Maiden Voyage/Ride-Pic

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Bad News :( Could only ride about 2 miles until my hands were screaming with pain. It is almost an hour later and there is still tenderness in my hands. Who would have thought my hands too small for levers meant for small hands? I cannot blame the bike for that. I figure it this way, I got $200 off on the MRSP of the bike - so even if I do have to pay a little to get this fixed, then I am not going to complain at all.

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As I found out the hard way (and with a bit of trial and error), there's a lot more to getting drop bars set up "right" than there is with flat bars.. the tilt/angle of the bars themselves, the shape of the bars, the drop, the reach, the position of the brake levers, the angle in/out of the brake levers (I like mine angled in *just* a bit), and it can get kind of complicated/finicky, but I think a majority of the problem you are having right now is really just due to the angle your brake levers are mounted. It might be "right" according to surly but my guess is that it's forcing your hands into a position that they probably don't want to be in. There may also be some other underlying fit issues that have you putting too much stress on your hands/wrists which may not help, but probably wouldn't cause a significant issue after only 2 miles - you'd probably notice more general fit related issues after at least 5-10 miles... so this seems like it may be different, and fairly localized. But at the same time each piece is part of a bigger puzzle and it's hard to solve just part of it alone... because other stuff can be contributing.

It may even be that a different shape or width bar is what you need... it can get kind of complicated because there are more variable involved. There really is no one size fits all with road bars... everyone is different and has different preferences. It's worth trying to find what will work best for you.

200 miles seems a long time to suffer before having a fit done, honestly, if there are fairly big issues that need to be fixed right now... if I were you I would take it back to the shop that built it up for you, and explain the issues you're having with your hands and the reach from the drops - I do think it's work taking the tape off and having the shop tweak them for you so that they're comfortable riding on the hoods *and* you can reach them from the drops. If you can't reach them from the drops right now that should be a big enough reason to have them moved now rather than later. You might even ride around without bar tape for a few days or a week to get a feel for it and make sure it's right for you (with gloves you might not even miss the tape much.. my mixte bars were "naked" for a week or so while I was deciding where my levers were supposed to be. You could even have cross levers mounted while you're doing this if you wanted.

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Originally Posted by sarahspins

... But at the same time each piece is part of a bigger puzzle and it's hard to solve just part of it alone... because other stuff can be contributing.

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Thanks for your take on this. I've been talking to my LBS since the first day when I brought it home and put it on the trainer. It was obvious even then that there was a problem, and I do not think it is simply posture - though that is surely part of it. The fitter at the LBS where I bought it also thinks that I should be able to reach the levers from the drops - so he is already thinking about what needs to be done - I will be taking my bike there today or tomorrow. Sadly he is only part-time right now, and overbooked with fittings...

At least my saddle height on both bikes are now the same :)

UPDATE: Am dropping my bike off at the LBS that built it for the fitter to look at tomorrow. He has really odd hours right now, and I've taken today off work to take care of some things so it works. We will still need to meet, of course, but he wants to confirm that Surly provided the right parts before we proceed.

My fitter is off on Mondays, but I heard from him and am dropping my LHT off at the LBS today for him to look at tomorrow before we meet. I took today off to take care of some business so it works well. Hopefully it won't take us too long to get the hand problem taken care of.

Oh yes, while 2 miles is hardly a test of the new Brooks saddle - it did not seem hard to me at all - indeed I didn't notice it. Hopefully that will be repeated when I can take a longer ride :)

Beautiful bike, so glad you're enjoying it! And I'm jealous of your warm weather :)

Good luck, Catrin.

Can I ask where on your hands it hurts? Your fingers? The meat of your palm? Are you experiencing any residual numbness after you're done riding?

I normally agree with Jonathan that you should get about a number of miles on your bike before a full fitting, but that assumes that you are not in actual pain in the meantime. My hands have, unfortunately, not been the same since last year. In an effort to figure out a good set-up and in a foolish belief that I could overcome the pain, I did some long-term damage to my hands by continuing to ride the bike. I share that with you not to scare you, but to caution you against pushing it if the bike doesn't feel good.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

Good luck, Catrin.

