Three questions in One

Mcofferon

Morning all

I'm looking to convert from a Carrera Subway to a full road bike, and to prove the folly or wisdom of this move I've hired a road bike for the weekend. My main concerns were backache and what my endurance would be to the rough ride. I'm doing a short early morning spin weekdays and a longer run on one of the weekend mornings. Improved fitness is my primary goal.

After a short spin yesterday and a loop from Cornelscourt, Enniskerry & Bray this morning am relieved to find the riding position not too radical (Giant Defy 5 Triple). The questions are...

Should I be looking for a Triple Crankset? I found Cournelscourt Hill much more of a struggle than expected - me thinking these fancy racers did all the work for you:) I hadn't taken into account the difference between the Giants 700 wheels and the 26" ones on the Halfords Subway. I'm thinking a compact chainset wouldn't have a low enough bottom gear. Should I just struggle on until my fitness improves?

Question 2 - I was expecting a bone rattling ride but it wasnt too bad. Just the rear end went uncomfortably numb after about 20k. I've a pair of cheap cycling shorts with some padding. Also on the Subway I changed out the saddle for a Brooks B17. Whilst not the perfect shape or weight, any reason why I couldn't use the Brooks on a road bike? would better shorts have better padding? Or is the ass thing a right of passage all cyclist go through and I should quit my moaning.

Lastly, the only other ache is from my shoulders (top outer muscles). Not too worried as this hire bike is not exactly 'fitted' for me. Are there any recommended upper body exercises I should be looking at to improve my cycling experience??

Thanks and sorry to blather on.

monkeypants

I'd recommend a compact over a triple simply to avoid having to piss about with three chainrings. A compact should give you a low enough gear for most hills.

I don't think there would be a problem with the saddle. Good cycling shorts will take away most of the discomfort.

As for your shoulders, could be the lack of a bike fit causing you to put too much weight on your arms (having to stretch forward). Try changing hand position on the bars. Road bikes generally transmit vibration from the road in a way that other bikes don't. Try cycling gloves and bend your elbows slightly rather than keeping them straight.

Tonyandthewhale

What do you mean by full road bike?

While it's a grand bike for what it is, no matter how much money you put into the carrera subway it won't ever look or feel like a normal road bike such as the giant defy.

The 26 inch wheels will always slow you down, the generous tyre clearance and relaxed geometry mean the handling and aerodynamics will never match those of a road bike and unless you get a good deal on some second-hand shifters then converting to drops could easily cost almost as much as the subway cost initially.

You'll also have to either change the current brakes (I'm assuming they're V-brakes) to cantilever brakes (which are widely regarded as inferior) or install an adaptor or use special V-brake compatible brake levers which would mean you wouldn't be able to use integrated shifters.

It might also be quite difficult to get a properly comfortable position on the subway once you have the drop-bars installed as the top tube might be longer than you'd find on an equivalently sized road bike because the subway is designed for flat or riser bars with no extra reach built in.

You'll also have to bear in mind the weight of the thing. As far as I know, carrera subways are quite a bit heavier than most road bikes and it could be difficult and/or expensive to cut that weight down substantially.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go ahead with your plan because it's always fun to play around with your bike and even if you don't end up with something that in any way resembles a road bike it still might well be faster/more efficient/more comfortable than what you started with. I just wanted to make sure you're aware of some of the issues you might run into.

Mcofferon

Thanks Monkeypants and Tony

Tony - appologies, I wasn't really clear with my OP. For convert read Move to. I may hold onto the Subway for supermarket dashes etc but I'd be buying a road bike. Sorry for the confusion, bu some interesting points regarding the Subway.

Monkeypants - your probably right about the fit of the bike. Been to a couple of dealers today and they both give the compact group set the thumbs up. Size wise although I'm not that tall it turns out that I have longish legs and a shorter upper body. Might need a 54/55 frame but with a short bar stem to avoid over stretching.

Thanks for the input.

kincsem

Mcofferon wrote: »

Question 1: Should I be looking for a Triple Crankset?
Question 2: Any reason why I couldn't use the Brooks on a road bike?
Question 3: Lastly, the only other ache is from my shoulders . Are there any recommended upper body exercises I should be looking at to improve my cycling experience??

Q 1: Many on here will say you should use a compact 50/34 chainring. What suits them might not suit you. A strong experienced cyclist will use a different setup than an inexperienced cyclist (or old/unfit /overweight.) I have five bikes: flatbar triple; two triple road bikes; one hub gear road bike; one single-speed road bike.
My suggestion is a road bike with Sram Apex gears. You can get a 50/34 front and an 11/32 rear cassette. That gives a top gear of 50/11=4.55. and a bottom gear of 34/32=1.06. This is both higher and lower than my triples 52/39/30 and 12/27 (4.33 and 1.11).

