Marcus Aurelius wrote:Riding a generic type bike is never going to be armchair comfy, you have to learn to ‘blur out’ the slight discomfort you’ll inevitably always encounter. The more you ride, the more you’ll discover what works for you, by trial and error. Different components, and combos of components ( saddles, stems, bars, cranks etc ) will work differently for different people, riding in different conditions / durations / intensity, and there is no one size fits all answer. You could even experiment with such things as recumbent trikes / bikes, some people can’t ride a traditional type bike comfortably, and find they are the answer. It’s horses for courses, and only you will know what works for you.
Yup, am happy to blur out slight discomfort, it is pain that stops me.
I am used to pain.
I push through pain.
I know what pain is, I have broken ribs before.
I have, strained/torn back muscles and arm muscles and carried on landscaping.
I am not looking for armchair comfort, just something where I can manage through.
But, boy I need to get up and off after two miles.
I think the hand pain wasn't 'too much weight on my hands'. It was me holding my body back on the saddle.
I have been getting the terminology wrong.
I seem to have managed to reduce that. (Well, it is now just quite uncomfortable)
I think that I have always kind of wedged myself in between the saddle and the bars.
In the last two years I have got rid of my numb feet and legs.
I didn't know other people didn't get that. I thought they just toughed it out more than me.
After a couple of miles, I would stand up and feel the blood running into my legs.
That turned out to be pear shaped and/or rounded topped saddles.
I think that it is positioning.
I have tried with a standard type frame.
I have tried taking the saddle back with a 67 degree sta and a very setback seatpost.
(This did reduce the 'weight' on my hands, but it was such a silly position and didn't fix the sit bone issue, so I went with dumping that one and bringing it forward again.)
I am now wondering if me sliding forward is more to do with the shorter limbs that I have discovered I have.
Perhaps my natural position is slightly forward than where I sit.
Also, as my arms are short, that might also be pulling me forward.
I don't know, I just know it is wrong because it hurts.
Like I say, over the decades, I have used all sorts of bikes but never scientifically worked it through which I am trying to do now.
That is what this post is trying to work out.
How to move forward. I am not after a magic pill.
I think that what I want might be a short top tube but higher bars.
To give you an idea I can manage some suffering, I have done a 120 mile ride in a day in the past with numb legs (and everything else) and saddle pain after two miles, but I did it anyway. I didn't know any different.
I was asking if that sort of made sense, when I have some measurements, but I don't think any body knows the answer to my OP, so I guess I just buy some random bikes and try some stuff as I can't work out what way to go.