Discussing bicycles in particular; it has been my experience that there are a lot of strong opinions out there about what is right or optimum. Personally, I think that it is whatever works for the individual. There are so many styles and purposes of riding, it's not hard to see that a one-fits-all formula isn't possible, even though I sometimes wish someone could just give me a magic number and everything would click into place.
Next, I guess I have to admit that a lot of this stuff is Greek to me. I'm learning, but it's slow going. So with that in mind... I've been to my LBS for a bike fitting (a multi-visit process) and we first took care of the basics, pedals and saddle. Things have improved. I have almost no hand or foot tingles any more, and knee pain is gone, for example, but I'm still experiencing shoulder and neck pain. I definitely feel as though I'm bunched up up top, like my shoulders are too close to my ears. In a recent visit, we determined that to start I should get a longer stem. Currently, my Hilsen has an 8 cm (80 mm) Nitto Technomic stem. It was suggested that, without changing my handlebars, I get a 10 cm (100 mm) stem. It was also suggested I get a handlebar that has a medium to shallow drop since I admitted to almost never riding in the drops because it feels too uncomfortable. I've got a 42 cm (420 mm) Nitto 115. The fitter, very keen for me to get an anatomic bar that he thought was perfect for me, pulled out a black aluminum bar and repeatedly told me that I would not find anything like this in the "retro style". I suppose he meant the angular or shaped-curve drops of the anatomic bars, but I also had the feeling he was saying I wouldn't find anything with a medium to shallow drop. At home on my computer, I looked at various Nitto handlebars on a couple of websites (Riv, Peter White, and Harris Cyclery) and I saw, for example, that the Nitto 135 Randonneur has a shallower drop at 120 mm compared to my 115 at 140 mm. It has a slightly longer reach at 105 mm compared to my 100 mm, but has basically a "similar construction and finish to model 115" (Harris Cyclery). I'm assuming this "similar construction" means it has a 25.4 mm center as well, though the website does not specify. So, I'm thinking about getting the Randonneur bars and trying them out with the new, longer stem. I'll get the improved reach with the longer stem and a shallower drop for better shifting and increased options for hand positions. The last thing is handlebar width. I've read quite a bit about going for a wider handlebar width. Again, the fitter had different ideas. Ironically, he could see how maybe my working at a computer for many hours a day could cause some back problems but did not see that having a narrow (shoulder width) bar could do the same. The Nitto 135 Randonneur only comes in 2 sizes on the Harris Cyclery website (42 and 45 cm), so that helps a little. So maybe I'll just throw all my chips in and get the 45 cm... ? Well. I'm not sure why I wrote all this. I guess I'm hoping someone will read it and offer their thoughts and/or experiences. I'd be interested to read what others have to say. Thanks, Zaelia -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