Q 2: I have a Brooks saddle on one of my road bikes (the On-One Afine 11 hub gear). It too new and not worn in yet. Use whatever saddle is the most comfortable. I'm always switching saddle around between bikes.

Q3: I doubt you need exercises to sort out sore shoulders. Most of these problems disappear after a few rides. If not then the bike size is probably not right for you (frame too big or too small), or you are down on the drops too much. My neck muscles get sore when I return to cycling, but it disappears the more I cycle.

kincsem

Mcofferon wrote: »

Size wise although I'm not that tall it turns out that I have longish legs and a shorter upper body. Might need a 54/55 frame but with a short bar stem to avoid over stretching.

I am 5'8" but the opposite to you, short legs and long torso. My bikes are 54cm frames. The frame size should match the torso - the idea is you can't change the saddle to handlebar distance easily, but you can change the pedals to saddle height easily by raising / lowering the saddle.
There are guides on the internet for help you re frame size.

Chaineri

Mcofferon wrote: »

Morning all

I'm looking to convert from a Carrera Subway to a full road bike, and to prove the folly or wisdom of this move I've hired a road bike for the weekend. My main concerns were backache and what my endurance would be to the rough ride. I'm doing a short early morning spin weekdays and a longer run on one of the weekend mornings. Improved fitness is my primary goal.

After a short spin yesterday and a loop from Cornelscourt, Enniskerry & Bray this morning am relieved to find the riding position not too radical (Giant Defy 5 Triple). The questions are...

Should I be looking for a Triple Crankset? I found Cournelscourt Hill much more of a struggle than expected - me thinking these fancy racers did all the work for you:) I hadn't taken into account the difference between the Giants 700 wheels and the 26" ones on the Halfords Subway. I'm thinking a compact chainset wouldn't have a low enough bottom gear. Should I just struggle on until my fitness improves?

Question 2 - I was expecting a bone rattling ride but it wasnt too bad. Just the rear end went uncomfortably numb after about 20k. I've a pair of cheap cycling shorts with some padding. Also on the Subway I changed out the saddle for a Brooks B17. Whilst not the perfect shape or weight, any reason why I couldn't use the Brooks on a road bike? would better shorts have better padding? Or is the ass thing a right of passage all cyclist go through and I should quit my moaning.

Lastly, the only other ache is from my shoulders (top outer muscles). Not too worried as this hire bike is not exactly 'fitted' for me. Are there any recommended upper body exercises I should be looking at to improve my cycling experience??

Thanks and sorry to blather on.

Mc, IMO the compact is the best groupset. If you have reservations about the hills get a bigger cassette on the rear wheel, 30 - 32 teeth, will ride like a triple. Q for u now, where did you hire the Giant Defy? Cant find a bike shop that hire road bikes anywhere! :cool:

smacl

As a middle aged bloke on his first road bike, I've a triple and find it serves me well. Lots of gears if you need them, and when you don't need them you just don't use them. Only downside is that I find the front deraileur adjustment can be finicky, but that is also possibly down to the age of the bike. What Kincsem said about the SRAM apex would also be a good plan, and if that's not an option, you should be able to get a Tiagra compact with a 12/30 cassette which is still a pretty good range.

I use a Brooks B17 on my road bike, and a Brooks flyer on my hybrid. Prefer the B17 at this stage, but they're both very comfy saddles for a long day out.

I got shoulder ache starting out with drop bars, and I'm guessing many do. It improves with time, and as you start using all the positions on the handlebars more. I see a lot of people riding mostly in the hoods, whereas I tend to use drops and tops more which take me through a wider range of positions. I also went for compact bars, which makes the drop position much easier. Don't know whether you need other exercise, but I tend to use kettle bells and do some regular core exercises in addition to cycling.

Mcofferon

Chaineri wrote: »

Mc, IMO the compact is the best groupset. If you have reservations about the hills get a bigger cassette on the rear wheel, 30 - 32 teeth, will ride like a triple. Q for u now, where did you hire the Giant Defy? Cant find a bike shop that hire road bikes anywhere! :cool:

Chaineri - hired the Giant from Belfeild Bikes on the UCD Campus, just by the old running track. They were very helpful.

I've taken the plunge and got a KTM Strada 2000, loving it to bits. Even the saddle isnt too bad. It has a Compact Chainset which has me working a bit on steep inclines, but I need the exercise