getting in the drops and bike sizing
 

Greetings,

I have been riding a cannondale r700 that I bought new, for a year and a half.

During this time, riding using the drops is almost impossible and I ride a little of the time on the brake hoods and most of the time on the bars.

When I bought the bike they sized it for me by eyeball.

I have gone back and asked about riding on the bars, they suggested placing brakes there, or they suggested an adjustable handlebar stem.

They charge $70 for a real bike sizing.

If I new that that the adjustable stem would solve my problem I would have no problem spending the money.

The other issue is adding the adjustable stem may in the end cost some money if all the brake and gear lines need to be replaced if there is not enough slack.

Pictures of you in profile, hands in drops and hands on hoods, near leg fully extended?

Why is it impossible to ride in the drops?

Yup...a start if you want anything close to constructive advice. Take a pic with you on the hoods in particular. On the hoods for a std. road bike position...non racer like I am...you want about a 45 degree back angle with slightly bent arms. In the drops your back will be just a bit more horizontal...30-40 deg to horizontal.
Core strength, flexibility relate heavily to bike sizing. The fittest cyclists can ride comfortably on more aggressively sized bikes. If you are into the sport, learn at least to swap out a few stems. E-bay is a good cheap resource. You won't know about your cable slack until you try. You can easily guesstimate this however by removing the stem cap and pushing your current stem up. The trig isn't hard to figure out if you have any math skills.
George

+1 it's likely your bars are too low and/or too far away -- stem can fix this

A quality bike fit is money well spent, however it sounds like this particular shop isn't the sharpest lot around. Try some others, ask questions, get a feel for if they're just after your money or really interested in making the bike work for you. A change of stem is likely in order.

There's the problem - that's not really sizing. Whenever a store looks at me, they always give me the wrong size (which, coincidentally, always seems to be the one size remaining of a bike they want to get rid of.) Every time I rent a bike, I get "You need a 58 or 59" (I ride a 55.)

In the future, look for shops that will size you for free if you're buying a bike.

It's not really the bike because with adjusting the seat-height and handlebars, you can get the seat & handlebar in the exact same position across a wide range of frame-sizes. I can anywhere from a 50cm to 58cm bike with the exact same position by adjusting seat & handlebars.

It depends upon how you are reaching for the drops. You can't just bend over and curve your back. You really need to keep the back straight and rock at the hips/pelvis. You'll feel the jewels being pushed aside by the nose of the seat (should've pulled them up when putting shorts on). Imagine trying to put your belly-button on the top-tube. Curving your stomach downwards also lets you breath in deeper as well. Bend your elbows to absorb road bumps.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...vineCrit2b.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...-SLOcrit1s.jpg

You'll need to improve flexibility to ride comfortably. Spend about 15-20 minutes of stretching after each ride. Side-splits and hamstring stretches improve flexibility, the major part of being comfortable in the drops.

Glutes, Pull legs back into side-split and bend over keeping back straight. Walk elbows forward and put chin & chest on ground.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...SideSplits.jpg

Hamstrings, keep leg straight and forearms flat on the ground if you can. Put chin on leg.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...Hamstrings.jpg

^^^^ Ouch!

:eek: :eek: +50!!!:eek: :eek:
:eek: :eek:

SHOWOFF!! BUT MAD PROPS! Aren't you hurting your jewels?