Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)
  • n00b roadie help please, i'm hurting myself :(
  • philconsequence
    Free Member

    OI OI SAILORS!

    earlier this week i adjusted the angle of my bars so it was more comfortable when riding the road bike, angled them up and it was a successful change for the most part, can hold on to the bars in various positions and much less stretch over my back and neck, able to keep my arms slightly bent when on the hoods etc.

    but, and this is where i’ve failed:

    by angling up the bars the hoods are now angled up slightly as a result meaning that when i want to cover or use the brakes (use the road bike for a commute in rush hour traffic so a fair amount of the ride) i’m having to twist my wrists up to use them… not painful, but the moment i go over any kinda imperfection in the road whilst covering the brakes (ummm about 100% of the journey isn’t on the smoothest roads) it kills my wrists.

    for the past 3 days i’ve had near constant pain through my wrists, they crack and fizzle with any movement, i’ve tried heat, resting and have even had to resort to using boxing wrist wraps during my spin class and when i’m driving to support them 🙁 i’m skipping the gym this morning as friday would be a weights session.

    i didnt have this problem when i first got the bike and the bars were angled as the shop set it up, so i’m hoping i can move the hoods down a bit and it’ll go a long way to rectifying the problem. but i don’t know road bikes and am apprehensive to rip of the bar tape and start playing! especially as i will need the bike for my commute again next week.

    is it as simple as taking off the tape and just moving stuff around again? should i take the bike back to the shop and ask them to do it for me?

    ‘go and get a bike fit’ – well i’d love to, but i can’t afford it at the moment, the credit card is being killed by paying for our wedding and i dont have any free time at work to do so, my weekends are completely booked out doing wedding stuff

    oh and most importantly, will i die?

    thanks xx

    atlaz
    Free Member

    Different (riser) stem? Can you change the spacers around?

    drofluf
    Free Member

    Yes try moving the brakes back to roughly where they were when you started.

    It is as simple you suggest, unwrap the tape. I roll it up as I go and secure with some insulating tape. Move the brakes and retape.

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    philconsequence
    Free Member

    i could change the spacers around but its currently sitting on top of all the spacers and that height works well at the moment (dont tell realman, he’ll send the stem-slammers round to beat me up)

    as you can tell i’m no expert 😆 but i do think that its the angle i’m twisting my wrists to when covering/using the brakes thats caused this pain

    Klunk
    Free Member

    is it as simple as taking off the tape and just moving stuff around again?

    yes, though you’ll probably not do a very good job on the bar tape first time round 😉

    oldgit
    Free Member

    You have to remove the tape and sort it. I’ve always thought it a dumb idea to sell bikes with the bars wrapped. No one should have to move the bars to get the levers in the right place.

    If your bars aren’t 100% suitable for you, you might have to compromise on the hoods/drops position.

    Also have a fiddle with the inboard/outboard position of the levers.

    That all said you will have to get used to the position. Don’t forget an MTB is just a sit up and beg. A race bike is designed to be raced and you need to reign that race position in as much as you can.

    Try lightly padded gloves not heavily padded MTB ones.

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    i’ve been using some almost non-padded summer mtb gloves 🙂

    will whip the tape off and have a play this weekend, thanks guys!

    definitely not a sit-up type bike, have gotten used to the road position very quickly and angling the bars up slightly has near eliminated the tension at the back of my neck/between my shoulder blades, remembering not to tense up and to relax my arms has helped that too (i was tensing up over rough roads instead of relaxing)

    donsimon
    Free Member

    Señor philly, I’d probably have a look at shortening the stem, if you’re stretched out you’re possibly putting too much weight on to the wrists. A shorter stem will sit you up a little more when on the hoods and when you want to battle with the buses and taxis, you’ll be able to assume a more prone position.
    What length stem do you have?

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    PIcs?
    Try saddle forward.

    damo2576
    Free Member

    aside from adjusting the bike, can you stretch to become more flexible and get into a deeper position?

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    depending on how they’re wrapped, you might be able to move the brakes enough without taking off the tape – at least to try it out before making it all look lovely when you know the new position works

    (I find padded gloves worse on a roadie)

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    Phil has weak wrists. Can I make a inappropriate joke about self love.

    transapp
    Free Member

    Phil, I’m having exactly the same issue. I reckon it’s that the stem is just too long, I’ve got a 120mm on it at the moment, and on the hoods, I have only just got my arms bent a slight amount. I’m getting a 90mm stem this weekend which should sort it for me. Maybe worth thinking about (in fact, swap one off the mtb, see what it feels like)

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    ohhh shortening the stem is a good idea, i do feel pretty stretched out at the moment, flexibility isn’t a problem as i’ve spent the last 2ish years stretching regularly so after 15 years of not being able to touch my toes, i now can 😀 (getting rid of the belly in the way helped but its stretching my lower back and hamstrings etc that has made it possible)

    i’ve got girly wrists junky

    thanks for all the advice guys 😀

    DezB
    Free Member

    Chuck it in the bin and get out on your mountain bike 😉

    titusrider
    Free Member

    as peeps have said i would put the bar angle back where it was and get a stem that sorts you out, higher rise and maybe 10mm off the length

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    ohhhh just realised i could flip my stem so it angles up, that’d raise the bar height about 20mm straight away

    Del
    Full Member

    that sounds like a win.
    problem with moving the levers ( in addition to tape faff ) is that you’re moving the bit you moved by rolling the bars back in the first place. you’ll end up somewhere between where you started and where you are now i reckon.
    doing tape is fairly easy so long as you’re paying attention and keeping it all under tension as you go BTW.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Are you always braking whilst on the drops? If so, learn to brake when riding on the hoods. Modern caliper brakes are plenty powerful enough. Most road riders ride on the drops most of the time. The peleton is no different.

