Newbie Roadie

Frank,

Good on you for buying a road bike. You'll love your mountain bike more than ever now. 😉

Can I suggest that you abolish all attemps of setting your bike up DIY style. Find someone local who does bike fits and that way you'll know it's been done properly.

Where abouts are you? I know Victor's in Brisbane does bike fits for around $100 - money well spent if you ask me.

Cheers,
LH

--
Frank
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"LotteBum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Frank,

Good on you for buying a road bike. You'll love your mountain bike
more than ever now. 😉

Can I suggest that you abolish all attemps of setting your bike up DIY
style. Find someone local who does bike fits and that way you'll know
it's been done properly.

Where abouts are you? I know Victor's in Brisbane does bike fits for
around $100 - money well spent if you ask me.

Cheers,
LH

--
LotteBum

Good idea - I'm in Perth. I believe there's a bike shop in Myaree that does
fitting - anyone from Perth know for sure?

Cheers,

me

Plodder (remove DAKS to reply) said:

G'day all,

I've bought me a "proper" road bike - Azzuri Uno. It'll do for now. I
have a question so basic that I can't find the answers through Googling:

I need some advice on placing the levers on the bars in such a way that the
hoods are in the right place for me. Is there a specific place they need to
go and I adjust reach with stem size? I've brought the levers up the curve a
bit but now find that using the brakes requires quite a stretch. If I put
the levers on the curve in such a way that I can reach the brakes more
easily, I feel like I'm lying on the top tube when I'm on the hoods. I know
I'm not - I'm just very used to my MTBs and flat-bar roadie.

Is this just a case of getting used to a different riding position? The
bike's not too big (I was careful with the sizing) and the distance from
seat to centre of the bars is the same as my MTBs.

The thing to remember here is that you're not holding the bars in the
centre of the bars, you're resting your hands on the brake hoods 80% or
more of the time. Thus, that's what you want to be set up for. You
-may- have the bars too far forwards if you've set up your bars in the
same way that you had your flatbar.

A guess, of course I haven't seen how you really have it.

Plodder (remove DAKS to reply) said:

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply
"LotteBum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Frank,

Good on you for buying a road bike. You'll love your mountain bike
more than ever now. 😉

Can I suggest that you abolish all attemps of setting your bike up DIY
style. Find someone local who does bike fits and that way you'll know
it's been done properly.

Where abouts are you? I know Victor's in Brisbane does bike fits for
around $100 - money well spent if you ask me.

Cheers,
LH

--
LotteBum

Good idea - I'm in Perth. I believe there's a bike shop in Myaree that does
fitting - anyone from Perth know for sure?

Cheers,

me

That would be Churchill's. Excellent reputation for bikes, and
service. No I have no association with them. Where did you get the
bike? Can they not help setup the bike as part of aftercare?

gumby said:

Plodder (remove DAKS to reply) said:

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply
"LotteBum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Frank,

Good on you for buying a road bike. You'll love your mountain bike
more than ever now. 😉

Can I suggest that you abolish all attemps of setting your bike up DIY
style. Find someone local who does bike fits and that way you'll know
it's been done properly.

Where abouts are you? I know Victor's in Brisbane does bike fits for
around $100 - money well spent if you ask me.

Cheers,
LH

--
LotteBum

Good idea - I'm in Perth. I believe there's a bike shop in Myaree that does
fitting - anyone from Perth know for sure?

Cheers,

me

That would be Churchill's. Excellent reputation for bikes, and
service. No I have no association with them. Where did you get the
bike? Can they not help setup the bike as part of aftercare?

When you do get your bike setup, don't panic if it feels
very, very weird. When I got my MTB, I couldn't deal with
the setup. I changed it to feel more like a road bike. But
with all the falling off I was doing I started shifting the
seat lower and making other little adjustments and now it
feels totally different. MTBs and road bikes are very
different beasties.

Tam

Plodder said:

G'day all,

I've bought me a "proper" road bike - Azzuri Uno. It'll do for now. I
have a question so basic that I can't find the answers through Googling:

I need some advice on placing the levers on the bars in such a way that the
hoods are in the right place for me. Is there a specific place they need to
go and I adjust reach with stem size? I've brought the levers up the curve a
bit but now find that using the brakes requires quite a stretch. If I put
the levers on the curve in such a way that I can reach the brakes more
easily, I feel like I'm lying on the top tube when I'm on the hoods. I know
I'm not - I'm just very used to my MTBs and flat-bar roadie.

Is this just a case of getting used to a different riding position? The
bike's not too big (I was careful with the sizing) and the distance from
seat to centre of the bars is the same as my MTBs.

Told you it was basic!

