Newbie concern!!!!

el_capo said:

If I want to train to gain better speed, TT and all the other good attributes an experienced cyclist has after training for a long time, is it safe or Ok to use a mountain bike for another month or two until a buy me a beginner road bike. ($600 -$800)

It's perfectly acceptable. As long as it functions properly, you can achieve the same level of fitness on any given bike.

el_capo said:

Is there anything that I should be looking after in terms of riding style, avoid injuring my knees or anything?

Proper bike fit is essential to comfort and helping to prevent stress injuries. A bike shop can perform a bike fitting, or you could consult numerous online guides. To avoid knee injuries, use gear combinations that require a fast cadence (say 60-90 rpm) rather than mashing hard and slow on the pedals.

Great that's what I needed to know!

Thanks

I would add agreement with the above.

Keep the cadence high.

Also, your seat position should be higher than you would usually see people use while riding a mountain bike. Your leg should be almost straight at the low part of your pedal stroke... This is for efficiency.

If you have been riding for 8 weeks several times each week, your position is probably close to what it should be. Some people do get too tied up into millimeters of difference, when in fact sometimes close is close enough for most of us... at least until you get to a competetive level... If you start to experience knee or muscle pain, then obviously listen to your body.

Now that you mention that, I do notice that my saddle is high but not high enough therefore my legs are not all that straight.

The reason why I bring up my riding style or position is because I have developed a non-severe back pain (no so bad at all) that started after I started using the bike.

The other thing I noticed is that when my saddle is too high, I tend to feel tension on my hands which then after becomes very uncomfortable. I think this is because I put too much pressure on them. Is this normal?[font=Arial][/font]

Thanks

Pressure on the hands can be a position problem.

The geometry on a mountain bike is different than a road bike, so it may be difficult to make it perfect.

One of the advantages of a road bike is the variety of hand positions possible with the drop bars, so your hands and wrists are bound to get a little tired on a mountain bike while riding on the road.

Unfortunately, someone else will have to provide info on what to try. There are "standard" fixes for certain pains, but I don't happen to know them. For example, pain on the front of the knee versus back of the knee will indicate different needs... and sometimes the "fix" is counterintuitive. However, sometimes the intuitive fix works.

If you try raising your bars, it can bring your weight back a little bit and relieve the weight from your hands. I believe that raising the nose of the saddle very slightly can help as well. However, this should be very slight, because there is the numbness of the tender region issue to be concerned with as well. :o Your saddle should be very close to flat.