Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

I've been doing a lot of cycling recently on a fairly old and heavy "mountain" bike with no suspension. It's fine, it's as new, has 21 gears and everything is in working order.

I've change the knobbly tyres for slick 1.5" tyres, got a gel saddle and cycling shorts.

All the riding is road/towpath/light gravel so nothing major, certainly no mountains!

I think I'm picking up a lot of bumps (maybe due the weight of the rider and the bike!!), but despite the shorts and saddle I'm getting backaches and wrist aches, is it due to a poor cycling position and putting much weight on my arms?

Any advice on how to minimise these effects?

Is a suspension seatpost worthwhile for road cycling? Will it help my back?

I did a 32 mile ride on Sunday, and planning to do 58 miles for the London to Brighton in June.

PG

A pair of bar ends so that you can change your arm position from time to time might help.

bigJoe

Have you got proper shoes & clipless pedals??? (If not it makes a huge difference)

If you haven’t, take your bike to a decent road shop and they’ll set your position.

If you’ve done all that, you may just have to suck it up

Dxx

Mary had a little bike,
She rode it back to front,
And every time she pulled the brake,
The seat went up her ....

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

PG, I've got bar ends and the change of position is helping, but I guess I need to use them more, rather than when my wrists are tired.

bigJoe, I've heard conflicting advice about the shoes, some people love them, some hate them. I've heard some complain about knee pains after using them (although it may be down to an insole thing) I don't want to risk it as I have had dodgy knees in the past.

Dxx,

bigJoe

Andy

Honestly, properly set up, shoes will not do any harm – in fact they'll all most certainly be (and feel) better for your knees than trainers & clips - saddle height, angle and many other factors will probably have a greater bearing on knee pain than shoes alone. Pedals nowadays have a floating clip. Remember position is the key

You'll find with shoes are so much more efficient and comfortable on a long ride. They do need care in setting up though (it’s not that hard though).

Mark Miwurdz

Mmm

A seatpost might help but if you go down that route, spend more than £50 and get something decent like a USE Alien. If you can, try before you buy because I'm not convinced that it'll cure your woes. What's your frame made out of? Ally's stiffer than a stiff thing. Good for mechanical efficiency but gives a harsh ride. Try letting your tyres down a bit. If it's steel, you shouldn't have so much of a problem.

Position is everything so first off, adjust the saddle so that when your leg is bottom dead centre, the knee on that leg should be very slightly bent. Next check where your hips are in relation to your ankles when your foot is at the lowest point - they should be roughly in line vertically. Make tiny adjustments to the seat (forward and backwards on the rails) until you're happy. A small adjustment can make a huge difference. Check the pitch of the seat next - nose up or nose down or level. I prefer slightly nose up.

How far forward are you leaning with your hands on the bars? Does it feel uncomfortable? Moving the seat forward even slightly will make things better but you might need a shorter stem or one with more pitch. You might also want to consider riser bars.

Remember when making adjustments, do thing thing at a time and make it small.

I've never heard of shoes making that much of a difference but you shouldn't worry about your knees as all clip-ins have a degree of 'float' which will allow a small amount of yaw in your foot so relieving any knee pressure.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Kav

Fulham71

Andy Have you spoken to Neno ?
I believe he writes for a mountain bike magazine !

Paul

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the advice guys!

I'll double check my position on the bike.

As for clip ins, I think I would have be doing it a lot more seriously than I am now, and the money would be better invested into a new bike, rather than something that cost me £80 4-5 years ago!!

I'm not getting knee problems at the moment, is it worth getting the pedals with straps? (Sorry the cheapskate in me made me ask that question!! )

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Paul,

Funny should mention Mike, I forgot to ask him last time I emailed him!

Brendan Hughes

I think a cheap pair of toeclips and straps will cost peanuts but already make a big difference to your pedalling efficiency, even if that doesn't help your upper body aches. Two cheap routes as suggested by Kav are to slide the seat forward back and consider replacing the stem with a longer/shorter one if necessary.

SJ_Skyline

Best of luck with your ride Andy!

Philip Attaway

I find pedalling with normal shoes does my knees in at the gym.

