Scary Road Bike

[BSRU]

Had my first short ride, 10km, on my new road bike just trying out the saddle position.
After riding flat bar bikes for the past few years I have to admit it was quiet scary, the front end seemed very twitchy compared to my hybrid and the new hand positions also felt uncomfortable, not helped by having the saddle a little to high.
On the very very positive side, without even trying 20% faster than my hybrid and with the new computer I can at last see my normal cadence, between 100 and 110 .

 

[HLaB]

When I got my first dropped bar bike in about 20years, it felt very twitchy and when I got home I felt I had made a mistake buying it, that all disappeared on the second ride though and very quickly I changed my mind to call it responsive ;-)

 

[fossyant]

You'll soon get used to it.

My road bikes feel terribly light/twitchy after my panniered commuter (just the weight at the back)

 

[BentMikey]

LOL! My 2006 langster, with a track geometry frame, feels positively tame compared to the 'bent. Responsive is the word.

 

[Alembicbassman]

I spent a decade away from drop bars, my Raleigh Criterium 501 tubed steelie from the 1990s felt very different to my Alu-Carbon Raleigh from the 2000s

It was about 50% lighter for a start, STI controls replaced downtube shifters too.


I tend to keep my cadence between 85-90, over 100 I wobble a bit.

 

[smokeysmoo]

When I got back into road bikes a number of years ago I'd been riding MTB's for a long time, and the MTB I had at the time was a Kona Hoss Deluxe, (Clydesdale Class), basically a big old bruiser!

Then I went and bought a Trek Madone 5.5 as my first foray back into road bikes, (it was like getting off Dawn French and jumping on Twiggy!).

Well, you say your front end felt twitchy, I thought my front forks were filled with ferrets! For the first few weeks I had to almost stop just to reach down for a water bottle. Everytime I took one hand off the bars I thought I was going to wipeout!

Stick at it and your confidence will build. After a short time I stopped even thinking about it, and now I'll ride with no hands sometimes, not in an irresponsible way, but sometimes I just need to stretch my back out after a long time in the saddle.

Ride safe

 

[Holdsworth]

I remember going from a big old BSO to my 2nd hand Holdsworth Criterium and feeling a huge difference in the way it rode. The steering was obviously more twitchy and I had to learn how to adapt to drops and changing gears from downtube shifters. It was an awful lot easier to go places and much faster when I gained confidence in it.

I feel now that I have got a little way backwards in buying a gentle, sedate tourer. This one is brand new and has different controls to the other bike, STI shifters for a start which means I don't have to reach down to the DT to change gears.

I guess it is meant to ridden differently to a full-on roadie, it is made for long distance and gentle rides and not a bee-out-of-hell sprint to work!

 

[515mm]

Had my first short ride, 10km, on my new road bike just trying out the saddle position.
After riding flat bar bikes for the past few years I have to admit it was quiet scary, the front end seemed very twitchy compared to my hybrid and the new hand positions also felt uncomfortable

How wide are your 'bars?

Get a pal to measure the distance between the soft squishy spaces at the end of your collarbones. your 'bars should measure up the same, centre-to-centre.

If your 'bars are much narrower than your shoulders or your stem is short, or the head tube angle is very steep you'll find your roadbike somewhat "lively". Wider 'bars will have the effect of calming the steering and helping with stability when riding out of the saddle, which means you can accelerate faster.

Once your seat position is set correctly (at corrrect height for you and front of knee over centre pedal axle) you can set about adjusting stem length to get the correct reach. Wider 'bars will pull your chest down and forwards so you may need a shorter stem - although I'm informed that this is rare.

Have fun!

 

[Adasta]

I also just made the switch and I love it. So much faster on the road bike now!

 

[e-rider]

I spent a decade away from drop bars, my Raleigh Criterium 501 tubed steelie from the 1990s felt very different to my Alu-Carbon Raleigh from the 2000s

It was about 50% lighter for a start, STI controls replaced downtube shifters too.


I tend to keep my cadence between 85-90, over 100 I wobble a bit.

did you have the red or blue Crit?

 

[Rebel Ian]

I've never understood why there are comments about road bikes feeling twitchy. I've never thought any of my road bike felt twitchy, except for new slick tyres on greasy manhole covers but that's to be expected.

 

[Adasta]

I've never understood why there are comments about road bikes feeling twitchy. I've never thought any of my road bike felt twitchy, except for new slick tyres on greasy manhole covers but that's to be expected.

They're very different to hybrids/flatbars.

 

[yashicamat]

The steering is very quick on my roadie compared to by tourer, which in turn feels quick compared to my MTB. It's more than just the stuff above the headset, though, the fork design has an influence too. My roadie has straight forks; these result in the steering being more sensitive, whenas my tourer has forks with a bend halfway down, which changes the handling again.

As mentioned above, though, you get used to it. If I've been riding my MTB quite a bit (or a loaded tourer with front panniers and bar bag) then jump onto my roadie, it feels extremely unstable initially but within a few minutes everything is back to normal. Just requires a bit of getting used to.

 

[mightyquin]

I went to a road bike after riding MTB's for years. It's the thinner tyres I think I notice most rather than the bars. I love it though, much lighter and feels faster (even if it's probably not that much faster!).

I'm now lusting after a cyclo cross bike instead of a new MTB for my n+1 - or should that be n+3 as theres two MTB's in the garage!

 

[Rebel Ian]

They're very different to hybrids/flatbars.

Are they? I rode a £100 Halfords MTB and went from that to a Specialized Allez and then my Bianchi and apart from it being a a lot easier the thought of them being twitchy never even remotely came to me.