Originally Posted by
The Historian
John423 (is that a Biblical handle?),
Back extensions IMO do little or nothing. Try this:
Lay on your back, with your feet elevated on an exercise ball. Now SLOWLY raise your butt off the ground so your body forms a more or less straight line from your feet to your shoulders. You should go up and down without shifting side to side. SLOWLY lower your butt to the mat. Repeat 10 times. If you can't find an exercise ball, you can instead have your knees bent and 'build a bridge' that way.
No biblical handle. It's my name and area code.
I don't have an exercise ball (though I do belong to a gym), but I can do those at home. Will try those. Thanks.
Originally Posted by
slowandsteady
Wheelbase has nothing to do with twitchy handling. Fork rake does. Long chainstays will soften a ride slightly. A road bike doesn't have to equal discomfort. You can ride on wet pavement all day long too. You clearly have a bias against road bikes and it is based on falsehoods. I can ride my racing geometry road bike with 23c tires and riser stem for many hours on end with no pain or issues whatsoever. I also have a brooks saddle. If he isn't comfortable with clipless pedals, it has nothing to do with the bike frame. If he has saddle pain, it has nothing to do with the frame geometry. If he feels too hunched over he can get a $20 stem riser.
I had to make a few adjustments to the fit of my road bike and had to ride it a number of miles before I was totally comfortable.
I did an hour today before the storm clouds gathered - I'm getting more and more comfortable with the pedals every trip out. I got clipped in real easy every time I stopped. The seat hurts, but here's why - I'm not back enough on it because I'm too far forward on the seat trying to get into a better position on the bike. If I'm back where I need to be, it feels like the handlebars are too far away. I don't think the seat would hurt as bad if I were actually on it like I need to be instead of too far forward.
I think I need that stem riser, provided it's gonna both raise the handlebars and bring them back slightly. I'm close, I can feel it. I know I can't get straight upright on my bike, it's not built to do that. But there's a back angle/bend that's natural, and this isn't it. If I could get at that natural angle, I wouldn't put so much weight on my hands and want to lock my elbows so much to reach where I'm supposed to be on the handlebars.
And there was a time when I had a decent gear going on a straightaway and I was hitting 22-23 mph thinking "heck yeah," so I'm getting there. I was even exceeding the speed limit at one period, still getting passed by antsy drivers. It was awesome.
I really feel closer. Gotta go shake trees about the stem riser.