Things that should have been obvious, but I've recently discovered

I will begin this by saying I've only had my road bike since Sept and it really didn't get any love until this spring. Before that I was completely infatuated with my MTB.

1) Yes, you can get sunburned on your forehead through the vents. I now have attractive tiger stripes going across my forehead.

2) While you won't get shinburger on a road bike you can get a giant goose egg near your tendon by trying to forcefully clip in, missing and having the pedal smack you.

3) "Comfortable" shorts are as varied rider to rider as saddles. My new favorites are the LG Zone 3K. Part B) Once you are hot and gross after making a pit stop the shorts will never go back on to where and how you had them settled when you put them on before the ride.

4) Camelbaks may look dorky on roadies, but the water stays cool longer, holds more and is extremely helpful for the uncoordinated, like me.

5) Reaching the brakes/shifters from the drops is a challenge. I have very long fingers and it never occured to me that it would be an issue.

6) A good fitting here costs $250. It's best to quit avoiding it and just suck it up and do it.

7) Bonking is real, not something they make up to scare new riders. Learn how to avoid it instead of experiencing it!

re: #5 -- I had trouble riding in the drops with my old road bike. With the current one, it's easy and comfortable. The difference is the size of the handlebars. I believe modifications are also possible for the shifters themselves, to make them easier to reach.

I'll have to ask the fitter about that. I'm finally going to suck it up and make an appt.

Probably just re-positioning the shifters could be enough, if you can reach them fine from the hoods and just not from the hooks. Or even just changing the tilt of your bars. But if you have long fingers, my guess is that the brifters are just too high up on the bars.

That makes sense.

Let me know how the fitting goes!! (Tad Hughes??)

I love my Camelbak. Hey, it was invented for a road event (that would be HHH), so I use it without shame. I'm finally at the point where I'm really comfortable drinking from my water bottle, but until then, the Camelbak was my best friend. And yes, it does keep the water cooler for longer, and I credit that with keeping me cool on some of these hot rides.

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Originally Posted by luvmyguys

Let me know how the fitting goes!! (Tad Hughes??)

I love my Camelbak. Hey, it was invented for a road event (that would be HHH), so I use it without shame. I'm finally at the point where I'm really comfortable drinking from my water bottle, but until then, the Camelbak was my best friend. And yes, it does keep the water cooler for longer, and I credit that with keeping me cool on some of these hot rides.

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Yep, Tad. Karen and I are both going to get a fitting. Everyone in the club raves about him, so I figured he would be the go to guy. I'm fine on the bike until around mile 40 and then my knee starts to hurt and/or foot and my shoulder. I have no doubt he can fix these issues. I just need to find a day and time that he's available and I'm available :)

I do still take the water bottles for electrolytes and if I just need more water, but the Camelbak is just easier until I'm more coordinated. After all, how many months has it been and I'm just now trying out the drops?!

Funny how we're all different. I tried a Camelback, but hated having anything on my back.

Here are the big ones I learned:

1. How you position yourself on your bike will change over time. Don't be afraid to constantly tweak your fit.

2. I had been having a lot of trouble with wanting to pull back my hands/arms, had three fittings, and still couldn't figure it out (shortened my stem, moved my saddle, etc.). After a year of riding, I finally figured out that my 40 handlebars were too wide. i switched to 38s and my hands fell naturally where they should have been the whole time. I'd been pulling back to compensate for too much width. Doh.

3. If you lose weight, buy new shorts asap. I, more than once, got my chamois caught on the nose of my saddle when remounting after a stop, or standing to pedal because my shorts were a tad loose. Tight shorts are safe shorts :)

4. Don't be afraid to try men's gloves. My hands/fingers swell in the heat on long rides. I finally switched to a men's medium glove and am happy, and tried five not cheap women's gloves before I figured that one out.

5. My fav thing I learned to bring in my jersey on long rides: an old, thin washcloth in a ziplock. I don't know how many times I've used it to wipe my face in the Florida heat, and especially before reapplying sunscreen. Also, bring those wet wipes in the little packets. Great for the face and for hands after changing a tire.

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Originally Posted by murielalex

2. I had been having a lot of trouble with wanting to pull back my hands/arms, had three fittings, and still couldn't figure it out (shortened my stem, moved my saddle, etc.). After a year of riding, I finally figured out that my 40 handlebars were too wide. i switched to 38s and my hands fell naturally where they should have been the whole time. I'd been pulling back to compensate for too much width. Doh.

