Surly or Salsa Advice for Novice

[Midton]

At 42 I am thinking of taking up cycling again. I used to do a lot of touring in my youth but have hardly ridden in 15 years.

At present I have a GT Nomad. I bought it about 7 years ago but, for various reasons I'm thinking of getting a new bike. I don't have a great deal of bike shops to choose from in my area but one shop does stock a lot of Surly and Salsa bikes. My aim is to go on weekend trips ranging from 4 to 9 hours and I will only be riding on roads.

I have one problem in that I rode on Sunday for the first time in years and had quite bad pain in my left hand. It's possibly tunnel carpal syndrome and I also get it while bench pressing. So I guess I need a frame which distributes my weight as little as possible on my hands.

I also don't really know what size of frame I should be looking for. With my present bike my foot sometimes clips the front wheel if I turn in a narrow area. I feel that the frame is too short. My height is 183 cm.

I really am at a loss as to what style and size of frame I should get. Can anyone offer any advice.

One last thing, I've never worn a helmet before but am now thinking of buying one. I saw some decent-looking helmets by a company called Bern. Does anyone have any thoughts about helments?

Thanks

 

[Peter@vecchios]

At 42 I am thinking of taking up cycling again. I used to do a lot of touring in my youth but have hardly ridden in 15 years.

At present I have a GT Nomad. I bought it about 7 years ago but, for various reasons I'm thinking of getting a new bike. I don't have a great deal of bike shops to choose from in my area but one shop does stock a lot of Surly and Salsa bikes. My aim is to go on weekend trips ranging from 4 to 9 hours and I will only be riding on roads.

I have one problem in that I rode on Sunday for the first time in years and had quite bad pain in my left hand. It's possibly tunnel carpal syndrome and I also get it while bench pressing. So I guess I need a frame which distributes my weight as little as possible on my hands.

I also don't really know what size of frame I should be looking for. With my present bike my foot sometimes clips the front wheel if I turn in a narrow area. I feel that the frame is too short. My height is 183 cm.

I really am at a loss as to what style and size of frame I should get. Can anyone offer any advice.

One last thing, I've never worn a helmet before but am now thinking of buying one. I saw some decent-looking helmets by a company called Bern. Does anyone have any thoughts about helments?

Thanks

"I really am at a loss as to what style and size of frame I should get. Can anyone offer any advice."

Get thee to a bike shop...it's what they do.

 

[alfeng]

What is your budget?

What is the HORIZONTAL distance betweeen the center of the seatpost & the center of the stem?

You probably want a frame with a 57cm to 59cm (virtual or real) top tube on a bike with "Drop" bars ... a couple of centimeters longer on a frame with "Flat" handlebars.
​

Are you riding with the arch of your foot on the pedal? I'm asking because it's hard to imagine toe-overlap on a Hybrid unless you have size 18-or-larger shoes.

Did you tour on a MTB or a Road bike with 'drop' bars?

FWIW. I use a BELL helmet. A lot of people I know use GIRO. There are many other very good helmet brands.

 

[Midton]

Thanks for the replies.

I've never been measured. When I bought the GT I went to a bike shop and basically picked it out of a catalog. It was a small mom and pop shop and although I did mention my concern about the frame the guy just gave me a similar-sized frame to sit on. I should mention that I live in rural Japan and I have neither the language skills nor choice of shops I would wish for.

I'm not sure about bike terms yet but I measures what I think is the horizontal and it's about 53cm, give or take.

As for my foot hitting the front wheel, I don't recall it happening on any other bike before but I may ride with my foot to far forward. I used to use stirrups in the past and maybe I should again.

When I was young I had two Peugeots bikes, one a racer and one a hybrid. I did most of my touring on the racer, especially if I was going more than a few hours.