Tried and liked 2025

It's December 31, and over on the iBOB list, people have been posting what they tried and liked in 2025. Here's what I have for this year:

 

Selfie during Dairy Roubaix 2025

Liked

- Riding a skinny-tire vintage road bike. My accidental Serotta Colorado frame purchase has turned out to be a good investment. I finally found a nice fork for it (a scarily light Columbus Minimal), and I did a bunch of rides on the bike this year. As long as the pavement is reasonably smooth, I'm really enjoying the ride, despite the 25/28 mm tires. 

- Assos Arm Protectors: https://www.assos.com/us/arm-protector-188424.html Nice sun protection that works for my long arms and doesn't slide down match. And for an Assos product, it's remarkably reasonable in price

- Dairy Roubaix: This is an early-season gravel ride in the Wisconsin Driftless region. I used to do it regularly but hadn't done it since the pandemic. I had an absolute blast this year. The weather was great, as were the roads. I'll likely be back next year.

- A rear rack on my Stevens MTB. I added a rear rack to the early 2000s Stevens MTB that I have at my parents' place in Germany. Having the option to add panniers, in addition the Carradice saddle bag, is really nice. Should've done that a long time ago. 

- Having as many front lights as bikes. My regularly used bikes all have dyno lights. And now I finally have at least one decent battery front light for all of the other bikes. No more annoying switching around of lights.

- Making bike videos: I'm still not fast or super skilled, but I enjoy filming, editing, and narrating my bike adventures. Here's my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ride-or-pie/  

 

Undecided

- For my winter indoor riding I switched back from Training Peaks Virtual to Zwift. Zwift has a whole lot of annoying user interface issue that are much more glaring after coming back from TPV. I also liked the racing experience on TPV more. On the other hand, Zwift's gamification gets me to ride a lot, and it's important to be on the same platform as your real-life friends.

- TPU tubes. I still go back and forth between liking and disliking them. Just yesterday I had a flat that most likely wouldn't have happened with a butyl tube. While on other bikes the tubes have performed great.

- Lumintop B01 front light: One of the battery lights I acquired this year. It doesn't conform with the German cut-off regulations, but it does have a shaped beam that doesn't blind oncoming riders. And it's relatively cheap, has a replaceable battery and seems sturdy. I think I like it, but it hasn't been long enough to be sure.

Disliked

- Not having big goals. I struggled with motivation to ride in the first half of the year. I didn't have any events or tours planned for later in the season, and it showed. I'll have to figure something out for 2026.