holy hell i'm overwhelmed! PLEASE HELP!

[celerystalksme]

Really?!?!? I thought it should be flat on the floor.... maybe I read it wrong.

Okay well that's good to know! I don't need it on the lowest setting then :-)

the proper seat height vaguely/generally works like this: your saddle is the right height if your knee is just slighly bent while your foot is on the pedal at the lowest point of the pedal stroke.

so if you're sitting on the seat and your feet are flat on the ground, the seat is too low.

as for the tires squishing down a bit when you get on...you'll have to make sure that it's inflated enough. inflate up to the max psi printed on the tire sidewall. also...there might be a weight concern...seat posts, frames, wheels/tires have gross and rider weight limits. my suspicion is that everything will be ok except maybe the wheels/tires. i had a friend that bought a trek 7300 fx...he was around 280lbs...trek said everything would be fine except the wheels. so he head to get sturdier tires.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Remember that wheels (rims), tires, and tubes are three separate things.

You don't want to ride that bike without enough air in the tubes or it might pinch the tube against the rim edge and give you a flat tire. When you sit on the bike the tire should only flatten down a little bit, not much.

If you start riding and a spoke breaks then that *might* indicate you need rims (wheels) built for a heavier rider. I don't think weight matters so much with the tires and tubes though, as long as they are in good shape.

[earthgirl]

Thanks Ladies :-)

I can't believe it was a simple pressure issue. It certainly looked inflated, but when I checked, it was only at 35psi...

anyway, so now they're at 70. and are not flat when i'm on it! and I no longer feel like a cow. well, not today anyway.



but it's interesting to know that your friend needed stronger tires ...he's only 40lbs heavier than me... so i think i will call trek or my lbs and ask what the recommend for my weight though...

thanks:-)

[tulip]

but it's interesting to know that your friend needed stronger tires ...

thanks:-)

Wheels Wheels are the metal parts (rims, hub, spokes), tires are the rubber you see, and tubes are inside the tire, so you don't see them (but the valve where you pump the air is part of the tube).

I give you this info so you can call the bike shop and ask the right question and (hopefully) get the right answer.

I wouldn't bother with changing out the wheels unless you have a problem, like a spoke breaks. It happens--I had one break in the last 1/4 mile of an 80-mile ride last year--lucky (and I'm 125 lbs, so sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with weight).

You might want to ask the bike shop to check your wheels to see if they are true; that is, that the spokes are properly tightened to keep the rim straight.

Bikes can be overwhelming, but no one will give you a test, it's just fun!

[Kano]

Earthgirl, the slightly bent knee thing when your foot is on the pedal is the best thing -- I always have to get off my saddle when I stop in order to reach the ground.

I know it takes a while to get there, and each in her own time, but the lycra on our big butts isn't such a bad thing -- if people don't like it, well, tough: you're USING that butt of yours, they're probably just sitting on theirs!

Karen in Boise (who's still 5'4" but not 236 anymore!)

[wildhawk]

I was hesitant to wear cycling shorts too, but believe me when I say they make a huge difference in your comfort. I ordered mine right off TE and they were inexpensive - $29.95 Cannondale. Glad that you decided on the Trek - sounds like it will fit you. Happy riding!

[OakLeaf]

Just to add one thing no one else has said:

You're wearing a helmet, RIGHT?

Really. Please. You can fall at 0 miles an hour and have a serious brain injury. Don't mean to scare you, but that's $30 you definitely should NOT skimp on, nor EVER get on a bicycle without one.

Hopefully you're already wearing a helmet every ride and didn't need this lecture, but just adding it because no one else has... and because I'm alive and functioning because of a helmet I was wearing on *two* occasions.

and... welcome!!! Have fun!!!

[earthgirl]

ahhhh i just got back from my first ride!

it only lasted 20 minutes though, not because I was really tired - but because my BUTT HURTS! Also, my wrist started to go numb (this is not really the bike's fault, 8 years of writing research papers and 16 years of writing in general, have given me carpel tunnel like conditions... not fun).

So I think 1) I'll have to buy a new seat, and 2) I will have to def take the advice on the bike shorts. I though I could get away with it today in track pants... but yeah, it's not happening.

and yes, I'm wearing a helmet :-). After this @$$hole made a rolling stop and almost ran into me as I was making a left turn (I SIGNALED AND SLOWED DOWN AND EVERYTHING!) - I realized the helmet is definitely necessary.

And I was only riding around in my freakin neighborhood!!

[celerystalksme]

ahhhh i just got back from my first ride!

it only lasted 20 minutes though, not because I was really tired - but because my BUTT HURTS! Also, my wrist started to go numb (this is not really the bike's fault, 8 years of writing research papers and 16 years of writing in general, have given me carpel tunnel like conditions... not fun).