Cheers,

Frank

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply

Some articles that you might find useful.

cyclingnews.comfitnessOpen ↗
cyclingnews.comfitnessOpen ↗
cyclingnews.comfitnessOpen ↗

As a starting point, it's normal to set the bars up so the lower section of the bars are horizontal i.e. parallel to the ground, and the levers set so the brake levers are vertical. From here you can play around with the angle of the bars and the position of the levers to find a setup that works in and out of the saddle on the hoods and in the drops. I've used rubber shims before for a rider with small hands to prevent the levers from returning all the way, and this helps quite a bit. From your description that might help you a bit, or maybe your stem is a bit long. The shape and depth of the drops plays a big part as well.

Hope that helps
Adam

adam85 said:

Plodder said:

G'day all,

I've bought me a "proper" road bike - Azzuri Uno. It'll do for now. I
have a question so basic that I can't find the answers through
Googling:

I need some advice on placing the levers on the bars in such a way that
the
hoods are in the right place for me. Is there a specific place they
need to
go and I adjust reach with stem size? I've brought the levers up the
curve a
bit but now find that using the brakes requires quite a stretch. If I
put
the levers on the curve in such a way that I can reach the brakes more
easily, I feel like I'm lying on the top tube when I'm on the hoods. I
know
I'm not - I'm just very used to my MTBs and flat-bar roadie.

Is this just a case of getting used to a different riding position?
The
bike's not too big (I was careful with the sizing) and the distance
from
seat to centre of the bars is the same as my MTBs.

Told you it was basic!

Cheers,

Frank

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply

Some articles that you might find useful.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2006/letters08-07#Pro
http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2005/letters08-08#Handlebar
http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2006/letters08-14#More

As a starting point, it's normal to set the bars up so the lower
section of the bars are horizontal i.e. parallel to the ground,

So *you're* the one still doing that?!

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply
"adam85" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Plodder said:

G'day all,

I've bought me a "proper" road bike - Azzuri Uno. It'll do for now. I
have a question so basic that I can't find the answers through
Googling:

I need some advice on placing the levers on the bars in such a way that
the
hoods are in the right place for me. Is there a specific place they
need to
go and I adjust reach with stem size? I've brought the levers up the
curve a
bit but now find that using the brakes requires quite a stretch. If I
put
the levers on the curve in such a way that I can reach the brakes more
easily, I feel like I'm lying on the top tube when I'm on the hoods. I
know
I'm not - I'm just very used to my MTBs and flat-bar roadie.

Is this just a case of getting used to a different riding position?
The
bike's not too big (I was careful with the sizing) and the distance
from
seat to centre of the bars is the same as my MTBs.

Told you it was basic!

Cheers,

Frank

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply

Some articles that you might find useful.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2006/letters08-07#Pro
http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2005/letters08-08#Handlebar
http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2006/letters08-14#More

As a starting point, it's normal to set the bars up so the lower
section of the bars are horizontal i.e. parallel to the ground, and the
levers set so the brake levers are vertical. From here you can play
around with the angle of the bars and the position of the levers to
find a setup that works in and out of the saddle on the hoods and in
the drops. I've used rubber shims before for a rider with small hands
to prevent the levers from returning all the way, and this helps quite
a bit. From your description that might help you a bit, or maybe your
stem is a bit long. The shape and depth of the drops plays a big part
as well.

Hope that helps
Adam

--
adam85

Thanks to all for the tips. I bought the bike from Glenn Parker's in
Cannington - they'll help me with the initial set up. I'm an inveterate
fiddler though, hence trying it myself. I'm getting good at retaping bars!

About 10 years ago someone had a fit kit set up in Freo as a promo. I got
fitted on my MTB and noted the measurements. All my MTBs are now set up the
same way and are comfy. I'm guessing the old bod is having trouble adjusting
to a new position - at least I still have muscle memory even if the real
memory is fading 🙂

My main concern in getting the position correct is that I've had carpal
tunnel surgery which opened up badly compressed tunnels but the nerves are
damaged after many years of compression so I still have lots of trouble. It
makes me very picky with bike setup. I'm considering a set of bars with flat
tops (flat near the stem, that is) which seem to me to be less likely to
compress my wrists when I'm riding with my hands there. I want to get my
position right before I shell out for more bars.

Tricky buggers, eh? Setting up an MTB is easier! I'm still getting used to
the idea of riding without covering the brakes - emergency stops are taking
some practice!

Cheers,

Frank

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 7 Sep 2006 06:13:34 +0800

Plodder said:

My main concern in getting the position correct is that I've had carpal
tunnel surgery which opened up badly compressed tunnels but the nerves are
damaged after many years of compression so I still have lots of trouble. It
makes me very picky with bike setup. I'm considering a set of bars with flat
tops (flat near the stem, that is) which seem to me to be less likely to
compress my wrists when I'm riding with my hands there. I want to get my
position right before I shell out for more bars.

Definitely get a good cyclefit guy to work on fitting the bike to you
exactly.

I was very impressed with the hard work Pedal Pushers did for me.

