need your expert advise again

[CyclChyk]

Ok - so I have a Bianchi 928 which I lloovvveeee but I have balance issues. No matter what I do I am not as confident on it as I am on my way old mountain bike. I am starting to think its the seating posture, that I am more confident siting more upright than laid over.

SO - my question is has anyone here modified their road handlebars to cyclocross or mt.bike bars? Or would a taller riser be a simpler solution? I don't want to give up my Bianchi but I don't want to hack it up either.

I know just ride ride ride and confidence will improve but that does not seem to work as well for me as it does for some.

Thanks for any thoughts.....

[tc1]

I have a road bike, a Rodriguez Adventure, that I ordered with flat bars. This model is a sporty touring bike. The shop tried to convince me to try drop bars, because of the versatility of riding positions. But I insisted on flat bars because of issues with asthma. My breathing is much better when I can sit upright. So they built my bike the way I wanted, and words cannot describe how wonderful the fit and function is for me.

If you do this conversion on your bike, if you don't know much about bike fitting, work with someone who does.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Cyclechik,
Can you be more specific as to what your "balance issues" and confidence problems are? Just what kind of problems are you having- a little more detail please.

[malkin]

Are the balance problems possibly a fit issue?

[CyclChyk]

My balance issues are totally me and lack of confidence in my ability. The bike was professionally fitted for me by the owner of a very reputable bike shop and fits me perfectly. Its all on me.

I was just trying to consider alternatives that would aid in improving my balance. I do know that I just need to ride, and that eventually it will come, but you would think that after two years I would be eager to get out into the roads and off the bike paths, but I am just as hesitant as I was on day one. Bad at looking over my shoulder to see oncoming cars (I have lazy eye), and can't turn tight corners, etc.

Guess I am just a big "fraidycat"

[Jewell]

Really, your balance issue may be more complex than that. BleeckerSt_Girl could really help if you tried to be more specific of what's unbalanced.

I was having a balance issue recently and was about to modify the whole bike until BleekerSt_Girl pointed out to me that my saddle was right above my petals. Something as minute as that! It made a world of difference. Soo... check you saddle, if its above your petals, slide it back!

Even the best of bike masters would have a hard time correcting every single aspect of your comfort.

[alpinerabbit]

it could also have to do with the height of your handlebar (did they take spacers out during the fitting?) and the length/angle of the stem. my bike got more squirrely when the fitter removed a couple spacers.

Re looking behind you, maybe you can install barend mirrors or a helmet mirror.

switching to straight handlebars will cost $$ because of the brake levers&shifters you will have to install.

My opinion is that you probably have the same amount control in the drops as on horizontal bars, once you get the hang of it. You won't have really good control in the top bar position, so this should only be used in very safe conditions. You will have better control on the brake hoods (but less force on the brakes), but the best is in the drops (and more power on the brakes). So for descending go into the drops.

Turning tight corners, well, noone is saying you have to do it fast, and maybe taking a clinic on road skills would help. it helped me loads.
You'll learn how to corner, how to ride the ideal line of a bend, where your foot and your weight goes, and where to look when cornering.

[Crankin]

I think you guys need to listen to CycleChik. I understand exactly what she means.
I've been fitted and fitted. I have a great bike and I know exactly what to do when descending and cornering in terms of looking ahead, which leg to put down, etc. I now have short reach brifters and bars that are the right size. I can comfortably ride in the drops and squeeze those brakes. Soooooo....
Despite the fact I have been riding for 8 years, this is what happens:
I can barely extend my right hand to signal a turn, without feeling like I am going to tip over..
It is very difficult for me to make a right turn smoothly. I tend to go way outside, no matter what I say in my head or try to do.
I have to slow way down when I do the above.
I have never been able to descend at a speed more than 32 mph (on a straight road) and mostly when I approach a descent, I get an overpowering urge to grab the brakes and go as slowly as I can!
It took me 4 years to finally be able to handle a water bottle, and I can only drink it with my left hand. I absolutely cannot take my right hand off of the bar.
Now, if you rode with me, you might not notice a lot of these things. I overcompensate for most of them by being ultra careful. But, if I am riding with a group of people who ride at around the same speed as me, I am the only one who makes up time on the uphills and loses on the downhills. I just cannot "let it go" because when I have tried, I end up on the other side of the road!
I know I have really bad depth perception and my general visual motor skills suck. It's amazing that I ride as much as I do.
So, if she wants flat bars, if it will make her comfortable, maybe she should get them???

[OakLeaf]

Sure if you want flat bars, get them - lots of people put flat bars on road frames!

CyclChyk, I think everyone else was just trying to address whether flat bars will actually help you. You didn't sound sure of that. Your OP wasn't clear as to exactly what kind of trouble you're having.

