Hello from Up North

[bobsy852]

Hello everybody!
Recently come across this forum after looking for some advice on my old (old) cycle!
For the past year or so I've been using it for the commute to work and back as my current job is only a few miles from home and I'd forgotten how good cycling could be.
It's an old Falcon Supernova hand made bike with 15 grip shift gears! lol, probably sounds pre-historic to some people on here?
I've changed the nobly off-road tyres with semi-slick's for the road (but so i can still go down the odd gravel track should I wish to), these made a huge improvement.

I found the forum after being told that my seat setup was all wrong, and since found that I was riding with my seat too low and that the seat is too far back. I've managed to readjust the height but can't seem to adjust the fore/aft position of the seat?
Might not even be possible on an old thing like this?

Anyway, I've been considering buying new parts for it, or replacing it altogether, so thought I'd join to ask advice along the way!

Not sure what I'd want from my next bike, but I imagine something a lot lighter, and I like the idea of disc brakes (as strong braking is one of my favourite things on a bike).
Thanks for reading, hope I can get involved more soon! And pick lots of advice up too, as I know little to nothing about bikes! lol

 

[guitarpete247]

Hi and bosy852.

If your seat post has a fitting like this

you just slacken the nuts off a little and the saddle should be able to slide forward or backwards but you don't have a lot of movement. If your seat post is like this

here should be an allen key bolt here that loosens he saddle to slide back and forth. Again not a lot of movement.
Are you wanting to move your saddle forward because you are too stretched reaching for the bars. If so you might also have to change the position of your handle bars. That won't be quite as easy.

 

[bobsy852]

Hmm, not sure if it has either of those! I'll have to check later when I've got it home though.
No I can reach the bars ok, was more an issue after I started reading up about how best to set up the seat etc (after being told mine was too low), I watched videos on how to set height up etc and they mentioned that when sat on the bike and the pedal in the 3 o' clock position my knee should be over my foot/pedal, however mine is a LONG way back from this! infact my knee is over my foot when it's back in the 9 o' clock position.
Don't think I'd be able to bring a seat forward enough to fix this to be honest but thought it was worth a try.
Might be the wrong sized bike for me to be honest, but it's old an faithful and I can't really afford a new bike untill well into the new year.

Just trying to give my knees the easiest ride possible as I'm a keen snowboarder and this is another reason I took cycling up again as in the summer months I can use this to strengthen my knees (to help prevent injury on the slopes). So having recently found a correct setup is better for knees I've started thinking I should set mine up correctly/buy a better fitting bike....

 

[Brommyboy]

Your bike sounds like an MTB. When first out these had very relaxed seat angles, so the saddle does fall far back. With either of the above saddle clamps, it is possible to reverse them to bring the saddle further forward. However, the saddle position will not be the same for riding a road bike or say, a roadster. The latter, like the early MTB, was not intended for fast riding and had something like a 69 or 70 degree seat angle, which puts the saddle much further back. There is nothing wrong with this.

 

[bobsy852]

Thanks for the reply Brommyboy! I'll probably leave it as it is then. Might need a new seat though as mine's ripped now and soaks in water lol
The new height is a big imporvement anyway, just cycling to work this morning was a lot easier!