New roadie questions (potential hybrid defector)

The Chingford Skinhead

Real novice questions so please be patient and not too patronising :oops:

I'm currently on a Ridgeback Velocity hybrid. I love it. It's been very good to me and copes well with my on road and towpath riding. However my first adult (OK teen) bike was a Raleigh Arena 10 speed racer and I've yearned for a roadie since. Anyway midlife crisis beckoned and I mentioned my desire it to a mate who is a serious cyclinst. He said he had a Ribble winter trainer that he was going to throw out...was I intere YES.

Got said Ribble. Took it to LBS. They've worked on the knackered bottom bracket, rear hub and replaced just about everything that the chain touches - so my "free" bike has cost about £170 but the LBS guy said it will last a long time as it is virtually reconditioned.

So, weather has been poor and I've only been able to go out on it twice for short spins as I'm home too late for work to go out in evenings and being stripped down it has no lights or reflectors. When I have had two short rides on it I had two issues -

Seating position Naturally much less upright than the hybrid but I seem to slip forward all the time. Is that how it is meant to be. Is this going to hurt my back (I do get lower back problems from time to time? Also I'm used to the flat handlebars and found I got pins and needles very quickly in the palm and outside edge (little finger and down) of my hands from holding the hoods while covering the brakes (don't trust myself or other road users not to have my hands not ovr the brakes yet)

stability My first ride was cut short due to a strong cross wind. I'm a biggish lad so wind is not my friend but with the feather light frame I honestly thought it was going to go from under me. Again, is this just a confidence thing or poor riding position?

potholes and punctures I'm not sure it can replace the hybrid for commuting as I currently take two heavy panniers and the ribble is stripped to the frame - just how much will other roadies hate me if I add a rack and mudguards? :twisted: But the route is full of potholes glass and badly maintained cycle paths with sunken drains. While the kelva tyres on the hybrid have coped I'm not convinced the 700x23s will. Am I worrying unnecessarily?

Any advice welcome. If I've got my acronyms right I have just two other questions :idea: :arrow:
1 Should I just MTFU get out there and ride it?
2 How do I let those playing "the game" SCR know that there is very little bragging rights in passing me on your pannier packed bromptoms whether I'm on the ribble or not

fast as fupp

if youre slipping forward andor getting pins + needles theres too much weight on your arms

try a shorter stem or try flipping the one youve got over so theres less weight on your arms

700/23 is fine but if you fit panniers we will hunt you down :evil:

The Chingford Skinhead

fast as fupp wrote:

if youre slipping forward andor getting pins + needles theres too much weight on your arms

try a shorter stem or try flipping the one youve got over so theres less weight on your arms
...:

Cheers - I'll give that a try

fast as fupp wrote:

...
700/23 is fine but if you fit panniers we will hunt you down :evil:

I guessed that would be the reaction. I don't think my laptop will fit in a saddle bag I'll have to just use if on the days when I don't need to drag the :!: home

fizz

Sounds like your seating position needs a tweak, IMHO you shouldnt be slipping forward and as said above with Pins & Needles in you've got to much weight forward. So try dropping the saddle or flip the stem or raising the bars a little. But it might be that the frame just isnt the right size for you...

As for guards and panniers. Mudguards with winter coming are a sensible addition on a commuter if you need panniers well then you need them so fit them and dont worry about what the rest of us think

fast as fupp

i was only kidding about the panniers!

The Chingford Skinhead

fizz wrote:

Sounds like your seating position needs a tweak, IMHO you shouldnt be slipping forward and as said above with Pins & Needles in you've got to much weight forward. So try dropping the saddle or flip the stem or raising the bars a little. But it might be that the frame just isnt the right size for you...

As for guards and panniers. Mudguards with winter coming are a sensible addition on a commuter if you need panniers well then you need them so fit them and dont worry about what the rest of us think

The frame should be about right - my mate is only marginally taller than me. We dropped the seat a bit when I collected it but clearly not far enough (or I'll raise the bars). I'll have to get some nice shiny silver mudguards as the rest of the bike is shiny silver (OMG why has the thought of David Essex singing silver dream machine sprung to mind :? )

Cheers

The Chingford Skinhead

fast as fupp wrote:

i was only kidding about the panniers!

