Originally Posted by
D-Fuzz
He hasn't tried to steer me towards anything as of yet. He said he wants to see if we can make the bike I have work before we start looking at something different. I just don't want to end up riding a circus bike just for the sake of making it fit. Are frame geometries different enough between a cyclo-x and a touring bike to be worth while looking? I know a full-on road bike is out of the question as and have to remove a couple vertabrae to get down to the bars, but is a touring bike more relaxed than what I have?
Frame geometries vary with the model of crosser you look at. Obviously you want one of the less stretched out ones! More importantly, you'd then want to put a short and high angle stem on it - often the best way to do this is to look for an invertible time trial stem designed to put you in a super low position when NOT inverted. (I just bought a stem like this to put me in a more upright position on a crosser I use for singletracking.) These guys will give you a 55 degree stem angle:
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/...x-cammish-stem
Ok, two things are now very important to understand -
1. As you move to be more upright on a bike your spine becomes more vulnerable to shocks transmitted through the rear wheel, because the vertebrae are stacked on top of each other tightly. This is one reason why using a crosser rather than a road bike is a good idea - the crosser can take fatter tyres which will soften the shock
2. The key to solving CTS is to get your wrists at the correct angle as much as to take pressure off them. The angle on properly fitted drops - the hoods should be at least as far apart as your shoulders - is excellent. For this reason, if a crosser with a high stem doesn't work for you, then do NOT ride an upright bike with conventional flat bars! Follow the excellent suggestions other posters have made about alternative bars and the semi-recumbent bike. Hmm. Come to think of it, if a crosser with drops doesn't work for you, then moustache bars on the same bike might work:
http://www.stanford.edu/~dru/moustache.html
Regretably, whatever you do, you will have to experiment. So buying a used crosser, if you want to stay on drops, is probably a good idea. Even better, start by putting a short and high stem on your current bike and see how it feels. If it isn't at least approaching what you need, consider skipping straight to an upright bike with non-standard bars.
Oh - and of all the drops I know, Salsa Bell Laps probably give you the highest position while in sane adjustment. They're wide too, and have a small amount of flare.
Good luck!
PS This thread shows how much experiment can be needed - what fixes a problem for one rider can cause a problem for another:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=287222
So experiment - and be ruthless about stopping quickly if you experience pain or numbness.