Help! I've bought a road bike...

butcher of bakersfield

...and since the NHS don't offer lobotomies any longer, it looks like I'll just have to get used to it.

So I had my first ride. After a moment of deliberation, gingerly slipped my feet into the straps, and pushed myself out into the road.

Never in my life have I felt so unsafe! And I'm not talking about the traffic - there wasn't any. How the **** do you stop? That's my first question.

I knew the brake/gear setup would take a bit of getting used to. The Sora gears I actually got on with fine, despite being impossible too reach in the drops. They shift beautifully. But I thought the brakes would be a 1 finger affair whilst on the hoods? Only to find out that this would slow me to a gentle stop only over about 200 yards... Maybe 20 yards less than not using any brakes.

Being really aggressive with them seemed to be the only way. Either that or shifting to the drops. Which I done on each and every descent. And felt like a right prat assuming my best Graeme Obree position, nervously twitching at the brakes (freaking out at their sideways movement), scrubbing my speed to less then 15mph :oops:

And then when I'm on the hoods, I'm afraid the next bump in the road is going to send my hands over the top and towards a fate worse than .... well pretty bad.

Seriously though. I set the handlebars up myself and I think they might need tweeking. Or perhaps I'm crap and it's me that needs tweeking? Any tips on riding one of these things?

Mikey23

Heck of a steep learning curve isn't it ... You will get there, just take it easy to start with till confidence builds

CiB

By Sunday you'll wonder what you were withering about.

If you've set it up yourself, have you got it close to the norm? Granted everyone's a bit different but there's a norm because that's what tends to work. The top of the bars where they curve round to the hoods should be parallel to the floor, and the top of the hoods where your hands naturally sit should also be parallel to the same floor. That's your basic position. If you're stretching to reach the hoods from the normal sitting position you might need to shift the seat forward a bot, but then your knees might be too far forward.

Brakes aren't as grabby or in truth as good as MTB brakes, but they should stop you reasonably quickly. Do they grip the rim fully before the levers touch the bars? Are the quick release levers closed? Are the pads & rims clean?

Give it a check over, or get your LBS to check it out. It should stop better than you describe.

Sesquepidilian

I went from a MTB to a racer and didn't suffer any of the issues you've experienced. Other problems lol, but not those...

butcher of bakersfield

Brakes are fine when I'm in the drops. No problems at all. It's just when I'm not in the drops.

I'm used to 1 finger braking (I still have and commonly ride a v-brake mtb so I'm not too spoilt, I don't think), and on the hoods I just can't get the leverage to do that. ...also tried pushing down on the tops and got about the same braking power. Found the only way to get any reasonable power into them was to crouch down a bit, get my arms in a better position, and wrap all four fingers around the levers, summoning some leverage from my lower, weaker fingers...which seemed a bit odd.

It was just the whole experience of never being ready to brake. They're not 'there' like on an mtb, where you can dab them at any time and command some serious stopping power.

So I wasn't sure if it was a setup thing, or just a body positioning thing which I need to get used to. The bars are currently fairly parallel to the floor, but I was pretty excited setting them up, so no exact science....I'll review them tomorrow.