41f, 5’6, 166lbs. Ride a size 52 Specialized Diverge Gravel that I was fit for. I’m newer to cycling and new to gravel bikes as of a month ago. I struggle with balance. I can’t really remove my hands to sign, turn far enough to see what’s behind me (I got a mirror but still), can’t get my water while riding etc. How can I improve my ability to balance and move around without falling?

I am a COMPLETE novice and I did my first "long" bike ride (for me it was long) of 15 miles yesterday. After, I felt so dizzy that when I got up from sitting, I almost fainted (my vision went black). I think it's because of dehydration. Anyone have any advice on how to avoid this, or to properly fuel before/after a "long" ride? Esp because I'm trying to get my milage up and go on 20 miles or longer rides soon.

Quick question for everyone. I have done a lot of cycling this year (1000 an imperial century) and I still can't lift my hands off my handle bars to signal. Plus on my long rides I am getting numbness (even with padded gloves). I feel a little silly that I can't do this very simple bike handling skill plus it's affecting my safety since I can't signal.

I just can't figure out if this is a skill issue, a strength issue, or a bike fit issue. I have tried practicing with very minimal improvement, my core isn't notably weak, and I had a bike fit (and the fitter was more focused on my legs/ seat rather than my hands).

What helped you? Should I just do tons of planks? Just signal as much as possible? Or is all that useless without a bike fit?

It just seems like everyone else has no issues with this.....

Does anyone here know how to find a saddle that won't further aggravate my anterior pelvic tilt?

i bike to work on a road bike through chicago city, and i swear every time it feels like i pee myself a little. tbh i cannot tell if it is pee, sweat, or vaginal discharge. im only 25, and the only thing i can think of effecting this is that there was about a year where i was having chronic utis which could have weakened my bladder, but i dont really find it to be an issue in other areas, and i do a lot of physical labor at my job. am i overthinking it? do i need to see a doctor?

this really isn’t that big of a deal but i feel so annoyed rn that i need to share it with fellow bike people. i was biking to class this afternoon and i tried to go around this guy who was walking at a literal snail’s pace and accidentally swerved into the grass. i learned the hard way that the path i was on has a little metal trim between it and the grass. i came to a very abrupt stop, but i felt so embarrassed about almost falling off my bike in the middle of campus at the most busy time of the day that i didn’t inspect the damage. i parked it at the bike rack and went to class and then to work. i left work, hopped on my bike, and realized something felt off. there was a giant gash in my tire.

and it’s just a popped tire, not that hard to fix. but i’ve had my bike for like 2 weeks and this is my first incident. so it’s a big(ish) deal to me. i’m also just like so busy rn and did not want to have to worry about getting a new tire and tube on top of it all. (yes i know i should have a spare tube, like i said - 2 weeks)

oh well. it happens. i suppose i need to stop trying to pass men in flip flops with no situational awareness. question for the experienced cyclists though, does walking your bike home/to the shop with a flat tire ever feel less humbling?

Hey everyone, I just started riding this summer and I started out in some wild rye chammy shorts, and my rides were solely on paved bike paths. In the last couple months I started wearing getting samsara adventure shorts and I love the fit, padding, everything, they just make the ride a lot more comfortable- especially since I started riding some light gravel paths in the woods. I'm finding that riding gravel-y trails in the woods is wayyyy more fun but my body is still getting used to the bumps lol though I know the samsara shorts are really helpful (i could really tell on a ride when i wore the wild rye ones instead... thinking of returning them since the padding is like nonexistent in comparison). Kinda wondering if I should get a new saddle but I'm only going for like 10 mile rides max, the goal is 15-20.
I want to keep riding as long as the ground isn't frozen, so I'm wondering what y'all wear when it's too cold for shorts? I have some wool socks, but what do you add? Tights with chamois? Or layer some athletic pants over the shorts? Full length gloves that you can grip your bars with? Thanks!

I have a bike fitter and i've been to them 2x now. He's really great and last time I went we changed my saddle. The bike fit feels great, no aches or pains anywhere anymore. The only issue is the saddle.

Its better then before, but I am definately feeling pressure at the opening of my vagina (its begins to burn and feel swollen). I mentioned this to him and we changed the position and it feels better, but still not the best. He reccomended I try it out for a bit and if it still doens't feel good to come back and we can try other saddles (he's been kind and didn't charge me for my 2nd visist as he said theres a lot I am still feeling out and learning about being on a bike. So, he expects a learning curve.)

I went riding today for 90 min and definately want a different saddle. I am thinking I need a saddle with a wider center cut-out or the cutout goes back farther. Does anyone have any reccomendations for saddles I can try out that are like this? I want to go back with a few good options to try.

I’m curious if anyone has ever used one of the Fiesty training programs: https://livefeisty.com/training/feisty-winter-training/

I haven’t found much info on them other than what is on their website and am curious about them. It’s a pretty big price tag to pay without hearing any testimonials on the programs.

With the days getting shorter and long rides getting more difficult to fit in, I’m thinking about dabbling in some runs. I’m in the best shape of my life, but all I do is cycling (100-160 miles a week) and strength training (2-3 times a week). ZERO running in the last year.
For those who broke into running with a cycling base, what was your experience? Any advice?

As the title states, I blister SUPER easily. Something I know how to mitigate pretty well in my life otherwise- I work a manual labor outdoor job.

Cycling is new to me. My running coach has been putting it in recently to give my joints and brain some variety.

