Commuting - long distance riding on MTB

Last week I went on the longest ride I've ever been on, 30 miles. Not very far for many of you, but for me it was quite an accomplishment. I rode on my commuter bike which is a '94 Gary Fisher Mamba, with slicks. The ride went well and I averaged 16.5 miles per hour for the whole trip. During this ride I noticed some uncomfortable things and don't know if they're due to my bike, my body or my bike fit.

1) My hands started to get a little numb. I have a straight MTB bar with no bar ends. I wear gloves and tried to change up my hand positions, but there's not many options with a straight bar. Can I put a time trial bar on my MTB and still use my MTB brake levers and shifters? Would bar ends help? I'd prefer the time trial bar because i think it looks cooler :)

2) The toes on my right foot went numb. I have platform pedals and rode with regular sneaks, laces loose enough to slide my foot in and out with no problem (addidas superstar 2G, the best all-purpose shoe ever made! :) ) It was my 3 outer toes that went numb, not sure if that means anything. Could this be because of my seat position? I think my seat is the correct height, but could be wrong.

3) I could never get comfortable on my seat. I felt either so far back that my butt bones were about to fall off the back of the seat, or was sitting on the skinny nose of the seat. I think this is because of a cheap saddle that came with the bike. A friend gave me a saddle that he had laying around, I'm going to try that.

4) My lower back started to hurt. I'm not sure if this is indicative of poor body position or just that my lower back muscles aren't used to riding 30 miles. Can I do some exercises to help or should I just ride more.

I had a lot of fun, and plan on riding more and longer in the near future and don't want to injur myself.

A lot of the problems you mentioned are normal even with a good fitting road bike. Once you start adding mileage, you must consciously remember to move your feet (inside your shoes) and your hands. In addition, you have to stand or lift out of the saddle. For instance, I regularly ride 30-50 miles at a time and have completed 6 centuries (100 miles) this year. For me, I can ride regular shoes, no gloves and regular shorts and not experience any pain for 30 mile rides. For 50 mile rides, I have to have bike shorts & gloves on. Over 75 miles, I must eat a meal and start lifting my arse out of the seat. I'd say your butt and back will be sore until you get about 300-500 miles in. Each season, you have to bite the bullet and get the base miles in in order to ride pain-free.

16 MPH !!! Not bad dude !
jarhead#42

yep - more base miles needed. also, make sure your seat is not titled forward too much. that may force you to put extra weight on your hands, causing numbness. i would recommend at least for a little while to take a break during the ride and strech. same as you would if you were driving for a while...being in the same position can cause serious pain.

2) The toes on my right foot went numb. I have platform pedals and rode with regular sneaks, laces loose enough to slide my foot in and out with no problem (addidas superstar 2G, the best all-purpose shoe ever made! :) ) It was my 3 outer toes that went numb, not sure if that means anything. Could this be because of my seat position? I think my seat is the correct height, but could be wrong.

3) I could never get comfortable on my seat. I felt either so far back that my butt bones were about to fall off the back of the seat, or was sitting on the skinny nose of the seat. I think this is because of a cheap saddle that came with the bike. A friend gave me a saddle that he had laying around, I'm going to try that.

4) My lower back started to hurt. I'm not sure if this is indicative of poor body position or just that my lower back muscles aren't used to riding 30 miles. Can I do some exercises to help or should I just ride more.

You could be leaning too far forward, as someone else suggested above. I used to have this problem on longer rides before adopting a more upright position. I'd think about adjusting the height of your handle bars by a couple of millimeters. Another thing about never getting comfortable in the saddle, something I've always done is to occasionally spend some time pedalling out of the saddle just to give the muscles in the back side a few seconds to rest.

BTW, I just got back from 141km on my MTB. You'll be surprised how quickly you can build up that mileage.

A time trial bar may be an expensive proposition since the brake levers would probably need to be different and may not be compatible with ATB brakes and you will need new shifters. You would be better off getting some bar ends. Alternatively, you could look at getting what's called a Trekking Bar (Nashbar sells them) which provides a larger variety of hand positions and is compatible with ATB shifters and brake levers.

For saddles, there is Brooks, Brooks, or Brooks.

Last month I rode my hardtail from Dallas, TX to Kansas. 675 miles. No problem.

My hands started to get a little numb. I have a straight MTB bar with no bar ends. I wear gloves and tried to change up my hand positions, but there's not many options with a straight bar. Can I put a time trial bar on my MTB and still use my MTB brake levers and shifters? Would bar ends help? I'd prefer the time trial bar because i think it looks cooler :)


Get some nice long bars ends. TT bars would require a different stem (clamp diameter) and your existing brake levers and shifters would also fit incorrectly.

One thing I've found helpful on long MTB rides was to position my hands asymmetrically, that is one hand up on a bar end and the other perhaps on the flat. I think it tended to promote more subtle movement in my hands/arms and lessen the onset of numbness.

Wow, lots of good adivce. Thanks!

I'm glad to hear that all that stuff is more or less normal.

