hard compared to cantilevers and road calipers, so it not only about disc vs rim brake systems.
• some-guy 4y ago
  As another commenter said, bike fit is very important, especially to mitigate overuse injuries (don't be like me!). Beyond that I have found my $400 mish-mash of mid-2000s mid-range road parts attached to a $90 aluminum Nashbar frame to be sufficient for my road cycling needs.
• marmetio 4y ago
  You can read all the articles you want, but eventually you'll have to take the bike for a test ride, and you'll realize that you have no idea how anything you read translates to how the bike feels to you. You don't have the context to interpret all that information until your physical abilities and skills have outgrown a bicycle at least once. Get what fits your budget, your body, and the type of riding you'll do.
• m463 4y ago
  I bought two electric mountain bikes. You don't care about "weight in grams" for each part. You can get good exercise by lowering the assist level. You can raise the assist level for tricky parts or to get back to the car. But the best part is getting TWO electric bikes - it lets you take someone with you, optimize for fun and minimize things like different ability or fitness levels.
  • midoridensha 4y ago
    Buying two bikes to have a spare for a friend doesn't really work, unless all your friends are close to your height. If you're tall, you can't ride really short-frame bikes, and your short friends can't ride yours. Bikes aren't one-size-fits all. And depending on the bike, there's only so much adjustability.
    • burnished 4y ago
      What? Did you forget that people know who their friends are, and can guess at who would be accommodated by a second bike?
      • midoridensha 4y ago
        Ok, so you have one short friend and one tall friend. Now you're going to buy 3 bikes so you can have everyone covered? What happens when you get a new friend that doesn't fit your existing bikes?
        • burnished 4y ago
          Then, in that specific instance, I might hesitate to buy a spare vs purchasing a gift for a friend. Trying to legislate simple statements as if they needed to be universal law, and judging them as failures because you failed to find a a way to do that, does not make the simple statement bad.
          • midoridensha 4y ago
• jmspring 4y ago
  Distance is a funny thing. I've done multi-day hundreds of mile charity rides for fun. I've trained and helped train people who would not think of doing such to do so. I've also done 20+ mile mountain bike rides on a single speed mountain bike. These days, I like to just get out and explore with no time or distance goals. Some of it is for exercise, some of it is for clearing my mind and having fun. My recommendation for those getting into it, decide the type of riding you wnat to do, figure out a budget and try bikes (new and used) in that budget for the one you like. For what it's worth, my main bike is a steel "gravel bike" with fairly beefy tires, disk breaks and no suspension. I take it most places I have taken my full suspension mountain bike when riding in the bay area.
• PhasmaFelis 4y ago
  As a (former) regular bike commuter, it was hilarious how some "serious" cyclists would say things like that, and then talk about the best ways to stay fit over the winter because obviously you're not gonna ride your bike when it's -5F out, right? Rather undermined my perception of how hardcore they were. Similarly entertaining, leaving work one day when a dude in Lycra on a $3000 racing bike blew past me with hardly a glance. ...And then looked completely flabbergasted when I caught up with him and said "Hi!" at a stoplight a few miles down the road, riding my mountain bike and still wearing slacks and a button-down from work. Like, I may be a fatass, but I've been doing this every day for 15 years and my calves are solid rock.
  • jlarcombe 4y ago
    Yes I saw the same thing countless times in London, lycra heroes on expensive bikes whizzing past me on the flat then I'd overtake them again on the way up the next hill! Happened particularly often in January after everyone had got their posh new bikes. I must get back into it.
• ip26 4y ago
  By all means, avoid the gear rathole. But you should go deep enough to find a bike that feels good to ride and fits your body. I tried to be a hardtail purist, and quit mountain biking because it just sucked. (Local terrain is all huge rocks and drops) Years later tried a full suspension carbon- whoa, mountain biking can be type I fun?? I tried to be a commuter purist, favoring simplicity, durability, and reliability. Riding my hybrid is un-gratifying and soul-sucking. Tried a racy road bike, awkward as hell. Tried a nice gravel bike, oh my god I don't want to stop pedaling! It's worth spending a little more to get the bike that feels good for you to ride.
• kshahkshah 4y ago
  "Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride." - Eddy Merckx I was a very casual and just enjoyed riding until I started getting into touring. You're right not to care, at all. Unless you are a professional or are riding competitively at high levels, you will always do better by losing a little bit of belly, focusing on technique, and having more miles on the road. Weight will not be the difference maker. I would come back from a tour on my steel Surly and just whip by people with 7k+ bikes in Central Park on a regular basis. It was the miles and nothing else. Rolling resistance and comfort matter. I never went less than 23mm and I wouldn't even do that today, I'd go far wider 28mm or 35mm. Being comfortable keeps you on your bike longer and the longer you're on your bike, the more fit you'll be and happy - since you're riding a bike for longer. Your instincts are good, have fun.
• texxtxxet 4y ago
  A jump from, say, 23mm wide to 28mm on a standard road bike won't affect comfort much. Spend the money on getting the bike fit (or a beach cruiser).