mschwett 

Six months ago to the day today, I (46M, married with kids, san francisco, 6’2) took my first ride on my first road bike. Today I played hooky from work in the morning to hit 3,000 miles on the bike. (not counting commutes etc)

March 26



Today, September 27



Mostly talking to myself here, a few things I’m reflecting on:

1. I had no idea how satisfying it would be to cover ground on a road bike. My rides got progressively longer and longer, for now peaking around 80 miles in 5 hours or so. Few things in life are as enjoyable!
2. I’ve never done anything that was so effective at burning so many calories. Despite eating more and more often, lost 15lb almost immediately. 200->185
3. Bikes are really fun to work on, upgrade, fool around with. Mostly little changes so far, seat, stem, pedals, cranks, axle bolts, phone mount, etc. Most meaningful change has been the gearing, new front ring and rear cassette/driver. Wheels/Tires and cockpit changes next! The bike is around 750g lighter than when I brought it home, and should end up around 1,250g lighter after the next two changes.
4. Gatorskin Hardshells are DURABLE. 3,000 mostly urban miles, no flats.
5. GRX pads and rotors and chains are not. All replaced already.
6. My limit without bringing hydration is two hours, or 35 miles.
7. My limit without bringing food and/or stopping to eat is around 3 hours or 50 miles. Bonk is bad!!!
8. With the right gearing, some experience, and a little training I don’t really NEED an ebike. My heart condition imposes a lot of limitations and I never would have been able to get into this on a normal bike. But now that I’ve done it for six months, I almost never use the motor. It’s for long (1,000+ or very steep (10%+) climbs. 57 miles and 2,700 feet this morning, zero assist. 😇 I’ve ordered a non-E road bike, but it won’t show up for months.
9. no crashes yet, knock wood. fell over a few times due to unclip failures, resolved now with some lube on the cleats and experience. almost crashed several times, a necessary part of learning the limits of bike and rider, i think.
10. an expensive bike fitting was well worth it!
11. i still refuse to wear lycra.
12. the bay area (and SF itself, especially!) is an amazing place to ride a bike. if only it wasn’t quite so windy…….
13. bikeForums is great, lots of knowledge, although the ratio of snark/attitude to content is definitely higher than any forum i’ve participated in!

randallr

Yep, it's great to discover all that, especially point #1. Something so fine about traveling so far under one's own power alone.

mschwett 

or in my case, 95% under my own power 😂😂😂

shelbyfv

Sounds like you'll be able to ditch the motor when the new bike arrives! Kudos.

tempocyclist

Nice one!

That is one sleek looking eBike too. I didn't even notice the "motor bulge" at first.

mschwett 

i'll always keep this bike for very long rides with very big climbs! it's a really great bike for me, more the best of both worlds than the worst of both worlds

Maelochs

Congratulations.

I will post some snark later, just to keep the tone consistent with other BF threads.

njkayaker

You definitely don't need an ebike.

​​​​​​​Cool. You still don't need it. Not at all.

Joearch

Congratulations on your new found love. Cycling really is wonderful.

downhillmaster

You made my day with your refusal to wear lycra.
Keep cycling and keep saying no to spandex overalls

rousseau

Is there a particular reason for not wanting to wear lycra? It's practically the first upgrade to a road bike you can make, as it feels awesome and improves the ride immeasurably in terms of comfort and performance. Why would you deny yourself for what sounds like a misguided matter of principle?

shelbyfv

^^^ The jort posse is riding hard in this one. Anyone else out there not using padded shorts?

genejockey 

I can see not wearing lycra. I can't see making it a point of pride, any more than I make it a point of pride to wear it.

mschwett 

yeah, i just don’t like the way anything skin tight feels or looks. i’m totally 100% comfortable wearing what i wear, unsure what it’ll be like if/when it gets colder or rains, but for our mild climate i have no complaints yet and other than aerodynamics don’t really see any room for improvement on this one.

WhyFi

That's because you don't know what you don't know; there's a reason that the stuff exists.

Seattle Forrest

The motor and battery are a lot of weight to carry up those steep hills, and the Gatorskins are slowing you down more than you know. So if you're doing 95% of 150% of the work, you deserve to be proud. 3k is a lot of miles in 6 months.

