road bike / different position

[Scarlet]

Hi all,
just got new bike, specialized dolce, (YAHOO IT IS FAST) having been cycling on and off for about 3 years on a hybrid (thinks thats the correct word) rode in a sit up position,
new bike has drop bars and i have only been out for about half an hour today (due to bad asthma just recovering) HAD TO CHANGE MY HAND POSITION SEVERAL TIMES and my arms were so achy........ is this usual. My other bike has suspension THIS ONE NONE,
I did wear my BG gloves, maybe its just getting used to a different positon.

I would welcome any info and tips as I am planning to do JOGLE next year in August and am going to use the road bike.

thanks in advance
Scarlet x

[dingster1]

PICS! PICS! PICS!

COngrats and enjoy

[Zen]

Did the LBS set you up on a trainer and observe your riding position while you were there?
Your elbows should be slightly bent, not locked out.
That's the beauty of drop bars, you can change your hand position and ride on the hoods when you need a break.

This is likely a function of building some upper body strength.

[KnottedYet]

On of the big advantages to drop bars is that you can change hand positions often. I can do much longer (time-wise) rides on my road bike than on my hybrid because my hands and arms don't fatigue being in one place the whole time.

Make sure you didn't pick up any bad habits from riding a bike with suspension: like locking your elbows or holding your shoulders tightly or holding your wrists bent rather than neutral. Those habits will be pretty uncomfortable on a standard fork bike, but you might be able to get away with them on a suspended fork bike.

Your upper body should float over the bike and your arms should feel springy. This will feel tiring in and of itself, because it uses your muscles and core control in new ways!

Also check your bar height relative to saddle height. Lots of women are much more comfortable with the bars at just about the same height as the saddle. (I like my bars to be about an inch higher than the saddle) The rule of thumb is that you should be able to pedal and "play piano" on the tops of your bars at the same time. If you are holding so much of your body weight on the bars/arms that you can't do this, there is a good chance your bars are too low, either for your body proportions or for your current core strength.

Putting too much of your body weight through the bars is also a disadvantage for bike control. If you hit a bump (for example) with too much on the bars that bump is going to really throw you off, much more than it would someone who can unweight their bars instantly and take the bump in stride.

Bars too low can also get you locking your elbows and craning your neck as your brain tries to bring your eyes up.

It's not too big a deal to raise your bars now and then lower them again as your muscles get used to the new position. Lots of women do that, too. So if you do get a taller stem, be sure to keep the shorter one, too. You might want it later!

Check out the book by Andy Pruitt, Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists. Lots of fit help there.

[Scarlet]

thanks for everyones help
x
Scarlet

[smilingcat]

definitly have someone who is knowledgeable check you position out. they might make some adjustment and you may see a big difference. When you are properly fit on the bike, it shouldn't be a "death grip" situation, you should be more or less relaxed. If your shoulder gets stiff or feel like your shoulder is climbing toward your neck or your lower back is sore, you should have your fit checked out.

Shawn

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Scarlet,
Getting a good bike fitting is always a good idea.
However- when I first got my road bike (had been used to a hybrid) I was sore in places I didn't even know I had for a while. It took me weeks to feel at ease with the road position. One year later now, my whole body seems to have adapted to it and grown stronger in many different ways that make me feel more comfortable now riding on a road bike. Your body will slowly be adapting and changing and strengthening- and that is a different thing from needing the bike to be adjusted to fit better. Sometimes it is confusing as to which is which, but time will help you sort it all out, and if you have bad pains of course you should seek a bike fit solution. But keep in mind that your muscles are not yet used to this new contortion!

[HappyAnika]

Make sure you are using your core muscles to support your upper body and not putting all your weight on your hands. As the others said, you should have relaxed arms that can absorb the bumps. Its a good idea to add some core strengthening to your exercise program.

Congrats on the new bike!

[Scarlet]

Scarlet,
Getting a good bike fitting is always a good idea.
However- when I first got my road bike (had been used to a hybrid) I was sore in places I didn't even know I had for a while. It took me weeks to feel at ease with the road position. One year later now, my whole body seems to have adapted to it and grown stronger in many different ways that make me feel more comfortable now riding on a road bike. Your body will slowly be adapting and changing and strengthening- and that is a different thing from needing the bike to be adjusted to fit better. Sometimes it is confusing as to which is which, but time will help you sort it all out, and if you have bad pains of course you should seek a bike fit solution. But keep in mind that your muscles are not yet used to this new contortion!

this has been the most useful reply so far thanks xx
Scarlet x

[Kano]

Scarlet,
Getting a good bike fitting is always a good idea.
However- when I first got my road bike (had been used to a hybrid) I was sore in places I didn't even know I had for a while. It took me weeks to feel at ease with the road position. One year later now, my whole body seems to have adapted to it and grown stronger in many different ways that make me feel more comfortable now riding on a road bike. Your body will slowly be adapting and changing and strengthening- and that is a different thing from needing the bike to be adjusted to fit better. Sometimes it is confusing as to which is which, but time will help you sort it all out, and if you have bad pains of course you should seek a bike fit solution. But keep in mind that your muscles are not yet used to this new contortion!

Ditto what Lisa says! I got my road bike this spring, and I'm finding new body parts all the time! I post about those things now and again, wondering what to do to improve my own strength, and the first thing people seem to post about is changes to make to the bike. At least some of these things may well need to happen too, but the new position takes some serious getting used to!

People are mentioning core strengthening, and that seems to be helping me a lot. The next thing I changed was my gloves: first I bought some new Specialized gloves, and when they didn't fit as well as they seemed to in the store (I think the padding was in the wrong places), I got some Pearl Izumi gloves that made a huge difference! (I'll wear the Specialized ones when riding my old bike)

In some ways, I think it's easy to do everything right on the trainer at the LBS -- They're watching us, and so we're more careful, whether we realize it or not! Know what I mean? You sit there on your bike on the trainer, all eyes on you, watching what you're doing, how relaxed and into your real riding style can you be? (my last visit, I had three bike dudes: store was quiet) We don't really find out what we're doing "wrong" until we're out in the real world. I've found that it's been more helpful to go into the LBS hurting -- take the bike -- and tell them where. They seem to be able to fix it better when we can feel it most and our bodies are tired so we're doing whatever that thing we do to cause that ache is! (ski boot guys taught me that: bring boots while your feet are hurting!)

Karen in Boise

[Scarlet]

cheers Kano for the info
nice to know its not just me
happy cycling
x x
Scarlet

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yep....in the year I've been riding my road bike, I feel that in getting slowly more comfortable, half the changes were things I did to my bike, and the other half were things my body did to adapt to riding my bike.

Also, it took several months for some little things to make themselves obvious to me about something about my bike fit that needed changing. I didn't know how I was "supposed" to feel. But as time went on and I kept riding some things just began to jump out as needing a change.
At first I felt I needed a really short stem and my saddle shoved all the way forward to enable me to reach the handlebars and not feel I was falling on my face with weight on my hands.
As I got stronger over the months I swear my body also stretched and I felt cramped and too far forward. I then put a longer stem back and shoved my saddle all the way back and it made my reach EASIER and now I feel really comfortable and my weight is better balanced further back. Go figure!