New Rider - lots of questions

[pyxichick]

Don't rule out drop bars if you have numb hand problems. They give you more options for hand position and thus may relieve the pain/numbness.

[Cassandra_Cain]

Don't rule out drop bars if you have numb hand problems. They give you more options for hand position and thus may relieve the pain/numbness.

I totally agree with pyxichick - riding a MTB (or any flat bar bike) has always been much more uncomfortable for me than a halfway decent road bike with drops. The hand position becomes a really big deal the longer you ride. With flat bars your choice is narrow or wide - with drops, you have many more options.

You may not use the drops much per se, (I like them actually), but it is nice to have a choice.

[HappyAnika]

It sounds like a lot of the problems you are having will be improved by getting a road bike with the proper fit. If you are already doing 40 mile rides I agree that you would likely outgrow a flat bar bike pretty quickly. The hoods are the "neutral" position, this is where most people spend most of their time riding. The drops are nice for descents and the flat top is nice for climbing, but all of the positions can be used at any time to change things up and make it more comfy for long rides. I pretty much only use my drops for descents. Womens' specific bikes are generally designed for a woman's shorter torso, however many women fit better on non-womens' specific bikes. Two of my girlfriends had the same problem I did with "men's" bikes, in that the brakes were hard to reach. Often times this can be adjusted with shims. I have a Trek 1500 WSD and I have no problem reaching the brakes (I also have very, very small hands). The knee stuff is likely due to saddle position, your saddle may be too far back and/or too low. Your LBS should be able to fix that one easily, or keep tweaking yourself until you get it just right. I also had a lot of girly bit mashing going on which was fixed by both better shorts and a better saddle. High end shorts have a more thoughtfully designed chamois that narrow between your legs and provide support in the right places (as opposed to a lot of low end shorts which just put one large piece of round foam in there, which works ok for some people). I am still trying out my new saddle to see what I think, a Terry Butterfly Chromoly Gel, and so far so good. The cut out and the flat shape help a lot. Good luck in your bike search. Ride lots of them and keep going back to ride the ones you like until you have it narrowed down.

[mimitabby]

yes, according to Pruitt, if your seat is too low you might experience pain in the front or sides of your knee.

[mimitabby]

and I know that you are on a budget, but a lot of women here have discovered the joys of leather saddles. You can buy them from Wallbike.com and they have a 6 month return policy. The saddle can then be transferred to your new bike when you get it.

I rode a cross bike for years and the only problem is that you can't go as fast. You can get a great workout and do everything that can be done on a road bike, just not as quickly. and welcome to the forum.

[Cari]

First of all, welcome to the board, and to road riding. I started with mtb too, but now I'm hooked on the road bike.

If you have long legs and a short torso, I suggest you look into women specific bikes, like Trek's WSD models. Actually, Trek bikes tend to have short top tubes in general, so you might be comfortable on one of their non-WSD bikes as well.

When you're ready to buy a road bike, the shop should measure and fit you. This should involve, at the very least, measuring your height and your inseam length, both while barefoot and wearing bike shorts, as well as the width of your shoulders to determine the size of the handlebars. If the salesperson eyeballs you and suggests a size, or goes only by height, ask to be measured or consider going to another shop where they're willing to do that.

As for your saddle... I had similar problems and the saddle I found most comfortable was the WTB Rocket V Pro Gel. The center of the saddle has a "love channel", which is a part that is set a bit lower than the rest of the saddle, so it takes some pressure off the girlie bits. WTB has sells some neat "test ride" saddles to bike shops, which they can lend you for a few days so you can see if they work.

You can also try a cutout saddle, such as the Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow, which comes in several nice colors, or one of the Terry saddles that have cutouts. I personally do not like cutout saddles, but the only way to know if it works for you is by trying. Terry has a 30-day return policy, by the way.

As for handlebars... you'll really be missing out if you don't use drop bars. It only takes a bit of practice, and a bike that's the right size, so you can comfortably rest your hands on the hoods without feeling all stretched out. Also when you buy your bike, you can get them to put several spacers under the stem, and if in the future you want to go lower, you can have some of the spacers put above the stem so that you're in a lower, more aerodynamic position.

Good luck and have fun!

Cari