LHT First Ride Report

[OakLeaf]

Woohoo!

As far as the shifters - this is a total stab in the dark since I've never used bar ends (and I admitted earlier I was kind of dubious about them... )

but how are you at just riding in the drops? Just practice riding in the drops, and getting your hands back and forth from the drops to the hoods. One hand at a time, easy as pie. Don't even worry about shifting yet.

[Catrin]

Glad to hear all is well with Sully! I have my Surly now and like you have to get new handlebars. Very awkward to reach the brakes, and it hurts my wrists, too. Have you seen this site? Another good forum-like resource for us Surly owners.

Enjoy!

Have you checked to make sure you have the right brake levers as well? Surly sent a set that was too large, but they replaced them at no charge. The bars were actually the right size that they were supposed to send, but they were too wide for me. Which size do you have? I have the 46cm.

Woohoo!

As far as the shifters - this is a total stab in the dark since I've never used bar ends (and I admitted earlier I was kind of dubious about them... )

but how are you at just riding in the drops? Just practice riding in the drops, and getting your hands back and forth from the drops to the hoods. One hand at a time, easy as pie. Don't even worry about shifting yet.

The drops seem so far away..though they really aren't I figured that I would start with just being able to move my hands along the tops of the bars and just take it one step at a time. I CAN almost touch the shifter with the tip of my thumb on the top of the bar - though I haven't tried this riding. Amazing what you can do when the bike is leaning against the couch

Yeah, this was the part that I was always dubious about, but the bike is so great that it is worth the trouble. I already know what it will cost to change to STI shifters if I can't adjust, but as I don't know how to shift those either it seems better just to go ahead and learn how to use these. For some reason, on the trainer, the bars and shifters didn't seem so......LOW

ADDED: Then again, I've never used road bars before, Stella has mountain bars and trigger shifters. I even had the wild idea yesterday that a taller stem might solve it! It is about the hand movement though, I really don't think the stem is too short.

[Skierchickie]

Just keep riding, and and I'm pretty sure you'll get used to it. Someday you'll wonder why it ever seemed so difficult, but right now it's a foreign setup for you.

You're gonna love it! I have a bike with bar end shifters, and I love them. I do remember the days (many years ago, but I'm old ) of feeling uncomfortable switching from the hoods to the drops, but now it's easy-peasy. Just ride, ride, ride!

[moderncyclista]

Which chainring (front) are you on and which ring on the rear cassette are you on? If you pedal in a higher gear your bike won't "wobble" as much. Also, if your going faster in general - but I'm not sure you're quite ready for that. Put your Surly on your trainer and practice shifting on a stable platform first - or in a parking lot. It might be somewhat dangerous on the streets if you don't know how to operate the bike yet. Keep one hand on your bars when shifting (usually the left), move your right hand down to the bar end - down for higher gears - up for lower gears.

Also, I have bar ends and I ride most of the time on the hoods, rarely use the drops. It is the easiest shifting from the hoods for me. Doesn't help me much to get into the drops and then shift. It should become intuitive where your shifter is, so you can reach down without looking and shift.

[Catrin]

Which chainring (front) are you on and which ring on the rear cassette are you on? If you pedal in a higher gear your bike won't "wobble" as much. Also, if your going faster in general - but I'm not sure you're quite ready for that. Put your Surly on your trainer and practice shifting on a stable platform first - or in a parking lot. It might be somewhat dangerous on the streets if you don't know how to operate the bike yet. Keep one hand on your bars when shifting (usually the left), move your right hand down to the bar end - down for higher gears - up for lower gears.

Also, I have bar ends and I ride most of the time on the hoods, rarely use the drops. It is the easiest shifting from the hoods for me. Doesn't help me much to get into the drops and then shift. It should become intuitive where your shifter is, so you can reach down without looking and shift.

Thanks for everyone's tips, they will be helpful. I've a nice large park with every kind of road imaginable (flat/hilly, curves, and straight) to practice shifting the LHT in. I am comfortable pedaling around 13mph or so, though yesterday we got up to 17.5 in a tailwind - and it was my other bike.

Saturday I had the LHT in the middle chain, and about the middle of the small gears. I actually didn't NEED to shift, and I hit every hill in that park outside of THE hill. I thought it good to practice just moving my hands on the top of the bars to get comfy with just doing that - I've been unable to do that. Yesterday I did manage to adjust my mirror on my Trek though, so progress is being made