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:
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| 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.
