Family bikes

[robertanewiss]

Hi guys.

I've just joined so I hope I posting in the right place. (please move me if im not!)

My daughter is 2 this August and we have a wee ride (which I descibe as a joey seat) attached at the front of my bike for her. I love it because she is happy and gets to see loads as well as there being lots of interaction because she is infront of me. I'm aware that she is growing quickly and will need to 'move' in the next 12 months. I realise this is a big time frame but I want to do as much research as I can now so she gets the best deal.

I'm really looking for ideas about where to go in terms of 'seating' her next. I've seen trailer bikes and kids tandems I'd like to know benefits/problems with both. One of the concerns being that the trailer bike fits to the seat pole and I'd have to raise it therefore not be able to reach the pedals!

To add to your solutions and thinking, we're also thinking about extending the family at some time in the near future. The wee ride would move if my bike changes which I'm well aware may be part of any solution.

We currently bike for leisure but I know that if we get it right and she has the best start she'll get a lifetime of enjoyment out of it.

Any thoughts gratefully recieved.
Thanks
Roberta
xxxx

 

[Froze]

I like the kid tandem, or also known as trailer cycle idea, which is what I think your really thinking of. This thing attaches to your bike like a trailer but it allow the child to pedal. It gets the kid in the "stroker" position and makes them get the feel of actually riding and the thought of actually helping you. A true child tandem is too large at this point for your child, but the trailer cycle works great for small children.

 

[robertanewiss]

Thanks for your thoughts. ***

 

[tenrec]

After 11 years of riding a hybrid bike with a very upright riding position, I switched to a road bike on which I am leaning farther forward. Because of this lower riding position, I must hold my head up more and I am noticing some neck pain while riding. Is this a normal part of riding a road bike? Does it go away as one gets used to the new position?
 
I know some people will suggest raising the handlebars, shorter stem, etc., but my experience in fitting the road bike shows me that there's no way I'll ever approach my old riding position on the hybrid using the road bike -- they are very different machines. I don't think you're supposed to sit very upright on a road bike -- I just want to know if this is something that I will get used to, or if a road bike is not the right type for me. Thanks!
 
Steve

 

[Serious Chris]

Originally Posted by tenrec .

Does it go away as one gets used to the new position?

It may, and usually does, especially after a proper fit and some time; as you mentioned.
Obviously there are underlying issues if these don't remedy the situation. For example:
Some people, as they get older, find they are no longer comfortable in the forward position and need to change out certain parts
to help them sit more up-right. Some people simply find they can only ride a hybrid style bike with any comfort.
Unfortunately you just have to see how it goes.
In the mean time, welcome back to proper road bikes =)

 

[64Paramount]

I go through some neck pain every Spring until I get used to the riding position after not riding all Winter long.
 
 
It takes a bit longer as I've gotten older, but usually I get over it in 2 to 3 weeks.
 
About the same amount of time it takes my seat bones to toughen up. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

[baker3]

Harden up and get used to it, you should learn to enjoy it. The worst thing you could do is book an appointment with Dr Joseph-Ignace Guillotin

 

[Froze]

Usually it takes some time, and with you it may take longer because you've been riding a upright style bike for 11 years and that's what your body grew accustom to. I would say ride it for about a month...OR better yet, raise the handle bars up till their about the same height as the seat, then slowly, about 1/4th of inch at a time, lower the bars down once every 2 weeks; this way you should be able to ride relatively pain free.

 

[RayMaxson]

Been there done that. The older you get the worse it is. I got some relief by going to a shallow drop carbon bar. Set the drop even with your top tube. I also raised the nose of my saddle just a bit (1/8") higher than level. This moves my trunk center back more on my sit bones and takes some weight off my arms and consequently my neck. It's the small adjustments that make big differences, noticed especially on long rides.

 

[Froze]

Originally Posted by RayMaxson .

