another new guy
 

another new guy with a new bike. Getting back in to biking as i'm now 58 and
trying to get in some kinda shape (other then pear). Bought a Specialized crosstrail
a couple months ago and have put almost 200 miles on it. I'm up to where i can go
about 25 miles with hills and all. Still a couple hills i can't make yet but i guess i'll get there.
My bike came with 700x38 tires and have spent most of my riding on asphalt walking/biking trails.
Any thoughts on a different tire for that ? And my wrist keep getting numb, got some gel gloves
ordered hoping that will help ? thanks, Jim

Welcome Morningrider!

You'll get there, just keep at it, pretty soon you'll be looking back down the hill wondering what all the fuss was about.

Personally I like the fatter tires, y bike has 700x40s on it and my kidneys and back appreciate the padding. You could probably get narrower tires, you would have to measure the rim width to determine what would fit.

Welcome to the mad house :) Seems like your making a good start but don't go to hard at it, you should be in it for the long haul.

Before buying new tires you might want to try different pressures, if you want the feeling of better rolling try 80psi. I don't believe going narrow is always the answer it's more about the weight and construction of the tire. Are you using bar ends ? They can help taking pressure off your wrists.

I doubt the gloves will make much of a difference for wrist numbness. I found a vast improvement when I switched to ergonomic grips - if for no other reason than the fact that they can be positioned to keep your wrist and arm in a straight line. Lots of people here recommend Ergon grips. I found them to be somewhat large. I prefer the Specialized BG Contour grips, but it's really a matter of personal preference.

As far as tires are concerned, I also run 38s. My personal opinion is that the advantages of going to a more narrow tire are greatly eclipsed by the potential problems with smaller tires. Smaller tires are great for racers, but you won't notice much of a difference at all. If that's the case, then why install something that is more prone to flats and can't go as many places?

You can also run wider tires at lower pressure, which will help with your wrist numbness.

As jbchybridrider said, you might check out bar ends for additional positions for your hands and wrists when you ride. Personally, I'm very fond of the Ergon GP2 grips with integrated bar ends I added to my Fuji Absolute. I would also recommend carrying a small multitool to make adjustments to those grips and bar ends when out for a ride - is this better than that, and so on...

Also, I'll second those that say to experiment with different pressures in your tires. As long as they're in the range recommended on the sidewall, you're good to go.

Welcome!!

thanks for all the feedback. i'm running 80 psi that was recommended by the LBS but i'll try making adjustments. and thanks for the
encouragement. i can already tell the smaller hills come easier so i'll get there with the bigger ones. and i'll check out those Erong grips, thx.

"Riding doesn't get easier; you just get faster". You've made a great start! Many people put ergonomic bar ends. You can probably find threads in Commuting or Hybrid forums with recommendations. The gel gloves will help some too, but probably not as much as bar ends. Being able to move your hands around and change hand positions frequently will provide relief.

actually the contour grips i believe is what came on the bike but i'll do some experimenting i guess

will pick up some bar ends also thx guys

Welcome, Jim.

Welcome!!

There has been a number of posts from people asking how they can get better performance from their hybrid. By “better performance,” they generally mean go faster and further like a road bike. While some people advise them to get an actual road bike, hybrid riders prefer riding a flatbar over a dropbar and nothing makes a hybrid rider feel better than going by a road bike wannabe with skinny tires and lycra shorts. With that in mind, here are ten no-cost or low-cost tips for making your hybrid faster.

1. Shorten your handlebars. Move the shifters, brakes and grips in so that your hands are only as wide as your shoulders. Cut off the excess. (but leave room for bar ends)

2. Lower your handlebars. This will put you in a slightly more aggressive posture and slightly cut down on wind resistance.

3. Consider adding bar ends. It can give you greater hand position variety to reduce hand fatigue and better leverage when climbing hills while standing.

4. Use an open foot cage, toe straps or clipless pedals. If you go with toe straps, make sure you have a good shoe - one with a stiff and smooth sole, pointed toe and reinforced top. If you just wear sneakers, you won’t be happy. An open cage is the simplest and least expensive solution.

5. Go with narrower smooth tread tires. Your LSB will probably switch out the wider tires (32 or 35) with 28’s at time of purchase for free. If not, it’s a worthwhile investment. If you never go on dirt roads or trails, then try the 25. Inflate your tires - go with a tire with a 100 psi or higher.

6. Get a mirror. It will make you faster because you’ll ride with a lot more confidence. And it will make riding safer.

7. Pedal for cadence, not power. If you’re like me, you grew up riding heavy single-speed bikes where “heavy” pedalling meant more speed and your legs instinctively go that way. Re-train your legs to keep a quick and steady cadence - you’ll go faster.

8. Get a bike computer. Knowing how fast you’re going gives you instant feedback and that can help you develop better techniques and feed your internal reward system as your speeds increase.

9. Wear padded bike shorts and gloves. It will let you ride further. Your butt will thank you. If you’re like me, tight bike shorts are not flattering, so I wear gym shorts over the bike shorts.

10. Keep your bike clean. Clean the cassette, cranks and chain. Don’t over-lube.

Bonus Tip: Find groups to ride with. Check with your local LBS or meetups. Biking is more fun when it’s a social activity.

Have fun.

