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09-16-10, 11:42 PM
Recently upgraded from a U District to an 08 Madison. In love with it thus far. However, off the bat test riding it I knew the stem was way, way too long for me. I was able to get the shop to swap to a shorter stem with the promise that after a week or two if I still wasn't feeling it I'd be able to swap stems for minimal fee.
So its been a week or two and I still think I need to dial in my cockpit fit. I almost never ride the hoods even though I'd really like too because the reach seems a might bit long and my hands go numb riding them. Similarly I'm only really comfortable at the very very bottom end of the drops. Anytime I do long rides (I did 60 on Sun. to put things in perspective as far as "long" fixed rides go) I find myself constantly adjusting or riding the tops of the bars one handed so I can shake out the other/flex my fingers and get feeling back.
I took a look at Sheldon Brown, and he suggested either my bars my be a bit low, or my posture may be off. Since the U district was a pretty relaxed upright bike with risers and every other bike I've ever owned has been, I thought posture might be a good place to start, as I wasn't used to the geo on the Maddie. Having worked on that, I'm still experiencing the hand/finger numbness as well as pain in my palm. Sheldon also mentioned this may be a sign that your bars are too low.
So just looking for some suggestions to rectify this. My inclination is to go back to the shop and swap to a slightly shorter stem with a bit of rise. Would this be off mark?
So its been a week or two and I still think I need to dial in my cockpit fit. I almost never ride the hoods even though I'd really like too because the reach seems a might bit long and my hands go numb riding them. Similarly I'm only really comfortable at the very very bottom end of the drops. Anytime I do long rides (I did 60 on Sun. to put things in perspective as far as "long" fixed rides go) I find myself constantly adjusting or riding the tops of the bars one handed so I can shake out the other/flex my fingers and get feeling back.
I took a look at Sheldon Brown, and he suggested either my bars my be a bit low, or my posture may be off. Since the U district was a pretty relaxed upright bike with risers and every other bike I've ever owned has been, I thought posture might be a good place to start, as I wasn't used to the geo on the Maddie. Having worked on that, I'm still experiencing the hand/finger numbness as well as pain in my palm. Sheldon also mentioned this may be a sign that your bars are too low.
So just looking for some suggestions to rectify this. My inclination is to go back to the shop and swap to a slightly shorter stem with a bit of rise. Would this be off mark?