query about road bikes....

[slomax]

Hello,

I have just come back from a short bike ride on my 1984 Raleigh i have just restored.

Now, this is my VERY first road bike and i had never ridden a bike with drop bars before today.

I only went 6 or 7 mile loop to check everything was working as i expected, shifters, brakes drivetrain etc etc.

I have only ever ridden XC bikes before and my current bike is a big full susser with wide handlebars and fat tires.

Despite the short length/time i was on the road the bottom of my thumb/palm area aches and hurt a bit all the time i was riding and i only ever used the drop bars for about 100m-200m or so, it just felt really low and uncomfortable. Also, when i got out of my saddle the whole bike seem to move quite a lot, so much so it scared me.

now a few q's.
1) do my bars/stem need adjusting or will my hands just toughen up over time?
2) is the out of the saddle movement just a characteristic of road bikes and ill get used to it OR by adjusting said handlebars/stem alter this OR do i need to tighten up my headset and make it a bit stiffer?
3) will i just get used to the position or do the bars/stem need adjusting?

[daz3210]

Do you wear any gloves with the bike? I get like pins and needles in my hands sometimes due to vibration.

As for the movement, well my road bike moves far more than my MTB, so it may well just be a characteristic.

[TonyHetherington]

The thumb/palm thing is the "ulna nerve". Keep doing it and you'll not be able to clench your hand -I did exactly that and after a few days of trying to ride through it I could barely grip a toothbrush

However, a pair of gloves with massive gel pad on them (altura gel is the ones I use) fixed it instantly

[Markp13]

Double wrap your bars, it will make a massive difference

[slomax]

I was wearing my fox mb gloves, but they have very little padding around the bottom of the thumb area. I guess this is because big flat bars dont apply any pressure on that part of the hand. I do have a pair of roady gloves i bought by accident. I'll have to dig them out and see if they are any better....

Thanks for the replies.

[slomax]

just to hit it from every single angle possible i have just ordered some gel mitts that seem to have a massive gel pad and were "designed to protect the carpal tunnel" if you believe the advertising gumpf. I have also dug out the spare bar tape to double wrap. Although i don't think there is enough to do the entire length double, there is plenty to do the areas where it's needed.

[TonyHetherington]

perfect

At first the gel pad felt massive (because it was!), but it did the trick though and never had that problem since, even on long rides.