crypticlineage

I have primarily used my mountain bike with slicks all throughout last year while I was accumulating parts for my first road bike build. Last week, I finally put it all together. I have my first road bike now.

There is about 110 miles on my bike now, with 3 small rides and one 100k. The three rides went smooth, no problems whatsoever (except that I felt a bit weird because of a different riding style), but man the 100k ride killed me in the last 30% of the ride.

Problems I had:

1. Hurting elbow joints (I am learning not to lock them up)
2. Hurting shoulder blades, the area in between and the neck
3. Slight muscle spasm (feels like a ball of muscle is developing) on the inside of my right thigh, just above the knee. This wasn't severe or anything and I kept pedaling but it sure did freak me out. It happened about 70% into the ride.
4. Same muscle spasm on the left thigh (in exactly same position) started about 85% into the ride, again not serious enough to make me stop but scared me. Both spasms went away around 90% into the ride.

I have done rides of this length before on my mountain bike and have not had these problems. The crank length should not be a problem because:

My inseam: 31inches x 5.48 = ~170mm cranks

I would like to figure out ASAP whether these problems are because I haven't ridden in this style before and I don't have muscles in the pain area to support this riding style yet

-OR-

The setup is not right. My stem is flipped, I can unflip it to see if that will help. I am 5' 8" tall and the frame is 50cm. Here is a picture of the bike. I will post my build information and more detailed pictures in a separate thread.

msheron

You will find that with more riding the muscles will adapt to the new form you need. I had all your symptoms and it worked out. I use to be a big weight lifter and thought there was no road on a bike that could work out my legs more than doing 1200 lbs. on a leg press......WRONG!

It is a different sport all together. I no longer press 1200 lbs. I press a sub 18 lb. bike between my legs and love the agony of a 20% grade climb for short distances!

rule

Nice bike...don't over do it for the first month. Give you body time to adjust and adapt. If at that point you are still having issues you may need to tweak your fit a bit. Until then don't unless you are certain that something is way off.

The best advice that I ever got with a new bike is when they told me to go easy and often while my body is dialing in to the fit.

Have fun and enjoy the ride cryptic.

DXchulo

Yeah, sounds like you tried the 100 km too soon.

Are you sure the bike is big enough? 50 cm for 5'8" seems a little small, but it all depends. Have you checked your saddle height? That and if your stem is too short you could be putting too much weight on your arms.

EDIT: Here's a pretty good site to check out: https://plankroadcyclery.com/page.cfm?PageID=45

donrhummy

Sounds like you need a bike fit. Don't go flipping/changing things. Instead take it to a pro bike fitter (most good LBS' have them) and get them to do it for you. It'll make ALOT of diff.

crypticlineage

Good to hear that everyone, I will take it easy for a while now.

DXchulo: I have tried several specialized, cannondale and trek 50cms bikes in the shop and thats how I ended up with a 50cm frame. It may still be a bit small but changing the frame is definitely not an option. I have built this up over two years (Very tight budget). I think even if the frame happens to be a bit small, I should be able to make it up using saddle height and stem length like you mentioned.

What is the best way to find out the correct saddle height and stem length?

garysol1 

I fully agree on a pro bike fitting but also be sure not to over do it at first. It WILL take your body awhile to adjust to the new motions and the new positions you are asking of it. Just give it time and build up slowly.

CactusJackSlade

I would definitely flip your stem... at least for a while, based on your seat height that photo shows a VERY aggressive position for a first time set-up.

Also, concentrate on relaxing your shoulders and neck. I have the same trouble and I've been riding for 30 years! I find that if I do not pay attention, I "scrunch" my shoulders and neck and before I know it I have knife blades sticking into the back/base of my nect right in between my shoulder blades - ugh!

Also, what others have said, don't over do it the first month or so...

CJS

donrhummy

I repeat: do NOT do this yourself. Pay the $30-50 to get it done right or you could be creating more problems. I had my stem flipped upwards, thinking it'd be better for my back/neck/shoulders, but I still had lot's of problems. Finally got a pro bike fit and the guy flipped it and shortened it and I told him, "No, I want to be mroe upright". He said to just try it and see how it felt, if it was bad, come back in and he'd change it back. WOW was he right. EVERY change he made was perfect. With my handlebars too high previously, I'd been unknowingly collapsing my scapulae, causing upper back pain. TRUST ME - get a bike fit. (The bike fit he gave me fixed calf injury problems, outer left quad problems, neck, upper/lower back pain and hand/wrist pain)

terry b

Nm

DrPete 

If you just got into running, would you run 1 mile a couple times then run 20?

Really, though, it sounds like the pain you're experiencing is more from a new/different position than any major problem with your fit. Just keep taking it easy for a couple weeks and see how it goes. Make sure you stretch, hydrate, etc., and work your way up to those longer rides slowly.

botto 

is that a 2.8? now wonder you're in pain, you can feel the paint on the road with that frame.

oh yeah... crawl, walk, run...

R900

Lemond figures seat height with this formula, most all the rest are very close:

SEAT HEIGHT (cm) = Inseam (cm) x .883

Set-up looks aggressive, it wouldn't hurt to flip it.

And 100k is a long ride for a new bike.

I also recommend a fit, depending on when you get it done, you can certainly try some things yourself. Flipping the stem and taking it easy might make a big difference.