Maelochs

As for riding electric ..... no opinion. You are riding a bike with an assist, and you make good use of the assist, you are smart.
As for cycling-specific clothing---whatever.

A lot of people have image issues .... they want to identify with a group, they don't want to identify with a group---whatever. Imagine saying "I would never wear a green shirt because i am too cool to wear what those green-shirt-wearing people wear."

I wear lycra, I wear bike h=jerseys ... I prefer loose fit, but I really don't care so long as the jersey is comfortable and has pockets where I need them. After years of biking I finally tried padded shorts and found them more comfortable. Bibs are a bout six giant steps up that ladder. But .... some people will wear high-heeled shoes and complain non-stop about how they hurt, and still wear them, so I am not about to mess with whatever. There is a lot more than what the clothing actually does, involved here, and I don't do psychoanalysis for free any more.

I think your story is awesome.

mschwett 

yeah - i don’t really understand the physics. total weight, me and bike, is around 215lb. i test rode an aethos, total weight, me and bike, around 200lb… and it felt like WAY more than a 8% difference in hill climbing ability. way more. that, a better understanding of the gearing, and some small health progress and i’m pretty confident i’ll enjoy a non-electric bike even more for anything but the longest and hardest rides.

the rolling resistance on the gatorskin hardshells is ugly. can’t wait to try new wheels and tires, as soon as i figure out what i want. $!@?!$’ “road boost….”

mschwett 

that’s fair. it’s not like i’ve never put on such a garment, but what i wear seems completely comfortable to me, like it isn’t even there. i’m sure i’d get used to it but pockets behind the back seems less comfortable rather than more, but obviously aerodynamically superior. i wear padded “underwear” under my MTB shorts/pants, definitely wouldn’t go without that!

i’ll try some jerseys. there’s certainly a continuum from birkenstocks and shorts to pro team superhero skinsuit.

genejockey 

So much of where I ride (mid-Peninsula) is really windy, especially in the afternoons that the flapping noise from loose clothing bugs the crap outta me. I bought a jacket I really liked, till I wore it on a typically windy afternoon and the flapping was just too much. Luckily, I hadn't paid too much for it.

mschwett 

yeah, that would seriously bug. i don’t wear anything loose enough to flap, perhaps a little high frequency flutter on a fast descent or those nasty bridge crosswinds.

Riveting

I second this.

This past weekend I rode 103 miles with 6,200' of climbing (Denver Century) without an ebike, but I do also own an ebike, even though I don't NEED it, not at all.

I WANT to (not NEED to) use my ebike for utility rides such as errands and especially for commutes, so that I don't arrive at work late (ebikes are great for overcoming a stiff headwind that can really slow things down), as well as not showing up tired, or having to struggle riding home after work in the 95-100 F heat of the summer, and the ebike also lets me ride in a reasonable amount of time while my legs are still sore from the big weekend rides.

Anybody doing recreational rides of 50 miles with 1000's of feet in climbing, on their own, don't really NEED an ebike, but they sure are nice to ride. The same way nobody NEEDS a 300hp coupe to drive to work, but they sure are fun to drive.

mschwett 

in theory that's true, in practice, with the requirement of keeping my heart rate below 130 with "normal" road bike gearing, it doesn't seem possible to do 1,000-2,000 foot climbs at anything more than 8% or so. it just takes more power than i could put out with getting my heart rate up.

genejockey 

The counterpoint to 'You don't need an e-bike' would be that 2700 feet in 54 miles is not a big climbing day in the Bay Area - my Sunday ride is 55 miles and 3300 feet and I consider it 'rolling' at most because I AVOID any of the big climbs. If the OP wants to do climbs like the ones down the Peninsula, or up in Marin, and he has a heart condition that prevents him doing threshold HR for 30-45 minutes, an e-bike is probably a safer option. I don't know, I'm not a doctor, and particularly not HIS doctor.

But, yeah - after 6 months, that 54 miles is nothing to sneeze at. Kudos!

Maelochs

Re: jerseys....I have a few quick-dri (or whatever trade name) T-shirts I bought for $5 at Walmart which work almost as well. The rear pockets are better for me .... not everyone.

As for the heart thing---I have a few friends, and myself have had heart issues. One guy's doctor says to keep his HR below 112---why get out of bed/

You are killing it. And not killing yourself. Seeme like a good combination.