Hi,

I've lurked around here a bit and yesterday finally bought my first road bike, a Felt 70. I wanted to stay below a grand (of course then, because I had 'saved' so much, I splurged on shoes, shorts, helmet, gloves, etc, and it ended up more like a grand an a half). The LBS spent about two hours fitting the bike for me and explaining the clipless pedals, which I had never ridden. I then drove the bike from Evanston to Chicago, about 15 miles, the first five through hellish traffic, and of course I fell off the bike once when I got out of the clips too late. Then I hit the bike trail on the lake front, and it's just amazing what a good road bike feels like at speed! Completely different from anything I've known before.
I decided to ride for another 20 miles just to figure out where the problem areas might be. On my old body (I'm 48, 179 pounds, daily exerciser but new to biking) they quickly showed up: my right hand got numb when on the hoods, the muscels in my lower back began to ache to the point of seizing (also more on the right than on the left side; I'm a rightie). Now that I'm at home I have slight burning in my achilles and my knees, but nothing major. My hunch is that these are all things that can be overcome by putting more miles on the bike and getting more comfortbable. In particular the back pain might be countered by stomach and core exercises--right? As I said, we spent a lot of time dialing the bike in, so it's nothing obvious in the geometry.
As for the bike, it got a little sloppy when downshifting (Shimano 105). I might not have done it right, or there might be some play in the cables?
Other than that, cruising along the lake at 20 mph and looking at America's most beautiful city in the sunset is just a fantastic experience.

Beethoven

my right hand got numb when on the hoods, the muscels in my lower back began to ache to the point of seizing (also more on the right than on the left side; I'm a rightie). Now that I'm at home I have slight burning in my achilles and my knees, but nothing major. My hunch is that these are all things that can be overcome by putting more miles on the bike and getting more comfortbable.
Beethoven

This could just be beginners' aches and pains, but it could also be a fit issue. I have a Felt F65, and my LBS set me up initially with an extremely "aggressive" position that gave me a lot of the same issues: hand pain, lower back pain. The correct position for you involves more than just your body dimensions -- you'd probably want a very different position than a 30-year-old pro with your exact same measurements, due to differences in flexibility, strength, riding objectives (comfort vs. aerodynamics), etc.

So, go back to your LBS and tell them exactly what you're experiencing. If they're worth their salt, they'll probably make some suggestions and tweak your position slightly. Furthermore, if you let them know early, they'll probably be more willing to help you if you need any components switched out (e.g. a different stem) or (absolute worst-case scenario) a different size or model of bike.

That having been said, here are some possibilities about the discomfort you're experiencing:

1) Saddle not level: a saddle tilted too far forward can cause you to lean forward and put too much weight on your hands.

2) Saddle not far back enough: moving a saddle back along the rails moves your center of gravity backwards, taking weight off your hands and back and putting more on your saddle. BTW, adjust your saddle fore-aft to get the correct weight distribution -- not to adjust your reach to the bars (that's what different length stems are for).

3) Too much vertical drop and/or horizontal distance from bars to saddle: again, this puts more weight on the hands and back. What is the vertical distance from the top of your saddle to the top of the bars? (Measure up from the floor and subtract.) This can be fixed by raising the bars, either by raising the stem, flipping a negative-rise stem upside down, and/or switching stems (more rise and/or shorter length). If you can't raise your bars high enough with any combination of these, the bike may be too small.

4) Improper saddle height: this can cause knee pain, and a saddle too high can destabilize your pelvis and (you guessed it) cause you too put too much weight on your hands. Generally, front-of-knee pain is caused by the saddle being too low, and back-of-knee pain is caused by the saddle being too high.

5) Improper cleat positioning: this can cause knee problems, especially if your pedals don't have a lot of rotational float. Your cleats may need to be moved or rotated slightly. What kind of pedals do you have?

6) Pushing hard gears at low cadence: this can also cause knee/joint pain. Spinning a smaller gear at 80-90 rpm or higher is better. Luckily, you have plenty of gears with the triple on the F70.

So, this is just an overview of some of the possible causes. Often, it takes a bit of tweaking before you find a position that you're happy with, but your LBS should be more than happy to work with you after the sale. Oh, and I'm not a doctor, blah, blah, blah. Good luck!

