New bike fit

[gazza81]

If you bend your arms and engage your core muscles, then as well as not acting like a sail with your current upright position, you will also find that the pressure goes off your hands and shoulders. You will be faster, but crucially more comfortable. At the moment your photos make you look like you are trying to ride your hybrid in a very upright position.

Im wondering wether its just a case of me leaning forward more, seems like it would be hard to maintain though

 

[Kempstonian]

Im wondering wether its just a case of me leaning forward more, seems like it would be hard to maintain though

I wouldn't worry about that. With drop bars you have a choice of hand positions, so the amount of forward lean is variable. You're not in the same position all the time.

 

[jowwy]

I'm the same size as the OP with long legs and I mostly ride 23"/23 1/2" Road and MTB frames, which in the case of one Raleigh MTB, has a TT length of 591 mm! However, I do not pander to the current stupid cyclist fashion of running a low bar height setting in relation to the saddle, as this increases the effective reach. I would suspect there are two likely causes to the OP's problem, firstly the stem is probably a bit too long, and secondly the bars are not set high enough.

Saddle height from the pedal spindle, when parallel to the seat tube, should be set to around 1.09 x Inside Leg measurement. Or saddle to BB centre set to 0.882 x Inside Leg.

Saddle height shouldnt be set by some arbitury figure from the 1900's....it should be set up in a way that feels comfortable and works for the rider and that takes time.....

 

[cyberknight]

late to the discussion
im 5 foot 7 "
i did have a 56 bike ctrt to ctr on the top tube and ended up with a 70 mm stem to get a decent fit, my bikes are all 54 cm now and with a standard reach bar im running a 90 stem .

 

[gazza81]

A lot of Google searches websites suggest that a 58 is ok for my height it seems that some manufacturers a 58 is still a large

Maybe I just need to keep playing about until I feel comfortable

 

[Adam4868]

At 6 feet tall I'd be surprised if you couldn't 'get on' with aa58 so to speak with it.All new bikes take a bit of getting used to.

 

[gazza81]

Is this ok to put the top on and tighten up or should it be flush?

 

[gazza81]

Nevermind, broke it anyway

 

[ColinJ]

View attachment 453605
Is this ok to put the top on and tighten up or should it be flush?

It absolutely should NOT be flush - the cap on the top pulls against the stem NOT the steerer! Having said that, you might have it a few mm too high

PS Oh, you've broken it...

I can't think how you have done that. The adjustment is quite subtle so it is easy to go from loose to overtight!

 

[gazza81]

Yeah think i just done it up too tight and it pulled through.

Makes sence about not being flush though, trip to the bike shop i think.
Gotta get them to have a look at the gears anyway

 

[gazza81]

This is where my hand naturally wants to go when riding

 

[vickster]

View attachment 453634

This is where my hand naturally wants to go when riding

Tilt the shifters up towards you? Your wrist looks cocked too which might suggest the bars are a bit wide

 

[gazza81]

Well i played around with the hoods tonight, the saddle height, fore aft is fine.
When my hands are on the hoods i do have a very slight bend at the elbow, i think alot of my problem is naturally wanting to sit up right as ive never ridden a road bike and find the leaning forward thing hard to grasp as wanting to sit up like a flat bar

 

[gazza81]

Well just had a bike fit at evans, ideally id be a 57 frame but he said im very close to a 58 so its actually pretty much the right size.
They fitted 40cm bars as the ones i had were 44cm and feels alot more comfortable now!

 

[Banjo]

Takes a while to get used to any bike. My bike has 44cm bars which felt really weird when I first got it but now feels comfortable and I don't notice it.
Make the most of the weather and get some miles in now