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Very interesting. I tend to turn my hands in and my elbows out, which hunches my shoulders. A few years ago I was having problems with elbow pain caused by the too-small mouse that I used at work, and the pain was also evident when I rode my bike. I mentioned it to the fitter at the LBS, who grabbed a tape measure and measured my shoulders. He said if the pain didn't go away I could consider getting narrower handlebars, because I the ones I have (which came stock on the bike) were borderline-wide for me. I bought myself a nice ergonomic mouse for work and learned a good hand/wrist stretch from my trainer, and that solved the elbow pain so I kept my handlebars. But maybe I should reconsider getting narrower ones.

BTW I also do not like using a Camelback when I'm riding my road bike. I don't want anything on my back when it's hot. I don't even want anything in my jersey pockets, except maybe a bag of ice.

Something interesting and anecdotal. I have seen a lot more Camelbaks on roadies since it started getting really hot than when the temps were moderate. I didn't pull out my Camelbak until I decided to start doing longer rides in this ridiculous heat. Of course, I always use a Camelbak when I'm riding the MTB.

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Originally Posted by murielalex

Funny how we're all different. I tried a Camelback, but hated having anything on my back.

3. If you lose weight, buy new shorts asap. I, more than once, got my chamois caught on the nose of my saddle when remounting after a stop, or standing to pedal because my shorts were a tad loose. Tight shorts are safe shorts :)

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Amen to #3!! I asked here a while back about comfortable shorts. I had lost weight (about 30 lbs) and everyone was telling me to get smaller tighter shorts.....glad I listened to the wise ladies here. I purchased a pair of Pearl Izumi In-r-cool pro shorts and couldn't be happier (except for a little sausage leg look) with the difference.

Here's another thing about weight loss (or gain) - check your seat height! If there are a couple fewer millimeters between your sitbones and your saddle, then there are a couple fewer millimeters between your sitbones and your pedal spindles, and if you're prone to knee issues, that can make a difference.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Here's another thing about weight loss (or gain) - check your seat height! If there are a couple fewer millimeters between your sitbones and your saddle, then there are a couple fewer millimeters between your sitbones and your pedal spindles, and if you're prone to knee issues, that can make a difference.

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I agree wholeheartedly! During our ride on Saturday during our stop I raised the seat and felt better afterwards. I have a fitting on Friday so we'll see what he has to say.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Here's another thing about weight loss (or gain) - check your seat height! If there are a couple fewer millimeters between your sitbones and your saddle, then there are a couple fewer millimeters between your sitbones and your pedal spindles, and if you're prone to knee issues, that can make a difference.

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Yes I am going back to my LBS that did my fit tomorrow after work and get them to raise my seat (since it is frozen after they lowered it some during the fit). Hoping that helps.

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Originally Posted by thekarens

5) Reaching the brakes/shifters from the drops is a challenge. I have very long fingers and it never occured to me that it would be an issue.

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Maybe compact bars with shorter drops would help (as opposed to standard bars which have longer reach and a deeper drop).

That would still present lever positioning issues though (although it would likely be easier to find the sweet spot on shallow bars than deep ones). No one brakes from the drops, she's talking about braking from the hooks.

I brake from the drops.

How in the world do you reach the levers???

I can break from the drops. Compact bar.

I can brake from the drops on both bikes. Compact bar for sure on the Charge, and I'm about 85% that the Avail also has a compact bar. And I have shorter fingers.

ETA: Wait, are we debating a vocabulary question? Where are we talking when we say "drops?" The vertical part below the hoods, or the horizontal part where the plugs are?

I'm still not getting it. Do you at least have your thumbs up in the hooks? Or do your first two fingers actually cross your thumbs???

I mean, I just went back to my bike and tested to make sure I'm not crazy. I've got nice short-and-shallow Ritchey Biomax bars. R700 brifters with the shorter wedge in them. My hands aren't THAT small, I have no trouble with the throw shifting my triple FD from either the hoods or the hooks. From the hooks, I can get the levers comfortably, securely with three fingers and the fourth touching to add power as soon as I bring the lever in a little. From the drops, there's over an inch between the tip of my index finger and the tip of the lever. I am really not getting how you guys are doing it!!!