Early Cannondales are said to be harsh, so that might have some effect as well.

blickblocks

Looks like your bars and seat are both low. I'm the same height as you, with the same size bike. I looked at a few fitting guides, and the bars and saddle ended up being higher than I thought they'd be. You could try that, or like some have suggested, go to a LBS.

Weeks

glad to see you left the bike on the charger, those things lose power so fast..

OCRider2000

.883 x inseam is a good starting point as far as seat height. If your hips are rocking at all at this height(best viewed by another rider behind you) then take it down until they stop rocking. As far as a pro fitting I would say, ya not a bad idea the only problem is finding someone who knows what they are doing. And if you don't know the basics of road bike fitting then you won't know if they know what they are doing. From your pic it looks like your seat is not level. Seat should be level. Seat fore\aft: have you experimented with this? Look up KOPS, experiment and figure out where you like to be relative to spindles. Once you have got fore\aft and saddle height set don't change them. Remember when you change fore\aft position it changes height and vice versa. Looks like you have a lot of handlebar to top of saddle differential especially for someone new to road bikes. Measure it. For a new roadie anything more than 4 or 5cm is probably not gonna be comfortable for you. Reach: when seated how is your reach? Bunched up or too stretched out? Check out this fit calculator: https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...LCULATOR_INTRO I would be currious what sort of top tube stem length combo they come up with based on your proportions. I know swapping the frame is not an option, just currious what you might need to change in order to get your reach correct. It looks like the fork steer was cut fairly low. If addressing handlebar to top of seat differential issue is not resolvable via different stem you might need to consider swapping out stem so you can add spacers. Lots of them on ebay. Finally like others have said, road biking is totally different from mountain biking. I would first, get your fit right then very slowing increase your mileage and intensity. As you get more flexible you will probably continue to fine tune your fit. The main thing is to first get you in the ball park.

HardCharger

...make significant changes in comfort. There's nothing wrong with taking matters into your own hands. Flipping the stem, rotating the bars, moving the saddle on the rails, changing the tilt or height, etc., are all things the rider can do for himself to see if these slight adjustments help out in the (micro) fit department. If they don't, then you can surely enlist the pros at your LBS.

It takes more than a few rides to get a bike dialed in, espcecially if it's your first roadie.

Now blasting out the starting gate & doin' a 60+ miler is probably what got to you the most. Add to that a not so perfect bike set up & you've got yourself a "sore" combination. Take it easy & work up to the longer distances. You don't want to knock yourself out of the game before you really even get started...

seriouslysilly

i think that might be the wireless router

i see you're updating the firmware.
the new firmware should help you with your muscles as it will make it run more smoothly

cybert

I started riding june 4th last year and had 6 rides at about 13miles before I even rode 25, finished off the year with 1550. I took me awhile to build up my rides, while I was moving my seat up and down and moving my shoes. just like msheron I lifted alot then and didnt think riding would be hard. Keep it up.

gfrance

I second all the fit advise, but to my eyes, the saddle is also tilted too far down in front. That can cause all kinds of discomfort.

shoerhino

I was going to mention the seat as well. The further down the nose is, the more you tend to put weight on the arms and shoulders. I would start with level and if that feels bad, you can tilt it down a little but it doesn't have to be much.

I would also agree with getting a professional fit but there are some simple things you can try first. Fittings are not cheap.

the beef

Great looking bike.

I'd also second the thought that 50 cm sounds too small, but as you said, it's not an option to change the frame. Get a longer stem, flip it up possibly, think about bar width (it should be as wide as your shoulders), check seat height, etc.

Good luck.

rollin

++ on bike fitting from a pro.

I had similar pains when I started, most just went over time - getting used to the new position etc. but a good bike fitting after a couple of hundred miles worked wonders.

A 2 cm shorter stem and and a little saddle off set and I felt like I had a new bike. On the mountain bike a couple of cm here and there seemed to make no difference. I think that's because I was moving around on the bike a lot more.

By the way I am 5'8" and I have a 54cm.

derath

+100 on getting fitted.

I am in the almost EXACT situation as you. For the last 15 years my only bike was a Trek 950 mountain bike. I have done numerous long rides etc with slicks. This past spring i bought my first road bike. Now I didn't get professionally fitted, BUT I did get lucky that the bike fits me like a glove.

From day 1, it has been the MOST comfortable ride ever. I can do a century ride without any arm/wrist/shoulder pain. My butt gets a little sore by then, but not bad. My shoulder blade area can get sore, but that is only when I start getting tired and slump a bit.

Get properly fitted and you will love the ride.

-D

Demit

-1000 on getting fitted, I may be crazy but I believe you can find out what fits all by yourself. Your bike will probaly fit you perfectly just after a month or two more of riding it. In the mean time..

it sounds like you are leaning more forward than your body is use too and bending you neck in a way you arent used to as a result of that. also, you are locking you elbows, as you already said.

Flip the stem, do stretches, ignore any saddle height formula, just lower it a tad for now just to see if it helps, it doesnt sound like your legs are having any problems other than over use. Make sure your seat is flat( a tilted seat can put stress on you arms).

What every fit works for you right now will probaly not be needed after a month or two of ridding so I wouldnt invest money in getting fitted.