Oldcomer with difficulties needs advice.

Zippy

Hello, all.

Don't know where to start: the beginning?

Now well into my 50s, I'd been a happy, solitary, only-there-for-the-scenery, distance-not-speed type of mtb-rider, for 15 years or so. Then I was injured by my employer: balance damaged. Tried to keep riding: fell off. Haven't ridden for two years. Miss it dreadfully.

As part of therapy have been told to be positive. So hope to get better. Will take my mtb to the fields: softer landing.

If – no, when – I'm confident I'd like to try road-biking. Once I've recovered some strength will consider joining a club: am sure the camaraderie can only encourage. I've no interest in racing. I'd just like not to be an embarrassment. My aim would be to get miles in, breathe hard, get strong, feel exhilaration once more.

I'd like advice on choice of bike, please. Am happy to get something better than I need – I'm sure you know what I mean – because I want it to delight me. (With my mtb I bought a ti-framed beauty and loved every second of it.) I must point out that I also have a tendency to rheumatoid arthraskey, so do suffer some hand-pain. So I've given thought to getting a Moulton: I understand their ride is smooth and supple. But I'm very happy to receive a range of opinion.

I've other issues, too, but that's the start.

Do enjoy your cycling, all – you never know when it can be taken away from you.
(Sorry – didn't mean to strike a sour note. I really am happy when I see Sunday-cyclists zhumming-past.)

Zippy.

kingrollo

To the untrained eye anything with dropped handlebars is a racer - however there are differences:-

Some bikes are full on racers - these put you in a very hunched over position on the bike - which is great if your body cant take it - but can get uncomfortable on longer rides.

Then there are sportive type bikes - these put you in a more upright position on the bike - and are generally more comfortable. Be aware of the marketing blurb though as a lot of bikes are described as sportive just to widen there appeal - ask around on here - when you have a few in mind.

Carbon is the dominant frame materail - provided you have around £1k to spend.

Titainuim is supposed to give the best best ride - and you can get a van nicholls ti bike for around £1200.

Cube, Bianchi, Specilized , Kouta all do good sportive bikes - so these might be a good place to start. From what you have said I think bike fit will be critical for you - so you want to go to a decent shop who will set you up to the mm - Epic Cycles has a good reputation - that may be a good distance travel - or others may recommend someone closer.

just keep reading here - you will soon get an idea of what you need

carl_p

Hi Zippy

You need comfort, stability and you need a bike that fits. The latter will make you feel at one with your bike and only help your confidence. Skinny wheeled racers take a bit of getting used to. There are some lovely tourers and audax bikes around and many have a decent turn of speed to. You'll need a fairly upright riding position to take the weight off your wrists. Perhaps drop handlebars might not be right for you?

Make a careful choice with your club as well. Group riding is not just about have a chat

Good luck.

Zippy

Thank you, 'kingrollo'.

I hail from Bedfordshire but am perfectly content to travel for advice and help. I greatly appreciate your starting-pointers, particularly that it's a 'sportive'-model I should be looking for: it was a term I'd only heard once before. (You turn your head for a while and when you turn around again the world has changed.) The Van Nicholas (speling?) makes me smack my lips because I've liked my taste of titanium.

I shall indeed keep reading. Thank you very kindly.

And thank you, too, 'Carl_P'. I look forward to learning what 'Audax' is; but my recall of Latin would inform me that it must have something to do with boldness, yes? Distance-riding with a bit of urge, perhaps? That sounds good. Thanks, also, for the cautionary note about choice of club. Hmm, boldness and caution? Subtlety's going to be required, I think. I'm looking forward to this next chapter in this welter that has been my life . . . !

Zippy.

kingrollo

Zippy wrote:

Thank you, 'kingrollo'.

I hail from Bedfordshire but am perfectly content to travel for advice and help. I greatly appreciate your starting-pointers, particularly that it's a 'sportive'-model I should be looking for: it was a term I'd only heard once before. (You turn your head for a while and when you turn around again the world has changed.) The Van Nicholas (speling?) makes me smack my lips because I've liked my taste of titanium.

I shall indeed keep reading. Thank you very kindly.

And thank you, too, 'Carl_P'. I look forward to learning what 'Audax' is; but my recall of Latin would inform me that it must have something to do with boldness, yes? Distance-riding with a bit of urge, perhaps? That sounds good. Thanks, also, for the cautionary note about choice of club. Hmm, boldness and caution? Subtlety's going to be required, I think. I'm looking forward to this next chapter in this welter that has been my life . . . !

Zippy.

Good luck Zippy,

I might be making the opposite trip. Ive hurt my back - and sitting in one position quickly becomes painful. Bizarrely MTB riding is currently better for me, as you tend to move around on the bike more.

Trouble is my pet hate is loading the car up with bikes to go off roading - where as on my road bike - I just get on & go. I am hoping a top notch bike fit and a visit to an orthapedic surgeon will sort me out - if not ...is nobbly's (or the pub !)

cyco2

You could try some slicks for road use on the mtb before getting a road bike. Although speed is not a factor for you the slicks will produce less drag and more speed.. Mtb's generally have only one hand grip position but if you put a pair of short bars inside the break lever position it will give you a more comfortable position for your hands and re-leave stress on your wrists. It is also a better position to ride against the wind.
Audax uk is a long distance cycling organisation where you'll get to make many friends and enjoy some fantastic rides.

http://www.aukweb.net/

Zippy

Thank you again, your maj', and I am sorry to learn of your back-injury.

