Newbe handlebar question



Stang"Rey"

New Member
Jul 24, 2018
3
0
1
63
Hello everyone. I just bought a new Fuji Absolute 1.1 last week and went for a bike ride on the local bike path this morning. I have to mention that I'm just getting into bike riding and hadn't ridden since my teens.....I am now 57. The bike feels great but my hands are going numb on the grips. It feels like I have to much of my weight on the bars(215lb). I ordered a pair of Ergon gp3 grips last week and I'm sure they will help but I'm wondering if I need to raise my bar height or get a adjustable stem. What are your thoughts? Thank you for any and all advise.
I really want to make this work....I've had knee surgeries and need to strengthen my legs and loose a little weight. Walking or jogging wont work for me.
 
Although fitting adjustments can help some, I’m going to suggest you do some core work. There’s tons of YouTube videos that you can use to guide you through these kind of workouts that will help. Engaging your core rather than just leaning all your weight on the bars is a better, more balanced way to ride. I used to weigh 250+. Now I weigh 185. Better diet and cycling!
 
Thank you, I'm going to look into those exercises. I'm sure they will help. I think I'm going to visit the bike shop aswell.....cant help thinking the bar height might need to be looked at. By the way I didn't mention it earlier but I'm 5.11 and the bike is a size 21.
 
you need to get the bike fitted, of course you could try first to change the seat tilt (see the 2nd web site I've gave below), if that doesn't work you can raise the bar yourself by buying a spacer, but getting a fit done would resolve all issues you might be having. If you are really savvy with bike stuff you could fit yourself if you find websites on how to do it, it's not real complicated, if they can teach a teenage college student to do it in a day you could figure it out as well.

https://www.bicycling.com/skills-ti...12b2&md5hash=82811724fb086c923bfb250b7b7ea6ae

https://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/how-to-get-your-seat-height-right-14608/

https://cyclingtips.com/2010/04/science-of-bike-fitting/
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stang"Rey"