Post your bike

[taemo]

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar


Tough to tell from the picture but it looks like the bars might be pointed down slightly. if so, undo the bolts on the stem at the handlebars and tilt them towards you a bit. it'll help with the extended reach and prevent you from putting too much pressure on your hands (resulting in hands falling asleep).

edit: also looks like your saddle position is far bar - you can move that forward to the neutral position for starters.

Also - content:
Almost finished building this. Just have to adjust lever position and tape the bars.

that was the bike when i picked it up.
made some modifications to fit my comfort right after
-moved the saddle forward
-changed the stem with a shorter one and angled up
-titled handlebar up a little

although i think may need to work more on the handlebar as the hoods seems to be sitting low on the bar and drops feels weird to ride on, although maybe i'm just not used to it?

[Penguin_Racecar]

With the bars tilted back it would feel a bit weird to ride in the drops. Specifically - what feels weird about it? Hand angle? Too stretched out? Unable to reach levers? Not confidence inspiring?

Normally the levers should point straight down. I'd say it looks like the bars are tilted back a bit too far at this point. Personally I like my bar to hood transition to sit around level. On your bike it looks like the transition slopes upward.

With the hoods too far down on the bar I get numb fingers. The same thing happens if the bar is tilted too far forward. with the hoods too far up (or bars tilted back) you'll have more grip on the hood, but I would imagine your wrist alignment is far from ideal.
With the bike I just built I played around with lever positions a bunch before taping, as your ability to move levers after taping are limited to a few mm up or down.

[taemo]

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar
With the bars tilted back it would feel a bit weird to ride in the drops. Specifically - what feels weird about it? Hand angle? Too stretched out? Unable to reach levers? Not confidence inspiring?

Normally the levers should point straight down. I'd say it looks like the bars are tilted back a bit too far at this point. Personally I like my bar to hood transition to sit around level. On your bike it looks like the transition slopes upward.

With the hoods too far down on the bar I get numb fingers. The same thing happens if the bar is tilted too far forward. with the hoods too far up (or bars tilted back) you'll have more grip on the hood, but I would imagine your wrist alignment is far from ideal.
With the bike I just built I played around with lever positions a bunch before taping, as your ability to move levers after taping are limited to a few mm up or down.

i tilted the angle down a little and it's much better, i can ride on the drops now and fairly comfortably on the hoods as well.
my neck needs to get used riding so low now i think


also installed fenders on the kona, looking forward to the rainy season now

[D'z Nutz]

Nice job Earl! They make such a big difference

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by taemo


i tilted the angle down a little and it's much better, i can ride on the drops now and fairly comfortably on the hoods as well.
my neck needs to get used riding so low now i think

Nice!
I spend 99% of the time on the hoods. Exceptions being headwinds and descents where I need the extra braking leverage.

Couple of tips for the road bike:
Switch hand positions frequently to prevent numbness. For neck/head position, remember to keep your chin closer to your chest. This should help with spinal alignment.
Dropping your head and tilting it up to see will surely result in a super sore neck.

[blitz]

Picked up some used Stans 650B wheels and some "Road Plus" tires for commuting and gravel use. Pretty nice ride for mixed terrain.

D600 + 58 1.4G by Ryan Karr, on Flickr

[Rocket1k78]

Nicely done Blitz. The wheels are sick

[msommers]

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar


I spend 99% of the time on the hoods. Exceptions being headwinds and descents where I need the extra braking leverage.

Couple of tips for the road bike:
Switch hand positions frequently to prevent numbness. For neck/head position, remember to keep your chin closer to your chest. This should help with spinal alignment.
Dropping your head and tilting it up to see will surely result in a super sore neck.

Good advice!

Originally posted by blitz
Picked up some used Stans 650B wheels and some "Road Plus" tires for commuting and gravel use. Pretty nice ride for mixed terrain.


» Click image for larger version

So sick!!

[D'z Nutz]

That's pretty hot, Ryan. How does it ride compared to an aluminum bike?

[Penguin_Racecar]

What sort of tire clearance do you have with the 650b setup?

[taemo]

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar


Nice!
I spend 99% of the time on the hoods. Exceptions being headwinds and descents where I need the extra braking leverage.

Couple of tips for the road bike:
Switch hand positions frequently to prevent numbness. For neck/head position, remember to keep your chin closer to your chest. This should help with spinal alignment.
Dropping your head and tilting it up to see will surely result in a super sore neck.

2 weeks of riding and my neck is not getting sore anymore as im learning to keep my head down and look up with my eyes instead.
my hand occasionally gets tired when resting on the hood, is it my posture and putting too much weight to the front?

Originally posted by blitz
Picked up some used Stans 650B wheels and some "Road Plus" tires for commuting and gravel use. Pretty nice ride for mixed terrain.

D600 + 58 1.4G by Ryan Karr, on Flickr

nice bike man!

[msommers]

I find my hands get more numb as I'm pedalling easier and not engaging my core as I should be. When using a more brisk pace and conscientiously trying to use 'light hands' by engaging my core, lessening my grip and lowering my elbows, the numbness seems to go away. Moving your hands around the bars helps too.