Been there done that. The older you get the worse it is. I got some relief by going to a shallow drop carbon bar. Set the drop even with your top tube. I also raised the nose of my saddle just a bit (1/8") higher than level. This moves my trunk center back more on my sit bones and takes some weight off my arms and consequently my neck. It's the small adjustments that make big differences, noticed especially on long rides.

I forgot to mention, but Ray is right. The older you get the less flexible you become. When I was 18, I use to ride with my deep drop bars down about 4 inches below the seat, now that I'm 56 it's only about 1/2 an inch below the seat on the race bike and I use a shallow drop bar. My neck just won't take anything lower then that, and I do stretching routines daily due to martial arts I've taken for the last 30 years. I'm not sure if some of my neck stiffness is due to bicycle car accidents, injuries in sparring over the years, but I'm sure at least some of it due to age.

 

[CalicoCat]

 

Originally Posted by tenrec .

After 11 years of riding a hybrid bike with a very upright riding position, I switched to a road bike on which I am leaning farther forward. Because of this lower riding position, I must hold my head up more and I am noticing some neck pain while riding. Is this a normal part of riding a road bike? Does it go away as one gets used to the new position?
 
I know some people will suggest raising the handlebars, shorter stem, etc., but my experience in fitting the road bike shows me that there's no way I'll ever approach my old riding position on the hybrid using the road bike -- they are very different machines. I don't think you're supposed to sit very upright on a road bike -- I just want to know if this is something that I will get used to, or if a road bike is not the right type for me. Thanks!
 
Steve

 
Have you gotten a pro-fit? If not, do. There is a lot can be tweaked in terms of a road bike fit, and often the tiniest adjustments can make a huge difference.
 

 

[Froze]

Originally Posted by CalicoCat .


 
 
Have you gotten a pro-fit? If not, do. There is a lot can be tweaked in terms of a road bike fit, and often the tiniest adjustments can make a huge difference.
 

Have you ever been pro-fitted? If so how did it work? The reason I ask is because I've had 3 friends just in the last 5 years that got pro-fitted and they are more uncomfortable now then they were before the profit! They paid $250 to get the fit plus bought an unknown amount of parts to get the profit to work (new pedals, stems, seats, seat posts etc), and spent weeks going back and forth to the LBS to find out whats wrong only to be sold something. A couple of the guys eventually went back to the way they had it before and are fine. One friend of mine is going through the profit process right now and is into his 3rd month of going back and forth, buying parts, trying to get comfortable on a bike he bought from the LBS that said that was the perfect bike for him. I think it odd that people that I know that never got profitted, including myself, that are very comfortable on their bikes, but the few that I know that got profitted are in misery both physically and monetary.
 
I knew others over a longer span then the last 5 years who got profitted and about 1/2 of them came out good and the other half came out like my 3 friends above. And all of these people felt just as good or worse after profitting, meaning that even the ones that had a positive experience felt they gained nothing or very little in comfort and felt the price wasn't worth it, except 1 person who got a lot out of it. So it seems that getting profitted has about a 25% chance of having some benefit, 25% of doing nothing, and about 50% getting worse results.
 
Please note; these are people that I either knew or had spoken to. The 3 I knew in the last 5 years all went to the same LBS here in Fort Wayne, the others went to various places in S California, names of which I either don't recall or were not mentioned.
 
I know I wouldn't do it because I've never had any issues with a bike fitting; though I did visited the Mercian bicycle shop in Derby England and had a bike customed built for me, but that was the only time I've ever done that and it's been great, but not any better then factory built. That bike is very comfortable but that's mostly due to being a touring geometry instead of a racing one like all my other bikes.
 
Again, what's your take on profitting?

 

 

[davereo]

I dont think age has anything to do with it.

 

[davereo]

Continuation of above post. I need to get used to new system. As other posters have stated you just need to condition a few muscles in your neck that are now being used to support your head in your new riding position. This will happen by just riding alone no special exersise needed.

 

[CalicoCat]

 

Originally Posted by Froze .



