u/Natural_Fill9344

Hi everyone, looking for some serious advice as I am a bit of an overthinker and tend to get stuck on analysis paralysis until someone says something that really resonates with me and I get an aha moment.

So, I'm a 46-year-old female from Portugal, and I've loved cycling since I was little. Biked every day until 20, got a car, and that stopped, and then tried to pick up during COVID as a way to get out of the house.

I was in mid shape, I was able to run 5k until COVID put us all in our homes.

Now, I only had experience in sort of mtb bikes, although I was more into tarmac, light gravel roads, but never tried road bikes.

After a few months of looking into Trek, SCOTT and Decathlon bikes in stores near me, I went through some analysis paralysis, and since the market was in shortage and you cannot find stock anywhere, and I am on the cheap side, I chose the safest bet and ordered the cheapest Decathlon bike my store had (375€). I did not find the reason to invest 1k in a bike I did not know what the consistency or differences would be.
I start riding on the weekends, go from 20km to 40km, and then to 55km.... and find that is something that I like to do and enjoy very much. Mostly tarmac, but don't mind the offside roads. Where I live is mostly flat.

But, I confess I found it a bit of a struggle, because it seemed slowwww and hard, even for flat. It got even harder when I brought the bike to my country home in Alentejo, in the mountainous part, and basically, I cannot ride some parts if I don't step off the bike and push it by hand. And then seeing those people on those roads and gravel bikes just passing by is just crazy.

The bike on the Decathlon site says it weighs around 15kg, plus bidon, plus this and that, and I think it just goes to 17kg. I changed tyres to Hurricane Addix DD GreenGuard and GP5-L Performance Comfort (GC3-L) handset for a more rolling experience, but it just feels like dragging and out of breath unless I'm on a descent.

I often tell myself it's just me out of form, and that I need to gain leg muscle, or that these things I read about a 9kg bikes are just marketing, because some work colleagues also tell me that if I have 20kg less ( my weight 80kg), I would climb better, or bike weight does not make that much difference.

It's a completely different experience if I just decide to go off to gravel and explore, where it's basically MTB terrain, and I feel the bike is steady, with very short or steep climbs that require grip. Usually, that is a 10km ride, not a 50km ride.

I know all the saying, buy cheap buy twice, but is it really? Many people downplay this.

Will I see the difference on the tarmac just by investing on a 10kg aluminium gravel bike (I cannot go crazy and go for 3k carbon bike unless you tell me it's mind blowing experience and I will regret later, as I know some will do) that could suit me for both kinds or is it a matter of me just putting more volume and consistency rides until this bike becomes light as my muscles compensate for the bike weight? I would love to go for longer bike rides, but I really can't at this moment. I'm also a bit scared about adapting to a road/gravel bike. My only experience is experimenting with the ones at the decathlon store, so not much.

EDIT: Inserting bike photo

https://preview.redd.it/teo1x4c3fabh1.jpg?width=922&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb60dbbcc6d9504b25dbc4cd4e9927c7ad51e6dc

Hi everyone, looking for some serious advice as I am a bit of an overthinker and tend to get stuck on analysis paralysis until someone says something that really resonates with me and I get an aha moment.

So, I'm a 46-year-old female from Portugal, and I've loved cycling since I was little. Biked every day until 20, got a car, and that stopped, and then tried to pick up during COVID as a way to get out of the house.

I was in mid shape, I was able to run 5k until COVID put us all in our homes.

Now, I only had experience in sort of mtb bikes, although I was more into tarmac, light gravel roads, but never tried road bikes.

After a few months of looking into Trek, SCOTT and Decathlon bikes in stores near me, I went through some analysis paralysis, and since the market was in shortage and you cannot find stock anywhere, and I am on the cheap side, I chose the safest bet and ordered the cheapest Decathlon bike my store had (375€). I did not find the reason to invest 1k in a bike I did not know what the consistency or differences would be.
I start riding on the weekends, go from 20km to 40km, and then to 55km.... and find that is something that I like to do and enjoy very much. Mostly tarmac, but don't mind the offside roads. Where I live is mostly flat.

But, I confess I found it a bit of a struggle, because it seemed slowwww and hard, even for flat. It got even harder when I brought the bike to my country home in Alentejo, in the mountainous part, and basically, I cannot ride some parts if I don't step off the bike and push it by hand. And then seeing those people on those roads and gravel bikes just passing by is just crazy.

The bike on the Decathlon site says it weighs around 15kg, plus bidon, plus this and that, and I think it just goes to 17kg. I changed tyres to Hurricane Addix DD GreenGuard and GP5-L Performance Comfort (GC3-L) handset for a more rolling experience, but it just feels like dragging and out of breath unless I'm on a descent.

I often tell myself it's just me out of form, and that I need to gain leg muscle, or that these things I read about a 9kg bikes are just marketing, because some work colleagues also tell me that if I have 20kg less ( my weight 80kg), I would climb better, or bike weight does not make that much difference.

It's a completely different experience if I just decide to go off to gravel and explore, where it's basically MTB terrain, and I feel the bike is steady, with very short or steep climbs that require grip. Usually, that is a 10km ride, not a 50km ride.

I know all the saying, buy cheap buy twice, but is it really? Many people downplay this.

Will I see the difference on the tarmac just by investing on a 10kg aluminium gravel bike (I cannot go crazy and go for 3k carbon bike unless you tell me it's mind blowing experience and I will regret later, as I know some will do) that could suit me for both kinds or is it a matter of me just putting more volume and consistency rides until this bike becomes light as my muscles compensate for the bike weight? I would love to go for longer bike rides, but I really can't at this moment. I'm also a bit scared about adapting to a road/gravel bike. My only experience is experimenting with the ones at the decathlon store, so not much.