ouch!

patchy

ok - so my lovely Focus Cayo (first road bike after years of MTB and hybrid riding) arrived on Saturday, and I wobbled into work on it today (with a view to a proper ride after hours this evening).

It's a truly lovely piece of kit – but after only a mile of riding on the hoods the pads of my palms were really painful, and after five the insides of my forearms weren't much better. Have i ballsed something up on the setup or is it just my hands and arms getting used to the different positioning on the handlebars?


cheers

tenbar

There's some great videos on Youtube on how to set up road bikes for seat height, etc. I found these very helpful, just stick a search in for road bike fitting or saddle height. There's also plenty info on the net on the bike company websites. I'd try these first and then try the bike again. How tall are you and what size frame have you got? Obviously there is also the fact that riding a road bike is a lot different to an MTB when it comes to position on the bike and with more leaning forward you will put more pressure on your hands and stress on your forearms. Have you got some good gloves?

patchy

i'm 5'8" and its a 54cm frame, so is spot on for me, and the setup should be ok.... I do have good mitts too.

I figured that it was probably just the different riding position – I'll check the vids though to make sure i haven't missed a trick!

cheers

huwy

as someone coming from MTB into the world of road it does take time to adjust to the different position, bike set up is key - for me the first few rides were uncomfortable the it all just clicked...Good luck

Nuggs

Make sure you keep a nice bend in your elbows and keep your grip light...

biondino

I first adjusted the angle of the handlebars a few times and eventually reversed the stem for a less sporty geometry (which indicates the bike may be a wee bit too big for me, but the fit now seems spot on). Oddly, my right hand still gets a bit achey while my left's fine, but even that's going away now and I've only done about 150 miles on my Cayo so far.

patchy

cool, that's good to know - i'll see how it goes tonight and muck about with angles etc.

victor ludorum

Set up and positioning are definitely potential pain factors. The tendency to use a death grip
on the more flighty controls of a road bike is another. Road vibration can be a factor too.

I recommend all of the above - check your adjustments, don't grip too tightly and get a pair of
gloves with gel padded palms. Specialized do some mits with an ulnar pad which reduced the discomfort I was feeling.

Marko1962

I got my Focus Variado the beginning of the year and I had the same problems, a better pair of gloves and time on the bike sorted that out. Oh make sure you distribute your weight properly, don't put all your weight forward through your arms will help and move your hand grip around a bit, drops whilst your riding, hoods tops etc...