JoeMetal

Yesterday I probably made the best purchase of my life. I got a Trek 7.2FX, and to celebrate I took it out on an 8 mile ride (my longest yet) and 3 of those miles were my time trial for Jumbo's challenge. I'm really starting to come into my own! Anyways, here's a picture:



After my ride, I noticed some wrist pain however, so I'm getting bar ends put on it Monday. Other than that, this bike is great and makes riding so much easier and faster.

Tom Stormcrowe

Outstanding! Nice rode, Bro! Great job on the 8 miles too!

Stujoe

Sweet ride! I think you will have a blast on it.

JumboRider

All these new bikes are making me want to get a new one...and I just got one. Congrats on the new steed.

Tom Stormcrowe

What are you going to name her, Joe?

All good bikes deserve a name!

JoeMetal

Hmm.. I hadn't thought about naming her... Right now I'm thinking Catherine.

kenseth03

Congrats on the new ride. Theres nothing like getting that new ride. Enjoy it and great job on the 8 mile ride.

Mark5356

Very nice looking bike. I am considering Trek so its good to hear positive reports. And I also have some wrist problems. Question: What are bar ends that you referenced? Are they the normal solution to people with wrist pains? Or would front shocks be the answer?

JoeMetal

I have no idea if they are the normal solution, but the LBS and I decided that I'm having them because my arms are almost always extended so the road bumps get absorbed by my wrists. The bar ends will allow a different hand position and it also allows me to bend my elbows, so not as much strain is being put on my wrist.

I found this picture on Google:



The bar ends are the little things on the end of the handlebars that make it look like bull's horns.

Front shocks would probably help a lot, but I wanted to stay away from them because I know that on my old bike with front shocks, a lot of energy was being wasted compressing the shocks.

jaxgtr

Very nice bike. As far as the wrist pains, the bar ends will help, but if you are still having them after a couple of weeks, you might look into a new stem that will move the handle bars up just a little. I did that on mine and it made a world of difference and made it a much easier transition to a more aggressive bar position.

JoeMetal

That is the same thing my LBS said. We are going to try bar ends and if that doesn't completely fix the problem, then we're going to start messing with the stem.

Bill Kapaun

"Front shocks would probably help a lot, but I wanted to stay away from them because I know that on my old bike with front shocks, a lot of energy was being wasted compressing the shocks."
Smart choice IMO.

I picked up some "riser bars" for $12 at my LBS. You MIGHT need to extend your cables though. I was BARELY able to get by without doing so, but I have a different set up.

JoeMetal

The bars I have now aren't flat bars, but aren't quite as dramatic as those. We'll see what happens after the bar ends.

In other news, I set another personal record today on this wonderful bike and rode over 10 miles, and I did it in just under an hour. So not only am I riding longer, I'm also riding faster. My old pace was somewhere between 8-9 mph. I know this isn't all due to the new bike, but I know a lot of it is! For those of you who want to go more than 2-3 miles, I HIGHLY suggest a bike such as this.

Tom Stormcrowe

It appears we have a new Cycling addict!

JoeMetal

Oh yeah. I'm hopelessly addicted. Actually, I don't have my bar ends yet, so I probably shouldn't have gone out with nothing, so I rode to Target less than a mile from me to get Ace bandages to wrap my wrists up so I didn't have to go a day without a significant ride.

My wrists feel fine right now, by the way, so the wrap worked.

jaxgtr

excellent job. you'll be doing 15 mph avg in no time

webist

Nice ride.

Tom Stormcrowe

Are you using padded gloves when you ride? Since wrapping helped, that sounds to me like a set of riding gloves cold well fix it if you aren't currently using them!

JoeMetal

I don't wear gloves now, but I will be getting some when the LBS puts my bar ends on tomorrow. I know that gloves won't be a full remedy though since I had to wrap my wrists pretty tight in order to make them not hurt. Gloves would definitely help though.

Tom Stormcrowe

Another thing that helps. Try consciously not to lean into the handlebars....it puts too much pressure on the Carpal region of your wrist and the meat of your palm. This is where the padded gloves help too, but it's also an issue of using your core muscles for stability and posture on the bike.

The bar ends are helpful especially as they add more hand positions.

Stujoe

The gloves help. As well as not tensing up on the handlebars and changing hand positions periodically, shaking them out, etc.

pdq 5oh

JM, congrats on a really nice bike. That model is very popular at the LBS I go to. Have a ball.

ddmann

Nice choice Joe. This was one of the bikes I test rode more than once. The problem was the dealer did not have one in stock that was my size. I think you will enjoy it quite a bit.

Neil_B

Nice bike!

As far as the wrist pain goes, did you have the shop fit you to the bike?

solveg

That bike looks beautiful! Looks all fast and silvery, like a there should be about 30 of them in a "school"!