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Marked safe from pedestrian assault this week.

Couple years ago, before the kids, I was starting to get back into road biking. I had purchased a fairly nice bike back in college and hadnt used it as much as i anticipated. Well I started to ride it more and more, then my wife started too and virtually stole it from me because she enjoyed it more than her long distance running.

I cant recall who or when exactly, but she had a couple wrecks on it and ultimately the rear wheel got hammered. It could have been my heavy ass too, but I cant recall. So bad though that the wheel would not turn because of the large dent in it. So it sat.

Fast forward to present day. Been riding the mountain bike on 20 mile runs about once a week and im starting to plateau. I average just under 15mph with a bike that is not geared to go that fast and isnt optimized for road use.

I finally had enough and ordered a new wheel (that is obsolete tech). Last night I get my new rear wheel for the road bike and put it on. Didnt have all the proper bike tools, but got it all done. New rear wheel is slightly heavier, but comes with several more spokes and double walled for rigidity. All good stuff that should prevent future failure! It was pitch black out last night with dim street lights and im riding around on a black bike without the proper shoes. But it felt so good. No tire noise, or vibration. It was so smooth and effortless unlike the mountain bike. Then i go and give it a good crank...and the bike takes off from underneath me.

This is what I have been missing!



Cant wait for my Saturday morning ride.

Nice! I've been riding the mountain bike to and from the gym lately - it is so much harder to ride on the road than a proper road bike haha.

I want to add a road bike to the tri bike at some point for some good trips up into the mountains.. love climbing!

Thanks. Yea road bikes are much nicer for the street. I somehow forgot that.

That’s cool you dig uphills. For the time being I do not. Maybe if I was leaner I would but for now they are either a paced grind or else they gas me. There is a stretch of uphill road near me that someone has Marked on Strava. Best I can climb it in the mountain bike is 1:56 so far. All time record is 58 seconds. I got a ways to go. Lol!

Yeah I don't have the super high end speed of some people but I got really strong legs (all the running probably helps) so short sprints and climbs work well for me. My absolute best is rolling terrain because I have become good at momentum riding. In a Tour de France like scenario I would be the guy on the team sitting in front at a "diesel" output leading into the beginning of the climb before the real climbers and yellow jersey contenders take off hah. With a wild card shot in an uphill finish sprint.

Not good enough at climbing to hang with the best climbers (and too heavy for it).
Not good enough at sprinting to hang with the fastest sprinters on a flat one.
Not fast enough to hang with the time trial specialists hah.

Well if you arent good then Im garbage. Im 230 lbs and pinching those road tires lol. Are you participating in many of races? Centuries, halfs?

I've done a couple but it has been a couple of years now since I've focused on IronMans. Was looking into it this year just for fun but obviously that didn't happen.. I've done two 80+ and one 100+ ride this year for fun and training by myself. Also started a 24 hours challenge on the bike but pulled the plug after 100 miles due to the medical crap I'm dealing with.

As for good.. I typically do the IM bike leg somewhere between 5:40 and 6 hours. Mid pack probably. I have friends who are pure roadie cyclists and riding with them is.. humbling.. to say the least. But they are more crit riders so up to 40-45 miles is their specialty. They will literally sit at 26-28 mph on a flat road and chat.

IronMans are serious business. I wont be doing one anytime soon. I dont have the time or dedication for such an event. Kudos to you though! Hell of an achievement.

26-28mph is nuts, while chatting. I just want to reach and maintain a 20mph run on my bike. Then again I dont know how much better the newer bikes are compared to my 2005. Im all aluminum with only the carbon fork and seat post. Im sure everything road now is all carbon.

A lot is carbon (my tri bike is), but there are still some excellent aluminum frames out there. Cannondale's CAAD frame is aluminum and I'd take it over some of the cheaper carbon frames for sure. My last road bike was a CAAD and it was an amazing bike.

Drivetrain might be the largest change.

What are some of the biggest drive-train changes lately?

