Road Cycling - another Dumb newbie question

I have not been on a road bike in over 10 years. then it was on of the sears 10 speeds. I have been trying to use my trek hybrid to ride longer distance as summer approaches, and while i love the way it fits, it is just not comfortable for more than 10 miles at a time. I took the plunge and went to the lbs last night to test ride a road bike. Imagine having just one in the entire shop and being "lucky " that it was a 52 cm frame! just my size! or so it looked standing over it and beside it, the ride however was very disappointing. the bike is a trek 1000 i believe It honestly felt like riding a mtn or hybrid bike that was 3 inches to small in the frame. the stand over height was fine. the problems were with the reach from the seat to the bars,as in too short, and the relationship of my feet on the pedals to the rest of my seated position. I honestly had a back ache like i had ridden 20 miles on my hybrid from just riding around the parking lot.

Does this mean I cannot ride a road bike or is the trek known for being "cramped"? thanks for any pointers you have.

1. If that was the shop's only road bike, you need to find another shop, one which specializes in road bikes.

2. Even more than with a hybrid, bike fit is a science that's informed by art and other subjective factors. Frame geometry can be very different from one to the next.

3. Standover height is the least important measurement.

4. The Trek 1000 is an entry level road bike and, yes, it's designed to yield a more upright posture than some other road bikes. At the same time, it's very common to see these bikes assembled with the bars much too low. The result is a very uncomfortable bike.

5. It does not sound as if any attempt was actually made to adjust the bike to you before you rode it. The process of fitting can involves saddle height, saddle fore/aft position, stem length, bar height (via stem rise angle). Still, there will always be frames that are closer to optimal and some that are just wrong for you. A roadie shop can help you find the difference.

RichC

The shop needs to tweak the set-up for you, i.e., stem length/height, crank length, saddle adjustment, etc. Serotta makes something called a Size-Cycle that works wonders, most shops will fit you for free if you buy a bike from them. Call around and find a shop that utilizes this thing. Sounds like the shop you visited either stinks or you didn't give them the opportunity to help you (I've done the latter, no offense intended).

You will need to go to another shop or try on other sizes.

Sadly shops cannot afford to stock all models and sizes. So just try on other sizes until you find the one you like. Then just measure out the TOP TUBE and there you have the crucial measurement. Now you are armed with more knowledge to shop around.

Do take note that road bikes wil be more expensive them MTB. Tr to stay away from very inexpensive road bikes as tubeset is usually really bad and or parts.

I am Thankful for your input! Yes I spent the better part of an hour discussing options with one of the nicest guys you will meet at the lbs. he did suggest a different stem different seat post and saddle and different pedals. however not having those things on the bike so i could test them for fit there is no way i am parting with that much cash on the promise that they can make it comfortable for me! There is exactly one bike shop in the big metropolis of Salina ks, and being car free tends to cramp the ability to get to others to try fit of other models. I love the fit on my hybrid as far as reach and everything it is just not suited to longer rides on pavement it seems. plus the weight and tire drag tend to limit speeds to sub- 20 range for me. I will say even being uncomfortable on the bike i managed to tell it would be much much faster. I will try to get to other shops before i plop down a chunk of money. My budget will probably be around $700 or so.

Hey Nemo,

This is driving me nuts...

Who is that avatar picture of? I know it is from Star Wars...

Dak? Red Leader???

Originally posted by easyrider
Hey Nemo,

This is driving me nuts...

Who is that avatar picture of? I know it is from Star Wars...

Dak? Red Leader???

that is porkins from the x-wing run on the death star.

I'm a little worried when you say you can't ride your hybrid more than 10 miles without experiencing discomfort.

I've used cheap hybrids (Giant Cypress DX) and medium-priced MTBs (Trek 6500) for long road rides of up to 50 miles with no problems beyond slight hand numbness (I have this with all bikes.) Aside from them being slower due to tires and aerodynamics, I found them to be fine for casual road riding.

Could it be that your hybrid isn't fitted to you properly? Do you ride regularly and have enough miles in that you've broken in all the right body parts? :) If you find that 10 mile rides on your hybrid are physically uncomfortable, it may be that a road bike won't help or may make things worse.

In the past I've had problems related to cycling. It seems I had my saddle too high. I also found that I couldn't use clipless pedals or have my feet tightly strapped down. I have strange ankles.

I also have a Trek 1000. I had the shop switch out the stems a couple times until I got what I needed. After a ride or two I got used to the new position and have gone about 30-35 miles at a time. When the weather warms up I hope to do 50-100 mile rides this year. The bike seems almost as comfortable as my MTB.

