Originally Posted by
one4smoke
I often hear it said on these forums "buy the bike that fits you the best," but hardly never any real details or suggestions given.
That's because it's bad advice. If a person is experienced enough to know what fits him the best he wouldn't be asking, and what feels good initially to an inexperienced cyclist isn't indicative of the best fit in the long term. Fortunately for us, most bikes can be adjusted to various fits and what we really need is a frame in the right general size.
How do you know which one feels or fits the best? How can you possibly know in the short amount of time that you're given to test one?
Someone who's ridden for years can tell by feel.
I have ongoing issues with numbness in my hands, and have made numerous changes to my bike at the suggestions of the owner where I bought my bike. Nothing has helped very much. But the point I'm trying to make is, every time I make a change, I need to ride and ride to know how the change will affect me. Not just a short ride, but one of over 10 miles ...at least. It takes that to really be able to tell if what you've done is beneficial.
I think it takes a couple of weeks and a lot more miles to really tell what the adjustment has done, because our body has to adapt, we may utilize our muscles slightly differently and recruit different muscle groups, and we have to learn to hold our bodies differently.
For hand numbness, although sometimes people say "fit, fit, fit" sometimes it's not fit at all. Sometimes it's how and where you hold your hands, or how you're holding your body up. I'd look at technique first, and then equipment.