After over 10 years of only riding bounce I’ve just bought a genesis CDA 20 so I can get out of the house for a hours ride rather than the inevitable half day plus the mtb needs.

Had a quick 20 minute blast tonight which was fun, but realised my derrière has been spoilt over the years and a fully rigid bike with skinny ish tyres is not that forgiving off road (ride took me through woodland paths etc). One thing that did strike me is that sitting on the brake hoods was making my hands ache after a while (did not wear gloves). Are there any tips to make this more comfortable (position on the bike felt good)? I’m thinking specific gloves/padding, tyre pressures etc. I’ve stuck my trusty Flite saddle on and will of course use padded shorts.

Get some gloves, but not with too much padding
How wide are your tyres & at what pressure?

Tyres are 42s I think. Not sure on pressures, yet to play with them.

I usually ride Troy Lee xcs, I’m thinking some sort of mitt?

One thing that did strike me is that sitting on the brake hoods was making my hands ache after a while (did not wear gloves).

For your hands, keep your gloves (a fine choice, by the way! I use them as well), and perhaps look at these two things;
Tape – FWIW, I really rate either Spesh Roubaix or Lizard Skins tape. Currently on the former, and when it wears out, will have to make a decision!
Position – Move around a bit. No, a lot. Part of the joy of a good drop bar set up is the ability to move your hand position around a lot, and thereby spread the pressure points. Tops, bends, hoods, top of the hoods, etc.

Your posterior?
Just like MTB, getting off the saddle a little is a great help!

You shouldn’t need to be on the hoods for the whole ride, just when racing or braking.

Consider some interrupter levers on the flats of the drop bars, they’re frowned upon by the fashionista, but are useful.

Give it time…. I have recently purchased a croix de fer 30 for my 24 ish mile round trip commute. Like you I had never previously been on a road bike and never used drop bars before.

The first week was not great. My hands hurt badly especially at base of thumb. I was getting shaken about on rough stuff and was actually seriously questioning all that I had read about cx / touring bikes being good off the road.

Second week in, I fitted a zero rise stem 10 mm shorter and rotated the bars so the long bits of drops were parallel to ground. Such a small tweak made the difference between the bike fitting and feeling like turd.

Hand pain disappeared overnight.

Now it’s my go to bike… Happy doing loops of blue / red Swinley as well as usual commute.

Recently got some 40 mm marathon supremes which are great in Road at 70 psi. But drop to 50 psi and they are so comfortable off road.

I’d guess your tyres are too hard-I run 30-35 psi when I’m running tubes, much lower on tubs.
Change your hand position, you’ve got the tops, hoods & drops-use them.

You’ll get used to it after a few rides, I wouldn’t change anything just yet.

I have cinelli gel pads on my drops and selle Italia smootape xl on top. Makes the drop more like a grip. I ride on the drops most of the time (Fargo) just using hoods around town to get a better view.

Thanks all, great tips.

Taped part of the bars felt ok, main area of concern is on the hoods which is currently untaped, would you wrap this?

This aside it felt great to get the power down and some decent speed up as opposed to my 150mm travel Hans Dampf shod ‘ahem’ enduro bike which is somewhat overkill for parkland paths.

I had a croix de fre, now a tripster.

1. You can get gel to go under the bar tape near the hoods.

2. Salsa cowbells give a much more comfortable/natural position offroad.

3. tubeless and pressures down at about 35.

4. I run a old flite gel flow and a USE titanium seatpost and get a fair amount of spring out of it.

I had only ridden bmx’s & mtb’s prior to my crosser.
Time is the key IMO .At first I really struggled with braking on the hoods& then my hands got stronger.
As did my shoulders ,arms and then I realised I was starting over….:-)
I initially had loads of stem spacers & gradually reduced them to slammed over six months or so.
Bar tape helped loads once I had sussed the positions that were comfy for me.
It’s taken ages to get my bars/hoods just right ,then I went and messed that by getting 42 as opposed to 44s(width).
I’ve done 40 mile of off road Funtime today . It still batters the buggery out of me after 3 years.
I’m giving it another two years and if it still hurts then , I’m packing it in. 😉

There’s a reason cross races are less than an hour long! 😉

Double wrap the bar tape, ride on the tops and drops not the hoods all the time.

You will get used to it. Been doing about 100 miles a week for about 7 years on gravel. Just an extra strip of old tape where the shifters run into he bars. I don’t wear track mitts, they make my thumbs numb. I run between 60 and 70 psi to avoid punctures although I prefer heavy road tyres as knobblues are pointless unless it is sticky mud on off camber. Grip is never an issue with 38 mm tyres. On my steel frames I use carbon seat post which is noticeably nicer. The To bikes has To post but feels much the same. Relax your grip, pedal a highish gear which means your legs take more of the ripples (it works) and pick your lines. Keep the speed high as well. Treat gravel like the roads, your tyres alone are enough. Try family trails as they are better maintained. Time will solve your problems.

Wide bats are brill. My Midges are the b#######ks

I take it that wide bars as oppose to bats? 😆

Learn how to ride without gripping the bars with the death grip.
Slightly bent elbows, fingers just gently wrapped round bars or hoods.

Check if saddle is level if too much weight on palms – I ride cx stylee on corrugated gravel roads a lot and gel mitts help, have cx levers on the top and that gives an alternative position – recently fitted a specialized zertz seatpost to reduce the mtfu factor on the main contact point but that definitely fits in the old man cheating category

Not a fan of low tyre pressures – not sure if those that suggest it are running tubeless but I just find get front snakebites with tubes running lower pressure when forget to spot a kerb or drainage bar plus run too slow on the bitumen bits.

As others said: give it a few rides. I recently got a CX bike and, coming from years of riding full suspension bikes, the first few rides were very uncomfortable. A few minor tweaks to bar and saddle angles and now all seems fine. This is how I am riding it:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63vxJx9m9To[/video]

^^^^did the smallest antigee’s maths homework whilst watching that – looked fun – had to turn the volume down – 10 minutes of undercarriage thwacking the saddle won’t win a BAFTA 😯
as said you just have to get on with it – I predate front forks!

^^^ thought i’d edited that to say “predate front suspension forks”

Ride #2 this lunchtime (the benefit of working from home on occasions). Rotated the bars forward a little, re-adjusted the tyre pressures from around 60 psi to 45F/50R and made sure to adjust my hands as I go, feeling better already (didn’t wear gloves again as seem to have misplaced my TLDs).

Will live with it a while as advised before I make any spec changes aside from pedals. But that will be another thread.

CX bikes are not to comfortable.Best in mud not over rocks.You get use to it.Its the stoney descents that take the toll on your body over a full-suss.I find my wrists take the most hammering over stoney ground.

Pedal hard and hover, this helps keep the weight of your butt and your arms. Also don’t hold on too tight!