My MTB is an 18", and my 1000 is a 22" (56cm). The hybrid was about 19".

Good luck with your riding.

Have you gone to http://www.wrenchscience.com/ and done the sizing thing for a road bike?
It's not 100% accurate but is a good starting point to determine the size frame, stem length, saddle height, etc. you need.

really right now I am trying to justify the expense of another bike:D the trek is my commuter (a short one) and I have ridden it on longer rides as weather permits, To take him really long distance say 50+ miles i would probably have to take off the fenders and rack to save weight. clipless pedals are not something I have ever used or would want to in traffic. i also tend to like my arch closer to the pedal axle than they allow

Nemo,
I saw your post and picture in the commuter forum. Mine is the one just above yours. Trust me, you can set up your hybrid to go long distances. Save some of your money (for now) and change a few contact points on what you have. I've got both kinds of bikes (in several flavors) and can go the distance on either. My road bike is faster, but my commuter is no slouch. Skinnier tires will give you a faster feel. You can improve on the saddle and stem length/height too. The idea is to make it fit you! Consider bar ends for more grip options on the distance. Try some clipless pedals. Once you get used to them you'll be quite happy. I use SPD's and a comfy mtn bike shoe so I can walk when I'm off the bike. The rack really doesn't add that much weight either. My hybrid is a heck of alot more practical too when it comes to carrying stuff. You wanna go 20+ mph all day? Just keep feeding and exercising the squirrels. (Warmer weather will help too!) This is my .02 worth. I'll take the hybrid anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

You don't have a road bike, you want to do long rides, your commuter is painful for long rides, therefore, in order to do long rides, you must have a bike that is comfortable for long rides, because your commuter isn't, which leaves no alternative, other than giving up, which isn't an option....Justification for new bike completed.

nemo, go to wrenchscience, get all your bike fit data, and then get a bunch of bike catalogs, look in the geometry sections(you can also checkout geometry online), and try to match up a closely as possible. Then, armed with the knowledge of what size bike you need, and what models you want to look at, go to shops that carry the bikes you want to look at. Don't let a nice employee keep you going to a lame-o shop.

The more you know about what you want, the more likely you are to get it. If you go in not knowing a whole lot about fit, not knowing what you want to look at, you are probably in for a dissapointment, you may get lucky, but I wouldn't wager on that. With your knowledge, and the shop's knowledge, at a good shop, you should get what you want. Seat post height and stem length shouldn't be the primary means of making a bike fit. They should be the fine tuning, but you can't fine tune somehting that isn't tuned in the first place. Like Xavier said, if you only get one measurement, get the top tube length.

well thanks for all the replies to my dumb question:) now armed I am a better, more knowledgeable,kinder gentler cyclist;)

I just bought a new bike, and the LBS spent over an hour measuring, fitting, and adjusting before I ever took off on the bike. It was so comfortable that I did not have to ride very long to know it was what i wanted and fit correctly. Find a good shop.

Originally posted by RonH
Have you gone to http://www.wrenchscience.com/ and done the sizing thing for a road bike?
It's not 100% accurate but is a good starting point to determine the size frame, stem length, saddle height, etc. you need.

Sorry to bump this thread, but, it's a good one for newbie's shopping for a bike. RonH is correct. The wrenchscience sizing formula is not entirely accurate. It told me I should be on a 56 size frame as I'm 5'9. However, one company's 56 could be another's 55 or 54. I stood over a size 56 Merckx and almost spoke in a higher octave. It turned out I'm a 54 in this company's frame. Just goes to show the importance of fitting a bike in person. Forget the charts.

Steve

NEMO
I'm glad to see you hanging in there with the biking! I also started out with a hybred bike 7200 and hated that one. I later moved up to a 7500fx and 700x25 tires and man what a difference but I still felt something was missing. I swaped out the fx for a Trek 2000 road bike and man it does make a difference in speed but I now ride an older Trek 850 as a commuter and only ride the road bike for fun rides.
I will agree that the top tube length is the most critical length in a road bike and the stand over higth is secondary. I have rather short legs and a longer than average torso and barley have any stand over at all! Get real, how much time do I spend standing over my road bike? In a 20 mile ride, NONE. That may be and exception but I want a frame that fits my torso and not my stand over!
ps. The two hybreds I had where both too small for me! I have found that bike shops around here don't spend as much time fitting someone who want's to buy a hybred as a road bike or mt bike.

Good luck nemo, I think you should be looking for a good used road bike. If I remember your pix form the forum when you got the 7100 you are a big boy like me. I have found that contrary to logic thiner sadles are more comfortable to me than the fat cushey ones I had tried!