So I think 1) I'll have to buy a new seat, and 2) I will have to def take the advice on the bike shorts. I though I could get away with it today in track pants... but yeah, it's not happening.

and yes, I'm wearing a helmet :-). After this @$$hole made a rolling stop and almost ran into me as I was making a left turn (I SIGNALED AND SLOWED DOWN AND EVERYTHING!) - I realized the helmet is definitely necessary.

And I was only riding around in my freakin neighborhood!!

always be wary of the automobiles!!!!! thems is scary creatures!!!!

the right seat, right seat height, and eventually a pair of cycling shorts should take care of the butt pain. the search for the right seat for you can take long...hopefully your LBS has a good policy about trying out and returning bike seats! with the right seat...you can actually ride in comfort even without cycling shorts! when i'm on my specialized alias or specialized toupe (143mm)...i can go 25-50 miles with very minimal discomfort!

the wrist numbness/pain...make sure the fit is right. the reach has to be right. putting too much weight on your hands is probably what is causing the discomfort. down the road, increasing your core strength will help with that. i forget...is this a bike with straight bars or drop bars? drop bars or bull-horn type bars are nice because you can periodically change hand position, which aids in comfort. you can also use a shock absorbant bar tape. you may also want to look into a good pair of cycling gloves.

[tulip]

Good for you on the helmet. It does not matter how far you are from home--you can fall off your bike anywhere. I don't understand why some folks (not you, just in general) feel that they don't need a helmet because they are just going on a short ride. It's like thinking that you only need to where a seatbelt when you go for long drives. When I had my bike accident and had to be airlifted to the trauma center, I was only a mile or so into my ride.

Your wrist might be aggravated by a couple of things:

1. putting all your weight on your arms and hands. This is common mistake that beginners (and others) make. You'll want to do some core strengthening exercises so that you can support your body with your core and not only with your hands and arms. In the meantime, make sure that your elbows aren't locked. They should be slightly bent to absorb the bumps.

2. your bike's top tube might be too long. Do you feel like you are too stretched out? You can do some adjustments to the stem (new shorter stem) and to the seat to compensate a bit.

Have fun riding!

EDIT: celery musta posted the same time as me. she already hit all the points.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

If you don't want to do lycra you can always get bike short liners that will fit (well sometimes) under 'regular' shorts or capris. You can get them at REI or anywhere that sells Pearl Izumi stuff. After riding for a couple of years, I don't wear padded shorts all the time, only when I mountain bike where it's really rocky.

The thing where people are saying your feet should be flat is the standover height, where your butt is off the seat, how you would be standing at a stop sign. Your feet should be flat on the floor and you should be able to stand comfortably over the tube of the bike without having to tilt to one side to compensate for the bike being too tall. Hope that makes sense!

[Kano]

Earthgirl --

now starts the fun with the saddle thing. You said the bike is a Trek, and my understanding is that "everyone hates those saddles." I figure someone has to like them, or the company would go out of business cuz they sell bikes that are uncomfortable.... (and the saddle company would be in deep poo too!) Anyway, when DH and I decided on the "comfort bikes" a couple of years ago, they came with "comfort saddles" -- wide, cushy things that he actually rode on for quite some time. (he bent his, and adopted mine for a while before getting something more "serious") On the other hand, I couldn't sit for a week after riding that saddle. Perhaps I was lucky, I picked up a Specialized Dolce saddle (not gel) and have been very happy with it on my hybrid (not the comfort beast anymore, I ride an older Trek hybrid, as mentioned back a page or two!)

I had found this forum already, and been reading a bit -- the suggestion was to not go too padded, because that's actually LESS comfy than the firmest saddles.

The comfort beast has a Specialized Milano on it now, I've never actually ridden on that saddle. I put the Dolce on my newest bike, a road bike, and didn't like it there. Replaced it with an Ariel, also Specialized. That's been a pretty happy choice too. Either I've been lucky, or I just have a specialized butt!

(and speaking of my specialized butt, I really ought to shift it into high gear and go for a ride!)

Karen in Boise

[earthgirl]

thanks for the advice on the tube length! i wouldn't have thought of it. I'm going to have to take it to an LBS as someone mentioned in my other post ... and do a fitting.

also - thanks for the seat advice, kano ;-) i'm going to research more here in the forums b/c that's about all I can do ... our cable went out so i'm relying on my phone for entertainment.

At least I don't have to listen to CNN tell me we're all facing "Certain Death."

Jeez. Dramatic, much?

[Biciclista]

hey Earthgirl! congrats on your first ride! wasn't it kinda windy??

[malkin]

You're on your way!

Everything I know about saddles I learned here on TE for the theory...for the practice, I had to learn from my own bum, like everyone else.

And holy hell or holy heck (for the righteous), I'm in Utah!