Electronic shifting is obviously the biggest change. Frankly, not so sure it is really worth it. On a road bike the largest benefit (other than smoother shifting) is that you don't change the front derailleur. You have a button on each break lever (easier on right, harder on left) and the system will change front vs back without you having to worry about it. Makes for less chance of cross chaining the gears. I would almost say it has a larger benefit on a triathlon bike, because it allows to have access to changing gears both out in aero position and on the brake levers on he bars. Makes for a heck of a lot easier gear changes while climbing. Beth has it on her new tri bike and loves it (she is not the best technical rider around so anything to make it easier and smoother is good). The downside is that you need to remember to charge it. Some of electronic shifters are wireless so you have a cleaner wireless bike setup.

For a new road bike now I'd look for at least Shimano 105 drivetrain. For Shimano it goes 105 - Ultegra - Dura ace and the DI2 is their electronic system. DI2 can be had as Ultegra or Dua ace.

My road bike was full Ultegra. My tri bike is 105 groupset with upgraded Ultegra brakes (the 105 brakes that came on it sucked. Not sure if that is normal for 105s or tri bike specific.. it was a cheap replacement and SO worth it).

Other than that you can start getting into ceramic bearings, oversized pullies etc but that is really not worth it unless you are competitive imo.

Computerized shifting on a bicycle. I'll be damned.

The electronic shift sounds tricked out. More precise and the smart logic. Like you stated though it might be a bit overkill unless you are hard core.

My Allez Sport has 105 rear and Tiagra for the front and brakes and shifters. Looking back I should have gone all 105 but I was on a college budget. I figured the rear was most important as it’s doing more of the precise gear changes and the front Tiagra felt smooth enough. Here I thought the 105 brakes were good on my brothers bike (he’s all 105) but I’m sure Ultegra is buttery smooth.

The 105s on the tri bike were honestly horrible. I don't hear that many others complain about it so maybe it was that model (and the carbon aero wheels don't help).

I really want electronic shifting on my tri bike. It might be the only reason for me to upgrade. Since I do like hillier courses, the ability to shift while climbing without taking a hand off the bars to reach forward to shift would be really nice. Plus, I have some light arthritis in my thumbs so I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore either. I have had to change how I shift so I wont use my thumbs on my bike. I don't think I am going to spend money on it on the road bike I will pick up at some point.

After last weeks debacle of puncturing a tire while test riding, installing new tube, then going out the next day and puncturing another new tube just 2 miles in...I finally got a full ride in this weekend.

I think I need to raise my seat another 1/2" as I was getting some mild behind the knee pain. I had thought i dialed it in on my last ride, but I must be a little off my full extension. Anyways did 20 miles with an average speed of 16 MPH, which is a personal best thus far.

After many-many years of not riding, this past August I bought a bike. Didn't take long, but now i have 4 bikes...
All but the one my BiL gave me were marketplace finds. I feel I got fair prices for all of them (about $1300 for the three)
Salsa Timberjack 29er it lives as the cabin in case I get motivated enough to ride around.

Salsa Rangefinder 27.5

Focus o1e 29'er(BiL passed it to me, it needed some work, so he bought a different bike)

Haro Beasely, It's my bomb around town/gravel riding comfort bike.

Oh you fell hard. lol! Which one you use the most?

Hard to say, to be honest. I've only had the Focus a few weeks and just made the needed repairs/service. (new rear shock, front damper repair, dropper post install). I've had it on the trails a couple of times. I've put quite a few trail miles on the Rangefinder and really enjoy it. I've not put as many miles on the Timberjack as it is really a little big for me (XL) and I feel more comfortable (trail riding) on the smaller Rangefinder (L).

I've also put quite a few miles on the Beasely messing around my small town and heading out into the country on some gravel rides. My cardio isn't great at this point, so I'm only good for 10-15 mile rides...lol.

I hear you on the cardio. I have really slacked off this year with riding. Not proud of it.

well, I've slacked off on my cardio for the past several years, so don't beat yourself up to much.
I doubt I'll ever be a high mileage rider as I really don't enjoy being a roadie. I have much more fun riding trails at a moderate pace. I did hit up a jump track a few weeks ago, that was really fun, but I almost feel to old for those kinds of shennanigans.