A quick hello and thought on my bike

Hello everyone! I've been a lurker for a few weeks, and decided I should come out of lurkerdom and join you lovely ladies.

About 8 years ago, I decided to take up biking for fitness. I went to a bike shop and they ended up sending me home with a Trek 4300 mountain bike. I hadn't ridden a bike since I was a teenager, so I really had no idea what I wanted or needed.

I rode my MTB for a few years, then just got out of the habit. I started trying to get back on the bike regularly this year, and started with bouts of horrible hand/arm numbness when I rode. So bad, I'd be in tears after about 40 mins on my bike. I went in to a LBS to see if they could help...they added a riser to my handlebars, so I'd be more upright, which didn't really help. I started researching/reading and ended up getting a set of Trekking bars for my bike. As soon as I put them on, instant relief. I've been riding regularly now for the last month, trying to get back into the swing of things.

One thing I'm realizing, is that I think I've just outgrown my MTB. I've realized that I really enjoy speed, and I feel like the MTB is holding me back. I typically ride average about 12-15 mph on the bike trails and average about 10 mph on roads rides w/ hills. I want to do better and ride longer and faster. My bike fitting experience was really non-existent with my MTB...one of those where they ask you how it feels and then watch you ride in the parking lot for 2 minutes. I hadn't been on a bike in years, what did I know?

I feel a bit guilty, in that I've just spent all this effort this year in straightening out my MTB so that I could ride again, but I think I'd be much happier on a road bike. So...what to do...:)

Hi and welcome. Have you thought specifically about what you might want in a different bike? Are there bike shops where you could test ride some bikes?

Reading here has definitely helped me understand more about what I should be looking for. I *think* I want a road bike with relatively relaxed geometry (definitely not a hard-core racing bike). I know I absolutely do not want a bike with straight handlebars again, so drops or Trekking would work.

There are a number of bike shops near me. I found a very large shop in NH, that I want to check out. They have a huge inventory and have a nice dedicated area set up for doing fittings.

I guess part of my questions are how do I know what I don't know? Will I just really need to go ride a few bikes to see what I do/don't like?

I did a lot of research first and read a book by Selene Yeager. Chapter 2 has a questionnaire which is meant to help you figure out what you want. I hilly recommend the book, although I didn't read the part about nutrition or training.
I, like you, wanted a road bike but not a racing geometry bike, nor did I want. Touring specific geometry-something in between. I knew I wanted steel. I bought the Surly Cross Check 2011 for just over $1,000. I really like it!
I suggest trying to imagine how you will be riding in a year from now and aim for that.

Thanks for the recommendation on the book...just purchased a copy from Amazon. :)

In the future, I'd like to get off the bike paths complete and into doing more road riding. We have a re-purposed Army base nearby that I'm using for riding now. It's road-riding (hills, cars, etc) but is relatively quiet. I plan on riding here for the next year or so until I get my comfort up on riding roads. The roads around where I live are in horrible shape for the most part with no shoulder. I got hit by a car when I was on my bike as a kid, and that fear still sits in the back of my brain gnawing at me. But I want to work to get over that. I'd like to get to the point where I'm riding 20-30 miles at a swing.

Thanks for the great advise...much appreciated.

I did an online training (free) by the American League of Cyclists called "Online Bicycle Education Traffic Skills 101" which was 4 chapters. The website says it takes 4 hours and it took me about 1 hour to do all 4 chapters. I am a fairly astute urban/street rider, however I learned a lot! I highly recommend it. Here's the link if you're ever interested:
http://www.bikeed.org/

Thanks for the link Velo. I want to learn stuff about riding. And trekking bars? so what do they do for you?

and for all who have those bars that look like horns, what do they do? I mean the straight ahead horns, not ram horns.

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Originally Posted by tytbody

Thanks for the link Velo. I want to learn stuff about riding. And trekking bars? so what do they do for you?

and for all who have those bars that look like horns, what do they do? I mean the straight ahead horns, not ram horns.

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Tyt, you're a local! :)

The Trekking bars look almost like a figure 8. The huge advantage they have over straight bars is that they give you lots of available hand positions, key when you need to get off those hand nerve bundles. They're extremely uncommon in the US, for some reason, but very common in Europe, especially for commuter bikes.

I got my Trekking bars from Harris Cyclery here in MA. Sheldon has a nice writeup on various types of bars and their uses, including the Trekking.

http://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/handlebars.html

Hi local:) is Shirley near Beverly? lol

I've "outgrown" my hybrid and old MTB, too. I suggest you keep the MTB and use it as a grocery-getter, bike you can lock up when you go to a store...a bike you hook a trailer too or a rear rack/panniers etc. That's what my current bicycles will be for - oh and riding with the kids.

I'm in the market for a carbon fibre, goes fast just sitting still road bike. Well, my DH is saving up to buy me one. It will be for fitness, doing centuries, dropping people (LOL) etc.

Different bikes for different purposes...