I've found starting out to be the hardest. Your hands get numb because of the above, you're not in as good of shape and your ass hurts which means you can't push/pull as much to also help take weight off the front. I'm getting there slowly, a new seat has definitely helped.

Making sure your bike is setup properly is another huge thing. Get a seat that accommodates your riding style (upright, 45 degrees, bent over) and then adjust your stem and seat position, along with your bar angle.

Just my amateur 0.02

[adidas]

Originally posted by blitz
Picked up some used Stans 650B wheels and some "Road Plus" tires for commuting and gravel use. Pretty nice ride for mixed terrain.

More pics kind sir.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by taemo


2 weeks of riding and my neck is not getting sore anymore as im learning to keep my head down and look up with my eyes instead.
my hand occasionally gets tired when resting on the hood, is it my posture and putting too much weight to the front?

Nice!
When you say your hands get tired do you mean they get sore? Or do they start to tingle/lose a bit of feeling. Tingling/losing feeling is probably due to wrist angle causing circulation issues. Not sure if that is similar to tendonitis?

Soreness might go away with time, though I guess you want to make sure you're gripping the hoods right. I like to have the meaty bits of my hand on top of the bars as much as possible for support. I noticed when I had a wrist splint (which the doctor nicely shaped so I could hold road bike bars ) I had to use grip strength to hold onto the hood. White-knuckling meant fatigue in ~1 hr of riding on smooth pavement.

[taemo]

I feel like I'm leaning forward too much and have to move back on the saddle, and my saddle is already placed on the front of the rail. Perhaps it's time for me to replace my short stem with a slightly longer one but still angled up.
I rest on the top of the hood with my palm closest to the thumb.
I also noticed that my hand gets tired more when using these gloves that I own that aren't really mean for cycling, and I think that my handlebar tape doesn't have much cushion by the hood, so I was thinking of double taping it.

[bigboom]

Originally posted by taemo
I feel like I'm leaning forward too much and have to move back on the saddle, and my saddle is already placed on the front of the rail. Perhaps it's time for me to replace my short stem with a slightly longer one but still angled up.
I rest on the top of the hood with my palm closest to the thumb.
I also noticed that my hand gets tired more when using these gloves that I own that aren't really mean for cycling, and I think that my handlebar tape doesn't have much cushion by the hood, so I was thinking of double taping it.

Check the angle of your saddle too, if its tilted nose down it will push you onto your hands and lean forward too much.

[taemo]

Originally posted by bigboom


Check the angle of your saddle too, if its tilted nose down it will push you onto your hands and lean forward too much.

yes, i've confirmed that my saddle is leveled, never had any issues or felt like i was sliding forward

[lilmira]

If you just started riding especially on a road bike, a lot of your body parts are going to be complaining regardless. Give it some time and eventually you can dial in your position.

Slightly off topic, rode into a tunnel similar to the one in the bike pic once. My eyes couldn't adjust to the low light right away, basically rode it through half blind.

[benyl]

Originally posted by taemo
I feel like I'm leaning forward too much and have to move back on the saddle, and my saddle is already placed on the front of the rail. Perhaps it's time for me to replace my short stem with a slightly longer one but still angled up.
I rest on the top of the hood with my palm closest to the thumb.
I also noticed that my hand gets tired more when using these gloves that I own that aren't really mean for cycling, and I think that my handlebar tape doesn't have much cushion by the hood, so I was thinking of double taping it.

I not sure if I am reading this right, but it sounds to me that you are too stretched out.

I would put your saddle back to middle. The front of the rail makes your reach longer and will have you stretch and thus put more weight on your arms.

A longer stem will just make the problem worse IMO.

Might be time to pony up and get a bike fit done before you injure something.

Either that, or you need to ride harder. haha. Your upper body should be supported by your glutes and lower back contracting during the down stroke.

[blitz]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
That's pretty hot, Ryan. How does it ride compared to an aluminum bike?

I honestly don't know if I can tell the difference at the moment, but with the 650b tires it's quite a different beast than anything I've ridden before.

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar
What sort of tire clearance do you have with the 650b setup?

Quite a bit of clearance everywhere, I'll snap some photos with my 700x37 and these 650bx47 for comparison.

As I was searching for used parts for that build, I ended up picking up a 2001 Litespeed Arenberg off Kijiji as a project bike and went a bit nuts on it. Luckily I had a lot of parts laying around to help subsidize the cost. Some acetone took off the old decals.

Dura-ace R9100 shifters/derailleurs/11-30 Cassette
Dura-ace R9000 brakes
Sram Red 53/39 Crankset
Ultegra 6800 Tubeless wheels
Schwalbe One Tubeless tires
FSA Compact Carbon Bars
Easton EC-70 Seatpost
Selle Esse Saddle

Weighs in at 16.76 lbs with cages, but no pedals. I'm not completely happy with the colour match between the saddle and tape, but that's the only thing left to track down for it.

Litespeed Refurbished by Ryan Karr, on Flickr

Untitled by Ryan Karr, on Flickr