newbie road cyclist with lands end to jog on the agenda!

mr-tino

Hi all must I first say what a great forum this seems to be..
I'm new to road cycling I have only had my first racer for a few months now. Been doing a 30miler regularly with much discomfort. I bought some padded shorts but still seem to be sore. I have been looking at a few ways to set up the height. Another problem is that my hips seem to ache quite a bit when I've done say 20 miles. Is this due to a poor bike or the set up? My current bike is a Claus butler which was 350new managed to get one 2nd hand for 200...I'm looking to spend up to 600 for a better bike in the future. I have aspirations to one day do the lands end to jog which I know will Be a mammoth ride!

Monty Dog

There's plenty of online advice regarding saddle height - your painful hips could be due to having it too high, causing you to rock. Also, try and pedal a lower gear at higher cadence - pushing can hurt your hip flexors. It can take years to develop a strong, fluid pedal stroke - keep working at it.

mr-tino

Thanks for the reply. I was actually thinking of raising the seat. I will try out one of the set up methods I've seen online. Am I right in thinking that when I'm looking to buy a new bike. My height would dictate which bike is best for me? I'm 5.9ft and 78kg.

Tjgoodhew

Welcome to the world of road cycling !!

Are you riding with clipless pedals ? If your cleat position is off this may cause the hip pain ?? This was my experience when i first started and once the cleats were positioned properly by my LBS - no more pain.

Your rear end will toughen up over time but getting the saddle at the right height will help this process.

The padded shorts will help - are they bib shorts or normal shorts ? Again from my experience bibs were way more comfortable than shorts as the pad was held in place.

StillGoing

mr-tino wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I was actually thinking of raising the seat. I will try out one of the set up methods I've seen online. Am I right in thinking that when I'm looking to buy a new bike. My height would dictate which bike is best for me? I'm 5.9ft and 78kg.

Height is relevant but not the only factor. Your reach is equally important. Frame sizes vary with manufacturers having different ways of sizing their frames. Some go for actual top tube length, some for seat tube length and some for relevant top tube length. Stand over has absolutely no relevance these days and any shop that bases their estimate of what size frame you need on stand over should be out of business. The below link explains how to fit your bike.

http://bikedynamics.co.uk/guidelines.htm

mr-tino

Tjgoodhew wrote:

Welcome to the world of road cycling !!

Are you riding with clipless pedals ? If your cleat position is off this may cause the hip pain ?? This was my experience when i first started and once the cleats were positioned properly by my LBS - no more pain.

Call me stupid but what is the cleats?...I hate changed the angle on the seat and that seemed to help with the numb bum but still the hips ache slightly

Your rear end will toughen up over time but getting the saddle at the right height will help this process.

The padded shorts will help - are they bib shorts or normal shorts ? Again from my experience bibs were way more comfortable than shorts as the pad was held in place.

the shorts I got hate the padding sewn on the inside..they have made a big difference

KevChallis

Me and a friend are planning LEJOG next year, early stages currently so just aiming to get the mile in!!