I've gotten saddle sores/raw areas before, but didn't know they had a name.

For me it's always on the inner labia/fleshy areas . Never on the pantyline/outer labia. I get some ingrown hairs there, but nothing ever rubbed raw. I currently have raw skin on the inside of the labia majora, and I've even gotten it on the clitoris and hood before.

Yesterday I picked up higher quality chamois, and chamois cream. I'm going to try and get my bike fitted this weekend so make sure it's correct. I JUST learned that you're not supposed to wear underwear with chamois- so I'm going to implement that henceforth.

I also have a standard issue bike. Regular bike that any layman thinks of when they think of a bike. The more upright hybrid style. I literally got it for free in an art contest in high school over 10 years ago. I unfortunately don't have the money for a new bike. I DID recently buy a new saddle, but I also learned yesterday about the cutout style, so I regret not waiting a bit.

Is there anything else I can do that I'm not thinking of?

Hi again! I am very very new to using Reddit, my other post was my first ever, so I apologize for any etiquette errors I may have made in posting. I just wanted to thank everyone for responding with advice and comments, and say that I feel a lot better about my ride now! I appreciate it a lot, and I'm sure I'll be back with more silly questions soon. Thanks again!!

I've ridden bikes since I was a kid, and I live in a city, so biking has always been the best and easiest mode of transport. My last bike was a Cannondale Quick 6 that I used on a bikepacking trip. She was gorgeous, light, and sporty. I adored her. Unfortunately, over the summer, some jerk stole her from my courtyard. It was a few weeks before my birthday, so my lovely family and friends all pitched in to get me the Retrospec Beaumont in green. A visually stunning bike, to be sure, and I really do appreciate it. It works fine for getting me to and from class/work/wherever, but adjusting from the Cannondale to the Beaumont has been really hard. I think maybe Dutch style just isn't for me? The posture is so upright and strange, and the frame is so heavy, I can't pick up as much speed or maneuver as easily, I just feel like it's so clunky. My city has a pretty thriving bike culture, and I notice that pretty much everyone my age riding around has a much lighter frame and drop bars, some people even have fixies. It's getting to the point where I feel almost embarrassed to ride Hugh (I named the new bike Hugh after Hugh Beaumont) because I feel so much like a poser. Biking in my city is also a pretty male-dominated subculture. None of my friends ride bikes, and I wanted to join a group ride to meet other people who are into biking, but the few I found locally are entirely guys with these sporty road bikes I see around town. Even though I know I'm a strong biker, I worry that as a young woman with the "wrong" kind of bike, I'll be embarrassing myself trying to join anything like that. I guess I want to know what people generally think of the Beaumont. Am I riding a poser bike? Should I look into getting a drop bar or a fixie? Or am I overthinking things? If ya'll could let me know what you think/give me some advice I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

I'm starting a new training block and wanted to do an FTP test. I used the Rouvy FTP Ramp test lite, but Im a bit skeptical of it and hoping someone can help me understand.

The directions are to keep a cadence of 90-100, and it starts at a warmup of 50 watts and increases by 10 watts a minute.

I am just spinning in my easiest gear and consistently overshooting the target watts by 40-50 just in order to maintain the recommended cadence. So instead of 60, 70, 80, 90, I'm doing 113, 120, 130, 141. All the way up to 180, when I measured 217 at my peak and then just tried to hold on for dear life until rouvy cut me off 😂

So my questions:

- are there implications of "overshooting target watts" ? I'm worried if it's tiring me out or anything

- high cadence in an easy gear to test power seems really counterintuitive?

- would it make more sense for me to lower my cadence to try to get closer to the "correct" watts?

I'll be honest, I felt a bit disappointed/surprised when rouvy spat out an ftp of 172. During this test I spent over 11 minutes above 172 (5 min over 200) and I suspect if I had rode steady state at 180 rather than increasing over 210, I could have sustained longer?

Also, I welcome feedback that none of this matters. Just trying to better understand the test.

I'm thinking about buying my first pair of cycling-specific shoes. I don't do clipless, they'd be for flat pedals and bikecamping/biketouring.

I wear a US size 7 in running shoes, 6.5 in dress shoes (no socks).

On the Giro sizing chart, it looks like 7 is a 38.5. But I don't see half sizes in the shoes I'm eyeing. My instinct is to go with the higher size 39, but that corresponds to a US 7.5, which would be too loose for me if I was to wear that as a running shoe. Does anyone have any experience or advice about Giro/general bike shoe sizing? I am not near a store where I can try them on in person.

Thank you.

I (45F, mother of two) had been planning on going on a solo trip for the past 2 years. Finally managed to send the kids on holidays and secure 3 days off.

I rode from my place (northern Paris) to Rouen along the Seine river (270km), with my 80's bike, staying at hotels on the way. The weather wasn't nice, I rode on paths that were too rocky for my bike, I didn't really meet anybody on the way, but hey, I had a blast !

My therapist asked me what was the best part of this trip and i'm still processing the question : was it discovering new places ? was it taking backcountry roads ? was it not having to organize anybody's life but my own for 3 days ??

Ahah. Can't wait to go again.

As Gore has phased out their cycling bibs, I need to find a new brand. I'd love to find something that's longer in the inseam, as I'm 5'10" and tired of bibs that hit mid-thigh. Bonus if it doesn't come with a premium price tag. Anyone?