anna1968

My husband just talked me into buying road bikes. We've ridden hybrids for almost a year and just recently purchased the Specialized Allez bikes. These things intimidate me......will I ever get used to the positioning, the pedals, the shoes, etc.....???? I feel like I am too scared of falling to really enjoy riding it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Did you all feel this way when you first begin to ride a road bike?

Kiecker

If fitted correctly the bike should be comfortable. After I was fitted on my road bike I realized my mountain bikes were off. Few adjustments here and there and everything was good.

Mmmmm.....bikes.

Go ride

RonH

Don't ride in the drops. Ride with your hands on the brake hoods and on the top of the handlebar so you're in a more upright position like rider #2. Rider #1 is riding in the drops and is in a lower riding position. Try this after you feel comfortable on the bike.
Start off with platform pedals, then switch to clipless if that's what you want.

Good luck.

jsharr

Talk to your shop about a stem with more rise. This will give you a more upright postion (more like on your hybrid) on the bike and you can go to less rise as you get used to bike. You might even see if they have a flat bar option for your bike. Congrats, you will learn to love road bike

anna1968

Ron....platform pedals? Are those the regular kind of pedals? I always hear clipless pedals are the way to go.....because they really aid in your pedaling and make riding more enjoyable.....I am just very nervous about combining all these new things at once.....

Spudz

Anna, I just got my Specialized Dulce elite a month ago and I love it! I had to do some minor tweaking to get things to feel right, but now I am comfortable. I had been riding mountain bikes, not in clipless pedals though. I figured I'd go for it and do clipless on my road bike, now I won't ride without. Sure, I fell on my butt the first time out, but that is just a part of the fun and learning. It doesn't take long to get used to the Elite, at least I didn't think so.

Nelf

Don't worry about the pedals. You may fall a few times your first couple of rides, if you do, it's really not as bad as you might think. Then after a week or two of riding with them, they'll pretty much become second nature and you'll wonder how you rode without them.

late

Hi,
1) Practise in a big empty space, like a parking lot. Clip in, pedal a bit, unclip and stop.
2)Get in the habit of unclipping well before you need to stop
3) My bike has brakes on top just like on a hybrid. It is a road bike, with the shifter/brake levers too. You can have brakes on top
just like you had on your hybrid. I had them on my first road bike over 30 yeara ago. And I have them on my new one.
https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=
4) Almost everybody puts on a shorter or steeper stem, at least at first.
5) Don't be surprised if you don't like your saddle. That is one of the most common subjects we see here.

anna1968

Thank you all so much for the replies. It definitely gives me something to think about and try. News, I changed out my saddle when I bought the bike to a Dolce Women's Gel saddle. The bike store owner where I bought the bike said a lot of women liked it so he switched it out at no cost. It still feels hard and stiff to me, but hey I am used to a Cruiser Cloud 9 Seat on my hybrid! So what can I say????

DnvrFox

My wife, at age 65, never did get used to her road bike (even afer 600 miles), and we ended up with a hybrid, which she enjoys, and still have her mtn bike, which she also enjoys.

Hope you have better luck, but there is nothing wrong with going back to the hybrid.

We sold the used Cannondale for almost the same price we bought the new hybrid!

Don't try to do everything all at once, and don't get "flat bars" as it defeats the very purpose of drop bars, - namely, lots of different hand positions.

dcon

Hi Anna

I ride an Allez, too. I felt much like you when I began road riding. It's a different feel, for sure! Reading the posts in the forums here are a great way to get ideas and help, but the best thing, I think, is to do stuff like what late suggests. I found just riding, even if it's only a short distance at first, to be the best help. I would add a few things:

Practice getting in and out of the pedals, while sitting still and balanced next to e.g., a wall or a desk in your home without looking at your feet. I also find it's helpful to unclip whichever foot is on the downside of the crank so that I have at least one good push from the clipped-in foot just in case I need it!

Go slow at first and really get accustomed to the handling of the bike - do progressively tighter turns, figure eights, pulling the breaks with different levels of pressure, etc...You'll be amazed at what the bike can do.

Use one or two gears only and just get used to how the bike responds to you.

Basically, you're getting used to a new set of factors. Eliminate as many new factors (clipping in and out, emergency maneuvers, changing gears) as possible in the beginning until your used to how the bike responds. Then start adding in those variables as you feel ready.

This is basically what I did, and within a few days, the bike felt like second nature. I think (and hope) you'll find it really rewarding and fun.

RonH

You mentioned pedals in your original post.
That's why I suggested using platform pedals or whatever style pedal you have been using on the hybrid. That would be one less "new" thing to worry about.