goldfinch

I am 56 years old and about 4'11" tall. I have never really been in tip top shape in my life. As a kid I was the nerdy girl who was picked second to the last in gym class. The most fit I ever got was in college when I rode my bike a lot to and from the University. At that point in time I weighed about 95-100 pounds. I started tubbing out in my 30s, reaching my maximum last year of 158. Even though this doesn't reach the Athena/Clyde level of 200 given my weight I was well into the obese category. I feel like I belong in this forum and am inspired by your stories.

About 5 years ago I bought this bike:



I barely rode it the first two years. I lived in a city on an extremely steep hillside and biking in the city was not really a possibility. You had to take the bike out of town and ride somewhere else.

Three years ago I retired and moved. I started riding the bike in the winter off and on, never very far. I did not ride in the summer, I was usually traveling and did not take the bike. This last winter I started riding more (I was in south Texas and it is very flat) and started counting calories. My weight was at its highest. My asthma was bad. I have sleep apnea and trouble adapting to the equipment. I've been taking BP and cholesterol meds for years. I didn't want to die.

At the beginning of January 2011 I weighed close to 160. Now I am at 139. I finally passed from the obese category to simply overweight! I keep my diet a bit lower on the carbs but not Atkins low. Mostly, I cut out sweets, bread, rice and noodles but eat lots of fruit and a fair amount of veggies. I often eat eggs and bacon for breakfast and have half and half on my fruit. I feel that I could eat this way indefinitely and given that I am driven to over eat I figure that I will have to at least roughly count calories forever.

Now, for the riding. I have always loved bikes. I liked riding in my college years. But I am not fit at all. This winter riding on the flats was fairly easy and I could go 5 to 10 miles. However, I had a lot of problems being comfortable on my bike. Now I am in hilly country. The hills kill me. I have improved but I still have to walk up hills that most bikers seem to be able to ride. I have one ride where all the hills are doable. This ride is five miles. The rest of the rides in the area will have at least one, and more likely two, hills that I have to walk and generally I am going up or down, it rarely is flat. I will keep riding and hope my fitness improves but the hills, and the wind, are difficult.

Anyway, I am having some problems with my bike and comfort. I posted some about it in the hybrid forum, where I asked about lowering my stem and changing my pedals. I have to drive about 60 miles to a bike shop so I want to know as much as possible before I go there to get some help.

So far my long rides have been all of five miles. Part of the problem is that I am uncomfortable. My butt is uncomfortable on the seat. I can't seem to find a happy seat position. I always felt like I was slipping forward, so I raised the nose of the seat a bit. That helped a little but I am still uncomfortable. The seat "feels" too wide. There are two bumps on the seat and they don't feel right. Even though I am still chunky I am very small boned. Could my seat be too wide? I think I am at the right height. I have no idea if the seat is too far back or forward and have only experimented with angle and height.

The next issue is the handlebars. Again, just based on feeling, they feel too high. But they are as low as they will go, both on handle bar angle and on stem length. When I got the bike the handle bars were set at a much more upright position. I did not like that position and it is terrible when it is windy and makes the hills even harder. It does take the weight off the hands though. Now I feel like there is to much weight on my hands and it is uncomfortable. Is this a trade-off situation? Wind resistance, hill climbing vs comfort? Or does the bike just not fit me well? I have this urge to saw an inch off the stem . . . Will that make things worse or better?

Any ideas on what to do to make riding more comfortable? So far my plan is to travel to the bike shop sometime in May and maybe get some help and in the interim continue to be uncomfortable.

I really enjoyed Sayre's thread about his goals so I am working on goals that go beyond losing about a pound a week and eating about 900 to 1200 calories a day.

So, goal number one is to ride a 10 mile ride before the end of April. Even if it is just my five mile ride twice.

Goal number 2 is to set up today the Wii Fit I bought two years ago and have never used.

Any other reasonable goals for a person that is very out of shape? On the upside, my joints are good and the doc says there is no reason I can't exercise. My back often bothers me when I walk, that is one reason why I like to bike. Sore butt and hands are not as painful as a sore back.

RVH

Hi Goldfinch, welcome to the forums. A huge congratulations on your 19 lb weight loss. You are well on your way!

If I were you I would seek out some flatter places to ride. I live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, pretty hilly terrain, but, if I want to get in the car I could ride to a town fifteen minutes away that is on the river and it's pretty flat along rivers. You didn't mention where you live but see if there are some river roads.

