bike posture

blueneedles

I ride a carrera vulcan 2007 disc xc 20". Now when rideing i cant seem to get comfy on the bike at all and after a few miles my shoulders.forearms,wrists and pals are rather uncomfortable to say the least.

I was reading an artical the other day that this could be from stretching to far forward and all my weight is at the front of the bike! so i was thinking could i make a cheap fix and get an adjustable or stubby stem to shorten my reach to the bars and also sitting me up.

If this wont help me in any way could anyone advise me on something that will help me enjoy my ride without getting a new bike as funds are on the low side

many thanks in advance

sy

omegas

Have you tried moving the seat forward on the rails ?

blueneedles

omegas wrote:

Have you tried moving the seat forward on the rails ?

sure did this was the first thing i did every ride i moved it forward slightly and now its all the way forward and still full of aches and pains.

thankyou for your reply though omegas

sy

mobilekat

I suffer from achy arms/shoulders sometimes and it can be due to having a death grip on the bars- make sure you are not holding on too tight as this is a major cause of sore arms.
This can also be caused by grips that are too small or too large.

I found when I had my seat too far back (so I was stretching) I was getting a sore back rather than arm pain.

Hope that helps- if all else fails Flea-bay is often good for 2nd hand cheap bars - or ask the Christmas fairy for some!

robertpb

How tall are you and what length stem have you got.

cooldad

blueneedles wrote:

and after a few miles my shoulders.forearms,wrists and pals are rather uncomfortable to say the least.

Maybe your pals should get their own bikes?

Northwind

Sounds like you're resting your weight on your arms. The bars aren't handles for leaning on, they're for steering, your weight should be fairly neutral. This can be hard to do if you're stretched out on the bike though and a shorter stem might help with that. Equally, it might completely screw up the bike's handling. How tall are you?

I got taught- for motorbikes but it works for pushirons- that your arms should never be locked or stiff. Flap your arms- if you can't do the birdie song on the bike, you're either too stiff (tense etc) or you're deadweighted on your arms. Keeping a bend in your elbows will help prevent you from just leaning on the bars too.

blueneedles

cooldad wrote:

blueneedles wrote:

and after a few miles my shoulders.forearms,wrists and pals are rather uncomfortable to say the least.

Maybe your pals should get their own bikes?

ha ha ha ha ha ha just looked and realised my mistake it was supposed to say PALMS :roll:

blueneedles

robertpb wrote:

How tall are you and what length stem have you got.

Im 6ft tall sorry forgot to mention that and my stem lenght is roughly 91/2 cm - 95mm approx

stem is standard from when i bought the bike

blueneedles

[/quote]I got taught- for motorbikes but it works for pushirons- that your arms should never be locked or stiff. Flap your arms- if you can't do the birdie song on the bike, you're either too stiff (tense etc) or you're deadweighted on your arms. Keeping a bend in your elbows will help prevent you from just leaning on the bars too.[/quote]

i ride motorbikes too and ive got renthal bars on my suzuki of which i had to tilt them back to make it more comfortable to ride for any amount of time!

BigJimmyB

My own personal rule of thumb is that front tip of saddle to middle of head-tube (i.e. where the bolt goes into the steerer) is elbow to fingertip.

That might help....?

Northwind

Certainly can't hurt to try a shorter stem- don't go mad with it obviously but yours I think will be 90mm (Carrera seem to use the exact same part on all the lower end bikes) which is pretty generous. Even small changes can make a big difference. You could try adjusting the stem height as well if it's got any spacers, which I imagine it will do.