Well they [Road bikes] are certainly different!

[lulubel]

So just got back from doing a quick 10 miles (to try and get used to it) and I've come back with a sore lower back and sore palms, I seem to find that I have a tendency to lock my arms and try and ride in a more upright position with being used to a MTB, does anyone else have this problem? Do you think this is what is causing the back ache?

Both of those things are probably just due to the different position. I changed from a hybrid with a much more upright position to a road bike a few years back, and I spent some time struggling with the different position. I loved the road bike because it was fast, but I was constantly tweaking things to try and get more "comfortable". Over the months that followed, I gradually tweaked them back again until - surprise, surprise - I ended up with the bike exactly how it was when I first bought it. If I'd just accepted it in the first place, and got used to it, I could have saved myself a lot of wasted time and energy!

I'm not saying the bike is definitely set up 100% perfectly for you at the moment, but it's probably closer to perfect than you think it is, and taking the time to adapt to the new position will probably mean you only end up making a few small tweaks, if any at all.

 

[Friz]

but after about 15 miles I begin to feel it in the groin, it can be reasonably painful. I hope though this is something I'll adapt too.

Same happened to me. Started out hurting then the jewels would go numb.

Try tilting your saddle forward a degree or two. That fixed it for me.

 

[TheSandwichMonster]

I'm in pretty much the same situation as a newcomer to the road side.

One of the recent cycling mags had a free DVD about bike setup - was the Aussie guy, Steve Hogg, I think. One of the points he made was that your arms shouldn't be locked out and really shouldn't be supporting any weight at all. It's hard for me to explain exactly, but he has a blog that goes through a whole bunch of elements about bike fitting that I found really useful in moving over.

 

[cyberknight]

Wait till you try SRAM shifters, they are just really confusing!!!

Ha ha !

They are if you ride a bike with 2300 to work all week then jump on the nice bike with sram at the weekend and keep trying to press the non existent shift button ...

 

[martint235]

Ha ha !

They are if you ride a bike with 2300 to work all week then jump on the nice bike with sram at the weekend and keep trying to press the non existent shift button ...

Only played with SRAM once. I much prefer the 105 or Campag way of doing things.

 

[Allirog]

To ease the pressure on my wrists and back I fitted an adjustable stem which gives me a more upright riding position.

 

[2Loose]

Same happened to me. Started out hurting then the jewels would go numb.

Try tilting your saddle forward a degree or two. That fixed it for me.

Worked for me too. I would go numb at around 30 miles, but the saddle nudged just a smidge downwards solved that.

 

[martint235]

To ease the pressure on my wrists and back I fitted an adjustable stem which gives me a more upright riding position.

Not saying you're wrong as it's your bike and you should do whatever is comfortable for you but your levers look too far up the bar. They are usually level with the top of the bar making an extended flat are to put your hands on the bars and hoods.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Only played with SRAM once. I much prefer the 105 or Campag way of doing things.

I prefer the sram, I've got rival on my Verenti.

 

[cyberknight]

Re martint235 ...

I thought that too using the drops would be hard.

The high angle of the stem does look odd but looking at your saddle to handlebar drop it is fairly level,which is how mine works out anyway .

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Not saying you're wrong as it's your bike and you should do whatever is comfortable for you but your levers look too far up the bar. They are usually level with the top of the bar making an extended flat are to put your hands on the bars and hoods.

The whole thing just looks wrong somehow, the bars look as if they are tilted to far up.


http://www.caree.org...e101bikefit.htm

Just looked again and it looks as if the leavers are to far down the bars and you have had to tilt the bars to compensate for that, have a look at the picture of cyberknights bike.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Re martint235 ...

I thought that too using the drops would be hard.

The high angle of the stem does look odd but looking at your saddle to handlebar drop it is fairly level,which is how mine works out anyway .

That looks quite good cyberknight

 

[martint235]

Re martint235 ...

I thought that too using the drops would be hard.

The high angle of the stem does look odd but looking at your saddle to handlebar drop it is fairly level,which is how mine works out anyway .

Yeah I don't really have an issue with the angle of the stem, it's just that normally, and as I said before it's not my bike so not my right to say how to set it up, the flat bit of the levers are level with the flats of the bars as yours seems to be CK.

 

[cyberknight]

Yup if anything mine could do with a few degrees of twist , the bars supplied do not help as the compact ones on the nice bike are a lot easier to use.

I think i have twisted them around a bit more in this piccie of the bike with new tape on.

 

[Fiona N]

Even road bikes can feel very different. I ride to work on a fixed road bike, and it's essentially the same dimensions as my two road bikes, but I have panniers on it.

Jumping on the 'non-laden' road bikes is a bit tricky when you jump out of the saddle - no weight - the things just fly off the other direction. Takes a good few miles to get used to them again.

Works both ways doesn't it The day after a 600km Audax, I took the mtb down to the shops and it felt like I'd picked up someone else's bikes - the shorter cockpit, more upright position, teeny gears, it just felt all wrong