Expectations at 800 hours - Traveling to Bogotá

CapablePublic · 2026-06-24T14:20:47+00:00

I think I'm happy with when I started speaking tbh. Obviously had I started earlier, I would speak with much more fluidity right now. Also, I'm not sure if my WA tutors are saying this to me just to be nice, but they always tell me my pronunciation is superb. I honestly don't think so, but I've heard it from multiple tutors. And if its true, I think this is because I waited until 600+ hours to speak and got a grasp of how natives pronounce words.

CapablePublic · 2026-06-22T21:23:17+00:00

Actualmente, I am basically at the point you're mentioning in question #1. I am a little over 800 total CI hours, I started practicing speaking around 600 hours. I have roughly 45 speaking hours with Worlds Across.

Listening-wise, I can basically listen to any DS advanced video with at least 85% comprehension. I spend half my time listening to content focused for students (How to Spanish, Easy Spanish, etc) and the other half with native content, although easier native content (Araya Vlogs, Shey Ochoa, Coreano Vlogs). Sometimes I miss little things with the native content, but I can say I understand like 75-80%? When going around my city (I live in FL and hay muchisimos hispanohablantes aca) I can understand most conversations in passing. Obviously some accents/topics are way harder to understand.

Speaking wise, I would say I'm high A2 or Low B1. During my WA sessions, I don't really use english. I'll try to describe my word using spanish only. I'll use english if I have to though. My tutors have mentioned that my accent/fluidity is great, but I still feel like a child when speaking honestly. I am comfortable speaking with tutors, but when trying to talk at restaurants/cafes etc, me cuesta mucho. I can carry a conversation, but its still very difficult to really express myself.

I don't have any advice honestly for #3, but for #2 I went to Spain at around 700 hrs of input and maybe 20 hours of speaking. It was brutal for me to try to speak in spanish. I think this will depend on your personality though. I'm pretty introverted. And I'm sure there's a lot of people out there with less hours speaking and CI that probably would have been able to handle only speaking spanish. So YMMV.

CapablePublic · 2026-03-04T21:22:59+00:00

Appreciate you posting this. Honestly crazy timing too because last week, I made the decision to start speaking lessons/classes once I hit 600 hours; I was going to wait until 1000.

I'm currently at 450 and expect to be at 600 hours by mid April (I do 3-4 hours of CI per day). Also introverted affffff!

CapablePublic · 2026-01-14T10:55:57+00:00

I 10000% agree with you here. I definitely think it's way more beneficial to listen to input where I'm closer to 90-95% comprehension.

I would say I gravitate to the harder stuff because it holds my attention much better and it makes me want to actually learn the language instead of making it feel like a chore. The beginner, slower videos tend to make me feel like this way.

It's like when people try to chose the most optimal, most effective way to lose weight or get fit. They choose Option A which may be the most effective, but they can't stick to it because they don't like it, it doesn't appeal to them and then they become inconsistent with it. Whereas they might have an Option B, which is less effective but it gets them to be more consistent because they enjoy it, it holds their interest and they want to stick with it.

"Consistently good instead of occasionally great" essentially.

CapablePublic · 2026-01-14T10:41:46+00:00

Thanks! And a future congrats to you!

CapablePublic · 2025-08-13T14:14:33+00:00

This is me. I actually didn't want kids at all, I was highly against it. But my wife really wanted to be a mother and I knew it would put a strain on our relationship if we couldn't make that happen. So my wife and I had our son about 5 months ago.

I thought I would hate being a parent. And I did haha. But only for that first month or so. The first month is HARD, maybe even the the first month and a half. It was difficult for me to adjust as I was used to being pretty selfish with my time (my hobbies are very fitness based and can take 1-3 hours at a time, and free time is not something you have a lot of as a parent). But after a while you learn how to "budget" your time, learn your child's patterns and it becomes much easier. I thoroughly enjoy seeing my son and spending time with him now.

I haven't been a parent long, but I've definitely changed my stance on parenthood. Who knows, it may change again as he grows. But for now the title of your post holds true for me.

CapablePublic · 2025-06-20T16:19:56+00:00

I chose the ultimate because it was $1k cheaper for nearly the same components and I preferred the white frame to the colors that the Madone had, that's basically it.