I'll get some bar ends and just ride more. Next week I'm working at a different location than normal, so my commute will be longer, about 6 miles. But there's a route I can take to make it 15 - 20, I'll try that a few times next week.

supcom mentioned the Trekking Bar and I got thinking about my old bar extension that was like a Trekking Bar only it was an extension for flat handle bars -so it was an upside down Trekking Bar (sort of). Does anyone know where to get these extensions? Sorry if the description is poor.

Moo.

If you can find something like these profile bars i have on my MTB, they might be exactly what you are looking for, they are bar ends that extend in front of the handlebars and meet in the middle, just like an aerobar.

http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/tle/bike.jpg

I absolutely love mine.

I've ridden my MTB on a 40 mile trip, that was alot of fun. I like the look of that "aero" looking bar, moo! Where did you get that?

That bar looks great, though it's not originally what I had. If I find something like that I'll definately buy it

I did 46 on my MTB last weekend. When I was first starting on longer rides (about a year ago) with it I had almost all of the symptoms you describes. I worked the kinks out one by one. First, I added the Profile Design bar ends. They have a few options I got the largest set of ends and find they give me enough variation to prevent my hands from getting numb. Second, I got rid of my platform pedals and got a set of clipless and some stiff shoes. The biggest problem I had though was just getting the seat and bars to the optimum heights. It took quite a few adjustments, but I finally found the position where my back and neck don't hurt anymore after a long ride.

that's a cool bar moo.

I ordered the longest bar ends I could find. hopefully that'll help. I also ordered some panniers, i won't really use them on the longer rides, but for the commute they'll be nice. I can't wait til i don't have to lug my laptop to work on my back.

Moo.

I got the bar probably in 1994 or 95, for 20 bucks off the clearance page of a nashbar catalog.

Commercial time: Try a recumbent. Nothing hurts anymore. If you are already doing 16+ on an MTB, with some time you could be like greased lightning on a 'bent! Even roadies would hide if they see you comming!

'bent Brian

Last week I went on the longest ride I've ever been on, 30 miles. Not very far for many of you, but for me it was quite an accomplishment. I rode on my commuter bike which is a '94 Gary Fisher Mamba, with slicks. The ride went well and I averaged 16.5 miles per hour for the whole trip. During this ride I noticed some uncomfortable things and don't know if they're due to my bike, my body or my bike fit.

1) My hands started to get a little numb. I have a straight MTB bar with no bar ends. I wear gloves and tried to change up my hand positions, but there's not many options with a straight bar. Can I put a time trial bar on my MTB and still use my MTB brake levers and shifters? Would bar ends help? I'd prefer the time trial bar because i think it looks cooler :)

2) The toes on my right foot went numb. I have platform pedals and rode with regular sneaks, laces loose enough to slide my foot in and out with no problem (addidas superstar 2G, the best all-purpose shoe ever made! :) ) It was my 3 outer toes that went numb, not sure if that means anything. Could this be because of my seat position? I think my seat is the correct height, but could be wrong.

3) I could never get comfortable on my seat. I felt either so far back that my butt bones were about to fall off the back of the seat, or was sitting on the skinny nose of the seat. I think this is because of a cheap saddle that came with the bike. A friend gave me a saddle that he had laying around, I'm going to try that.

4) My lower back started to hurt. I'm not sure if this is indicative of poor body position or just that my lower back muscles aren't used to riding 30 miles. Can I do some exercises to help or should I just ride more.

I had a lot of fun, and plan on riding more and longer in the near future and don't want to injur myself.

I use to do long distance riding on a MTB bike and I hand numbness in my hands and sore arms and neck. I tried 3 differant stems, nothing work. My LBS suggested a road bike. It is a custom made Marinoni and I have had no problems since with neck, arms or wrists. The problem was the lack of hand positions on the flat bar, road bars offer more positions. Yes, some bar ends would offer more hand positions. You don't have to go custom made, but a road bike would be something you should consider.

Long distance riding on a MTB bike, IMHO, is not good. A road or touring bike is best. Now before anyone slams me, yes, there are many people who tour on MTB bikes with flat bars and have no problem. Ok, that's fine, I cannot and it sounds as if you have the same problem that a road bike or road handle bars would help.

With regard to your feet, I think you need a more rigid sole. Bike shoes would offer the support. You don't have to go clipless if you don't want to, just use the shoes with the platform pedals. A low end shoe will be fairly inexpensive

Yer butt. Well, you may have to try many saddles before you find one you like. I prefer the Selle Italia Turbo 3. My brother prefers the Specialized Minkow Wedge saddle (I tried it, hated it). That ones a hit or miss my friend. OR it could be just the fact that yer butt has to get use to sitting for long periods in a saddle.

Yer back. MAny people have this problem. Sounds like bike fit problem to me. BUT many people, even with proper bike fit will have a bad back after many miles in the saddle. I'd take your bike to a good LBS for a bike fit and advice.

Digger

There are plenty of people who ride long tours, and even road racing time-trials on a MTBs. Fitting time-trial style aerobars is a good way to get alternate positions. You dont need to change your brakes or shifters, just clamp them on top. The advantage over bar ends is that you are more aerodynamic. You can set them up for comfort or aerodynamic efficiency, its up to you.
You may find that fitting toe clips to your platform pedals makes you more efficient. Its not as efficient as clipless, but a whole lot cheaper.
You may want to do a few 10 mile rides just to get used to the riding position.