I've been riding a straight bar road bike for a couple of years, so after Castle Combe Duathlon last month I got an upgrade and bought a Trek 1.5. I took it out for a ride on Monday, and I got a massive blister on the inside of my finger (next to my thumb) which burst on the ride and has been a pain all week as I keep catching it

I can only think of 3 possible reasons for this:

1 - I wasn't wearing gloves, but can't see that this would've caused a blister?

2 - I'm holding the bars incorrectly (mainly holding on just above the brakes)

3 - The different type of riding style (and pedals, my previous ones were double sided clips, these just one sided!) caused me to be less confident and resulted in holding on tighter? My arms were aching a bit after which leads me to think this could be the cause.

Does anyone with more experience have any suggestions, or advice on correct riding position on drop bars?

Thanks
Alan

Alan, If your forearms are aching, you are probably holding on too tight...

I tend to hold the brake hoods at a slight angle with the backs of my hands pointing out at around 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock and yes in the past I have developed blisters and even a couple of warts in the area around the base of my thumb.

I don't tend to use the drops much - on the tri bars instead

If you don't have anything on your handlebars, (lights computers etc) then alternate hooking your hands on the tops of the bars - knuckles pointing forwards.

One tip for bike handling skills is to find a quiet industrial estate on a sunday morning and do laps round it. You can practice corners and brake etc with little traffic around

We blogged a hill climbing session which may help also

http://insidetriathlon.org/?p=64


If you haven't already, think about clipless pedals - they have a learning curve but make such a difference

Also - have you had the seat and bar height checked by a "proper" bike shop or just a bike shop "supermarket" staffed by spotting youths?

The former is an essential

hth - happy to help further

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Thanks for the info, I'll try and remember to angle the hands a bit. I think I am currently holding them around 12 o'clock.

I bought the bike at a lbs who adjusted the height of the saddle to the correct position for me, I will also be taking it back for a free checkup in the next 3 weeks so will ask him to re-check it to be sure. He also said that he'll remove a spacing or two on the bars if needed.

Had a quick look at your site and have bookmarked it for a more in depth look later. That hill session looks hard, but I think I have the hill in mind - whether I want to ride up it 4 times in 1 sessions though :eek:

Hi Alan, do you mean 12 o clock with your hands on the brake levers?

You definately need to try the 10/2 position

Saddle height may come in because if it is too high, you will be taking too much weight on your arms

The hill session is good for you (physically) but gets a big like groundhog day so switch off before you start

let us know how you get on

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Hi Intriathlete,

Well I wasn't quite at 12 O'clock, but not far off! I've done a couple of rides now trying to get the right position and this seems to be working much better. Now I just have to build up the mileage and get some interval and hill sessions in.

And here is me thinking this was a running forum

Alan,
I'd learn to ride on every part of your bars.
With the arms hurting, was it around the triceps and shoulders? This tends to happen if you have good technique and haven't done much riding as you're anchoring your core and using the power generated by it.

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I don't tend to use the drops much - on the tri bars instead