Advice for a newbie

abouttobebanned

I'm coming from a mountain bike background but have recently purchased a trek 1.2 and could do with some advice on making the transition as smooth as possible.

Problems I'm having so far - my wrists are sore from the new handlebar positioning and my knees and arse are feeling it too. Will my body just get used to it?

Morgan

No, you've obviously made a terrible mistake. Get rid of that yoke and back on the mtb - just pretend none of this ever happened.

Raam

Don't mind that Morgan chappie, he knows not what he speaks of

blorg

It's difficult to tell, the position is pretty radical and can take some getting used to; you do become accustomed. Maybe try riding on the flats a bit more and then move to an on the hoods position gradually. Most casual riders would only be in the drops descending or in a bad headwind.

Were you sized where you bought the bike?

On the plus side you haven't mentioned chronic back pain which is the real killer and sign something is seriously wrong.

I presume you have decent gloves? A road bike tends to distribute your weight much more between the pedals and handlebars, you are not really sitting so much on the saddle as balancing yourself over it. This is the fundamental difference.

Arse could be an issue with the saddle, it might not suit you (although the Bontrager saddles are generally decent in my experience, it is a personal thing.)

Knees can be to do with the cleat alignment, presuming you are using clipless pedals.

With time your hands should get used to the position.

Raam

Oh yeah, advice...
How long do you have the bike? The position will take a certain amount of time to get used to. If you only just got the bike, give it a little more time to see how you adapt.

72hundred

I had almost identical problems as yourself, even the type of bike was the same!

Here's the thread I started back in the summer - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=56559563.

In my experience time was best. Everything resolved eventually, (although I do still have non-tender bursitis around my knees - probably because of too low a cadence)

DirkVoodoo

Make sure that you arms are slightly bent and dont grip the bars too tight, any road vibration travelling up through the bike could be hurting your wrists this way. As mentioned, a pair of gel gloves is best.

The arse thing could just be from the actual saddle rather than the position, are you wearing padded shorts when you cycle?

Whereabouts are your knees sore? Have you properly adjusted the saddle height to ensure optimum biomechanical efficiency?

Do you sit fairly upright on the bike?

Gavin

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Have you properly adjusted the saddle height to ensure optimum biomechanical efficiency?

Optimum Biomechancal efficiency, nice. Is this guy some sort of cyborg ?

DirkVoodoo

We can rebuild him, we have the technology...but I don't want to spend a lot of money.

abouttobebanned

Thanks for all the replies guys, sorry for the delay in getting back to this thread...had broadband troubles.

Was out again today and had pain in my left wrist, right elbow and the back of my neck. I sound broken don't I!?

I sit fairly upright on the bike but (obviously) something doesn't feel right.

Lumen

Have you been through all this?

FWIW, I think swimming fixes everything. I recovered from a major car accident by swimming every day, and every time I get broken it helps sort me out.

IMO it's not good to do cycling as your only exercise, you need a balanced regime.