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Originally Posted by Owlie

ETA: Wait, are we debating a vocabulary question? Where are we talking when we say "drops?" The vertical part below the hoods, or the horizontal part where the plugs are?

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Heh. Either that, or you guys have insanely long and flexible fingers! As far as I know, the drops are the lowest part that points back at the rider, and the hooks are the part that parallels the levers.


But that brings me back to the original point. Depth and reach of the bar should not have any effect on the ability to brake from the HOOKS, except that it might make it harder to find a good position for the levers that makes them accessible from both the tops and the hooks, and except if the bar is in the way of your forearm when you move your hands from the drops to the hooks.....

I always considered this "in the drops."

Attachment 16445Attachment 16446

Then what do you call the flat part farther down the curve, the part that points back toward you, which is what I've always been told is the drops?

I guess I just considered "the drops" to be anything below the top of the bar or the hoods. I ride mostly where you're talking about, Oakleaf, but move my hands up to where the pic shows when breaking.

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Originally Posted by murielalex

I guess I just considered "the drops" to be anything below the top of the bar or the hoods.

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Me too.

So ...anyway... am I wrong in thinking that the depth and reach of the bars has nearly nothing to do with the ability to brake from the hooks, and that it has much more to do with the *shape* of the bars, particularly how sharp or how gradual the transition, as well as with where the levers are positioned on that transition?


(and another point of terminology that I don't know - what does one call the part of the bars between the tops and the hoods, the part that's basically nonexistent on short reach bars but can be very roomy longer and on old-fashioned bars?)

I also call all of it "the drops." I have the exact same set up as Oak on my Kuota, and I can pretty much squeeze the levers from almost anywhere on the drops, my bars are so short and shallow. I really think it's this that is the determining factor, although I do need the short reach brifters. Case in point, on my other bike, I have the newer version of the R700s. They are about 2mm longer in reach, which really pissed me off, but even more important, the fancy bars that my shop put on are not as short and shallow. I have to be deep in the hooks to brake from there. I keep saying I am going to get different bars, but I've been lazy. I like the feeling of being really close and almost scrunched to my bars on my other bike. I have smallish hands with long fingers, so I am not one with super tiny hands, but more, overall petite stature. I have to wear size medium women's gloves, for reference.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

So ...anyway... am I wrong in thinking that the depth and reach of the bars has nearly nothing to do with the ability to brake from the hooks, and that it has much more to do with the *shape* of the bars, particularly how sharp or how gradual the transition, as well as with where the levers are positioned on that transition?

(and another point of terminology that I don't know - what does one call the part of the bars between the tops and the hoods, the part that's basically nonexistent on short reach bars but can be very roomy longer and on old-fashioned bars?)

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I agree with your first part completely, and as to the second, I've heard them called "ramps". (Love my old-fashioned bars with big roomy ones -- Velo Orange Grand Cru Course.) I do call all of the lower part of the bar "the drops", though.

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Originally Posted by thekarens

3) Once you are hot and gross after making a pit stop the shorts will never go back on to where and how you had them settled when you put them on before the ride.

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This!

+1 to the men's gloves. My hands are sort of square, and mens small/medium mostly fit better than women's large.

My riding takeaways.

1. Drink more than you ever thought you would want to drink, especially when it's hot. Camelbak tabs (not available in Canada) taste better than Nuun tabs.

2. The more you spend on a bike helmet, the less helmet you get, the cooler you will be, and the happier you will be.

3. A sweatband really does mostly stop the sweat getting into your eyes.

I just realise all three of these are closely related to staying cool.

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Originally Posted by Boudicca

+1 to the men's gloves. My hands are sort of square, and mens small/medium mostly fit better than women's large.

My riding takeaways.

1. Drink more than you ever thought you would want to drink, especially when it's hot. Camelbak tabs (not available in Canada) taste better than Nuun tabs.

2. The more you spend on a bike helmet, the less helmet you get, the cooler you will be, and the happier you will be.

3. A sweatband really does mostly stop the sweat getting into your eyes.

I just realise all three of these are closely related to staying cool.

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Tis the season! :-)

Maybe one should take the clipless pedals off the cross bike before venturing onto mountain bike trails. :eek: :rolleyes: