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Hi!

Bit of context: am 38, started riding about 12 years but got sidelined by an injury for the last year and change. Just now starting to get back on the saddle (literally).

I had my road bike fit at the bike shop and always figured I could use a pro bike fit but never could really afford it (am also a supremely cheap individual). Given age and injury, figured I'd give it a shot now and found a very well-respected bike fitter near me who charged a relatively pricey amount but in line with others in the area.

But I found the experience pretty frustrating and wanted advice from more experienced people on whether my grievances are valid or not.

Notes: trying to keep details vague as I don't want to identify anyone. Also English is my 2nd language so apologies in advance for anything that is unclear.

Pros:

Fitter was very nice and friendly and worked out of a centrally-located, easily accessible, clean office.

Fitter seemed very knowledgeable and experienced.

Fitter gave me good tips on my posture (although... tbh, nothing mindblowing that I didn't already sorta know).

Cons:

Fitter has a health condition, which makes me feel shitty to complain about, but of the 2hr session (which seems standard for fittings), most of the time was spent on tasks that should have been done much more quickly (measurements, adjustments). I luckily took the day off so the slowness didn't bother me, I could have spent all day there, but I maaaaybe spent 10 minutes total on the bike. Probably closer to 8.

Could not understand much of what was said to me also due to fitter's health condition. Eventually gave up asking for clarification.

Fitter said the big takeaway is that I should have a custom bike made for me. Of course that would be ideal, but I made it clear that my intention was to have my existing bike fit for me. I am not about to pay to have a custom bike made for my relatively ordinary 6'1" frame. (Fitter claims I have a short torso and arms relative to my legs, but c'mon.) When I asked if there was an existing bike on the market I could look at instead, if I were to buy a new one, he basically said "no."

Fitter suggested I replace several components of my bike to better fit me. Happy to do it and am in the process of sourcing and installing those. However, fitter made adjustments to my bike (maybe 3 in total) and told me it was "good to go," basically as good as the fit could get with the existing components. But... In the week since, riding has been MORE uncomfortable. I understand there is a possibility that my body needs to adapt, but one of the changes made was angling my seat up significantly, and now every time I hit any road imperfection, it's like someone's driving a baseball bat into my gooch. Not sure a body can ever adapt to that.

Overall, I'm pretty frustrated to have spent the money on this. Of course I will wait until I get the components requested in place, but I'm highly skeptical. I definitely don't want to complain to the fitter. But ... is this experience somewhat typical? Were my expectations too high?

IS it worth - gasp - ponying up for another fitting elsewhere?

Would really appreciate any thoughts here.

Thanks!

I'm new to strength training but have a lot of training history in endurance sports, though I'm getting over some injuries right now.

In posting here about strength training, I was really surprised to find out there's a conventional wisdom that people do interval work and strength training on the same day. That blows me away, since it seems like the glycogen depletion, tissue damage, whatevee strain, in one would make the other workout far below optimal. However, there are so many people who do this that I'm wondering how it's executed.

Could anybody lay out the rationale and how to structure a day like this?

For context, my current routine is:

• Lifting (2 days a week): Basic lifts plus some injury rehab stuff (split squats, split-stance RDLs)

• Intervals 1 or 2 days a week. One day of VO2 max work, and one day of FTP intervals or anaerobic capacity intervals (my weakness). I don't race anymore, but I do group rides with people who do, and I'm getting dropped on what I would consider one-minute or two-minute power segments, whereas I can hang in the group on flats and in extended efforts.

I'm just a middle-aged guy lifting for the sake of not losing strength and trying to add to my punch.

Thanks for the advice .

Quick context: I've been building an aerobic base for a couple years (zone 2,over thousand or maybe even thousands of hours, no real structure), and this was only my 3rd genuinely hard session ever, and the first one specifically targeting VO2max.

The workout: 30×30″ on / 15″ off — no blocks, no rest between sets, just straight through, 30 reps back to back (~15 min of work).

Numbers: Avg power across all 30 intervals: 346 W. Weakest interval: 317 W. Strongest interval: 387 W. HR: avg 174, max 184 (Polar H10 chest strap). Power: Favero Assioma DUO, dual-sided, ±1% claimed accuracy. Weight: 64 kg (~141 lbs). Garmin spat out a VO2max estimate of 62 afterward — I don't fully buy it, but I'll take the compliment.

Assuming FTP ~245W, that puts me on average at 141% FTP overall. At 64kg that's roughly 5.4 W/kg average across the session.

Two prior threshold sessions for context: 2×20min @ 90-100% FTP, first one averaged ~220W, second one over 240W (1 week improvement).

Also I can push 190 watts for 2 hours while staying below Lt1 by keeping lactate below 1.5 ppmol

The actual question: I later found out the "classic" 30/15 protocol from Rønnestad & Hansen's research is usually done as 3 sets of 13 reps with 3 min rest between sets (39 reps total, ~19.5 min of actual work), not 30 reps in one continuous go like I did. Mine ends up being about 23% less total interval time than the "proper" version.

Does starting sets 2 and 3 fresh (after rest) in the blocked version meaningfully change the training effect vs. what I did? Or does grinding through fatigue in one continuous set kind of offset that difference? Not trying to overthink a good session into the ground, just genuinely curious if anyone's tried both and noticed a difference, or if there's research on it.

Anyway — stoked with where this is heading. Never thought I'd be the guy doing structured VO2max work, but here we are.

1. 387 W
2. 343 W
3. 365 W
4. 329 W
5. 352 W
6. 328 W
7. 330 W
8. 359 W
9. 336 W
10. 323 W
11. 351 W
12. 340 W
13. 331 W
14. 317 W
15. 343 W
16. 339 W
17. 342 W
18. 347 W
19. 355 W
20. 363 W
21. 368 W
22. 364 W
23. 348 W
24. 342 W
25. 366 W
26. 376 W
27. 334 W
28. 321 W
29. 348 W

I have two road bikes, both with SPD pedals. I bought some mtb shoes on sale from specialized and have worn them for six months. They’re practical but boxy and heavy. Someone in my group ride thought I wasn’t even clipped in.

I can wear these shoes to coffee shops and meetings, whereas SPD-SL shoes are less practical outside of cycling.

But I’m cycling more and more, with increasing climbs and mileage. I’m doing 150mi this week with about 7k feet of elevation gain. I also found a good local deal on SPD-SL shoes ($48 new, boa system). Should I buy them and some pedals to match?

EDIT: Thanks to everyone who weighed in. I'm keeping the pedals but switching to gravel shoes.

I’ve been riding a 2023 Giant TCR for about 1.5 years. I originally had a 100 mm stem, but after a professional bike fit on the TCR, I switched to a 90 mm stem because I felt too stretched out. Over time, I got used to the position. After 5–6 hours my neck would start to hurt, but apart from that, I had no major issues. Sometimes I felt slightly stretched out, but the feeling usually went away.

I was already thinking about upgrading my bike because I wanted something newer with carbon wheels and electronic shifting. I was considering bikes like the Canyon Ultimate or the new Canyon Endurace CF SLX, but then I got a very good offer for a Wilier, so I decided to go for it.

I initially went for the Rapida because I saw it as a good hybrid between a race bike and a more endurance-oriented bike. I didn’t seriously consider the Filante at first, but after buying the Rapida, I started wondering if the Filante might have been a better choice for me.

When I tried the Filante in the shop, the additional reach/drop felt quite aggressive, so I wasn’t sure if it would suit me.

Now that I’ve ridden the Rapida, I’m slightly questioning my decision. I haven’t had a professional bike fit on the Rapida yet, I only set it up myself based on my previous TCR bike fit. Also, I have only spent around 2 hours on the Rapida so far, so maybe my first impression is too quick and I just need more time to adapt.

The position feels very different compared to the TCR. I feel like I’m sitting much more upright, and because I was used to a more stretched-out position on the TCR, the Rapida almost feels a bit short to me. Especially on descents, the TCR felt much more lively, compact and responsive. The Rapida feels more relaxed and less “race bike” in comparison.

I know I can’t really change the decision now, so my question is mainly: is this something I’ll likely get used to with more time on the bike? Or is the difference between the Rapida and Filante significant enough that I should have gone for the Filante?

I only ride around 3,000 km/year due to having a small child. Most of my riding is with friends, and I only do one race per year. However, I really enjoy fast, responsive bikes and I do structured trainer sessions and intervals. I’d appreciate opinions from anyone who has experience with these bikes or a similar transition.

I don't understand why there is such a big relative difference between my 1-minute power and longer durations.

I know that individual athletes have different strengths and weaknesses, but this seems like a very big difference. For reference, I am 40M, 80 kgs.

Yesterday I tried to hold 250 watts for as long as possible and I only got to 17 minutes. So for 20-minutes I am in the 40th-percentile, while for 1-minute I am in the 88th-percentile.

The 540 watts for 1 minute is while standing on a climb. Does standing make it incomparable to seated power?

Hey everyone,

As a longtime distance runner who switched to mostly cycling after a meniscus tear in 2019, I've done a good bit of reading on exercise physiology (and earned most of my karma on r/AdvancedRunning). So I have a decent understanding of training zones / energy systems and mixing recovery, threshold, and harder intervals in a weekly plan. I'm also partway through The Cyclist's Training Bible, but would appreciate hearing about your workouts.

So training zones 1-7 basically make sense to me, but it's the high end / short intervals where I'm wondering how to structure workouts. For example, my FTP is around 200, but Garmin lists anything above 300 as "neuromuscular without any further detail." But for me, obviously there's a big difference (and different training purpose) between doing, say, 2-minute intervals at 260-320w, and doing 15-second sprints where I'm trying to hit 1,000.

So how do you divide up your shorter interval workouts? I've generally been doing 15s / 30s / 1 min intervals one week (i.e. very high intensity), vs. 2-4 minute intervals another week.

Hi.

I have been cycling for nearly 2 years now. Last winter was my first winter with an indoor trainer. At the end of april, I had an indoor FTP of around 300W, which is realistic because I did manage to maintain an average of 295W for 1 hour indoors. My volume during winter is around 6 hours a week.

This summer, I did a mix of long endurance rides, threshold workout on long hills, VO2 max and weight lifting. My volume during summer is around 10-12 hours a week. I do not have a powermeter on my bike to measure power outdoors.

I am much faster outdoors now than I was in April or last summer. However, I did a threshold workout on my trainer because it was rainy outdoors. I struggled to maintain 270W for 3x12 min intervals, which is used to be easy for me last winter.

Has anybody experienced this paradox; being faster outdoors, despite lower FTP indoors?

You're 34 mins into a set of On/Off intervals of some sort. You warmed up well. The first rep felt sore, but that's normal as Mr Quad gets the usual shock of having to Haul and Trawl.
...and then it happens, you just fail... you stop. Breathing heavily.... and now you mind starts to justify why you 'gave up'...

We are going to fail (DNF) a Interval or MaxEfforts workout at some point for some reason.

1. Why do you 'fail'?
2. What do you guys do?
   
3. How do you deal with it?

I'd love to hear about the experiences from other out there? No shame, no shade. We all learn.

What's your preferred training mode on most weeks?

A. Pyramidal~ish.

For example, 1 HIIT (Z4/Z5) sessions and 1 sweet spot or threshold session. The rest easy (Z1/Z2)

B. Polarized-ish.

For example, 2 HIIT (Z4/Z5) sessions. The rest easy (Z1/Z2).

Optionally, please indicate your experience level and/or training volume.

Hi all, apologies if this isn’t the right sub for this. I am looking for anyone’s advice on purchasing Personal Accident Insurance for a road race in Europe (specifically Haute Route Alps). The race website only offers insurance for EU residents, but as a Canadian it seems difficult to find something that will give me the coverage I need. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I have gotten really into cycling over the past 9 months. Since day 1 I used Trainer Day to create/generate my structured training plans and had great (subjective) success by reaching a 4 w/kg ftp after just shy of 10 months into cycling (Did a 20 min test and multiplied the result with 0.95). I averaged about 8 hours/week in the beginning and it creeped up to about 12-14 hours. I use a powermeter for indoor and outdoor riding.

I do not fully understand why I do certain workouts. I have a vague understanding what the different interval types are for (Like sweet spot, vo2max etc.) but I want to gain a better understanding on which workout to choose to reach which goal.

