Do I just need to force myself to lean over my bike?

[karen]

Well, i went for a ride this morning and make sure to stay bent over with elbows bent... Rode the first half of the 10 mile ride with my hands on the middle grips and boy oh boy, did that hurt when I stopped!!

Rode back with my hands on the bar ends, staying bent, and my hands felt fine after I got back to the parking lot! So, I'm pretty sure that I am going to swap bikes again and get a small road bike (Fuji Newest, most likely) so that I'll have more positions to ride in than just the one position that I have now.

Thanks for all the advice thus far in this thread and my other - I'll post an update after I put a few miles on the new bike!

[KnottedYet]

If you like everything about your current bike except for the bars, can you just switch out the bars?

(not that I'd *ever* try to talk someone out of buying another bike!!)

[karen]

Weeeeelll.... The Newest has carbon forks and i'd rather have those than a suspension in the seatpost

It also has cute little teeny brakes on the top of the bar in addition to the large normal ones. I'm a sucker for those!

[Trek420]

karen,

My biking mantra:
When in doubt clip out

I agree, I think suspension seatposts are just...just...wrong on so many levels . I think they stem out of many peoples experience that cycling = pain.

Bike that fits + right seat and bars for you = comfort. Some people like the sqooshy posts but unless you ride off road, rough roads or stoker on a tandem suspension posts for most people just robs motion, saps energy and may be less safe.

I feel less "connected" to the bike when I ride one.

[DirtDiva]

I agree, I think suspension seatposts are just...just...wrong on so many levels . I think they stem out of many peoples experience that cycling = pain.

Just spend a second imagining being on the back of an off-road tandem without one...

[karen]

So, I picked up the Fuji Newest last night after a test drive around the parking lot.

I like it! But I have one question... Why do road bikes have such squishy brakes? It was like brakeing a Chrysler or Jeep (Newest) compared to a Toyota (Schwinn Super Sport) - much less responsive in the former.

The guy at the shop said that was pretty normal of road bikes... Why?

[KnottedYet]

My brakes don't feel squishy.

but now that I think about it, my hybrid had v-pulls and my 2 road bikes have cantis... so I actually don't have a real road brake to compare.

Did the other road bikes you tried feel like they had squishy brakes? If it's only *yours* that feels squishy, I'd be concerned that something is awry.

[Eden]

It also has cute little teeny brakes on the top of the bar in addition to the large normal ones. I'm a sucker for those!

hmmmmm - they are putting cross levers on road bikes now? Be very careful if you get too used to using those. Braking sharply from that position whilst going quickly down a hill could put you over the handlebars...... They are much, much improved from the "suicide levers" of old, but still use caution.