Can I ask where on your hands it hurts? Your fingers? The meat of your palm? Are you experiencing any residual numbness after you're done riding?

I normally agree with Jonathan that you should get about a number of miles on your bike before a full fitting, but that assumes that you are not in actual pain in the meantime. My hands have, unfortunately, not been the same since last year. In an effort to figure out a good set-up and in a foolish belief that I could overcome the pain, I did some long-term damage to my hands by continuing to ride the bike. I share that with you not to scare you, but to caution you against pushing it if the bike doesn't feel good.

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The worst pain is in the meat of my palm between the thumb and forefinger - not quite sure what to call that - and it extends to the base of my thumbs on the inside of my palm. My LHT is currently back at the LBS while they confirm that the correct parts were shipped with it - it sounds like they may not have included the proper levers...but will know more tomorrow.

I hear you on being stubborn about overcoming pain - which I also tend to do. I do have a very light touch of arthritis in my hands already so am trying to be smart about this. If the current fitter can't fix things - then I will call Johnathan when I have his fee saved and explain the situation to him. As much as I love the bike, it won't do me or it any good to try and ride it under the current setup. If I have to move to mountain bars and trigger shifters to take care of this then I will...but that isn't my first choice :)

catrin: Right here on TE, the PI Gel Vent:
http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodPI_8587.html

Note the difference in padding compared to yours.

Remember, you want your frame to support your weight, not your soft tissue.

Totally off topic here, but I like your new name, Mr. Bloom! :D
Glad you're still around!!

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Originally Posted by Mr. Bloom

catrin: Right here on TE, the PI Gel Vent:
http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodPI_8587.html

Note the difference in padding compared to yours.

Remember, you want your frame to support your weight, not your soft tissue.

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Thanks for the link - I wasn't sure if we were talking about the same gloves. I think once we get the fit of my levers/bar correct that will go a long ways to taking care of the problem. I did focus on keeping my weight back on my saddle rather than the bars (I did think of that) - but of course with that too-large stretch for my hands it is hard to say what else might have been involved. There may, or may not, have been numbness - my hands were hurting so badly that I really could not say.

Thanks again - and I like your new name :)

I love your photo, Catrin, you look sooo happy! Beautiful bike too.

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Originally Posted by lph

I love your photo, Catrin, you look sooo happy! Beautiful bike too.

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As painful as my hands were, I loved the bike! I posted the following in another thread, but just to make it easy here is what I learned from my LBS:

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I am happy to report that apparently Surly included not only the incorrect levers, but the incorrect bars with my LHT build! (happy in that it is an easy fix). My fitter, who is a very tall/large man, said that such large levers would give even him problems! He was not surprised to hear that my hands were cramping at all. So he is contacting Surly to have them ship the correct bars and levers.

That doesn't mean that I won't have to focus on posture, but I knew something else had to be going on - the pain came too fast and too strong.
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edited - I misunderstood what I was told - the bars that Surly sent were indeed the correct, compact bars. It turns out that those bars are still a little large for me, so my LBS is replacing them with a slightly smaller set of bars - going to 38cm bars. There were two different issues and I had combined them :)

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Originally Posted by Mr. Bloom

catrin: Right here on TE, the PI Gel Vent:
http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodPI_8587.html

Note the difference in padding compared to yours.

Remember, you want your frame to support your weight, not your soft tissue.

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I've ordered these - thanks for the tip! They are a little expensive, but seem to be a good idea. Now I just have to wait, with impatience, to get my bike back!

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Originally Posted by Catrin

I've ordered these - thanks for the tip! They are a little expensive, but seem to be a good idea. Now I just have to wait, with impatience, to get my bike back!

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Yes they are expensive...and sometimes I've found them difficult to get. While fit is the first priority, these will likely help as well!