ekimyel

I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable on my new cross bike. I don't feel comfortable when riding on the hoods. In the drops I'm OK, but on the hoods, they just feel like they are too far down on the bar or something. I don't feel like I have a real secure grip on them due to the angle of them. When I angle the handlebars up, then the hoods feel good, but in the drops my wrists feel all contorted. Do I need a stem with a higher degree angled up, or different handlebars? I was thinking about getting the Easton EA70 wing bar or the Ritchey BIOMAX II bar. But then I started thinking maybe it's not the bars as it could be the angle of my stem. Here is a pic of my bike. Thanks for any advice.

Mach42

You may have to loosen the hoods and rotate them up. You'll have to rewrap the handlebar tape as you do this, but you'll be able to move the hoods up while maintaining a comfortable angle in the drops.

The one thing that you'll need to look at is whether your fingers will be long enough to reach the brake levers. As you reposition the hoods upwards, reach to the levers will become greater, so if you're barely reaching the levers from the drops now, you may have to look at getting a different geometry of bar or getting Specialized's shims that reduce the reach of the levers.

ekimyel

I was told by my LBS that sells specialized that you cannot use shims in Utlegra or Dura Ace shifters. I have Ultegras on this bike and Dura Ace on my other. Would love to have them if they would work on them.

Mach42

Specialized' site says that the shims will work with both 9 and 10 speed Ultegra and 9 speed 105. No luck with the Dura-Ace though.

matimeo

I'm not sure there is always a way around this. I tend to have the same trouble with all of my bikes. When the hoods are high enough to be comfy, they are a long reach when on the drops. I've usually just had to find a happy medium or pick one over the other.