I would only take about 30 minutes to get it adjusted and your riding would be more fun.
I started 3 years ago at the age of 65 years.

We have all been where you are with the bike right now.

She has a beautiful bike. I changed the position of my handlebars early this morning, they look more like that.

I live on a block where most all of us are 50+ and we've all lived together on the same block for the last 30 years. I'm sure they are very entertained right now, lol.

I would take 10 Wheels up on his offer. You can learn a lot in an hour riding with him as opposed to trying to figure it out by yourself. It will speed up the learning curve and make your rides in the future much more enjoyable and productive.

Have to agree. Will save you months on set up but PLEASE-- Don't drop 10 wheels on the hills

Definitely take up 10Wheels' offer. He has been around the block quite a few times, and know his stuff. what you will take a year or more to find out, he can show you in 30 minutes to an hour. He can also give the bike a check-over to make sure that things are in order, and if they are not, can advise you what to do.

Trust me on this, as someone who has designed and delivered bicycle riding courses for adults (most of the participants were female in their late-40 to mid-50s)... Do NOT underestimate the importance of getting things right as far as fit goes from the start.

There are many people like you full of enthusiasm at the start who just cannot understand why riding a bike is so painful. In the end, they shelve the bike-riding plans and do something else. Others who feel comfortable right from the start keep on riding.

Lucille, you are so awesome.

I just began cycling last April. I read this site from 'cover to cover' and learned plenty. It took a while to get my bike comfortable. It was a matter of tweaking a bit at a time. Finding a comfortable saddle also took some time. At this point I can't think of a single thing that needs doing on this bike, hence the need for n=1.

Hey Lucillle, your competent to ride with 10 wheels and his friends. You'll meet a couple of ladies that ride with him, that can give you a lot of help, if needed. I've rode with them and they are one of the best groups you could meet. If I lived closer I would be riding with them all the time. Anyhow welcome aboard, have fun with the new ride.

OK. So I look at the gear stuff and it makes more sense. Meanwhile, the rear tire gets a flat Maybe this bike is a lemon.
I will treasure and take up the offer to ride, 10 Wheels, but I got to fix the tire. Will research it, get the stuff, and get it done this weekend.
It would have been a beeyootiful day to ride a few miles, too.

Lucille,

Soon, a flat will be a five minute inconvenience, not a reason to miss a ride. Hang in there, it only gets better.

I am listening. I'm not going to shelve this. Went to the doc this morning, I got to exercise more and lose weight. And biking is a fun way to do it. I used to ride about 45 minutes a day, but that was ten years ago. I'm thinking I'll do a mile and conk out, the first time. That's OK, I'll do a mile plus 2 blocks the second time.

Well, I have a wally world type bike, But I just don't want to ride it, I'd rather tame The Lemon.

Lucille, Welcome,
I would have loved having a mentor when I first started riding as an adult('79), I had to learn it all through books and experience--- the internet didn't exist then.
I started riding again('08), so much more advice and knowledge is available now. The internet is a wonderful resource, as is bikeforums

I carry everything to fix a flat. No problem. I have had 60 flats in three years of riding.

I emailed you and my email got returned, maybe it's an aol thing. Will Walmart have flat tire stuff or should I go to the bike store?
I think I saw a tool over at WM to help get the old tire off.

Why so many flats?
That makes me feel better, I thought maybe somehow I accidentally did something to The Lemon.

Isn't that a lot of flats for that amount of time? I haven't had that many in all my seven (four of which I was car free) total years of riding.

37,000 miles 6 tours. I have had two periods of riding 3,000 miles each with no flats.
Glass and radial tire wires have caused the most.

https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=...74/YVT2H-9Jgzg

https://www.vintagecannondale.com/info.html Check this site, L.

Holy Moly. You are amazing.

OK. But whatever it is, if I can take it apart, put it back together, and ride it good, I'll be happy.

It is true then, what they say, it isn't the time, it is the mileage.

I still thinks flats are just Luck.

I first started riding with a group and went 3200 miles on $10 tires with no flats.
They had some on $30 tires.

The guy in the video with the purple bike had 8 flats one day.

Ok, ok, there are a lot of opinions in print about 'bar setup, and no clean way to sort them out. It's clear the bars are rotated too far forward. The bottom grips should be between horizontal and point toward the ground - pointing to the sky is never something that's recommended. For a tight-bend bar like that people often locate the brake levers so the tip of the brake lever is even with the bottom of the flat lower section of the bars. Others do it differently. But the first thing is to get them rotated.

There's an obsession many of us fall into called fitting - fitting the bike to our bodies. It's even worse than buying endless crap for bikes. You've opened Pandora's Box now.

The most critical thing is saddle height. It's important for power production and knee health. The power thing is important even for us 50+ers, not because we race (yet some of us do) but because we need to make the most of the strength we have. We do increase our strength, but we start with less than do the 20-somethings. Easiest way to check it is to put on a pair of flat shoes, put the bike in a doorway, and get on. Make sure you can reach the door way sides to hold yourself up. Put your HEELs on the pedals and pedal backwards. When you leg is at maximum extension your knees should just lock straight with no rocking of your pelvis. If you pelvis rocks it's gonna hurt, and if your knees don't straighten you could end up putting excess stress on your knees - could lead to a knee injury. We don't have time to waste healing knees or undercarriage chafings, so this is important stuff.

Lesson 2 later on ... if you like.

Lucille, welcome to the Forum and welcome to the game!

Please, let's not corrupt the newbies! PEDALS, not PEDDLES. Pedals are the things you put your feet on, a noun. "Peddles" is a synonym for the verb "sells." One may peddle pedals, but it's illogical to pedal peddles.

Lucille, are you near Dallas? I used to live there. Half-Price Books has a number of good stores there - look for a copy of Anybody's Bike Book - it should cost around $6 used. For your bike, look for the second or third edition, but the first edition would be useful as well. It has really good and simple descriptions of what is going on in with bikes, what tools you really need, and how to do nearly anything that should ever be done. Nice line drawings of how to do things, as well.

This is lesson 2. Lesson 1 is making sure standover height is OK, which we haven't progressed past yet.

But I agree with your methodology... this is a standard starting point for fit.

Lesson 3 will be reach and stem length...