Advice on technique please..... no, not that kind of technique!

[fudgepanda]

A shorter wheelbase bike will feel twitchier, especially when you're out of the saddle, or riding with fewer than two hands on the bars. You'll get used to it in time, I expect.

I'm out of the saddle for half my commute. It's just better exercise. It's working your upper body as well as the lower body. You can play around, too. I try to hold the bars with a feather touch, sometimes, or really pull on the other times.

I take your point about the shorter wheelbase, I've ridden motorbikes for 30 odd years and it's just as true with them. I'm also wondering how the angle of the forks (rake & trail) compares with something like a mountain bike.

Even when I used to ride road bikes, they were called racers then, I used to stand up, probably important with only 5 gears so it's something I'd like to try again, especially as I'm planning next year to go down that route again. It's not my fault, but when I was speaking to a chap from the Cycle to Work Scheme thingy he happened to let slip that once I've had this one a year I could get another on the scheme.

Mmm, Bianchi Via Nirone 7 methinks.

 

[fudgepanda]

When you say "it was a good fit" what do you mean? have you comftably riden the Carrera's you mention? As mentioned by another poster they seem drasticlly different sizes.. What size is your Bianchi? and what height are you?

Riding on my SPD pedals I feel sure that I won't slip.

The Bianchi has (I've found out now) a 48cm frame which seems to be at the smaller end of the size range. I'm 5'8" (just) with a 29" inside leg. I might measure the Carrera when I go back into work but I'm not sure where the 48/50/52, or whatever, centimetres are measured. Is it at the crossbar (or whatever it's called nowadays) or somewhere else?

It came with double sided pedals with SPDs on one side. I have some shoes fitted with cleats but so far haven't got round to using them so normally ride in a pair of lightweight New Balance fell running shoes with quite heavily treaded soles so grip isn't bad but they are wearing quite a lot now and were a bit slippery today as the conditions were horribly leaf mouldy underfoot.

 

[snailracer]

I thought you were a little dismissively critical of 400bhp's questioning of your post (above), yet the tone you take in it is quite dismissive. It may not be intentionally so, but it reads that way.

You do not answer the question, but appear to be advising against the necessity of the activity being asked about. You say that the average utility rider has no need to do it. You base this on your own riding history. The whole tone is slightly dismissive.

I'm afraid I'm with 400bhp. I am an old, grey, utility rider and I'm constantly getting out of the saddle. My kids do it too, none of them pro-cyclists. Most riders I know pop out of the saddle from time to time, for fun, for a change in effort, to save a downchange over a short rise or just because they can. Those of us who climb a lot in our dawdling, utility-rider way will use a quick burst (or longer slog) out of the saddle to shorten a climb.

To answer the OP: If you like the set-up while riding in the saddle, then the thing is probably right for you. That is not an absolute truth, but it is a positive sign that it feels right. There is much talk of the 'perfect' set-up, but I'm not sure it exists. My set-up changes often and is worked out with little more than a tape measure and a plumbline.

What might be causing the bike to swing so much is a low gear. I usually knock it up one or two on the block if I'm coming out of the saddle. It is certainly harder to keep the plot stable at higher cadences.

Also, bikes are much lighter than they were and the geometry of a road frame usually gives a less directionally stable ride. There is a delicious 'dartiness' to modern roadbikes, highlighted all the more if you've switched from an MTB.

Try honking in a higher gear. Click up (so much easier these days) as you start to come out of the saddle.

And keep enjoying the new bike. It sounds lovely!

I thought Drago made a valid point in a perfectly civil manner that did not deserve the resultant pile-on.
Here is what cycling guru Sheldon Brown has to say about "honking". Do you think he sounds "dismissive" about it?

http://sheldonbrown.com/standing.html

 

[Pale Rider]

I've tried honking on the Brompton and found it impossible.

I can balance OK stood up with the pedals level, but any attempt at turning them leads to some serious wobbling behaviour.

In Drago-speak, I'm on the utilitarian side of utility, so lack of technique could be the problem.

 

[Banjo]

Back to the OP with 29 inch leg on 5ft 8 you have a long body/short leg ratio so it is possible you could benefit from a longer stem but for now I would leave it if it feels good seated.

Usually you need 2 gears higher to ride up hill standing compared to sitting. Standing can be good to relieve pressure from the saddle now and then or to crest a hill without changing down but you will be seated nearly all the time so if thats feeling good I wouldnt fret.

 

[fudgepanda]

I looked at the Sheldon Brown piece and, like most of the comments on here, seemed to suggest that most non-racing cyclists should be able to cycle for the majority of the time sitting down which, I have to admit I can manage quite nicely. However I have to cross a couple of bridges over the M60 motorway and while I get up to almost 30 (mph) on the way down, when climbing I can see the speed bleeding off at quite an alarming rate followed by the inexorable descent through the gears. I must admit that whereas previously I had to get off (nonchalantly of course) when crossing one of these bridges in both directions, last week I managed to get completely over without stopping, although the old chap on the pavement ahead of me wasn't getting any closer as I crested the rise.....and my electronic speedo thingy stopped registering a speed.....which means I was riding at less than 2.5 mph. On the way down I started to lean back on the saddle and stick both arms out to the side in a Tour De France style victory salute but thought that bouncing of the tarmac with my face might take the edge off my triumph. On the way back my phone "rang" just before the top so I had to pull over to answer it.

That's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it.

This is the kind of hill I feel I need to stand up for, unless of course it's as much about developing fitness as opposed to technique.

 

[Rob3rt]

I thought Drago made a valid point in a perfectly civil manner that did not deserve the resultant pile-on.
Here is what cycling guru Sheldon Brown has to say about "honking". Do you think he sounds "dismissive" about it?

http://sheldonbrown.com/standing.html

 

[fudgepanda]

Had a go at Norm's pull up on the bars to compensate for the torque created by the pedals today. Didn't do it for long as it seems to require a bit of concentration but I'll have another go in a couple of days. I'm thinking my need to do this is exacerbated by not having ridden a bike for nearly 40 years and a pair of thighs with all the muscle tone of a tub of Flora. Thinking about the subject though, I've got a suspicion it was more popular in the '70s. There was a bumper sticker that stated "Honk if you're horny", and Elton John made an album called "Honking Chateau" which included his hit single "Honking Cat".

 

[fudgepanda]

Although I don't do it all that much, my standing up, or honking, when I do it now feels so much more stable than when I first posted on this topic. I'm not sure how much of it is down to me simply getting used to the action or how much is down to Norm's technique. Whichever it is, thanks to all who replied, I feel a lot more comfortable now.