Newbie needs help adjusting bike

[bikincowgirl]

I bought a used Trek Navigator 2.0 (comfort bike). I got it because I will riding on roads and trails. I've gotten my seat height properly adjusted, but I'm having difficulty getting my handlebars right. I've been riding on a trainer and my hands and middle and ring fingers get numb. When I ride in a more upright position, my butt is uncomfortable. Since it's a men's bike I'm thinking maybe another saddle. I has a Bontrager seat.

[Cataboo]

Look into ergo grips or ergon grips - those might help with numbness.

http://www.rei.com/category/4500112?cm_mmc=ps_google_KWless_CH-_-REI_Sitewide_Keywordless-_-Sitewide-_-ergon%20grip&gclid=CPXU-rnd6qACFQuB5QodTnBLNw

You also want the shifters aligned on the handlebars so that your wrists are in a neutral position while you're holding the handlebars or shifting/braking... the shifters/brakes can rotate around the bar - so you want to make it so that you dno't have to bend your hand back towards you while holding on to the bar - keep your wrists/hand position straight.

There's a ton of threads on here about what to do about hand numbness/pain - but possibly those 2 will helpyou.

The other thing is that as a new rider you're still "building up your core" muscles - when riding a bike, even if you're leaned over you really don't put your weight on your wrists - you support your weight with your back/core but you're not leaning on your wrists - until you build up your core a bit, you're probably leaning on your wrists too much and that's going to contribute to wrist numbness.


Nearly always you have to replace the stock seat on bikes, so check and search for teh threads on how to measure your sit bones and chose a saddle.

I hope this helps!

[bikincowgirl]

I tried to measure sit bones, but looking online still don't know what seat....length, cut outs, etc. So I was thinking about going to LBS and check out their saddles.
Do I need to take my bike and shorts to try it out, or buy one and install it myself? I'm an hour away from LBS.

[featuretile]

The other thing you might check is the stem on the bike. (It's the piece that attaches the handlebars to the upright.) They can be different lengths and some angle up. This is all part of bike fit. You can have a bike fit at your LBS or keep experimenting on your own.

I bought a used Bike Friday that I thought fit pretty well when I test rode it. After a long ride, both my hands and me seat hurt. I went and bought an adjustable stem. Imagined where my hands would want to be (in the air). I adjusted the stem to that position. No more pain. I also needed a new saddle. The tilt of the saddle is also very important. If it tips too far forward, you put too much weight on your hands and they hurt.

I don't know how many bike stores will actually try different seats on your bike, but I had an idea that you could try a bunch of bikes (not yours) at the bike store which have different saddles to see which one feels better. The really soft big ones are not good for long rides and you cannot feel your 'sit bones'. The really hard skinny ones feel uncomfortable to me from the minute I sit on them. Personally, I fit on the WSD (women's specific design) Specialized Dolce seat.

[bikincowgirl]

Thanks for the advice. My bike has an adjustable stem, so I'll keep trying different positions to get my fit.

[OakLeaf]

Beware, if it's the same type of "adjustable" stem as my Navigator 200, it's basically got a hinge in it (don't know what it's actually called :rolleyes:) so you can only raise the stem by effectively shortening it. So you could try that, but be careful of bringing it too high and winding up with an effectively extremely short stem.

It's quite possible that they put you on a bike that's too large for you. I know my Navigator is too big for me - it's not a huge issue since I never ride it more than about 10 miles at a time. One thing I did is roll the handlebars back a few degrees to bring the grips closer to me without changing the handling too much. Or possibly your LBS could swap you some handlebars with a little more pullback.

I will say that the saddle that came on mine is HORRIBLE. So if you find one that fits better, by all means swap it out.

[bikincowgirl]

I'm 5'1" and found it used. It's a 14.5"/37cm men's. It's the smallest frame that I came across. It doesn't seem big to me, just trying to get the handlebars right. I feel that I will need to swap out the seat though.