I read a thoroughly uplifting article in The Grauniad quite some years back about the Alexander Technique – I have no connexion with it nor have I tried it. (I understand that it is for terrible bad backs and other postural unwellnesses.) The journalist wrote so glowingly of how he felt after the practitioner gently 'manipulated' him that it was all but burned into my mind, hence my mentioning it.

Yes, I did find that clambering all over the mtb does seem to help. To change hand-position I used some alloy bar-ends, though I had intended to get Crane Creek ('Cane'?) composition-rubber ones after the magazines said they do greatly minimize sore hands. But I never got round to it. Then there was the accident at work . . . and two years on, here we are.

I live in the oddest of places: one of England's least pleasant towns, so others (and my own sensibilities) tell me: but as I'm on the edge of it I'm but ten minutes' ride from an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty Though Most Of The Town's Daft Denizens Don't Appear To Have Realized It. I never had to put my mtb on/in a car. I'm sorry: I'm not crowing.

Good luck with the orthopaedic surgeon.

Thank you, too, 'cyco2'. Perhaps I could go further: convert my mtb to an 'rtb': I still have the Cycoing Plus (I think it was) article on making an on-roader of your off-roader with drops 'n' slicks. I daresay I could mount the bars quite high? Then see how much hand-/wrist-pain I get. And thank you for the explanation of, and link to, Audax. D'you know, but I'm getting more hopeful by the minute.

Thanks again,

Zip'.

balthazar

Zippy: I think the earlier suggestion to seek advice from experienced bike fitters is appropriate. That may be a good bike shop or a good framebuilder.

On which note, consider having a frame built for you. You may not have abnormal dimensional requirements, but many framebuilders are particularly experienced in designing bikes for uncommon demands, whether it be the very tall or short, those with a physical condition, or the simply perverse. Either way, the result is a often a cherished bicycle like no other.

Based on your comments so far, I'd guess that a general road bike with room for large volume tyres is about right. That may be an Audax, tourer, or simply a relaxed road bike. You could find it for sure with an off-the-peg bike (though good tyre clearance can be tricky), but I still think bespoke may suit you best.

Pay no attention to frame material, as far as you're concerned about comfort. Comfort is about tyres, saddle, and handlebar padding. Differing frame materials might have consequence for durability, repairability, weight (within a small range), and expense.

geoff_ss

I suppose we have something in common, Zippy. I had a bad cycle accident in 1990 when I was 50 which resulted in a high spinal injury (I was totally paralysed for several days - scary) . I coped for a few years afterwards riding my usual lightweight tourers (531/653) with dropped bars but I eventually had to think about a fundamental change.

The first bike I replaced drops with straight bars was our tandem. It was old enough not to have the complication of indexed gears so it was a straight forward mod. We were then able to ride for longer before the pain forced me to stop and rest.

3 years ago I built myself a new bike. I had to assemble it myself because no-one sells the bike I needed. It's a Kinesis 'winter' frame with mudguard clearance and lugs for a pannier frame. It's Shimano 105 equipped with straight bars and an ATB chainset. The riding position is similar to riding on the top of drop bars. The handlebars are short and the bar-ends simulate riding on lever hoods. Wheels are hand-built (by me) 700c shod with 23mm tyres.

I suppose it's a hybrid but it's a hybrid to my own specification. I think the Boardmans are similar though I've never actually seen one. I know it's not 'fashionable' but it keeps me riding a bit.

Zachariah

Ah, Bedford, my old home town. Now a sprawling urban mess, but it does have nice bits. The embankment area, with the lovely walks by the river. Russell Park, Bedford Park. I used to live almost opposite Robinson Pool, and cycled up Cemetary Hill to school - now that was a challenge. Happy memories.

Have you thought of a recumbent? This isn't a facetious suggestion - I'd love to give one a try myself - and they should be both excellent for balance issues if you get a trike version, and easy on the back/knees. Plus you get to be as fast as young roadies for much less effort!

alwaystoohot

Hiya Zip, how is your balance doing other activities? If you run around with your arms out (like we did as kids pretending to be planes) are you ok? Can you walk down a single floor plank without weaving, can you hop, or close your eyes and with your arms out in front of you squat down and come bak up? If you're ok doing above then you hopefully will be able to conquer cycling again mate.

I suspect balance is a combination of various factors (not just the physical mechanism in your ear) so do as many balance related small challenges as possible then as you pick them off and gain confidence, convince yourself the bike is no longer an issue.

Zippy

Gentlemen,

I'm overwhelmed by your kindness and cheerful, positive attitudes. Thank you. (Please forgive my tardiness in replying, for which I proffer the one-word excuse: h*spital.)