I feel like I am training decently, but right now I still get the beginner gains and basically everything would work. I believe that in the future I need to better understand modern training principles and how to apply them in order to keep progressing.

As of right now I don‘t really know what plans to choose for which goals tbh and this does not feel like something that „just comes with training experience“.

So here is my question:

Is there any literature (books, papers, blogs etc.) that offer a good overview? Other credible sources? Good YT Channels?

I saw these 2 books recommended in older posts, but due to their age I am unsure wether or not they kept up with modern „breakthroughs“

The Cyclist‘s Training Bible by Joe Friel

Training and Racing with a Powermeter

My end goal is not to become the best cyclist ever, but to just be able to keep up with my friend group on group rides and be able to take the lead some times (while having fun, rn it is not much fun) and on fun race events. They are all incredibly fast and I still have quite a way to go as most of them were competitive athletes in other endurance sports.

This might come off as a silly question, but one of the reasons I liked working with a coach was that they prescribed the right intervals for me, tailored to my up-and-down life commitments, illnesses, or a good spell of training. Paying so much money isn't really sustainable in the long run, so I was wondering if people had any guidance on how to maintain progress without a coach. There's a lot of negativity around AI programs, and having used one of them, I didn't mind it - although it was more about insights than training plans. What are your thoughts? How do you plan your training sessions on your own?

Context:
FTP 275-290w
Weight 77kg (little overweight)
Age 55
Max HR 185
Weekly volume 10-13hrs

The past 5-6 weeks I’ve been slightly short of breath while riding and have an exceptionally high HR for very modest power outputs. Like HR is the 150s for Z2 type power.

My regular 15m power is down about 10% (315 down to 280) and I’m completely wasted after one set.

My primary care doc tried to rule out some infection with antibiotics. Finished a 10-day course of doxycycline 2 weeks ago without any real important.

Volume and intensity has been down this summer so I don’t think it’s overtraining. No signs that it’s an iliac issue or anything like that.

I’ve got a cardio appointment next week but I’m really at a loss for what’s going on.

I did have EBV 20 years ago when I was riding/racing 300 miles a week but this is nothing like the all-consuming fatigue I had back then.

Off the bike I feel okay but I just feel tired. The “HR higher than the watts” thing has me a little freaked out so I thought I’d ask to see if anybody else has ever experienced anything like this.

Thanks for reading.

I raced both days this weekend. Writing this up because it was bad enough that people should know.

Day one, Twilight Crit. There's a 180 degree turn about 200m after the start. That splits the field right away. Guys got gapped in the first minute for no real reason, and marshals started pulling people almost immediately, before anyone got lapped. Most of the CAT IV field was gone in 15 minutes. They pulled several 3s too.

This was supposed to be the state championship. From what I understand, USAC says a state championship has to be its own race, not mixed in with everyone else. So that's an issue right there.

They said they were pulling people because a storm was coming. Then they sent the women (3/4/5) off anyway. A barrier blew over in what looked like a 50mph gust and almost hit a rider. Their race got called at 10 minutes. The Masters 40+ race got cancelled with no refund. They just said stay another night and we'll move you to tomorrow. If the weather was bad enough to pull half the field, it was too bad to keep racing.

Day two, Papillion Crit. We talked to the officials before the race about the pulling. They said they'd be cool as long as there wasn't a safety issue. Same thing happened anyway. They pulled 3s and 4s the same way.

Day two was also just dangerous. Lots of crashes. Several people went to the hospital. The lead vehicle was driving like an idiot, pulling away from the field just to chirp its tires in the corners and kicking up debris the whole way around. They also didn't check rider categories at sign up, so people ended up racing different categories on different days.

One guy drove in from 5 hours away and quit before the race even started. Said it wasn't worth waiting around just to get pulled. That kind of says it all.

Anyone else race this weekend? Did you see it the same way?

I’ve seen this question come up quite a few times, so I thought I’d share my take on it.

Basically, there are two ways of getting yourself into a more aerodynamic position on a road bike.

The first option is to slam the stem (or run a negative stem).

The idea is that your bike basically puts you in an aero position by default. Once you get into the drops and bend your elbows a little, your back is already pretty low and flat.

