return to biking - advice, please?

My surgeon cleared me to start learning to ride again, but I'm not allowed off-road until next July. My original plan was to buy a road bike and stick with that for now, and get a new mountain bike next summer.

However...I tried to ride my cutesy little vintage 10-speed (cruiser bars, skinny tires, fat squishy seat) around the neighborhood the other day and it sucked. I guess sitting more upright is more jarring, and skinny tires aren't as squishy as I'm used to - all of the itty-bitty road cracks were killing me. And my neighborhood is hillier than I thought!

So I'm considering this instead: Pull out the cursed mountain bike, check to make sure it survived the wreck ok. Put on slicks and platform pedals. Maybe a shorter stem, since the reach was a little too long before. Use it to just ride around the neighborhood.

Does that sound reasonable? That thing is a heavy slow POS. I'm not sure how comfy it'll be since it's just a hardtail, too. But I can't think of anything that would be better in the short-term, especially since (theoretically) winter is coming.

Advice? Thanks!

I kinda like your plan, assuming that the bike is mechanically and structurally sound, and that your balance on an almost-too-long bike is ok.

Get some nice squishy slicks, the widest that you can find, and figure out a tire pressure that lets you roll without pinch-flatting but isn't rock-hard either. Don't worry about speed or rolling resistance for now- that can come later.

So happy that you're allowed to ride again!! :)

I like your plan too!

I think your plan makes sense.

FWIW, I used to only own a hard-tail mountain bike. And I rode it more on pavement than on dirt. At first I kept the knobby tires on it, and eventually I switched to slicks. I used to do 50-mile rides on that bike, on paved trails.

Since I got a road bike, I put the knobby tires back on the mountain bike. But I have used it since then for paved riding, for some family rides on the National Mall that involved a large group of children and very slow riding with sudden stops. I figured the wide tires would make it easier to remain upright under those riding conditions.

I have nothing constructive to say - but wanted to say congratulations on your improvement and being able to get back on the bike!

:( My therapist was a little unhappy at the prospect of me riding ANYWHERE without full suspension right now. But honestly, I'm not going to fork over that sort of money for a bike that I may never be able to ride off-road.

I guess I might be a little impatient...but sheesh, I'm tired of doing nothing!

Thanks guys :) I might give it a spin this weekend & let you know how it goes.

I think this is a Harry Truman quote:

Try it, and if it doesn't work, try something else.

Best wishes for a good ride!

I think it's a very reasonable plan. That's exactly what I did when I was recovering from a fractured pelvis. Before I even looked a road bike again, I first put slicks on my hardtail MTB and rode her on the trainer. Then I took her out out on the road for awhile. Finally I graduated to my road bike, but since it's a Bike Friday with 1.3" tires, and steel, it's not too extreme or harsh. Riding the mountain bike, I didn't aim for speed, just to try to regain some fitness and get over some of my fears of getting back in the saddle in a semi-relaxed way.

Good luck!

FWIW, I found full suspension more uncomfortable at first; too much movement. I can't remember which vertebrae you had fused, but mine were super low (L5-S1). I did (and still do) better on my commuter which is more upright than my road bike and has 32c tires. It's just so very heavy!

What hurt me the most was trying to push big gears. So using your mtb with slicks would probably be better than trying to ride a road bike with standard gearing. You could always get a road bike built with lower gears, but since you already have the mtb it makes sense to me to use that.

Good luck and take it easy. :)

Congrats!! That's great you can ride again

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Originally Posted by jessmarimba

My surgeon cleared me to start learning to ride again, but I'm not allowed off-road until next July. My original plan was to buy a road bike and stick with that for now, and get a new mountain bike next summer.

However...I tried to ride my cutesy little vintage 10-speed (cruiser bars, skinny tires, fat squishy seat) around the neighborhood the other day and it sucked. I guess sitting more upright is more jarring, and skinny tires aren't as squishy as I'm used to - all of the itty-bitty road cracks were killing me. And my neighborhood is hillier than I thought!

So I'm considering this instead: Pull out the cursed mountain bike, check to make sure it survived the wreck ok. Put on slicks and platform pedals. Maybe a shorter stem, since the reach was a little too long before. Use it to just ride around the neighborhood.

Does that sound reasonable? That thing is a heavy slow POS. I'm not sure how comfy it'll be since it's just a hardtail, too. But I can't think of anything that would be better in the short-term, especially since (theoretically) winter is coming.

Advice? Thanks!

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Hooray! Nice to be cleared for biking, sorry I have nothing else to add except encouragment and cheers for you...