Quote Originally Posted by hid558 View Post
I've tried looking for bikes with a 73 degree angle but dont seem to find any in my size, at least with my standover height. I was looking at the Cervelo r3 which has a 72.5 degree for a 48 cm, but don't know if a 51.5 top tube would be too streched out. I have a short torso but do have long arms.

Oh, I don't mean that you should give up on the bike or that you necessarily need a 73 degree one - I assume if you ride it, you'll get used to a 76 degree seat angle. I just thought it might be different from what you're used to... 76 degrees does seem to be awfully steep. What is the situation with the bike shop? Are you still in a 30 day period where you can return the bike and get another or are you pretty much stuck with this one?

to a certain extent, if you've just started riding, you probably need to work on your core strength a bit - the first year I was riding, I was constantly tweaking something on the bike to compensate for some pain - but as I got stronger, what used to give me pain was perfectly fine. So your back/abdomen muscles probably just need to adjust to the new positions.

Okay wrist pain - is your seat angled downwards? Are you sliding forward off the seat and using your hands to hold yourself back? Your seat should just be ever so slightly angled down in the front - enough to not stick up into your soft tissue, but not enough to make you slide forward and have to support yourself on your wrists.

Your back should eventually be strong enough so that you are not supporting yourself with your hands - your wrists are probably going to hurt if you are supporting yourself wiht your hands.

Wrist position - I usually make it so that my wrists are always in a neutral position - so they're not bent back towards me while on the handlebar or shifters - so you want your wrist to stay as straight as possible - and you want your elbows bent slightly, and to keep your grip on the handlebar loose - if you have your elbows locked, your grip locked, or your wrists bent back it will usually lead to pain of some sort. So you can adjust the rotation of the handlebars to make sure your wrists are straight when on the hoods or in the drops (depending on where you are most likely to ride) - make sure your shifters are adjusted so you can use them in that position.