Hello there my 2 wheeled chums

My wife has recently bought herself a shiny new road bike, having got up to riding 20 odd miles on a cheap full suspension mountain bike.

Is it normal for there to be much of a transition?

She's struggling with her arms, it feels like a lot of her weight is going into her arms and hands. Could this be down to incorrect riding position, being too tense, or just having to adjust to a different riding position.

She's also complaining that her quads are burning while she's riding. As she's well used to riding, she wasn't expecting to be back to square one.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

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2013 Goals: Complete first tri. Run 750 miles. 50 minute 10k, 2 hour half (tick - 1:57:19).
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Yes, it was a huge transition, in fact it still is

Thing C25K and step back before building up

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Has she had the bike set the bike set up completely with the saddle adjusted to the right height etc? If not, I'd go down to the local bike shop and get them to have a look. Sometimes you only need to move it half an inch and it feels a lot better.

Mathew aged 21 and using inches as a preferred unit of measure. There is hope for the future yet.

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Thanks for the replies chaps. I'll get my spanners out, and failing that I'll take her down the local bike shop.

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2013 Goals: Complete first tri. Run 750 miles. 50 minute 10k, 2 hour half (tick - 1:57:19).
My Garmin & My Blog

How is she holding the handlebars? When cruising I have my palms inwards and the fleshy pad under my thumb is what rests on the corners of the upper bar section and I keep my thumb on the same side of the bar as my fingers. Before I was gripping the bar or brake lever housings, or having my palms down which hurt my hands and wrists. It was just automatic after riding a mountain bike. Since keeping my weight on the pads I am a lot more comfortable and yes, get the bike fitted correctly.

Hiya Gruffy! When're you getting your own road bike then???

Anyway, yes, there is quite a bit of adjustment - particularly as a flat-bar bike has your arms a bit wider apart, so you're more stable than on drop bars. When I started road cycling my biggest problem was getting saddle height right. If her quads are burning, my best guess is that her saddle is too low (this will always chew up your quads). Remember that your leg has to be only slightly bent at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

She may have to raise the saddle quite a bit which may necessitate a change in how she stops. I've changed the way I come to a stop now as I used to just lean over on tippy toes (on the right) while still remaining seated. At the moment, I slide off the saddle completely and put my left foot flat on the ground. This is because the saddle is too high for me to safely remain seated and put a foot down.

Too much pressure on the hands is a clear sign of issues around bike position. Could be possible that it's the saddle height or frame size or stem length... There's a LOT of alchemy/guidelines to bike fitting. Things that can be adjusted include: handlebar height, stem length, saddle height and saddle position (forwards/backwards).

Cheapest would be to Google a bit or find a few YouTube videos. Most effective would be to have a bike fitting. The benefit of a bike fitting is that you get your own, presonalised measurements that you can copy over to any other bikes you might buy in future (and you probably will... buy more). These WILL be road bike-specific though, just FYI. Geometries and riding position/style differ widely between commuter, road, and mountain bikes. I had a bike fitting done at On Your Bike at London Bridge FYI (if you just want to have an idea what one entails - they have information on their website).

P.S. I posted this before your bike threw you off...

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Thanks for the replies. I've adjusted the saddle by a good bit, and adjusted the angle of the handlebars a smidge.

We'll see how that goes.

I've also been in touch with a local bike shop, and he has said he can do a proper fitting and a health check on the bike (as it's from Halfords!), so probably a good move really.

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2013 Goals: Complete first tri. Run 750 miles. 50 minute 10k, 2 hour half (tick - 1:57:19).
My Garmin & My Blog

I did my fit through YouTube and when I want for a pro fit he didn't charge as I had it so close there was nothing to adjust

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Just when I got my head together, my body fell apart.

Beginners Guide - Click Here

a road bike is often a more aggressive and less stable and less comfy posiition than MTB

You should be able to do a basic bike setup yourself. most imp to get the seat height right. simple test is to have your knee LOCKED out when pedalling slowly backwards with your HEEL on the pedal. Someone should hold the bike! Any knee pain lower the seat a cm.

my wife is a v similar heigh to me but she too does not like the extra weight on the arms by the position i ride in. If you have those circular spacers you can make the handlebar post thing a bit higher by changing their position or sometimes you can turn the handlebar stem upside down to make the effective handlebar position higher.

Or you can buy a new handlebar stem that allows you to adjust the position. i ended up doing that for my wife on the MTB.

Or you could try to move the seat forwards a bit (and then re-check the seat height position) that will put weight away from arms

something like that

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