New road bike and body aches

On Mar 13, 9:37*am, SMS wrote:
wrote:
Problem: Various parts of my body hurt for a couple of days.
Specifically, neck, shoulders, lower back, and pelvic area hurt more
than any other part.

These are supposed to hurt if you're riding in the proper position on a
bicycle with drop bars!

You can change the height and reach of the bars, or retrofit the bike to
upright bars. There are various devices available to make these changes.
You may spend close to the cost of that bike to make the necessary changes.

You might have been better off getting a flat bar road bike, which have
become quite popular.

I have to put in my two cents...

- If one wants to be in shape, riding one day a week is not enough.
I suggest a minimum of 3 days with 5 or 6 being optimal.

- I own a variety of bicycles setup in a variety of ways, mostly drop
bars, a flat bar or two, and even a tandem with a bit of rise to the
bars.

I find a road bike with drop bars to be the most comfortable choice
if I am riding at a reasonable pace, say greater than 15-18 mph on the
flats. For just tooling along, too much of your upper body weight
maybe on the bars and being supported by the arms. But for when one
is working a bit, your legs are pushing against your upper body and
this supports the weight, your upper body is pretty much floating,
this is one reason why road bikes are comfortable when ridden at
speed. If you are sitting upright then your legs are pushing against
your arms and if you are riding hard then this puts tension in your
arms and requires an added effort, not comfortable.

- Proper fit in a road bike is paramount if for a comfortable ride.
An experienced fitter can hopefully get the bike close but only the
rider can make it right. I find the fit on a road bike is much more
critical than other bikes, the seat height needs to be within a 1/8"
or so (3mm) and the reach within probably 1/4 of an inch. When I
measure my various bikes, this is how close they are... Learning what
is comfortable is an important part of the game.

- As far as the standard road bike with drop bars being something
reserved for the younger set. Yes, Yes, Yes

Fortunately I am part of that younger set even though I will turn 61
here in less than two weeks. I am still riding the same position I
rode 20 years ago with 3 inches drop from the seat to the bars and
140mm stems and I rode my fastest ever 20km TT last year.

Best to all, have a good ride

Jon

wrote:

- As far as the standard road bike with drop bars being something
reserved for the younger set. Yes, Yes, Yes

Fortunately I am part of that younger set even though I will turn 61
here in less than two weeks. I am still riding the same position I
rode 20 years ago with 3 inches drop from the seat to the bars and
140mm stems and I rode my fastest ever 20km TT last year.

Best to all, have a good ride

Jon

Hah! Good one, Jon. Glad to hear you're still TT'ing. Glad to hear
you're still here!

Peter

aka Jon Isaacs wrote:
[...]

Where have you been the last half decade?

Fortunately I am part of that younger set even though I will turn 61
here in less than two weeks. I am still riding the same position I
rode 20 years ago with 3 inches drop from the seat to the bars and
140mm stems and I rode my fastest ever 20km TT last year.
[...]

Still wearing the propeller beanie?

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
LOCAL CACTUS EATS CYCLIST - datakoll

Tom Sherman wrote:
aka Jon Isaacs wrote:
[...]

Where have you been the last half decade?

Fortunately I am part of that younger set even though I will turn 61
here in less than two weeks. I am still riding the same position I
rode 20 years ago with 3 inches drop from the seat to the bars and
140mm stems and I rode my fastest ever 20km TT last year.
[...]

Still wearing the propeller beanie?


That was my thought, too.

have you seen http://www.twowheeltraining.ie/