Also, sometimes knowing what to do isn't the same as executing it. A few years ago I completely lost all confidence in tight turns on my motorcycles. I used to be able to do them just fine. Now, I just can't. It's completely a mental block. I need to practice lots more, but whenever I try to practice it seems counterproductive because I get into such a panic state, don't seem like I'm making any progress, sometimes wind up dropping my bike. Has nothing to do with the bikes and everything to do with ME.

So. I think we do need more information from CC as to what specifically is giving her trouble. Since she says she's perfectly fine on her MTB, I don't think it's visuomotor issues.

The first question I'd ask is how long have you been riding the Bianchi? You said you had given it some time, but you didn't say how much time or how many miles. I do remember when I got my race bike, and even switching from a touring road bike to the tighter geometry, it felt incredibly twitchy and unstable. Unfortunately it was over 20 years ago and I don't remember how long it took me to adapt.

Then I'd second the recommendations for a good fit. That's true whether you keep the drop bars or make it a flattie. How long is your stem, and how does it compare to your MTB's stem? If the stem's too short, it can make steering very, very twitchy. Unfortunately, IF you've installed a very short stem because your top tube's too long for you, the frame may just not fit.

Third, take a bike skills course where you practice handling and tight turns in a controlled environment.

Fourth, work on core strength. If the bike's a good fit but you still find yourself putting too much weight on the bars, that could be a reason the bike wouldn't feel balanced.

I don't think anyone's telling CyclChyk NOT to put flat bars on her bike. Lots of people do it. Right now I'm entertaining thoughts of turning my old race frame into a commuter, and if it happens, flat bars are a possibility. We're just not sure that flat bars will address the trouble she's having.

[alpinerabbit]

I think you guys need to listen to CycleChik.
...
I've been fitted and fitted. I have a great bike and I know exactly what to do when descending and cornering in terms of looking ahead, which leg to put down, etc.
...
I know I have really bad depth perception and my general visual motor skills suck.
...
???

hey - should we just tell her "you suck, live with it & ride a hybrid"? I don't think we should. And I don't want to be interpreted as saying this. at all. !!
So we're giving her the best advice we can pull out of a hat.

As with all such questions, CyclChick - pictures speak a 1000 words. Show us how you look on your bike?

[Crankin]

No, I DO NOT think we should tell her "you suck!" Please, don't misinterpret me. I just think that most people don't understand this problem. No one tells me "you suck," and I haven't traded my road bike for a hybrid, either. I have a hybrid, but it's for other purposes... I do actually lead rides, but they are always well within my comfort zone.
I guess I sound like I'm complaining, but I have ridden lots of miles over 8-9 years, and it's not changing. I have improved, but not where i should be. I guess fear is a tremendous motivator in my case, but perceptual issues are just like other forms of learning disabilities; I can't imagine how it feels to have dyslexia and I don't imagine that others can imagine what I feel, either.
So, if someone wants to give me some ideas, shoot!

[xeney]

I don't know about CyclChyk, but Crankin, I think that if you have not taken a basic skills class, you should think about it. I have similar depth perception/gross motor issues, except really, most of them are in my head at this point ... I've always had them, I think of myself as a clumsy person who is bad at sports, and it's really hard to let go and be confident when you have all of that baggage.

I took a basic cycling skills course long after I bought my road bike, and while it also helped me to figure out what did not fit right about my bike, it improved my confidence enormously. That plus lots more miles was far more helpful than miles alone.

(Since you have depth perception problems, this analogy may help you: I am not a good parallel parker because my depth perception sucks. I overcompensate so I have never bumped another car while parking, but I used to really hate parallel parking and feel like it was beyond me. About ten years ago my mother gave me a bunch of pointers that felt like cheats, but once I had a framework, I got more confident about parallel parking, and now I'm actually better at it than my husband is. But I think it's the confidence that made that happen, not the cheats I got from my mom. They just gave me the confidence in the first place.)

[shellkay1212]

I need the parallel parking cheats!

[Geonz]

The main one is that corners have to match. If I had a visual memory I could explain better but mythought process is to get *'way* too close to the car beside me, pull up much further than I think I should (for most cars so my rear wheel lines up to the back of their car), then crank **all** the way over and back up until exactly the corner of the car that's in my mirror lines up with... some corner... I don't remember ... and then straigthen the wheel out and back in.

I did that on a very narrow street at the U of S. Carolina the day I was leaving with a pickup truck piled to the sky so I coudln't see out the back at all. I was blocking traffic, of course, while I got in... and it worked! it worked! and the guy in back of me clapped as he rode by.

[aicabsolut]

Just slapping straight bars on a road bike isn't going to change your posture. It would be similar to just riding on the tops of your drop bars. You'd need to change the rest of the front end (stem height and angle). That could affect handling (for the good or not). It may be impossible for you to get sufficiently upright and still reach the bars, because of the road bike geometry.

It would be helpful if you could describe what you have trouble doing and why you feel uneasy on the road bike versus the other. Is it just the more responsive feel of the road bike, or do you feel unstable turning, or can you physically not relax for some reason (e.g., support your own weight over your seat)? Something else?