Do you find if you’ve been riding one main bike for a prolonged period, when you jump on your other bike your legs feel like jelly?

I’ve been really struggling on the last few rides I’ve done and I think it’s because I haven’t used my hardtail for nearly six months and the seat to crank position is slightly different. Last few rides have felt slooooow, legs really struggling

I don’t mean saddle height, more as in one bike has a slacker seat tube than the other so I am in a position further behind the cranks where as the other I am more directly over the top of them.

The difference in pedalling power feels immense at the minute, but I think it is my legs are more accustomed to driving from a different position rather than that one position is inherently more efficient than the other.

Anyone else experienced this?

All my road bikes are set up exactly the same pretty much to the MM. My mountain bikes are a different kettle of fish. No matter how I set them up to be the same as each other they always feel and peddle different.

Do you find if you’ve been riding one main bike for a prolonged period, when you jump on your other bike your legs feel like jelly?

Yeah. I know exactly what you mean.
I’ve spent 2000miles on one with an engine in it, and now anything with pedals seems godawful slow and hard work…..

Going from steep HA fixie to ‘sit up’ commuter to light/speedy SS to slack AM meta is always a bit “whoo and whey” for the first few minutes!

DrP

My bikes have different seat angles, never had this problem.

Are you a girl? 😉

Very good point Al… might I jut point out you spend all your time on here so your legs are probably at their most efficient in a seating position akin to a sofa… hence you not noticing this phenomina when on any of your bikes. 😉

I ride loads – I’m just really fast so I also have plenty of free time 😛

Brompton straight to full suss 29er on Monday made for a interesting start to the off road ride this week!

I know what you mean OP. Fortunately for me my commuter, where I rack up most miles, is the bike that feels most sluggish. I think this is because of a slack seat tube so slightly less efficient riding position, and it’s bleeding heavy. This means when I jump on a better bike I feel like I’m going faster 🙂

I’ve never noticed it before last week, then realised I’ve been predominantly on the same bike for half a year or so, in the past they’ve all been used fairly equally so I guess legs have never been so predisposed to a certain plane/position of motion.

I hate swopping back to the f/s after riding the rigid bike for a bit,as it feels like it’s bending in the middle & with two flat tyres.Get used to it again quite quickly,but it does feel very odd at first !

For various reasons, I haven’t ridden outside yet this year, only on the turbo, so I may have to relearn the whole balance and steering thing 😕

My saddle is in the same position relative to the BB on all my bikes, including the mtb. I jus move the saddle fore and aft to make sure. Handlebar drop differs by a few mm though. So i don’t have any problems.

Id feel cheated if all my bikes felt the same, i built them so they would all be different and therefore have a reason for being. Because theyre all so different its a joy to jump from one to another for a fresh experience. Unfortunately i havent been out on any of them enough recently to remember how they actually feel to ride!!

It’s not usually my legs that suffer, more my back. Noticeable when getting onto the mtb and probably has something to do with having to gnaw on the handlebars a bit more when going up the steep climbs (although this has only started happening since being knocked off and landing on my back last year)

Exact same thing happening to me. Spent the last 3 months on a road bike or steel commuter with heavy panniers. Recently got the mtb out again and the wide bars feel ridiculous! I couldn’t believe how different it felt. Lower hearing was also weird but big discs made stopping interesting. All in a bit of a series experience.. Can’t wait to get out on the mtb again though!

Lower hearing was also weird

MTBing turns you deaf? 😯

Sometimes if I’ve been riding the 26er for a while, then jump on my 29er it feels iffy, for about 10 minutes. Sometimes.

My mountain bike always feels odd after using the road bike but not the other way around.

I don’t mean saddle height, more as in one bike has a slacker seat tube than the other so I am in a position further behind the cranks where as the other I am more directly over the top of them.

push the saddle forward? switch to an inline seatpost if you don’t already have one?

The only thing I really notice is the bar width, roadie drops to HT (710mm) to FS (750mm).

I notice this for about 2 minutes.

You need to make sure all your bikes fit you, no matter what their job, and then this problem will go away. I suppose. I don’t have this problem, as long as I use the bikes for their intended purpose. They are all very different.

Nope never noticed and all my MTB are different frame sizes [ 16,17, and 18]

only think I notice is when i have been doing loads of road riding and I get ona MTB the suspension makes me think I have a puncture

Only difference i would notice when changing bikes is defintley the head angle, for example going from the road bike to the downhill bike (Scott gambler) was good fun. Mainly because the gambler would feel twice as slack as i’d remember it, was only at a 63 degree head angle i think. My saracen myst now has the same head angle but doesn’t feel as slack when i jump on that.

I ride a BMX most of the week so when I get on my MTB it feels enormous and spongey.

I ride 3 fatbikes-29+, 4″, and 5″ tyre size, a new Genesis Cdf commuter, a fixie road bike, an 80`s steel road bike, a single speed Mtb, two 29ers, and half are clipped and in half flat pedals and i used to notice a differance as the OP mentioned but now swap bikes so often daily i hrdly notice. Some are faster, then slower in places than more regular machines 🙂

Ride Street/Trials only for three winter months and getting back on the proper hardtail-sitting down etc- has been miserable this year.

On the plus side, I have balance and calves.

The solution is obvious. You need a new bike that is lighter and faster than your current bikes and unfortunately more expensive.

N+¹