    JoB
    Free Member

    it’s hard to comment without looking at a picture but if you’re comfortable with the bars where they are in their new position then you don’t need to buy a shorter stem, you’ll just need to move the brake levers to a place you’re comfortable with, which involves unwrapping the tape, adjusting the levers and then wrapping the tape back up

    if the tape used is non-adhesive it’s an easy job, if it has a sticky backing you might destroy it undoing it, new bar-tape is only a tenner

    learning to wrap bar-tape is one of the initiation rites of owning a road bike 🙂

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    cheers for all the advice everyone, will have a play this weekend 🙂

    emanuel
    Free Member

    get a broom handle and practice wrapping that.
    might put some inner tube on the bars,like those gel pads they sell.Find the different density of butyl and the foam(open core I think) tape work better together.
    make small adjustments,I changed bars and my hands were going numb.a 2mm rotation made all the difference.
    I’d ride the bars tapeless for a ride or two.easier to move the levers.
    stem-short and high then gradually go longer and lower.

    njee20
    Free Member

    Most road riders ride on the drops most of the time

    No they don’t. 😕

    molgrips
    Free Member

    is it as simple as taking off the tape and just moving stuff around again?

    Yes. You might not even need to take the tape off for a small adjustment.

    There are dozens of adjustments you can make. If you tilt the bars back and move the hoods further around for example you’ll extend the reach a bit. Then you’ve got a million different shaped bars to choose from, some have a longer flat bit than others.. it’s all very complex. Took me 18 months to get my road bike sorted.

    Post a pic of you on the bike side-on, that’ll help us help you 🙂

    hilldodger
    Free Member

    molgrips – Member
    it’s all very complex. Took me 18 months to get my road bike sorted.

    Too true as I’m finding out myself 😕
    6 months in and I’m still not completely comfy – trouble is I can’t yet decide if it’s the changes I’ve made to the set-up or adaptation to the riding position that’s making the difference……

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Yeah I’m always fiddling with position, because I keep switching to different bikes for long periods. If I ride my Patriot for a while I feel like changing the setup of my 5 to be more AM-ish.. then if i ride my road bike a lot I change it back to being more XC.. it’s silly.

    I don’t change the road bike any more though. I went through 3 stems and two sets of bars in a variety of positions. I’m back on the original bars from some very ergo ones, but rotated forward quite a bit and with a long stem.

    I think my biggest problem tbh was that the bike’s only just big enough, making it quite hard to be comfy both on the drops and the hoods. On the larger bike I hired on holiday, I was fine with a pretty standard setup.

    fisha
    Free Member

    AS much as I liked the slammed look of stems on road bikes, over the last couple of years, I’ve had to accept that it was too hard on the back, and conceeded that the stem has to be spaced up a bit with a rise on it too.

    soo much comfier now.

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    ok, went to take the bar tape off today to move the hoods but its stuck on so without new tape i decided to leave the hoods as they are for now.

    flipped the stem and moved the saddle about 10mm forward, that’s instantly made it more comfortable on my wrists so this afternoon i’m going to ride it to friends house to test it out… it’ll give me a chance to play again and re-test on the way home after going for a play on the bouncy bikes in the woods.

    i do think i should try some new bar-tape even if i don’t need to move the hoods as its very thin and doesn’t offer any real cushioning from the road-buzz (very cheap bike).

    i will probably try a slightly shorter stem at some point if i find a cheap one 🙂

    Lifer
    Free Member

    I’ve got Bontrager gel bar tape which is great, was my first experience of wrapping bars and it’s really not that difficult, plenty of youtube vids etc to show you how to do it.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    Lifer – Member

    I’ve got Bontrager gel bar tape which is great, was my first experience of wrapping bars and it’s really not that difficult, plenty of youtube vids etc to show you how to do it.
    Posted 34 seconds ago # Report-Post

    Just about to recommend the same stuff – good value too.

    _

    bm0p700f
    Free Member

    Never tried Bontrager, I use Cinelli cork. Be patient with bar tape and you will get it right. Practice helps. I would by two boxes if this is your first time.

    Bar tape sometime bar tape unwraps withouyt tearing if you are careful removing it though.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    I believe you need a good dose of rule 5. 🙂

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Depends how stuck on the bar tape is, if it’s stuck on so well that it wont come off without falling apart then you’ll need new stuff. If it peels off then it’s fine, the stickyness is fairly pointless IMO, just wrap it under tension and finish with electrical tape.

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