Thank you, 'balthazar', for the suggestion that I not get hung-up on choice of frame-material: wilco. I shall indeed visit framebuilders and dealers of repute; and think I'll repeat what I did 17 or 18 years ago when I bought my mtb: 'buy the dealer': i.e. the one whose advice rings truest and in whom I find the greatest empathy.

'Geoff_SS', I'm rather in awe of you. It must've taken quite some courage to get back on your bike after your nasty accident. For myself, I'm lucky to not be in pain: it's just that my balance can 'go'. When it happens during simple, low-speed manoeuvres on my mtb it's a case off fall into the bushes; if on the road in traffic, however . . . . My ability to recover in order to be safe is a wish not a certainty.

Zachariah, I'm south of Bedford tho' I was there this afternoon: the Embankment – for all our other readers, it's the bank of the River Great Ouse which is surprisingly wide that far inland – was lovely today. Thanks for the suggestion of a three-wheeled recumbent (and no, I didn't think it facetious at all: it was kind and imaginative of you). Yes, I'm giving it serious thought. Where to start (if you have any suggestions)?

And what a top moniker, 'Alwaystoohot'. Truly, I hadn't thought to test my balance like that and it's good of you to suggest it.

Perhaps I should explain. I was part-deafened permanently when subjected in the workplace to a sudden, extremely loud noise (which, I later found, was designed to disable). Also inflicted on me were raging, ceaseless tinnitus [noise inside my head] and hyperacusis: extreme sensitivity to certain sounds. It's this that seems to be the difficulty for the me that was a keen cyclist. Sudden noises – they don't have to be all that loud – can and do make my knees buckle, I fall and I feel very dizzy. I also experience sudden loss of balance without any such sonic trigger. It's being looked-into but, as you'd gather, it's a complicated set of difficulties to unravel and, one hopes, to make good.

Tell you what, though: where's the harm in my trying the tests you describe, in the garden? Gives me an excuse to not cut the grass: softer landings!

Again, thank you all. You've given me confidence, and avenues to explore – if not by bike now maybe it shall be in the future.

Zippy.

kingrollo

Blimey zippy that makes my back/arse pain sound trivial ! - all the best mate - I am sure you can sort some type of cycling out. With your MTB background maybe cyclo cross would be an option later in the year.

Best of luck

Too old for this

Zippy, your story for want of a better word makes me realise just how lucky I am. I've got into cycling over the past 2 years mainly to lose extra pounds round the waist, I'm 49 now but no major health probs yet. I hope all the lads and lasses on here will give you the right advice, they usually do.

Zippy

'kingrollo' and 'T.o.f.t.': thank you both.

My troubles aren't much, not really. We all have to stop cycling some time; but the sheer needlessness of my losing my treasured pastime is what has been hard to deal with.

I hope I didn't (and don't) seem to be 'milking' it. It's just that I wanted to be clear it's not a cycling injury but an injury that's robbed me of my cycling: well, at least for now.

Severe tinnitus is, of course, invisible. (To all but me it is inaudible, too.) It is not accepted as a disability, even a case so severe that I've lost six months' income to it these past two years, in which I've had to have 107 consultations (and counting). There's no cure. You can only be trained to deal with it better. A big psychological factor was my having to continue to work at the place where I was injured; and that the client who injured me – I'm freelance – is denying all responsibility. Furthermore, he made me stay off work while he fixed a loose floor-tile, recently: when stepped-on it would emit a high-pitched squeal which went right through me. And it only took him a month to fix it. Yes, another month without income. I've been very ill-served but I've kept my equanimity because I'm better than that.

I'll see him in Court. I hope to cycle there.

Thanks for your help and good wishes. I'll find a way through.

Zip'.

kingrollo

Zippy wrote:

'kingrollo' and 'T.o.f.t.': thank you both.

My troubles aren't much, not really. We all have to stop cycling some time; but the sheer needlessness of my losing my treasured pastime is what has been hard to deal with.

I hope I didn't (and don't) seem to be 'milking' it. It's just that I wanted to be clear it's not a cycling injury but an injury that's robbed me of my cycling: well, at least for now.

Severe tinnitus is, of course, invisible. (To all but me it is inaudible, too.) It is not accepted as a disability, even a case so severe that I've lost six months' income to it these past two years, in which I've had to have 107 consultations (and counting). There's no cure. You can only be trained to deal with it better. A big psychological factor was my having to continue to work at the place where I was injured; and that the client who injured me – I'm freelance – is denying all responsibility. Furthermore, he made me stay off work while he fixed a loose floor-tile, recently: when stepped-on it would emit a high-pitched squeal which went right through me. And it only took him a month to fix it. Yes, another month without income. I've been very ill-served but I've kept my equanimity because I'm better than that.

I'll see him in Court. I hope to cycle there.

Thanks for your help and good wishes. I'll find a way through.

Zip'.

Don't go to court - blow his head off with a 12 bore !

Hasta la victoria sempre /....................as someone once said

Zippy

'Kingrollo',

Ah yes, but in gaol I wouldn't be allowed access to any compensation that came my way; and were I, could spend it only on fags – of either variety. (Neither appeals.)

And I like my porridge before my cycling: not instead of.

Besides, I'm already on Deaf Row – bu-bumm!

All the best,

Zip'