comfort for a newbie

"-Kick stand! Every time I have to stop for some reason, my bike falls over. Maybe I'm dumb and am missing something, but even when locking it to run into a store quickly, I can't actually get it to stand up while leaning against a post or whatever."

Get a Rhode Gear Flick Stand (or use a tarp strap to hold the front wheel straight) or just practice leaning your bike against a wall. It's not tough.

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"-I miss my basket! I want to move my basket from my mtn bike to my road bike, just to have for trips to the grocery store, etc. It comes off so I can take it off for bigger rides."

Backpack or panniers. Or just use your Mtn. bike for shopping trips. "-I would like to have my mirror as I already don't feel totally safe on the roads of my very big city."

Get a helmet or eyeglasses mounted rear view mirror. "Are these three things totally out of the question with a road bike??"

Not at all. "As for riding comfort: -My right elbow is killing me after 10 minutes."

Keep changing positions on the bars or adjust them to make the pain go away. If it doesn't, see your doctor. "-I'm *very* small and even the smallest cycling shorts (I've got liners) have chamois that are too big for me and rub. This is an issue for the lady bits! (I have a very expensive saddle that I've been using for about a year and have now put onto my road bike, so I don't think it's the saddle.)"

Uh...search the internet for the tiniest shorts made? "-Also because of me being very small, my hands don't easily wrap around the handles to use the breaks and gears and I end up being really chaffed on the part between my thumb and index finger."

Are you using cycling gloves? There are brake/shifter levers that adjust for a shorter reach. "Am I just a total wimp?? I made it 6 blocks before turning around today because I was just really frustrated. I'm not used to these issues on my mtn bike and for some reason they're really bugging me on this one. Any suggestions or tips would be really appreciated!! Thanks!"

A wimp? Probably not, or you wouldn't be cycling and trying something new. Perhaps you just need more time on the road bike and a few changes of components and fitting at a good shop.

Quoted post said:

1. -Kick stand! Every time I have to stop for some reason, my bike falls over. Maybe I'm dumb and am missing something, but even when locking it to run into a store quickly, I can't actually get it to stand up while leaning against a post or whatever.

2. -My right elbow is killing me after 10 minutes.

3. -Also because of me being very small, my hands don't easily wrap around the handles to use the breaks and gears and I end up being really chaffed on the part between my thumb and index finger.

1. You dont need a kickstand. One of my most spectacular spills of my youth which resulted in some doctors patching me up was related to a kickstand touching the ground on a fast descent. The bike just lost balance imidiatelly and I ended up with a branch stuck in my leg [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

2. Maybe you could try to get a fitting on the bike and also check with a physician?

3. Maybe you could change the position of the shifters-brake levers. Or maybe you could adjust the reach. Most levers are adjustable I think... That would be covered in the bike fitting probably.

With some adjustment and if you dont give up I think you will like the efficiency of the road bike compared to the mtn bike. But if you are riding on bad roads and see these nice road tires getting shredded thats another story [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/IMG]