I'm going to pick up my new bike today. So what's with the white stuff?

[Crankin]

It sounds like the Dolce wasn't fitted correctly. That doesn't make sense, that you feel stretched out on the hoods and cramped in the drops. Maybe then, you need bars with longer drops?
I'm no expert, but usually, the issue is you feel fine on the hoods, but can't reach the brakes in the drops. Again, you need some expert advice on if you can make this bike work for you.

[IBrakeforPastry]

I now have a nice collection of stems. I'll experiment. I have arthritis and a pinched nerve in my neck, so I'm very sensitive to any discomfort in that area.

It's snowing again.

Another thought. When riding on the hoods, how straight/bent are my arms supposed to be? I was just playing around on the trainer and if I leaned forward more (hello core strength!), and therefore bent my arms more, I was more comfortable. I'm not sure how long I could stay like that, though.

[Crankin]

Your arms should be slightly bent at the elbows in any position. Core strength is the key.

[Catrin]

I now have a nice collection of stems. I'll experiment. I have arthritis and a pinched nerve in my neck, so I'm very sensitive to any discomfort in that area...

Congratulations for still being able to ride! My neck took me off the bike, but I've found other things to do. Personally, mainly due to my neck and arthritis I had a very short reach on my bikes as my hands/neck couldn't tolerate a more "normal" reach. As Crankin said, the elbows should be slightly bent, and core strength is indeed key. The white stuff WILL go away, at least that is what I keep telling myself. We were below freezing this morning in Indianapolis. Warm weather has to come, yes?

[IBrakeforPastry]

I still haven't been out on my new bike, but I've been getting very good at changing stems on the Dolce. I tried a longer stem with a steeper angle. I think this may work. The reach is, of course, a little longer, but I like that I'm up higher. Unfortunately, the front brake cable isn't long enough for this set up, so I can't try it out on the road just yet.

Catrin - I'm so sorry you had to give up biking. I've suffered from headaches my entire adult life and it's only been the past few years how I discovered that some of them are exercise related. Working with a PT has helped, and now I just try to be very careful. I can tolerate lower body discomfort, but once I feel the slightest discomfort in the upper body, I back off. It's just not worth it. That's why I'm being so picky about the fit and comfort.

[IBrakeforPastry]

Were you going to post a picture?

I need a visual!!

Well thanks for asking! I will try to post later today. Stay tuned...

[IBrakeforPastry]

Okay. This is "as-is" from the shop. I want to reduce the red a bit, replace the grips and that one red spacer.

[IBrakeforPastry]

Geez you're fast. I was experimenting. It's been fixed.

[IBrakeforPastry]

The silvery one on the right is actually the thumb shifter. Is that what you're looking at? They're SRAM, and slightly more awkward than the Shimano trigger shifters. The brake levers are on the front side of the bar. I guess they're black and hard to see.

Those are pretty grips. I was thinking of a lightish blue (going for the Siamese cat look) or lime green. The bike color is actually between silver and gold. It's called "brushed titanium" and is almost a metallic khaki color. I like it.