First Road Bike: Why do my legs not hurt but I'm winded?



jpwkeeper

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Jul 25, 2004
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So I got my first road bike this past weekend. I went from a Diamondback Edgewood LX Hybrid to a Specialized Secteur Compact Sport. Here is what changed between them:

1. Position - Even in the hoods of an "Endurance" road bike, the sitting position is a LOT different on the Secteur. I like it, but it is different.
2. Weight - The Secteur is Aluminum, but it's still around 11 pounds lighter then the Edgewood (35lbs down to 22-23, haven't weight it yet).
3. Crank Length - Edgewood had 170mm cranks, Secteur has 175mm (58cm bike). I'm a tall guy, so I wanted longer cranks anyway.

I generally try to spin around 90RPM to keep my back healthy, but I may occasionally drift down to the 85 range if I'm not thinking about it. I don't have a cadence meter right now on either bike so I can't really tell you if that's changed.

Same pedals, FWIW, PowerGrips that I transferred between bikes.

On both rides I'm also 0.9Mph faster. I'd actually expected around double that improvement, but I'm not complaining and that is not the crux of my question.

After two rides, one hillier than the other, I'm noticing the same thing on both: My legs aren't hurting half as much, but I'm REALLY winded on the new bike. Am I more winded then the Hybrid? Hard to say, but I will say that my legs hurt a lot less.

So what about this new bike has caused this odd imbalance? I'd think the legs and lungs would get it in roughly equal proportions, but really my legs are having a vacation and my lungs are very unhappy. I tried on the second ride to use slightly harder gears, but I just couldn't seem to make it work.

Any input would be appreciated.
 
Biking is an aerobic activity. Short of lugging heavy bikes up huge hills at low cadence, it's your cardio system that's going to be the most taxed. I can't remember the last time my legs were sore after a ride. Tired, maybe, but not sore. At least not sore like they are after a leg day at the gym.

You said you went 0.9mph faster than on the old bike. How fast is that?
 
Originally Posted by AyeYo
Biking is an aerobic activity. Short of lugging heavy bikes up huge hills at low cadence, it's your cardio system that's going to be the most taxed. I can't remember the last time my legs were sore after a ride. Tired, maybe, but not sore. At least not sore like they are after a leg day at the gym.

You said you went 0.9mph faster than on the old bike. How fast is that?
Today? I went from 15.5Mph to 16.4Mph on my "flatter" route. On my "hillier" route, I went from 14.8 to 15.7. There were a LOT of other variables though (for the hillier ride, the wind was howling at a really crappy angle for the route during the latter vs. a relatively calm day for the former, and on the flatter route it was 30 degrees colder between the first ride and the second ride).

It's not so much that they're sore after the ride, but I'm not feeling the usual burn, but I'm so winded I can't really tax them any farther then I am now (I think...I might not be saying that right but it's a hard feeling to describe).
 
Originally Posted by jpwkeeper
It's not so much that they're sore after the ride, but I'm not feeling the usual burn, but I'm so winded I can't really tax them any farther then I am now (I think...I might not be saying that right but it's a hard feeling to describe).
I think you identified your own problem. The leg strength is there, but the cardio shape isn't. 15-16mph on a road bike is in the range of relaxed to moderate pace. On a hybrid or mtb it's quite a quick pace. I'm not fluent enough in bike training lingo and theory to talk to it in that sense, but in my own personal experience of going from hybrid/mtb to road, my legs were plenty strong from all the slower off-road riding and hills on a much heavier bike. I had plenty of leg power to slog it up steep hills at low candence. I remember going on first couple group rides where people were dying up hills and I'm messing around pulling wheelies. My muscles were pretty efficient at that low candence, high torque stuff. Get onto the flats though at higher speed and the aerobic capacity required to go fast and far on the road bike is something I didn't have. I have yet to go on a road ride after which my legs feel heavily taxed, sore, or shot. However, the rest of my body is usually shot.