Have you ever been pro-fitted? If so how did it work? The reason I ask is because I've had 3 friends just in the last 5 years that got pro-fitted and they are more uncomfortable now then they were before the profit! They paid $250 to get the fit plus bought an unknown amount of parts to get the profit to work (new pedals, stems, seats, seat posts etc), and spent weeks going back and forth to the LBS to find out whats wrong only to be sold something. A couple of the guys eventually went back to the way they had it before and are fine. One friend of mine is going through the profit process right now and is into his 3rd month of going back and forth, buying parts, trying to get comfortable on a bike he bought from the LBS that said that was the perfect bike for him. I think it odd that people that I know that never got profitted, including myself, that are very comfortable on their bikes, but the few that I know that got profitted are in misery both physically and monetary.
 
I knew others over a longer span then the last 5 years who got profitted and about 1/2 of them came out good and the other half came out like my 3 friends above. And all of these people felt just as good or worse after profitting, meaning that even the ones that had a positive experience felt they gained nothing or very little in comfort and felt the price wasn't worth it, except 1 person who got a lot out of it. So it seems that getting profitted has about a 25% chance of having some benefit, 25% of doing nothing, and about 50% getting worse results.
 
Please note; these are people that I either knew or had spoken to. The 3 I knew in the last 5 years all went to the same LBS here in Fort Wayne, the others went to various places in S California, names of which I either don't recall or were not mentioned.
 
I know I wouldn't do it because I've never had any issues with a bike fitting; though I did visited the Mercian bicycle shop in Derby England and had a bike customed built for me, but that was the only time I've ever done that and it's been great, but not any better then factory built. That bike is very comfortable but that's mostly due to being a touring geometry instead of a racing one like all my other bikes.
 
Again, what's your take on profitting?

 

HI Froze,
I have not done a full pro-fit, but do have a very good relationship with the fitter at "my" shop and over time we have made adjustments to my fit, and this has involved changing stem, bars, saddle, and moving things around ever so slightly. We have my fit pretty well dialed in and keep my measurements from bike to bike.
 
I do have a friend who was having knee issues and he went to a shop that really specializes in fit (and charges a pretty penny for it). However, he is VERY happy now that he dialed in fit, and rides pain-free for the first time in a long time.
 
However, I have a teammate who felt great on her bike, nothing hurt, and her power transfer was great. However, someone on a ride suggested to her that she might benefit from changing something about her fit (I think cleat position). She had our fitter (and shop owner) make some adjustments, and it was not good for her, and she went back to how it was before.
 
So . . . if something hurts or doesn't feel right, GET A FIT!!! Even if you have to pay for it, it is worth every penny if it means avoiding an injury. But if you feel great, then "if it ain't broke don't fix it."
 

 

[tenrec]

I wasn't thinking this is a flexibility issue. It feels more like I have to hold my head up in, basically, a bent-back position so I can see the road while riding. On the upright hybrid, my face was forward and I could see easily, but on the road bike, my spine is angled forward much more, which puts the front of my head facing the ground much more. In order to see ahead, I have to pull my head back, and this means my neck is bent backward while riding. I think the muscles that hold up the head are becoming fatigued after an hour or more of riding, and that's why I think it gets better as you do it more -- those muscles become stronger. But I am interested to learn if this is a general problem that most road cyclists face, or if it's less common and maybe I'm doing something wrong.
 
As for a professional fit, the LBS did that to some degree when I bought the bike, but it wasn't their "full" professional fit treatment, for which they charge $200.
 
Steve

 

[decca234uk]

I had this problem a few years back. I put it down to getting older but eventually decided to do something about it. Cycling shouldn't be uncomfortable. I took my bike to the shop and explained my problem. They spent some time making sure the bike setup was right for me. They also recommended some neck stretching exercises which i started to do. this worked for me, the pain disappeared and it's never occred to me again until I read your post. I don't accept that getting older means you have to sufer from neck pain. I think increaing neck flexibility and a good bike fiot are the answers.