Cheers,
Ari

Great stuff, and from Levi himself!
Luckily, I get free fittings from the LBS, including stems, for a year, so I'll take it easy and put on some miles until I take it back. I think most likely it's a combination of inflexibilty (I started yoga again, which should help), saddle position ( I think you're spot on that moving it back a few centimeters will help--I felt myself pushing backwards to escape the discomfort) and plain old novelty of the movements. Interesting that it was only on the right side--it shows how unbalanced I am (physically).
The knee pain, by the way, is 'good' pain (so far), just a light burning under the patella, none of the back or front or side pain that comes from improper movements (I know what that feels like). I have wellgo pedals and Lake shoes. My (again) right foot got a little numb at some point, but I think that was because the shoe was too tight.
I'll move the saddle and try again.
Above all,I didn't want to give the impression that my first ride was some kind of martyrium--when you're alone and you're going 20 mph without much effort and you hear the bike just slightly whizzing, that a pretty fantastic feeling. Can't wait to get out again!
Thanks again, Ari!

Just FYI, a common lower-back pain from bicycling is actually the very top end of your hip flexor. It goes from the front of your upper leg to the very lower back, and in beginners it tires easily (especially if you're working on "circular" pedaling and doing some pulling up).

It can feel like you're just not flexible enough for all the bending over, but that may not be it.

Next time you feel your lower back pain (and you said that it actually seized), just stop for a couple of minutes and stand up straight. Straightening up or even bending back a little stretches this muscle--which may seem a little counter-intuitive, since you usually stretch a muscle by working away from the area of pain. But in this case, because of the path of the muscle, standing straight is what extends the muscle. Pulling your knee toward your chest contracts it, which will only make a cramp in that muscle worse.

If standing up doesn't help relax the cramp, then you have a different problem. I just thought I'd weigh in on this apparently common, and equally misunderstood kind of lower back pain.

...you way overdid the mileage and effort on your first ride. I used to ride 100+ miles a week, now it's more like 15 to 20 because I spend a lot more time playing tennis. Yet I did a 40 mile sponsored ride earlier this year no sweat. My miles are usually flat, easy terrain and I'm just looking for tempo and what the French call souplesse on the bike. When it gets near time for a longer ride, I'll throw in some sprints, climbing, group rides, etc....mixed in with lots of recovery time. It's just like running. If you want to race a 10K and you've been running an easy mile a day, don't go right to running 10K for training! Step it up gradually...same is true for biking...

Thanks, guys. Yep, the pain is exactly as bikeboy says, and I'm sure it has to do with the additional force required by the clipless pedals. It was gone as soon as I was off the bike, which my usual back pain never is. I never knew it could come from the hip flexors, but it makes perfect sense. Any special exercise to strengthen them, other than ride?
I'm feeling good today, a little sore in the hands and the knees, but nothing else. I debated briefly whether to take another ride today, but grudingly gave in to the demands of revocery. Tomorrow morning!
I know the first ride was too long, but I just couldn't put the bike away as long as the sun was still out.

Thanks, guys. Yep, the pain is exactly as bikeboy says, and I'm sure it has to do with the additional force required by the clipless pedals. It was gone as soon as I was off the bike, which my usual back pain never is. I never knew it could come from the hip flexors, but it makes perfect sense. Any special exercise to strengthen them, other than ride?
I'm feeling good today, a little sore in the hands and the knees, but nothing else. I debated briefly whether to take another ride today, but grudingly gave in to the demands of revocery. Tomorrow morning!
I know the first ride was too long, but I just couldn't put the bike away as long as the sun was still out.

I don't know any special exercises for them--but I can tell you that they don't have to be that weak for cycling to wear them out. After years of swimming and martial arts, my hip flexors are quite strong, and they still get tired sometimes on the bike. I think it has to do with what part of the "stroke" of the flexor you're using. For martial arts I use the beginning and middle of the contraction more than the very last bit. On the bike, because I'm already bent over, I guess I use the last or upper bit of contraction the most. Dunno.

The best is just to ride and not overdo it, IMO.

I also find that having upper hip flexor pain on just one side is a sure-fire sign that I need to look at my cleat position on the OTHER side. But as long as your pain is pretty balanced, you're probably just overdoing it.