Woo!!! Off to (begin to) purchase my Gary Fisher SuperCaliber!!!

[fatbottomedgurl]

You're supposed to break in the pads just like car brakes. Not that it helped mine...

I like the top tube on her- lots of crotch room for those oops dismounts.

[Reesha]

Hahaha 'oops dismounts' indeed.

Hey, does anybody know if WSD models of mountain bikes have narrower handlebars? It could just be that I'm not used to being on a mountain bike after a year and change, but my wrists were hurting yesterday. I suspect it could be because the handlebars are so dang wide. I wonder if the shop could chop them down a little for me or replace the handle bars.

[Irulan]

You might just need a different shape of handlebar, or being a new rider you might have the death grip and not know it. That bar looks pretty flat in teh photo, you might just need something with a bit more rise on the ends

As for width.... the style is now to go wider as wider is much more stable than narrow for handlebars. My four bikes range from 22" to 24". So, if I were you I wouldn't be in a hurry to change the width, but look at other factors first.

[Becky]

What's the width on those bars? My MTB is a men's model, and the stock bar was 26" wide- way too wide for me. I was hooking it on trees left and right! I've since replaced it with one that's more like 23.5" wide, and it feels much more natural.

I agree with Irulan- I would want something with a little more rise to it.

[Reesha]

You might just need a different shape of handlebar, or being a new rider you might have the death grip and not know it. That bar looks pretty flat in teh photo, you might just need something with a bit more rise on the ends

As for width.... the style is now to go wider as wider is much more stable than narrow for handlebars. My four bikes range from 22" to 24". So, if I were you I wouldn't be in a hurry to change the width, but look at other factors first.

I'm not a new rider I sold my old mountain bike that was a simple hardtail with old fashioned mechanical v-brakes over a year ago and have been mtb-less for a while . These new bikes and all their new fangled technologies! Tubeless tires! It'll all take some getting used to Anyway, death grip was definitely not the problem-- the trails were pretty easy-intermediate so nothing that would make me grab on inadvertently in fear. What I suspect it might have been is just getting used to that flat bar geometry again after riding road exclusively and often in the last year and a half since I sold my last bike. And also the width.

Measured the handlebars-- they're indeed 26" and my shoulder width is a mere 16-17"

I will call my shop and ask about swapping the handle bars.

[Becky]

Measured the handlebars-- they're indeed 26" and my shoulder width is a mere 16-17"

I will call my shop and ask about swapping the handle bars.

You could also chop a little off each side, and move the shifters and brake levers inboard. Depending on how much width you need to lose... OS bars/stem can complicate things a little too, because you can only move stuff in so far before you hit the bulge for the stem. When I was bar-hunting, I found that had limited choices of narrow riser bars with an OS clamp. I ended up with a BBB LiteBar (600 mm wide).

[fastdogs]

wow, nice bike. I've wanted a gary fisher hi fi for a long time, but haven't been able to get out and ride enough to really justify one to myself.
But recently I hurt my lower back, and I haven't been able to ride yet. I may have to justify it for my back (I'm getting old). I like the idea of the layaway program at the alpine shop.
I was on that muddy ride at SIUE too! I arrived late and we only found you guys near the end. But it was a lot of fun.
vickie

[Reesha]

Oh really? Neato! It's always nice to meet someone else from around here.

If you'd ever like to do a nice easy day at Lost Valley, let me know! I really liked that place

[Irulan]

wow 26" FWIW I'm 5"3 and 24" feels fine for me.. that's on my bike that I use for the most techhy trails.

[snowroo]

Hi! I'm new. This is my maiden post!

I was having trouble with my wrists as well. I had my bike fitted just yesterday.

Turns out by mounting the cleats further back, this brought my weight back off my arms (try standing on your toes and leaning forward - all your weight goes on your arms). By raising the seat, and moving my seat back, brought my centre of gravity back, and now my wrists are in neutral position, instead of being "cocked up." Too much weight (from being forward) and at the wrong angle was really messing me up.

Fixed now. Feels much better.