Hello all! What a great site, I've just spent all evening looking through here.
A week ago I bought my first road bike, have been out on it most days in the is week, and I am in love... My mountain bike gave me a freedom that made me feel like nothing could get in my way, but my road bike makes me feel like I am unstoppable! I feel so light and fast--even if I am easily overtaken by all other cyclists!
However, I am have issues already and I hope someone can offer a suggestion or two. I'm sure most of this has to do with getting used to the new position, etc, but if anyone can share anything from their experiences, then thank you in advance.
Sore hands--the pad on my palm next to my thumb aches like mad. I continuously change my hand position but find this incredibly distracting!
Sore feet--the toes back to the first joint. I have loosened my laces, my seat is adjusted (to prevent nerve pinching which may affect my feet), and still they ache, they actually burn and only taking off my shoes and time relive me of the pain. Even more distracting than the hands. I am wondering if this is my foot position as I usually pedal toe down, in spite of trying to break the habit. Tonight hubby has changed the cleat position to move it further back on my sole, so I'll try this tomorrow.
Ingrown hairs! Ow! I never had these when mountain biking! Is this just different seat width? Is this preventable? Is it better to wax or shave? Sheesh!!
I'll try my best with questioons 1 & 2, the last one I'll leave to another girl to answer!
It's probably worth getting your position checked out by a good road-based shop, you don't say whereabouts you live but there must be somewhere. It's possible to get a fully customised fit done although this usually costs a fair bit. Ideally go somewhere different to where you bought the bike from, it'll give an unbiased second opinion. Hand pain like you describe is usually caused by too much pressure on the ulnar nerve - changing the position of the bars/saddle/stem may help with this as may a new pair of gloves. Any slight imperfections in bike setup and resulting position manifest themselves much more on a road bike cos you're sat in one position most of the time unlike on an MTB where you move around much more.
Re the foot pain, again you don't say what shoes/pedals you're using but try proper road shoes rather than MTB ones. Road shoes are much stiffer and support the foot much better, the pedal also offers a bigger more stable platform than MTB ones. I find Specialized shoes very good (they do Women Specific ones as well) they have an insert designed to avoid hot spots. Again, a good road shop should be able to sit you on a turbo trainer on yuor bike and properly set these sorts of things up as cleat position is very important (and may need changing a couple of times depending on what you change with the bar/saddle setup).
There's a good book called Serious Cycling by Edmund R Burke which details all sorts of stuff about correct bike fit (there's half a dozen different methods of calculating the "correct" saddle height for example) but it gives you an idea of what to aim for and is useful not only for bike fit/setup but also training and diet etc. Good luck getting it all sorted. Now over to someone else for question 3... (alhtough a good pair of Womens cycle shorts and a Womens Specific saddle may be a good starting point!)
Some suggestions for your dilemmas, although it sounds like your other half is quite experienced.
Sore hands - I wonder if your position is a bit extreme and you are putting to much weight on your hands, the weight should be pretty evenly distributed between the contact points. Do you wear track mits? they can cushion the vibration a bit as can a good quality handlebar tape.
Sore feet - you really do need to try and flatten the foot when you pedal as it is much more efficient and you'll go even faster! but I suspect that might be a contributor to the pain. My first thought when I read you post was shoe plate positioning. The axle of the pedal should be under the centre of ball of the foot.
Ingrown hairs - fortunately I've never had a problem so can't help.
Thanks James and Daphne for the suggestions--some things I didn't even think of. I'll look up the book as well.
My gloves are old so it's a good excuse to get some new ones. I do have good quality handlebar tape and extra gel under the tape as well. The customised bike fit will have to wait but I'll put it on the list. I've been meaning to get new shoes anyway, so hopefully that will help, thanks for confirming that. I've just been recommended some Assos shorts so will save up for those and try them, but as this ingrown hair thing is a new phenomenon for me, perhaps it's also a passing phase!
My other half is experienced (just rode to John O'Groats from Essex and back again in 10 days--150 miles a day! All in the name of charity... ) and good for a lot of help and support, but I stubbornly like to find out some of the answers myself! He and his mates had worse problems than ingrown hairs, so perhaps I shouldn't moan!
for ingrown hairs, there is a product you can get from beauty salons for it: be warned it stings!! but it encourages the hair out to be removed, be careful as the hairs can get infected easily, do you use chamois cream? A good pair of shorts is key and look at your saddle as it may not be right for you
Just a thought but you say you already have padding on the bars, I found the padding that came on mine more uncomfortable and took it off as is made the bars fatter and I couldn't get a good position for my hands, It actually dug into my hands more than the actual bars did as well because of the shape of the inserts.
To be honest there is a lot to be said for just trying lots of variations, but only change one thing at a time and try not to be too drastic with the changes when you make them.
Welcome to the world of road biking It sounds like you are using trainers to ride in - I definately recommend getting some clipless pedals and a pair of cycling shoes with an adjustable ratchet system - I have a pair of the specialized womens shoes and if my feet start to hurt during a ride they are easy to adjust. As for ingrown hairs I definately reccomend using a decent chamois cream, Assos is the best one I have found so far........... hope that helps