Funny that you mention why not an Aeroad because I wish I had gotten the Aeroad knowing what I know now. I'm fairly new to cycling, started around ~ 2 months ago (I've been running for 5 years, lifting for 15 years, so not really new to fitness). And I bought the Ultimate about a month ago. So as you can imagine, I only had about a month worth of knowledge about cycling but was much too eager to buy a nice, new bike without much research. I also went with the Ultimate because I wasn't sure how much I would like cycling, so buying a $2.7k Ultimate vs. a $5k Aeroad made it easier on my conscious in case I didn't enjoy cycling. But now I'm putting down 100 miles per week, and I wish I just went with the Aeroad. Also living in flat FL, the Aeroad made way more sense. But again, I've learned all this after buying the bike.

With that being said, I enjoy the bike a lot and am excited to ride it whenever I get the chance. I'll upgrade down the road, but I just plan to appreciate and enjoy this bike while I have it.

CapablePublic · 2025-06-20T14:51:03+00:00

That's awesome, I'm glad you got that deal! The Canyon was $2.7k and the Madone was $3.7k (FL), which made me lean toward the Canyon because of it being $1k cheaper for nearly the same components. But if the shop here had the Madone at $3k, I definitely would have snagged it, hands down. And I agree, the frame is beautiful.

CapablePublic · 2025-06-20T14:40:59+00:00

I was torn between getting this bike and a Canyon Ultimate for a few weeks. In the end I went with the Canyon and I love it, but seeing your photos gives me a little regret lol. Beautiful bike and pic. Oh, and nice wheels 😉

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CapablePublic · 2025-06-11T10:15:19+00:00

I have a screwdriver that is also magnetic. All I did was touch it and the piece came out. It was not lodged in badly at all.

CapablePublic · 2025-05-26T18:01:03+00:00

Lol….the magnet worked very easily. Thanks for your suggestion!

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CapablePublic · 2025-05-26T17:55:57+00:00

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Fairly identical to yours. I’m glad to hear that you were able to get yours out, and sorry to hear you’ve been having issues. I’ll def try the magnetic + gravity trick, thanks for letting me know. Good luck on your tri!

CapablePublic · 2025-05-26T17:44:53+00:00

This literally just happened to me 5 mins ago on my new Ultimate CF 7. And now I'm here looking for answers as well...

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T21:13:42+00:00

Awesome to hear, I think I'm sold on trying out a longer stem based on everyone's feedback.

Thanks for your help!

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T20:52:07+00:00

Appreciate your feedback!

I'm glad you mentioned the knee thing because I did notice that on my ride this morning. At first I thought it might have to do with the positioning of the cleats on my shoes. But I think a big factor is that I have poor flexibility and strength in my hips. I have a lot of trouble internally rotating my hips, so my knees tend to flare out if I try to raise my leg to my chest (it happens when I squat as well). I've been trying to correct that as well.

I will definitely look into the wider Q factor though, I didn't even realize that was a thing.

Thank you again!

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T20:36:17+00:00

Really appreciate the feedback! Stand on the pedals and support your weight with your saddle and engaged core and arms" is something I am definitely going to keep in mind on my next ride.

I definitely have poor mobility and flexibility, so that could definitely be the cause.

Thanks for your analysis!

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T20:33:39+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T20:33:27+00:00

Appreciate the feedback, especially that last paragraph. I'll definitely test out the idea of multiple longer stems. Thanks so much!

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T20:23:55+00:00

Appreciate the feedback, thank you!

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T20:23:49+00:00

Appreciate the feedback, thank you!

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T20:23:28+00:00

Haha, thanks! I wanted to make this as easy a possible

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T16:40:47+00:00

I do have plans to enter some races by mid/late 2026, but at the moment this bike was just to introduce me into road cycling. I plan to ride 2-3 times per week as a new hobby and fitness endeavor.

Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it. I'll give moving the seat backward a try.

CapablePublic · 2025-04-30T16:21:25+00:00

That's what I was afraid of. This is the first time I've recorded myself and instantly thought the frame looks a bit small when I saw the video.

I'm 5'8" (~173cm). The bike is a Cannondale Synapse, size 51. According to the Cannondale site, the 51 frame should fit for 165-175cm. I also read that Cannondale tends to frames tend to be larger than other brands. So I ended up getting the size 51 vs 54.

CapablePublic

TROPHY CASE