Bob

Mr. Beanz

Nice bike, nice job with the weightloss!

FYI, Clydes start at 200. Athenas start at 150, not 200.

freighttraininguphill

Ditto Keep it up

Until Mr. Beanz pointed that out to me, I had no idea I even fit into the Athena category. I am very thankful to him for letting me know, as I have found this forum to be the most supportive one on BF.

Mr. Beanz

Yes, yes I did and you were able to accept the facts and appreciate them. Power to the people!

I must add that everytime I see a pic of a hybrid type bike, I am saddened that I sold mine years ago.

freighttraininguphill

I do love my two hybrids. This is the one I rode to Davis yesterday to visit my mother. You've seen the Sirrus already. It was the one I put the climbing gears on last week.

exile

If you find yourself scooting forward on the seat, it is usually an indication that either your saddle is to low or you are to far away from the handlebars. Try raising the seat some and give yourself a chance to get used to that position. Check out the portion on saddle height in this article. Also adjusting your fore/aft position may also help some.

It is possible you need a new saddle if you are starting to have problems on your current one. However, before shopping for one adjust your saddle height, fore/aft positioning, and tilt to see how things are first.

It is also possible that your saddle is to wide or that the materials have broken down in time. If that is a case then shopping for a new saddle is a good idea.

Make sure your saddle height and adjustments are correct before changing your stem. If you are unsure of how to make adjustments with your current stem then bring it to a shop, or otherwise there are plenty of online tutorials.

Riding with gloves may or may not help with your sore hands as well.

Good luck .

engstrom

Welcome goldfinch. First of all congratulations on the weight loss so far. Secondly, congratulations on deciding to work to live and not just wait to die.

As for your questions, yes your seat (saddle actually) is too wide. Optimal seat width is a function of the width of your "sit bones" (or ischial tuberosity, part of the pelvis) and therefore not related to how much you weigh. Here's a good link about bike saddles: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

As for your handlebar position it's kind of hard to tell from the picture without you on the bike. If you've lowered the bars as much as you can then you might think about eventually replacing the bars with different shaped ones. You are right that comfort on the bike is the most important factor.

Apart from that there's nothing wrong with walking up hills. You could try shifting to your lowest gear before you get to the hill and just try and pedal up as much of it as you can. Maybe you'll only make it 3 feet up the hill - that's OK, get off and walk it up from there but eventually you'll get to where you can make it 4 feet up the hill...then 10 feet up...then 20, 30, and finally all the way up. This isn't a race - you're just trying to get a little bit better every time you ride.

Keep up the good work!

Erwin8r

+1! And don't worry, at least one other of us has to "get off and walk" on occasion.... Lol! The proof is in the mettle we show--that we keep at it, know we'll do better and better in time. And I suspect that things will improve dramatically once your bike is comfy under you.

goldfinch

Thanks folks! I am learning a lot. Good to know that I fell within the Athena specs.

There may be something to the suggestion that my bars are too far away. If I reduce the angle on the bars so they are more upright, then I sit pretty comfortably. But then I am sitting very upright and riding in the wind or up hills is very hard. It feels awkward and wrong.

Let me see if my spouse will take a picture of me on the bike. When it stops raining.

I am pretty good at working my way around gears. I don't give up on a hill until I am too winded to go up in even the lowest gear.

RIred

Remember, what makes a clyde/athena is determination. A clyde will never win the Kentucky Derby, but a thoroughbred doesn't have the strength/determination to pull a fully loaded beer wagon for miles.

goldfinch

OK, my spouse took a picture of me on the bike. I am still a fat-ass. I was feeling so thin after losing 19 pounds! I can't imagine what I looked like 19 pounds ago on the bike! Anyway:



The picture looks a lot different than my mental image of myself riding. I feel like I am pressing down hard on the handle bars, yet looking at me the handle bars look high. No wonder I also feel like they are too high. I know that you can't tell much from a picture, but the seat height looks fine to me. Even though the seat is very uncomfortable.
Thanks. It could be my seat is just not shaped for the skinny bones in my fat butt.

10 Wheels

You would feel better in bike shorts and your saddle is still somewhat low.

goldfinch

OK, I'll try the saddle a bit higher. When I was experimenting with saddle height I tried going too high and working down from there but maybe I worked down a little much?

Bike shorts, I don't know if I can. . .

billyymc

Goldfinch - in addition to all the good advice you've gotten already, one other thing that helps with being comfortable on the bike is core strength. If you don't like normal situps, get a swiss ball and try that -- they arne't too expensive.

