Teaching an old dog a new trick.
I have mentioned before that I just got back into cycling after years of neglect. I freely admit I am not bicycle fit by any stretch of the imagination but I am sure that will come with time. However when I decided to try biking again I followed some of the advice I have seen here before and went to my LBS to get a bike. Things have changed a lot over the last 19 years and my eyes must have looked wide to the dealer. But he let me ride a lot of different bikes for a few days till I happened almost as a second thought decided to ride a Revive LX and my logical thought process went right out of the door. I simply couldn’t believe how comfortable this bike was and easy to ride even if it was a bit heavy. After a few days I decided to drop the hammer and the revive came home with me. It was adjusted to fit and I started riding it everywhere. The bike was comfortable but it was pretty bad on any hill and it was hard to push any of the bigger gears. I knew it was supposed to have an upright seating position but I believe my brain still felt I was just riding a modified cruiser or an extreme Touring bike.
I had been riding the bike for almost a month and just decided to live with the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to push and big gears unless I was going down hill. Then the other day I decided to do something that was counter intuitive to what I had always thought when adjusting my riding position and instead of adjusting my body forward I moved my body back and pulled the bars up and back as well. While my back and seat had always been comfortable my out of shape knees and legs complained and I simply couldn’t push any tall gears. But after moving my body back a bit passed straight upright and getting into a semi recumbent position it was like dropping a v-6 in a car that came with a straight 4. I am pushing much taller gears and the smallest hill doesn’t fill me with dread. When I expressed my new found joy to my LBS he simply smiled and asked why I hadn’t called or dropped by with my concern and he would have adjusted it for me. I just shrugged my shoulders rather than admit I didn’t know it would make this much difference.
I guess I have learned more than one new trick. I will be in closer communication with my LBS. I also will have to learn that some of my experiences from 20 years ago don’t translate to some of the new bikes sold today. I learned something new this week. I may have to ask a lot of questions if I decide to add a MTB.
Bob