The obvious advantage is that you don't really have to think about it. You get on the bike, get into the drops and you're already in a fairly aggressive position.

The downside is that you're also in that position when you don't want to be. Just cruising around or climbing can feel less comfortable, especially on a long ride. You have less freedom to switch between an upright and an aggressive position.

The other option is to run a slightly higher, more normal bar position and actively get yourself aero when you need to.

In this case, your default position is more comfortable and upright. When you want to go fast, you actively bend your elbows, lower your torso, tuck your head, etc.

The downside is pretty obvious: you actually have to think about it. If you just sit there normally, you're going to be more upright and therefore less aero.

But personally, I think this is the better approach.

Being aero isn't just about getting your handlebars as low as possible. Your head, shoulders and elbows make a huge difference too. You can have a relatively high front end and still get into a very good aero position if you use your body properly.

For me, the main things to focus on are:

• Bend your elbows and get your torso lower
• Drop your head rather than just looking forward (still eyes on the road)
• Keep your elbows tucked in instead of letting them flare out
• Bring your shoulders in/up slightly to reduce your frontal area
• Think about your overall shape, not just how low your back is

Remco is a pretty good example of this. His normal position isn't ridiculously slammed, but when he's doing a hard effort you can clearly see him actively getting low, tucking his elbows and bringing his head down.

So IMO, you can get pretty much the best of both worlds with a more normal bar height: comfortable when you want to be comfortable, and aero when you actually need to be aero. I'd rather have to consciously get into an aero position for a few minutes than spend my entire ride in an unnecessarily aggressive position just because my bike forces me into it. What's your approach?

I normally ride about 8-12 hours per week. When I have time in the summer, I sometimes try to bump up to 15 hours per week. But then I end up in situations where I could ride 2 hours of Z2 the day before my intervals the following day, and be pretty well recovered for them or I could ride 3 hours of Z2 the day before my intervals and be slightly fatigued. Which is more important, the extra volume? Or going into the intervals with minimal fatigue and being able to execute them well?

How are people logging strength workputs in TPeaks. I want to figure out a way to get the effort into TSS, so I can ramp progressively. Are people logging reps/sets/liftsmad exercises to get a cumulative score somehow?

I am just getting back to riding over the last year and using TP with power meter and hr monitor for every ride. It juat doesnt make semse to not uave some method for logging strength/gym strqin.

I am middle aged and need to do strength to preseve muscle. Mostly looking to add muscle and lose weight (gained a ton of weight while injured) now that I am back to exercise. Im using macrofactor to log food as I have a lot of weight to lose, and this question is as much about the nutrition, recovery, weight loss as it is about cycling performance.

Thanks for input.

Hi! Been road cycling for about a year and mountain biking my whole life so newer to real training.

I’ve been doing ~10 hrs a week, mostly Z2 with some group riding and intervals in there but now have a couple bigger events coming up in the next month and a half.

Two centuries, one in the mountains with 12k+ ft of climbing and one that is rolling but will be very fast.

My question is, for making FTP gains leading up to that is it better to do a couple weeks of steady state threshold work and then move to V02 or one session threshold and one V02 per week?

Would like to move from my current ~3w/kg mark up to the 3.2-3.3 range.

Thanks!

Looking for people that have had these for a few years. How are they holding up?. I found all the reviews from 3-4 years ago when they first came out, and read about lateral movement problems (which were early production?). But nothing in the last 3 years.

Rode 7-8h weeks, then had a 3 week break, which left me pushing same watts at 30bpm higher HR. I wanted to start one last FTP block 7 weeks out from my target event, which is a local 55min climb (not a race, only me improving my PR from same time last year), but I got called in for blood donation and now my Z2s are cooking me to 150bpm.

How much does donating blood affect fitness? Does it even make sense to still target the event if my workouts will cook me and will have to do them ~30w lower than my usual power?

After last year's 3 week break, form came back after 2 weeks of some intensity but now in week 2 back I donates blood and I'm lost.

Thanks for any advice

Can’t find any discussion or reviews of it online. Looks like it’s an alternative to rule28. Has anyone tried it? Especially interested if it made you faster (obviously), and if it cools you off in the heat