Second - after riding a mountain bike, I am kind of nervous about riding
such skinny tires.

It's quite possible your nervousness is at the root of your comfort issues.
When you're tense and not relaxed, you're much less comfortable when riding.
When I fit people, the #1 thing I'm looking for is the cyclist looking
relaxed. So a combination of inappropriate fit plus your apprehension about
the "skinny" tires could be causing your trouble.

It's possible that something as simple as changing the tilt of the
handlebars could make a *huge* difference in the discomfort you're feeling
in your hands. It's also possible that your seat might be tilted down at
the nose, which shoves you towards the handlebar (which means you're
spending your entire time on the bike pushing back with your hands).

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Bob" wrote in message
et...
I just got started in road biking after a while riding a mountain bike and
I
have some questions.

First - my bike seems quite comfortable to me and my hands naturally ride
on
the hoods. But after a while - 15-20 mins or so -they start to hurt,
especially the area between the thumb and the first finger. I'm assuming
this is just because riding like this is new to me. I don't notice that
I'm
putting a lot of forward pressure on the hoods - I seem to be comfortable,
but maybe I'm just not used to having something between my thumb and first
finger. Do you think this will go away after I get some time on the bike
or
what? Maybe I need to build up my hands or something...

Second - after riding a mountain bike, I am kind of nervous about riding
such skinny tires. I am worried that they will slip out from under me or
something. I've ridden over the sand and stuff in the road left over from
winter and am still alive, but it gets me nervous riding over that stuff.
Last summer I wiped out on my mountain bike taking a turn too fast on a
wet
road and separated my shoulder, so I guess I'm still getting over that. I
guess as I get used to my my bike that nervousness should go away? Any
comments?