Of course riding a bent means I don't have any problem with wrist
compression or weight on hands... But then Steve reckons that riding a
roadie shouldn't mean weight on wrists either. Only way I can see that
is if you do your situps!

Which is what motorcycle riders have to do if they don't want sore wrists
on sportbikes - if you are resting your weight on your wrists then you
are putting steering input into the bars which you don't want. To avoid
it you need to have a good strong core which means your abs and your
corset muscles as most people have good enough back muscles but the abs
and side abs are weak so the back muscles have nothing to brace against.
If you have good core and the right balance of seat and leg position
then the theory is that you don't have to hold yourself up by your arms.

Zebee

"Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

So *you're* the one still doing that?!

It's a good a starting point as any other! Leave the clamp bolts loose, jump
on a trainer and move them to where they feel good. With my Cinelli Neo bars
here's where they ended up, although the stem has dropped 25mm since this
photo.

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/passion-fingers/images/Kharma2.JPG

Adam

"gumby" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Plodder (remove DAKS to reply) said:

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply
"LotteBum" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Good idea - I'm in Perth. I believe there's a bike shop in Myaree that
does
fitting - anyone from Perth know for sure?

Cheers,

me

That would be Churchill's. Excellent reputation for bikes, and
service. No I have no association with them. Where did you get the
bike? Can they not help setup the bike as part of aftercare?

I'll second that, re Churchill's. I bought a road bike from Rick Churchill
3-4 years ago and he did a good job fitting it up to me (and vice versa!).
He told me he did fittings for WAIS too. The shop is on the corner of Norma
Rd and Marmion St.

Graeme

--
"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the
disease." -- Voltaire

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?
www.glycostory.com/embracechange
08 9317 6368

Plodder (remove DAKS to reply) said:

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply
"adam85" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Plodder said:

G'day all,

I've bought me a "proper" road bike - Azzuri Uno. It'll do for now. I
have a question so basic that I can't find the answers through
Googling:

I need some advice on placing the levers on the bars in such a way that
the
hoods are in the right place for me. Is there a specific place they
need to
go and I adjust reach with stem size? I've brought the levers up the
curve a
bit but now find that using the brakes requires quite a stretch. If I
put
the levers on the curve in such a way that I can reach the brakes more
easily, I feel like I'm lying on the top tube when I'm on the hoods. I
know
I'm not - I'm just very used to my MTBs and flat-bar roadie.

Is this just a case of getting used to a different riding position?
The
bike's not too big (I was careful with the sizing) and the distance
from
seat to centre of the bars is the same as my MTBs.

Told you it was basic!

Cheers,

Frank

--
Frank
[email hidden]
Drop DACKS to reply

Some articles that you might find useful.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2006/letters08-07#Pro
http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2005/letters08-08#Handlebar
http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2006/letters08-14#More

As a starting point, it's normal to set the bars up so the lower
section of the bars are horizontal i.e. parallel to the ground, and the
levers set so the brake levers are vertical. From here you can play
around with the angle of the bars and the position of the levers to
find a setup that works in and out of the saddle on the hoods and in
the drops. I've used rubber shims before for a rider with small hands
to prevent the levers from returning all the way, and this helps quite
a bit. From your description that might help you a bit, or maybe your
stem is a bit long. The shape and depth of the drops plays a big part
as well.

Hope that helps
Adam

--
adam85

Thanks to all for the tips. I bought the bike from Glenn Parker's in
Cannington - they'll help me with the initial set up. I'm an inveterate
fiddler though, hence trying it myself. I'm getting good at retaping bars!

About 10 years ago someone had a fit kit set up in Freo as a promo. I got
fitted on my MTB and noted the measurements. All my MTBs are now set up the
same way and are comfy. I'm guessing the old bod is having trouble adjusting
to a new position - at least I still have muscle memory even if the real
memory is fading 🙂

My main concern in getting the position correct is that I've had carpal
tunnel surgery which opened up badly compressed tunnels but the nerves are
damaged after many years of compression so I still have lots of trouble. It
makes me very picky with bike setup. I'm considering a set of bars with flat
tops (flat near the stem, that is) which seem to me to be less likely to
compress my wrists when I'm riding with my hands there. I want to get my
position right before I shell out for more bars.

Tricky buggers, eh? Setting up an MTB is easier! I'm still getting used to
the idea of riding without covering the brakes - emergency stops are taking
some practice!

Cheers,

Frank

Definately go for two layers of bar tape, DeF here on a.b swears by
it!! That is when he isnt worrying sheep.

adam85 said:

"Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

So *you're* the one still doing that?!

It's a good a starting point as any other! Leave the clamp bolts loose, jump
on a trainer and move them to where they feel good. With my Cinelli Neo bars
here's where they ended up, although the stem has dropped 25mm since this
photo.

members.optusnet.com.auKharma2.JPGOpen ↗

Adam

Show off!!!!