Quote Originally Posted by elk View Post
hey Lisa i was just looking a your new Luna pictures...are your bars wrapped with grey leather? what are you using at the ends (on the top)? Twine?

your seat looks higher than your bars...was that a gradual shift for you?
(I love yr saddle...looks well loved.)
Hi Elk,
I actually painted my handlebar tape to match my saddlebag. (Like you, I am a visual artist and am handy at paint/color stuff).
I started a whole thread about it here, since I thought it might be of interest to others:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=25700
I have ridden about 100 miles on them and they seem very durable.
Thanks for asking- I'm quite proud of how it turned out! I too think it looks like gray leather. Margo at Luna said it looked sweet.

As to seat height- my seat is the height it needs to be for my leg length. (remember, you shouldn't set your saddle height according to anything to do with your bars. Saddle height is either right or not right, pretty much based on your leg length)
As to the handlebar/stem height- Margo, the builder, set my stem and bars at that height based on my body measurements, my lack of back/neck problems with my other bike, and my riding style and goals. I vowed to myself that I wouldn't change anything about how she set it for the first two months til my body adapted to the new bike, and it seems now after 600 miles that I am quite comfortable on it exactly the way she set it up.

I'm still quite upright compared to racing bikes.
It's funny, you ride along feeling just as though you are bent way down like Lance Armstrong or something....then you catch a glimpse of yourself in a store window reflection and it looks like you're sitting bolt upright!
I have learned to relax and curl my lower back and keep my pelvis tipped with my tailbone down more. For me it's not arching the whole back, just curling the lower back and stomach region that is good. The curled lower back thing really helps me keep my weight floating evenly between my feet, butt and hands...and that keeps me comfortable.