18 responses so far ↓

• 1 aidan // May 16, 2008 at 4:55 am

  I think most soreness is bad ergonomics of the bike, and flat bars are one of the worst culprits. I have thick cork grip on drop bars, a Brooks saddle, but most importantly, a well adjusted bike, so I have few problems. Padded saddles are jst wrong for anything over 3km. It’s not lack of padding that hurts a man, it’s padding putting pressure in the wrong bits. My Brooks is hard, man, but it flexes on the big hits, and pushes nothing into my perineum.

• 2 RL // May 16, 2008 at 6:57 am

  Moe, I was curious to know if this stuff is “sticky?” Basically what I’m wondering is if you sat on the saddle with the gel thingy, will your shorts grip on to it or does it have a smooth surface where your but and hands wouldn’t get caught?

• 3 db // May 16, 2008 at 9:08 am

  I was just marveling this morning at how thoroughly my brake hoods were destroying my hands. Curious to hear about the hood pads, and the shoe pads as well.

  At least I’ve got my saddle dialed in.

• 4 Moe // May 16, 2008 at 10:44 am

  RL, stay tuned for my first impressions later this afternoon.

• 5 Ben C // May 16, 2008 at 11:57 am

  This stuff reminds me of the ‘geling commercials.’ Hey…you’geling? I’m geling!!

• 6 Mike Myers // May 16, 2008 at 5:06 pm

  Seems like the wrong solution to the problem—-at least the saddle and brake hood pads. Don’t we have drop bars so we can change hand positions when one gets uncomfortable? I know I regularly shift my hands from drops to ramp to flat to drops while I’m riding.

  GR has seen pics of my bikes. All of my road bikes have high bar cockpits—and my hand numbness and discomfort are greatly reduced.

  As for the saddle pad? Unless they’re using the stickiest glue in the history of mankind, I imagine the constant rubbing of one’s butt would cause them to peel. Again—saddles are cheap. Instead of trying a gimmicky stick on pad, why not try a different saddle?

  I agree with Aidan. Bike fit is the cause of a lot of problems. How many Bike Commuters readers are riding around with their bars 3-4 inches below their saddles “because that’s how it’s supposed to be”? That’s how I see every road bike in every bike shop I’ve ever visited. That’s how I see bikes set up in every bike magazine(save for the Riv Reader). Very few of us are built like Marco Pantani, so why emulate his position?

  Get your bars up, buy a Brooks, get some thick cork tape. Join the cult!

  While you’re at it, buy a wool jersey and get some canvas on your bike somewhere.

• 7 aidan // May 17, 2008 at 9:38 am

  But wool does rule! I might just be a retro-grouch ater all, but my bike is a steel Lemond, not a Rivendell, so I’m not fully comitted.

• 8 Mike Myers // May 17, 2008 at 2:32 pm

  Aidan–I’m definitely a retrogrouch. I have three steel road bikes, and one of them is even a lugged Bridgestone. Brooks on two, Noodle bars on all three, and Carradice saddlebags and panniers.

  Wool is great in Florida winters, but not in 95 degree summers. I’m retro but not nuts. Summer calls for synthetic jerseys, possibly sleeveless!

• 9 aidan // May 17, 2008 at 3:10 pm

  I’m in Toronto, so I don’t think you’d recognize our July as summer. Even so, I can’t convince myself to buy merino cycling shorts, though they’d be more comfortable than synth shorts when cooler than 25*C (sorry, only old Anglos and Americans know Farenheit).

  Under 25*C merino boxers and t-shirts are far more comfortable and better smelling than any synthetic, plus natty.

• 10 Mike Myers // May 18, 2008 at 6:05 am

  GR knows how ridiculously hot it gets here in the summer. The only saving grace is our constant offshore breeze. Being a peninsula, we get one from any of a number of directions. Still, 95 degrees F(35 degrees Celsius) is hot. But we’re not just hot, we’re humid. I can easily drain my Camelbak on each leg of my commute in the summer. That’s, what, 140 oz(4 liters, roughly) plus what I drink all day at work.

• 11 RL Policar // May 18, 2008 at 8:46 am

  Mike,

  I’m not sure why you think your way is the “right” way when it comes to positioning. To each his own. I’m sure that Moe likes his current set up. I personally don’t, but everyone is different.

  Take for example…Moe and I are the same height. But I have a longer torso than he does but my arms are shorter…so what I find comfy, Moe may not like it…and vice versa.

  It was the same instance with our mountain bikes.With Moe’s longer arms,I try riding his bike, I feel stretched out. My wife who is shorter than me, has longer legs and longer arms…I’m beginning to think that I’m built like a Tyrannosaurus Rex…Anyhow…what works for them may not certainly work for me or anyone else.

  When I worked at a shop, we had a fitting machine/system. We ran my numbers and fitted me on my bike. But you know what, I HATED it.

  Sure proper fit and form is what everyone should go for, but why do they have to follow a set standard. Good fit should be what the rider wants.

• 12 Mike Myers // May 18, 2008 at 10:36 am

  RL—I didn’t mean to come across too strident, but I spent years riding an uncomfortable fit, trying band-aid after band-aid, because I didn’t want to give up the “look” of a race fit. Now I have carpal tunnel syndrome, directly related to pounding my hands for years.

  I hate to see someone else end up with a permanent gimpiness, especially when they seem to be going through just what I did.

  It’s not that I think my fit is the “right” way. It’s that Moe is complaining that his hands hurt after a 20 mile round trip, and that’s not a very long ride at all.

• 13 Moe // May 18, 2008 at 7:22 pm

  Mike, I appreciate your concern and advice. Part of the reason why my hands get sore is because I have Arthritis. Fortunately I own more than one commuter bike and not all of them are road bikes and I alternate riding them to work. The Gel hood pads just makes it more comfortable to ride on the hoods.

• 14 Wesley // May 25, 2008 at 7:09 pm

  I had been using a “do it yourself” version by buying gel shoe inserts and cutting them in squares and putting on my hoods. I figured someone had designed a “real” version, though not sure they are worth $20(with shipping).

• 15 Andy // Jun 1, 2008 at 11:15 am

  Personally, I find the “new” Shimano 10-speed hoods much more uncomfortable than the old. I like the Campy shape most of all, but I’m not going to switch completely over to Campy just to get the comfort. Maybe I should.

• 16 Rupert // Jun 2, 2008 at 3:27 pm

  I don’t seem to see a review of the confortgel products you were going to test… Lots of comments from the peanut gallery but no conclusions from you… Am I just looking in the wrong place?

• 17 Moe // Jun 2, 2008 at 3:38 pm

  Rupert, it usually takes us 1 to 3 months to post reviews of recently acquired items. We really like to put stuff through some good mileage, the review of the G-comfort gel pads will be up in about 3 weeks.

• 18 Mike Dillon // Jul 5, 2008 at 5:01 pm

  I just bought the saddle kit and installed it Thursday for a 4th of July Metric Century. I have to say they did no good whatsoever and by the end of the ride it was obvious they would not make it more than another ride or two. Oh well, 25.00 for a lesson learned is not too high of tuition.

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