As for bike shorts -- you can get Mountain bike shorts that have a lycra/spandex short that is covered by a baggier short. You get the benefit of a bike short, and still get to remain modest

zjrog

I'll agree on the mountain bike style bike short... For guys or gals... Congrats on the weight loss... Your 19 pounds is a better percentage than MY 20 or so. I also agree, raise the seat a bit. Your knees will be happy.

exile

Looking at the picture your saddle does seem to be about the right height. Try some tweaking and moving it up just a smidge. Give yourself some time (approx. 2 weeks) to adjust and see what happens.

It also looks like you have an adjustable stem. If you move the angle up the bars come closer to you. However you will be riding in an more erect posture.

Hand pain can be from a number of reason. Its hard to tell from the pix, but when you adjust the stem, you may need to rotate the bars a little as well. You want the wrist at a proper angle.

goldfinch

I have the handle bars angled down as far as possible because I do not like the feeling of sitting up high and straight. It doesn't work well in the wind and the hills. The problem though is that it puts the bars further away from me.

Here is what it looks like:



The stem is as far down as it will go.

engstrom

I really think the bars are too high relative to the seat for you to be comfortable and still be in a somewhat aero position. How daring are you? Are you handy with a cutting wheel and a welder? If you've lowered the bars into the head-tube as much as you can you might want to think about cutting / welding to get rid of the ~1 1/2" it looks like is available to get rid of.

goldfinch

What I will try first is upping the seat a bit, but I don't think that I have much room to raise the seat.

If that doesn't help, I sure would like to lower that handle bar stem. My husband could cut it. He is more daring than I.

geo8rge

If there is a bicycle club in your area join and try other peoples bikes to see if you find a configuration you like.

Try different handle bar grips, thicker foam grips, or leather, ect.

Some folding bikes are much more adjustable than standard bikes, so you might look at a Dahon for example.

Experiment with different tire pressures.

There are too many saddle configurations to mention. Some people have luck with Brooks after the leather is broken in. Look at Hobson Easyseat Ergonomical Dual Pad Bicycle Saddle. There are also some saddles that claim to be more female friendly. A recumbent bike might work for you.

Another possibility:
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/...yle/600/28460/

goldfinch

I put the saddle up an inch and it still is fine. But now the seat angle is wrong. More fussing and riding about today after two days of rain.

Rhodabike

A different stem altogether might be the answer. Perhaps a bike shop could give you some suggestions.
If it's a quill stem, it's possible to buy a stem adapter from Velo Orange that allows you to use the newer threadless style of stem in a quill stem head tube. I got one last winter for my road bike. Or, you might be able to find an older road bike quill stem in a short size that will fit your headset.
Unfortunately, their site is taking forever to load, so I can't post a link right now. Here's the threadless type of stem that can be used with the adapter:
https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=h...ed=0CCoQ9QEwCA
These can be flipped to be more upright or sloping downwards and come in a variety of lengths.

exile

Reading over your responses goldfinch I am wondering if you will be able to get your current bike set up the way you want to ride.

Basically your current bike will be unable to achieve a more aero positioning or achieve a more powerful pedalling stroke. It kind of sounds like you have outgrown the bikes performance capabilities.

Don't get me wrong, continue to make adjustments so you are comfortable (saddle height, proper saddle, handlebar height, reach, etc.). Just be aware that your current bike may not be able to preform the way you want it to.

When you get a chance visit a LBS and test ride different bikes. Also bring in your current bike and see if they may be able to lower your stem. Also see if they will help you with diagnosing fit problems. A good LBS will spend the time with you to help you get comfortable.

goldfinch

I rode about five miles, stopping several times to make seat adjustments. The height is as high as I can have it. My knees are fine and I don't wiggle back and forth. I fussed with the level of the seat and the forward/backward adjustments. I ended up with the nose really quite high, it looks very wrong but is the most comfortable. Or, I should say the least uncomfortable. There is less pressure on my hands and that is better. I don't feel like I am sliding off the big rear end of the seat towards the front because I can't slide. But I think my seat is just all wrong for me. Or, the bike is wrong for me. Handlebars too far away? I just can't tell.

I am going to experiment next by taking the seat off of my neighbor's Trek and try it out. It still is going to be a couple of weeks before I can go to a bike shop for better help.

I am kind of depressed about the whole thing. I can't seem to move ahead on my fitness goals.