What is your lowest gearing?

um i really dont know what the gearing is whatever the specialized crosstrail comes with, lol. and Practical i'm not really concerned with
going faster, (at least not yet) just making up them big hills and getting my wrists to quit numbing up right now but sounds like you guys
gave me a few things to try.

I've got a 2013 Crosstrail sport disc, had some of the same issues with wrist pain and numbness at the beginning, right along with "the pain in the ass". The good news is that as you continue to ride your body adapts to your new form of exercise and most of the aches and pains go away - until next spring when you get your bike out after winter...

I was dealing with numbness in my finger tips after a longer ride even with a set of moderately padded gloves, I purchased a set of Ergon GP5 ergonomic grips with bar ends and ALL of my hand issues were alleviated, they work just as designed and are definitely worth the money.

I also experimented with varying tire inflation to find a good ride and what the head guy at the LBS where I bought my bike said proved to be true, he said that for my weight, 195 lbs, set the pressure at 75-80 psi and you'll be good for most situations. This is with the stock tires that come on the Crosstrail, the Specialized Trigger 700x38C, the sidewall rating for these is 75-100 psi. I also tried setting them at 95 psi on one ride where I was strictly on smooth pavement, along with the shock being locked, and the ride felt good and fast enough to satisfy my need for speed, I was heading down hill at easily 25 mph. But for most of my riding where I'm on trails of mixed surface I keep them at 80 psi and it works well, I'm quite pleased with the Specialized Triggers and will replace with the same them when the time comes to do so, if you do a bit of research on bike tires you'll find that you want a bit of grip for trails and firm but smooth tread for hard surfaces. The Triggers are designated as a cyclo-cross tire, this is what Specialized says about them in their own literature: "The Trigger rolls fast on asphalt, hard-pack and gravel paths. Ideally for those looking to get the most out of a smooth, fast cyclo-cross course. This tire rolls great on and off road." If you need any further proof of this tires ability, it comes stock on the new 2015 Crux Disc from Specialized, which is a fast cyclo-cross bike, check it out on their site.

I also replaced the stock seat with another from Specialized that was a bit wider, 175mm instead of the stock 155mm, it made a big difference "in the end", sorry, just had to say that...lol!

...hope this helps you out with your new bike, if you look around on the internet you'll find lots of very happy Crosstrail riders, its easily the best bike I've ever had. If I had gone with a bike that didn't have a suspension fork it would have been the Sirrus Sport Disc, but with my bad back and carpal tunnel wrists I wanted the front end to soak up some of the bumps, and it has certainly done the job very well.

cheers, enjoy your bike...;)

:lol: Welcome m r !

some good info trainchaser, from your name maybe i should tell ya i work for the railroad lol. seriously thx for the tips, i been keeping
my tires at 80 and was thinking of letting a little out. i tried locking out the front suspsension one day and about beat me to death, lol.
guess i'll have to check out those Ergon a couple other people recommended em also. i'm happily surprised i havent had much butt trouble.
thx again.

thank you

On what surface were you on that did that to you with the front suspension locked out?

well i was experimenting cause i had a couple hills to go up but the surface was an asphalt walkway but several places were
cracking and breaking up and then the walk bridges were plank and it was unbelievable how much differnece there was going
over those. but i'm still new and probably still tender lol

That is interesting.

I ride an old 1995 Trek 830 Mountain Bike with a non-suspension fork and because I have only just got back into riding, I too feel bumps somewhat, even though I just ride on roads & footpaths.

Perhaps I should rule out getting a non-suspension bike as my new bike later this year and go with something like the Trek 8.6DS so I will have the option of the suspension fork.

My GF purchased a Specialized Ariel Disc a few months back, which is similar to the Crosstrail. She has noted the same thing, even with the suspension fork sprung; front end can be a little twitchy. Not sure if that's related to F/R weight distribution, or stem length/angle, I'm not enough of an expert to say. Salesperson at LBS also mentioned not to treat these as MTBs... that MTBs force more weight onto the front of the bike to reduce skittishness. Again, I'm not an expert on this so looking forward to others' input if they have it, as well as remedies to this issue -- not sure how it will affect my GF but she already seem a little hesitant to do light trails. We'll play around with tire pressure too as that can definitely play a role.

Hey Morningrider, congrats on the new bike and getting back into cycling. Lots of great advice from the folks here, especially the list from "practical" aside from the mirror which I generally think is more dangerous than helpful. Learn to look over your shoulder! I got numb wrists when I started riding again and no one seems to have mentioned this: Make sure your wrists are not bent when you are in your riding position. They should be as straight as they are when your arms are just hanging limp by your sides – not flexed at all. If your wrists are bent when your on the bike then you should adjust your handlebar grips rotation and your controls (shifters, brake levers) so that your wrists aren't flexed. There is a nerve in there that will not be happy otherwise and can cause that numbness. And don't lock your elbows – keep them slightly bent so they can help absorb shocks.


I agree on the gel padded gloves. They help smooth out the bumps in the road, but equally as importantly they improve your grip on the handlebars which is an important safety benefit. Go with fingerless gloves until the weather gets too cold. Also agree on the ergonomic grips and addition of bar ends which will give you additional positions for your hands when they start to get tired. You will get used to it over time, but in the meantime you can always stop and shake out the numbness for a few moments – get the blood flowing again. Make sure you're not putting too much of your weight on your hands and wrists, too. Most of all, keep riding and enjoy it!