Kinda dumb new roadie question

[Roadtrip]

Hello my name is Shannon and I'm a newbie. Is this a like a twelve step program?? If so every member here is like a sponsor to me!!!

I can't comfortably take my hands from the bars for long to signal. My signaling skills scare me, so if given the chance I will ride the trails over the road, just to avoid signaling.

With that said, I have ridden both the Dolce and the Ruby, both were fairly forgiving-- much less "twitchy" then the Madone I rode. That bike felt like it wanted to kill me if I dared not give it my FULL attention while perched on top of her.

Good luck-- to both of us!
Shannon

[spokewench]

There are some tricks but won't always work for you. If you are new to road riding, try riding in your hoods and braking from your hoods for a while. I hardly ever ride in my drops unless I'm really just going on the flat straight. If your hands are closer to the middle of your bar, i.e. hoods or on the bar on the flat upper part of the bar, your bike will be more stable. Why, you ask? Because you do not have the leverage that you have when you are out on the drops - farthest from the middle.

These are all stop gap methods, but they will give you the idea of what happens when your hands are on the top of the bars, on the hoods and on the drops.

The basics of a road bike are: Keep your elbows bent, if your elbows are bent you will not affect the bike so much with your weight. Keep relaxed and stay centered on your seat or over the bike so that you do not affect the bike side to side. Keep your weight off of your arms (bend your elbows), take the weight in your core, your tummy, balance from your abs. If you are afraid to do this; go out on a quiet, wide, straight piece of road and practice keeping your elbows bent, your weight centered and controlled with your abs; take your hands off the drops, try braking from the hoods, put your hands on the flat part of the bars and then , PRACTICE, taking one hand off and signalling, etc., etc.

Pretty soon, it will be second nature, but it does take some practice.

[AZchick]

I DO feel like I have too much weight on my hands, and I'm sure that's part of the problem. I appreciate all the advice. I'll practice a lot more, and focus on elbows and abs. Coming from a running background there was no real emphasis on balance, so my core is weak. Now I see why bikes and yoga go together.
I'm determined to get better at this!!!!!

[marni]

another trick for looking back at least, is to bend the elbo on the side you are looking back on, even more and move it slightly towards the center of the bar. I would imagine that moving your hand to the center of the bar would be of help in signaling as well, but I think a lot of it is just getting comfortable on the skinny tires,the position and the bike.

[AZchick]

another trick for looking back at least, is to bend the elbo on the side you are looking back on, even more and move it slightly towards the center of the bar. I would imagine that moving your hand to the center of the bar would be of help in signaling as well, but I think a lot of it is just getting comfortable on the skinny tires,the position and the bike.

Ahhhhhh... that makes sense. I can't wait to try. dang these skinny tires!

[OakLeaf]

It's got a lot more to do with the geometry of the bike (rake, trail, wheelbase, possibly handlebar offset/stem length) than the width of the tires. I'm just sayin'...

Other than that, you've been given good advice. If the bike is a good fit for you, you'll get used to it.

[ButIDidntFall]

Hello! I am new too I was completely terrified to remove one hand from the handlebars for some time. My nose would be running and my ex would say just wipe your damn nose, i promise you will not die!! I refused to move my hand, he was the only one going slow enough to see me so it was ok. Eventually I was able to move my hands from the hoods, to the top of the handlebars.. very slowly without taking them OFF. just sliding them over. once i was comfortable doing that first, and yes you may swerve, try hovering one hand over the handlebars then eventually move the hand outward, but like the other women said, use your core the balance yourself. You should feel comfortable riding the bike before you can do fancy things Don't get discouraged! I barely got anything accomplished the first time I was on a road bike.. other than not breaking a bone.