Originally Posted by jamisFan

Farther, I would welcome a faster ride but it's not my goal, my focus is on distance.


Thanks, this thread helped me a great deal to understand that. I genuinely believed that was the case, now I know it's not. I already own a HRM and I'm trying to lower my heart rate as I push myself a little more, however, as mentioned above my goal is endurance, not speed.



Thanks man, I'm planning for a long ride this thursday and I'll try precisely that. Longer, less intense.



This is interesting, but no idea really on how to shop for wheels/tires? Do I need to pay attention only to the size? I have no idea about brands or anything, how do I know if my current set is good or if I swap, how do I know the new one is better?



I ride alone during the week and with a couple of friends on the weekends (never all three at the same time, though, the only one who is constant is me). There's a big group here in Miami that I want to join, in fact they had a training ride yesterday (sunday) and I wanted to go but I do not have spare tubes and the multi tool yet, so I'll go next month. However the main reason I haven't joined a group yet is because quite frankly I'm afraid I might not be able to keep up with their pace and cause and accident as I slow down or stop. They have a beginners group but still, it doesn't mention on their website how far they ride, only how fast.


I did some tweaking on my bike this weekend and felt slightly more comfortable, so I'm already reaping the benefits of joining this forum. The friend I rode with this saturday is more experienced than I am and told me pretty much the same you guys already told me. He also mentioned that since my bike does not have the greatest of components it might be one or two years before they give in and I need to replace (at my current pace), at that point then I'll be in position to look at a new bike or upgrade the groupset on my current one.


Thanks a lot everyone, lots of great advice here.

D.