Maybe someone else can explain the difference in more technical terms from a physiological standpoint.
 
You should simply take some EPO or ride more, those are the two solutions to your problem. Riding more makes sense. Try doing a couple of sessions per week on a long steady climb, cadance about 80rpm and HR around 85%. You'll get some gains pretty quick from workouts like this.
 
Originally Posted by baker3
You should simply take some EPO or ride more, those are the two solutions to your problem. Riding more makes sense. Try doing a couple of sessions per week on a long steady climb, cadance about 80rpm and HR around 85%. You'll get some gains pretty quick from workouts like this.
EPO? What is that? Wait, I see a guy wearing a Livestrong wristband; I'll ask him...

True, but keep in mind that this isn't my first bike, just my first road bike. I'm riding as much as I can, although December through March was really painful as far as riding opportunities. After 2 rides in March, I'm on pace for 5 rides this week alone.

But the crux of my question was why the strange change to leg sensations going to a road bike. I'm no longer convinced that I'm "more" winded, but the legs just don't feel the same; they hurt way less with the new bike. Literally I rode both of my routes the week before I got the bike, and rode them again after I got the new bike. My fitness couldn't have changed THAT fast.

The speed gains have actually gone up quite a bit, though, to where I'd hoped they'd be from the beginning (around 1.8MPH, which is what I had hoped for and what should put me being fast enough to join in some slow group rides in my area) and I've destroyed every personal segment record I have on Strava except for one (which will likely fall today due to wind direction).

The more I ride this bike, the more my suspicion is that it's a combination of the longer cranks and my body getting used to them (so my pedaling efficiency has suffered), along with the change in both riding position and bike fit. My previous bike I just kind of felt my way through the fitting (quads hurt, raise the seat, Hams hurt up high where they meet the glutes, lower the seat, move the seat forward just to see what happens) where this new bike I got a basic fitting for free with it.
 
5mm is a big difference in crankarm length. Even though the longer cranks may be a more appropriate length for road cranks for your size, it may take some getting used to, it also explains the cadence drop. I am 5'9" with slightly less than a 32" inseam and once switched from 170's to 172.5, the experiment didn't last long. I usually like to keep a high cadence (in the 90's) and maybe that and the fact I've ridden 170's for 30 years was a setup for failure, but in any case the bike just didn't feel right and it was nothing I cared to labor through.

But your assertion that it may be a combination of factors is probably likely. A switch in positions is likely to bring about some growing pains as well. A change in saddle fore/aft and height will also affect the way muscles feel and work during and a ride.

More bend at the waist will put a focus on the glutes, less bend, on the quads. Also if your upper body position feels ok, and if the upper hamstring and/or glutes are taking the brunt of the soreness moving the saddle forward by a couple mm's (and lowering very slightly) may help. If the soreness is mostly in the quads, especially in the lowers around the medialis (the teardrop shaped muscle on the inner) moving back a couple mm may help. Movements in the saddle to compensate for reach should be avoided, get a different length stem for that.

Unless anything feels completely off i.e. too stretched out to the bars, too high in the saddle, too far back or too far forward, I would recommend riding around for a few weeks for the new position to "take", then start making tweeks as needed.

An additional thought: you mentioned this time you got an actual fitting. Just remember fitters are human too and essentially throwing you into their fitting paradigm. Hopefully you were asked for some feedback through the process. Just like a haircut, and we all got a bad one sometime (even from a professional), it's mostly being done subjectively. Luckily hair grows back and positions can be tweaked after the fact. Btw, you are probably faster simply by virtue of faster rolling tires and the new position (lowering the head even by 1-2" can have a drastic effect on speed), but possibly slightly less efficient in that your muscles are being asked to do things a very slightly different way. More good news, your body will adapt to that too which will make you even faster, but don't be afraid to get yourself setup on the bike the way you feel comfortable.
 

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