First commute on the new (road) bike...

mrobbie

Done it! Picked up the new Trek 1.2 at the weekend along with some lycra and headed out on my commute for the first ride today. Had the journey down to 45 mins on my MTB and have 35 as a target on the road bike.

Started off badly - the initial part of the ride which is normally pretty clear was chocca bloc with traffic due to road works and temporary traffic lights.

Pedals - Started to regret my decision not to fit my M520 pedals and leave the stock pedals on the bike for the first few rides (to get used to the change to a road bike)... I found the stock pedals with the toe clips highly frustrating! Think the M520 pedals shall feature sooner than planned...

Gears - don't think these have been set up quite right by the LBS as there is a bit of skipping and grinding at certain points. Also, need to get used to the shifters as this is very different to the MTB, but will get there soon enough.

Sore hands - that bit of your hand between thumb and fore finger gets pretty sore when on the hoods; tried to take the weight off my hands a bit and now have a bit of a sore shoulder.

Never really felt like I was going hard on the bike, where I did feel this way on the MTB, and the traffic and pedal issues held me back quite a bit.

Still, it was only day 1 and the journey is down to 40 mins.

Despite all the above, have to say that I am loving it!

optimisticbiker

mrobbie wrote:

...
Sore hands - that bit of your hand between thumb and fore finger gets pretty sore when on the hoods; tried to take the weight off my hands a bit and now have a bit of a sore shoulder.
...

What are you wearing on your hands? I found the more forward position on the road bike needed mitts..whereas I would often ride the commuter with bare hands.

davis

mrobbie wrote:

Sore hands - that bit of your hand between thumb and fore finger gets pretty sore when on the hoods; tried to take the weight off my hands a bit and now have a bit of a sore shoulder.

That sounds odd. What kind of angle of your bars/shifters set as? (Pictures, from the side, with the bike level)

Congratulations, by the way! And yes, ditch the toeclips!

mrobbie

Thanks for the replies

Unfortunately, no photos of the bike to hand. Looking at the angle of the bars on some of the bikes in the commuting bike photo thread, mine are certainly more forward than others – could this mean that the weight is all on the front of my hand rather than my palms/base of hand taking the pressure?

I’m wearing Bontrager Gel gloves.

bibib

I'de take it out for a spin in the evening and guage what things need adjusting.

I personally hate those pedals with straps on... Took a hacksaw to the strap/toe part of mine. They always hang upsidedown.

Did the LBS take the bike out for a test ride? They should do really, to check if gearing etc is all setup correctly.

nation

For what it's worth, my hands hurt like hell for a week or so after switching to a road bike just from the change in position. I also got a fair amount of pain in the muscle that runs down the inside of the forearm because I wasn't used to needing to pull with so much force with my middle and fourth fingers when braking.

I rotated the bars back a bit (so the hoods point upwards) and that helped with the hands. The forearm thing was just a matter of building a bit of strength in underused muscles.

il_principe

Did you get a thorough fitting when you bought the bike?

If it persists I'd consider going back to the shop for some help with positioning and the gears. You may need a shorter stem/altered saddle position etc etc.

Congrats though!

mrobbie

Thanks nation - I'll adjust the bars a bit more upwards for the journey home to see if this helps with the hands. If the hands are not sore then I shouldn't be carrying weight on shoulders as much which will help there.

Il Principe - yes, the LBS did spend time on the fitting. As this was my first road bike, perhaps some things that felt odd/stretched to me were perhaps me thinking I would adjust to them so never raised all concerns. Lesson learned.

Toe clips are coming off tonight. There is no hack saw on my multi tool Want to just take the plunge with the SPDs! Thinking I may experience the taste of pavement tomorrow.

Looking forward to 5ish so I can get back out on it.

mrobbie

nation - absolutely spot on! raised the bars up and what a difference. Far more comfortable and so no hand pain on the way home

nation

Good stuff.

Only thing to watch is that (on my bike, anyway) the brakes become a bit of a stretch from the drops, so you might want to check that out before you need to slam on the anchors on a fast descent.

mrobbie

yes, noticed this. may need to wind the bars back down a bit. Feeling the forearm stretch from the brakes/gears on the way home.

Road bikes - a totally different cycling experience