smokeysmoo
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bolton, not very far from Nob End
I went from a Kona Hoss Deluxe to a Trek Madone 5.5, and trust me, that sucker felt twitchy!
Scary Road Bike
- Thread starter BSRU
- Start date
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I went from a Kona Hoss Deluxe to a Trek Madone 5.5, and trust me, that sucker felt twitchy!
Jim_Noir
New Member
I got a Boardman team Carbon on Cycle-to-work, first ever proper road bike... sadly the week before I got it I was hit with a car. But when i was fit enough I got out on the thing, and have to say I hated it, this was down to being not used to it and the fact I was effed up over the car thing... but I thought I'd not given in, and now I adore the boardman... the speed and response is outof this world. Only thing I am still a bit worried about is down hill, the thing is so fast! So don't give in, just get out and love it 
When I got my road bike after having ridden various "ladies bikes", a mountain bike and my Brompton, it felt quite scary. The advice I was given was to raise the handlebars and perhaps rotate them a bit to make the brakes/gears easier to reach, and then return them to position as you get more confident. I found this worked for me.
I've just going through the same process with my new time trial bike, which makes that road bike feel stable and sluggish... but time on the bike is working and I am getting more comfortable with it all the time (and I didn't make any temporary adjustments to position this time).
I've just going through the same process with my new time trial bike, which makes that road bike feel stable and sluggish... but time on the bike is working and I am getting more comfortable with it all the time (and I didn't make any temporary adjustments to position this time).
Alembicbassman
Confused.com
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
Swapped from an old Peugeot Road bike to a Specialized Allez, and the new bike felt a whole load more twitchy than the old one. Combination of lighter bike, and probably frame geometry too.
hotmetal
Senior Member
- Location
- Near Windsor
I'm another one. I take it we're talking about steering responsiveness/twitchiness rather than losing grip on manhole covers etc? I've been riding mountainbikes since the late 80s. When I got my Giant TCR the geometry was so radically different to my off-roaders (no 541T Sherlock!) that I nearly binned it trying to check behind me. I did get used to it fairly quickly, you just have to recalibrate your brain slightly. I scared myself witless hammering down a steep hill when it went into speed wobbles, but this was due to me being a road n00b, down in the drops and gripping the bars too tightly. The trick with speed wobbles is not to hold the bars too tight BEFORE they start. Trying to relax your grip at 40mph on a race bike that's shaking its head is even more difficult than trying to stop your bum muscle from loosening.
Second 10km ride this morning, far better than before, not as confident as on the hybrid yet but getting there quickly.
Went up Swindon's "hill" this morning, like it wasn't even there, not surprising as it's half the weight of my hybrid.
Sat down all the way with lots of gears left if required, no effort at all.
Will try and ride up a "proper" hill this week, Elcombe Hill with it's 12-14% gradient and hair pin bend.
Went up Swindon's "hill" this morning, like it wasn't even there, not surprising as it's half the weight of my hybrid.
Sat down all the way with lots of gears left if required, no effort at all.
Will try and ride up a "proper" hill this week, Elcombe Hill with it's 12-14% gradient and hair pin bend.
