tallteacher

I picked up my bike today. Had my fitting and brought it home. First ride was 9.8 miles on what I realized are very crappy roads. It felt pretty good but i SWEAR I hit a head wind in all 4 directions I pedaled! ODO said 14.9 mph avg although the speedo was 16-18 the whole time...Not sure why the discrepancy, but no matter....I RODE FINALLY

TrojanHorse

Well congratulations! It looks damn good.

Pay attention to your wheels though - 20 spokes in the rear is dicey if you're over say, 165.

Mark Stone

Cool bike, congratulations!! Those Cannys are mighty purty! Your average speed on your computer won't measure average road speed accurately because it includes every time you slow down. If you rolled down your driveway at 4 mph, it throws that in the mix; slow down for stopsigns, things like that. We believe the 16 to 18 you told us though! lol

rideorglide

That is darn nice. Very Sweet. Are you a clyde of the long-leg variety?
I like the stem angle, too, as I like to fit my road bike with the bar tops a little higher (as I'm not getting any younger)
Looks like you had it fitted to you. Did you ask the shop to put the spacers above the headtube. I ask as all the photos in the brochures for new road bikes have zero rise.
I am impressed they get you set up with a fork that had enough tube to cut and space that high to fit you. Good shop, good bike.

I'm going to have to show it to my buddy when he gets all cocky with his new all-black bike, to give him a touch of bike envy.

Good thing you had a photo or we'd have been ready with the pitch forks.

PS. at the average speeds you are riding, you are going to generate your own headwind no matter the direction.

tallteacher

I was measured months back as I started researching bikes, having to put off buying one until I sold my motorcycle. This is my first road bike, to go with a couple of mtn bikes. I am going to ASSUME they left the steer tube long knowing my measurements when he set the bike up. He flipped the stem up and it felt more comfortable for me since I have had 3 shoulder surgeries.

I am a clyde of the taller nature, yes...6'5 235-240 and long waisted...and going to be 44 next month...

Overall it was comfortable. Hands got numb once or twice. I am not sure if its due to bad posture or what. I did not purchase padded gloves yet...waiting to see if I would need them. I rode on fairly flat bumpy country roads. On Monday I may ride with a friend in Bakersfield along a 20ish mile bike path. I may shoot for 15 miles since its all flat and SMOOTH....nothing too crazy

So far...I like the road bike experience!!

vesteroid

Get the gloves, its not so much about the padding but the sweat and holding onto the bar when your dripping sweat down your arm like you are in the shower. Get 500 miles on it, then if you want, swap a spacer from under the stem to over the stem, and see how that feels...I wouldnt cut that tube.

tallteacher

Yeah I thought about that and should have bought them when I was there since it gets so grossly hot here in the summers... He said I can still go back and get a discount (10% I think) on more accessories...I planned on leaving the tube at its current length...I will take your advice and swap a few months down the road when I get in better biking shape

TrojanHorse

+1 on gloves, and if you should (heaven forbid) go over the handlebars, it's nice to have something besides skin hitting the ground first.

As for the stem, I wouldn't sweat it. Flip it, don't flip it, move the spacers... it's mostly about comfort for you. I've moved mine all over in the last year and I don't think there's a "right" spot for it, just the spot you like it.

howsteepisit

Nice Wheels, Welcome to the Road Crew.

jsigone

the numb hands is pretty normal for new riders that aren't used to leaning on that pressure point riding on the hood. Gloves help, can also rotate the bars up a 1/2 degree. Use a smart phone and app for that, fine tune with more saddle time. If that doesn't help, try a shorter stem by 5-10mm and same rise.

congrats on the new ride. Another cdale has joined the club

99Klein 

Congratulations. Nice bike.

bigfred 

Congrats! Enjoy.

bassjones

Nice bike! Nice first ride too. That's impressive!

cplager

I get numb hands badly, too. Here are three options in case the problem doesn't get better with more riding (it didn't for me):

* A stem riser (like this one)
* An adjustable stem (like this one)
* Aerobars (like these)

The first two allow you to raise the height of your handlebars. (I own both of these I recommended, but don't use on a road bike). I'd probably start with the adjustable stem and then get the riser if that wasn't enough.

Aerobars seems like a very strange thing to suggest, but it worked very well for me (I had a pair similar to this, but not these on my roadbike). I can't take the pressure on my hands, but had no problems with it on my elbows. Aerobars do have issues too (my neck didn't like the angle I needed to hold my head, don't want to ride there when its crowded, etc), but the additional position was very useful for me.

Cheers,
Charles

mprelaw

Try moving your hands around the bars before they go numb. Hold onto the tops by the stem for awhile. Move them back off the hoods an inch or two to the start of the downward bend in the bars. If you were fitted correctly, you should be able to ride comfortably in the drops, at least for a short duration. Hand numbness can also be due to tensing up on the bars, as you adjust to the quicker handling, or when you start straining on a hill or while fighting a head wind. Make sure your elbows are bent, and flex your fingers to remind yourself to relax.

As far as discrepancies between the computer and speedo, that's typical. I use Strava on my android phone, and it's much less accurate than Garmin. I've compared my stats with others that I've done a ride with, staying together the whole time, and they're usually faster and climb 30% more on the same route. You can get a whole brouhaha started over how to calculate average speed. The way I've always done it is, distance traveled/elapsed time. Most purists insist that this is the ONLY correct way. Some programs deduct stopped time and then it's distance/moving time. But if you use Strava android, you'll notice that it often has you going 0.5 mph when you're stopped, and this gets counted. Bottom line, average speed only matters when you're competing or comparing yourself to others. You'll know when you're improving as a cyclist without your computer telling you that you're 2 mph faster than this time last year.