I know. If I decide to go with a rack I'll add a sign at the back for fellow roadies saying "it was the rack or a trailer - YOU DECIDE!" :twisted:

biondino

Don't drop the seat unless you're too far from the pedals, otherwise your legs will be too bent and you'll get less power and more soreness when you ride. Have you checked the seat isn't pointing downwards?.

Flipping the stem and rotating the bars so the hoods are higher and relatively closer to you should help most.

The Chingford Skinhead

biondino wrote:

Don't drop the seat unless you're too far from the pedals, otherwise your legs will be too bent and you'll get less power and more soreness when you ride. Have you checked the seat isn't pointing downwards?.

Flipping the stem and rotating the bars so the hoods are higher and relatively closer to you should help most.

I shall take the bike out tomorrow with a large spanner and look at the seat and flip etc until I get it right. Cheers for the advice people - 8)

The Chingford Skinhead

Well took the Ribble out today. I didn't adjust the height of the seat but slid it forward. That made a lot of difference to my comfort. I haven't figured out how to raise the handlebars :oops: there is an allen key like hole in the top of the stem but it says roundhead and it is - so no purchase on any of the allen keys (if indeed that is what I need to be losening) Anyway, I will ask at my LBS who did the reconditioning work for me. Amazing how much quicker and easier it is than my hybrid and if I freewheel it rolls for ages.

Still getting used to the gears (flappy paddle things attached to the brakes) was climbing a steep hill and went down on the chain ring rather than up - OMG my legs told me about it!

Some of the tips on other threads in this forum have also been really useful. I'm pretty good at looking over my shoulder but the whole "put your right hand on your hip and then look behind" was really helpful if you want to get a good look at what is coming rather than a quick "was that a truck I heard behind me" flash over the shoulder.

Thanks all. Still love my Ridgeback but if i get the handlebars on the ribble sorted I can see it bieng used increasingly more.

fizz

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

The frame should be about right - my mate is only marginally taller than me.

Cool, just a case of a few minor tweaks then 8)

Mettan

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

handlebars and found I got pins and needles very quickly in the palm and outside edge (little finger and down) of my hands from holding the hoods while covering the brakes (don't trust myself or other road users not to have my hands not ovr the brakes yet)

stability My first ride was cut short due to a strong cross wind. I'm a biggish lad so wind is not my friend but with the feather light frame I honestly thought it was going to go from under me. Again, is this just a confidence thing or poor riding position?

potholes and punctures I'm not sure it can replace the hybrid for commuting as I currently take two heavy panniers and the ribble is stripped to the frame - just how much will other roadies hate me if I add a rack and mudguards? :twisted: But the route is full of potholes glass and badly maintained cycle paths with sunken drains. While the kelva tyres on the hybrid have coped I'm not convinced the 700x23s will. Am I worrying unnecessarily?

Any advice welcome. If I've got my acronyms right I have just two other questions :idea: :arrow:
1 Should I just MTFU get out there and ride it?
2 How do I let those playing "the game" SCR know that there is very little bragging rights in passing me on your pannier packed bromptoms whether I'm on the ribble or not

Pins/Needles - perfectly normal to experience this when switching to a Road bike - will take a few weeks to settle down - personally, I'd get some Gel padded gloves in addition to any other adjustments that you make.

Regards, a Road bike feeling "less stable/controllable" than a Hybrid, again perfectly normal when coming from a MTB or Hybrid - might take you one or two months before it feels totally second nature.

il_principe

With regards to slipping forward on your saddle - is your saddle flat? If it's a bit nose down this could be causing slippage.

The Chingford Skinhead

Mettan wrote:

Pins/Needles - perfectly normal to experience this when switching to a Road bike - will take a few weeks to settle down - personally, I'd get some Gel padded gloves in addition to any other adjustments that you make.

Regards, a Road bike feeling "less stable/controllable" than a Hybrid, again perfectly normal when coming from a MTB or Hybrid - might take you one or two months before it feels totally second nature.

Cheers for the advice - and the reassurance. If I know it is 'normal' then I'll just get on with it 8)