I have Specialized Body Geometry shoes for mountain biking. They angle your leg correctly with the insole and have been great for me.

You will be much more efficient clipped in as you can pull up and round as well as push down. very handy on the hills.

I'm doing the London to Brighton too. Just got to get some slicks!

Phil

Edit to add that suspension is not great on the road. Mine will be fully locked out. Sound like your problem is your position.

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

The only suspension I'm considering is the seat post.

I believe it is wasted effort to have suspension on a road bike! Seeing some of the guys with their 'see-sawing' bikes and my basic grasp of physics, shows that energy has to come from somewhere!

I'll be checking the position tonight as recommended by Kav, as I have a 20-odd mile training session tomorrow.

I might try the strap in pedals as they worked fine for me in the gym. As Brendan has pointed out, you have less wasted energy, as use the upstroke, as well as the downstroke (if that's the wrong terminology, you know what I mean!!)

Brendan Hughes

BTW, if you're going to try to ride up Ditchling Beacon, you'll want all the push/pulling power you can lay your toes on!

I never did that, but Rickmansworth Hill with full panniers without standing on the pedals was my usual trick as a kid

Edit - I'd also stay away from the sus post, for the same reason you mention. You're not downhilling down fire tracks FFS. Never seen one, but perhaps you can lock it for the uphills...

the moose

The real change has been the slicks, which have a much smaller air volume than the big off-road tyres you had previously.

I'd say the overall issue you have, however, is something you can do not much about, namely that you've probably got a hugely stiff frame with relatively rubbish geomety. I'd also be prepared to bet that it doesn't fit you properly. Could be that the stem is too long, the bars too wide, the top tube overly long .... the list of things which could cause you problems is enormous. Sort that and you'll have cracked it, but if you're serious about cycling, a better bike should be on the cards at some point soon.

I went back to a steel-framed bike a few months ago, and the difference in ride quality is staggering. Then again, it's only got one gear, so you may not want to listen to all of my advice .....

StickyMicky

£50 for a seat post

Mark Miwurdz

Entry point matey

£80 for a decent susser or £120 upwards for a carbon fibre job - the weight weenies love that.

However, when you're carrying about 20 lbs of excess timber (I'm a fat b@stard), such weight saving devices are not on the agenda.

Cheers
Kav

Sticky Stuff

Just changed my 2.25 knobblys for a pair of 1.25 slicks, and the difference in ride feedback is amaxing. They run at much higher pressures and have less sidewall, so there's practically no give whatsoever, and you can tell, even on a full susser.

Also, usually ride clipless, but left my shoes at work (9 miles away) so rode over to get them in normal trainers (Clippy / flatty combo pedals) It's unbelievable how much you adapt to riding with SPuDs, had trouble keeping my damned feet near the pedals without 'em.

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

I had a play with positioning last night, so I'll see how it goes today and adjust it as necessary.

First run with my 1.5 slicks as well, but that should be fine.

I've ordered some pedals with straps and toe clip, so I should be able to test those over the weekend. (And make sure I don't fall over the lights! )

At the money talked about, I think I might give the seat post a miss, unless I start doing more trail riding.

Thanks again for all the advice!

NENO

Hi Andy, thanks for your PM you have one back.

Getting the right fit on a bike is vital because you're going to be getting a lot of aches and pains and you need to be sure that they are just because your muscles are out of shape and not because you're damaging yourself. The easiest way is to get someone who knows what they are doing to take a look at you on your bike, a good dealer should be able to help and I'm not talking about Halfords!!

Without seeing you on the bike it's hard to say if there is a specific problem but chances are it's just that you've spent most of your adult life sitting in a chair and chairs aren't good places for maintaining muscle strength.

Suspension seatposts, on the road, are a waste of time in my opinion so save your money.

Most likely your back is aching because it's simply not used to supporting your weight in that prone position for so long, it's therefor worth working on your back off the bike either in the gym or at home with some specific exercises. It's not long until the event so it's worth placing an icepack on your tired muscles after hard use, that way the swelling and aches will be less.

Hope this helps