New to Roadie / Stem Length / General Fit

[Mikeoupe]

Please forgive the naive question, I'm nominally up on basic bike fit and have adjusted my old MTB to pretty much perfection but I'm feeling a bit stuck with the following.

It's been a few weeks since buying my first drop bar road bike and I'm absoloutly loving it but I'm currently struggling with one element which is; hand / arm / reach comfort, after an hour or so of riding I begin to feel uncomfortable, especially in my hands (and elbows, though not a big deal) as if there is too much weight on them.

I'm 5'8" and the bike is a 53cm Bianchi, I've got the saddle fit perfect (which is pretty much all the way forward) My problem is that with the standard 90mm stem I feel as though I'm reaching just a bit too far to be comfortably on the hoods, so I draw my hands back which becomes uncomfortable on my palms.

My gut feeling was to raise the stem (as much as I dare) and I've played with the angle of the bars which was a non starter as it lead to an unantural and uncomfortable angle at my wrists.

I came to the conclusion that a shorter stem would bring the bars / hoods towards me and into a more comfortable position, the bike is currently fitted with a 90mm stem so I grabbed a used 70mm via ebay last night (waiting for it to arrive) This evening I've read all sorts of scary stuff about the effects of a shorter stem on handling and how the top tube is probably too long...

Stand over wise I'm about 2-3", I reckon my legs are on the long side compared to my torso and I prefer my saddle high so I can stretch my legs.

I'm wondering if the last few years on a Gary Fisher 29'er MTB have simply got me used to a more upright riding position and that my core / arm muscles are simply not used to the lowered & compact position of a road bike.

Sorry for the dumbass post, I'm thinking outloud whilst trying to understand the problem and hoping for some feedback from those of you WAY more experienced in the intricacies of set-up than me. Any Comments most welcome.

Here is a pic of the bike as it's currently set-up, that can't be too big can it? I say that given the height of the of the saddle etc

.

Thanks Mike

 

[kilf]

Hi Dude

Are you SURE you saddle is perfect?

I used to think I had mine sorted and used to think I was to stretched due to straight arms.

Turns out even though I thought my saddle was level (i set it with a book on the top and a spirit level as advised by some book) but due to the back sweep on the saddle I wasn't balanced correctly on it, so there was to much weight on my hands which I took as being over stretched.

See if you can move you hands from the bar and maintain your position without straining. If you cant try tipping the saddle back a little bit.

Also saddle all the way forward seems a touch extreme long legs as a rule = long arms which balance out shorter torso (I think)

Just some thoughts to try Im no expert by a long way

 

[Alien8]

Is that the normal angle of your bars? It looks a bit extreme, which coupled with the fact you've had to move the saddle all the way forward, suggests you are over stretching. And how do you feel about your flexibility? Although I would expect this to manifest itself in at least a bit of back discomfort.

 

[davehann]

it looks to me like you are setting up like a mountain bike
try shorter stem , drop the angle on the bars so its more flat and move the saddle back a bit.

better still, get someone from a decent bike shop or local club to help you get the geometry right with you on the bike in a turbo trainer.

 

[rockyraccoon]

Hi Mike I was having the exactly same problem and asked the same question (see my old threads). I replaced my from a 110mm to 100mm. I spent weeks thinking the problem was the stem until I read some recommendations from CChaters to fiddle with the saddle.


I was 100% sure the saddle was at the right height. I was doing about 20 miles with same pains after the rides.

One day I decided to move it forward and down by mm steps. Voia! I got it to a perfect position. I still have to stretch a bit which is normal because I was used to MTB position but my rides are much more comfortable. I did my 1st 40miles last week and the only pain I had was on my legs..

Basically try to move the saddle down. When u do that u are also moving it forward because of the bike geometry. Then try also changing the angle of it as kilf suggested.

I am using my phone it's difficult to find my old threads.. have a look at them.. lots of good tips there.

 

[cyberknight]

Try this ...
http://www.competiti...ALCULATOR_INTRO

and this...
http://www.jimlangle...k/bikefit.html.

I am 5 foot 7 " and ride a 54, with a 31 " inside leg and a 100 mm stem btw.

 

[Mikeoupe]

Thanks all SO much for going to the trouble of replying in such detail. You've all given me plenty to think about, which I will do during the course of the day.

I did convince my other half to take a pic of me on the bike and I don't look right, certainly not quite like the above pic, I'm quit upright and contrary to the way I feel, I look a bit scrunched up. As someone commented above I appear to be trying to set myself up as if on a MTB or Hybrid, old habits perhaps?

I'm going to take my time digesting what you've all said, get my head round it and start again. I'm now thinking fitting the shorter stem is a poor idea, or at least a last resort.

What a great forum, and sincere thanks again, I'll be back with how I get on.

Cheers
Mike

 

[kilf]

"I needlessly spent £56 on a new saddle trying to resolve this problem, good as it is I've since realised that a poor set-up was the cause of the problem. From my limited experience experiment by dropping the nose of your saddle a touch and move it forward, the smallest adjustments can make the biggest difference."

I came across this post from you whilst browsing forum just...Kinda backs my earlier theory


To humour me try centralising the saddle on the rails and tip the nose up a touch and maybe drop the saddle a mil or so

Either way let me know how you get on ive recently been through the same thing ..so im interested

 

[Mikeoupe]

"I needlessly spent £56 on a new saddle trying to resolve this problem, good as it is I've since realised that a poor set-up was the cause of the problem. From my limited experience experiment by dropping the nose of your saddle a touch and move it forward, the smallest adjustments can make the biggest difference."

I came across this post from you whilst browsing forum just...Kinda backs my earlier theory


To humour me try centralising the saddle on the rails and tip the nose up a touch and maybe drop the saddle a mil or so

Either way let me know how you get on ive recently been through the same thing ..so im interested

Hi Kilf,


Those comments were a result of my experiences with my other bike;

That aside, following an afternoon of fiddling, I've ended up doing almost exacly what you describe, I've gradually lowered the saddle by maybe 20mm! centred it and upped its nose a notch. I've also lowered the stem my a few mm and levelled the bars. I've only ridden it 5 miles to a friends and back and it felt much better but still not perfect, it's close though.
I've spent this evening following the links above and watching roadie bike fit videos on you tube, I sence that there are a combination of small adjustmets during the course of the weekend that will sort me out, I hope.

I'm learning as I go ..


Cheers
Mike

 

[kilf]

Glad your getting there dude believe me I know how you feel.

What I did was went out for rides with multitool in my pocket and alter stuff, ride a mile alter again, tonight I think I got it pretty damn close no hand pain no willy numb and feel powerful in the saddle.

For me the key was lowering saddle a touch and raising the nose a touch, because of the saddles flared rear unless I tip the nose up slightly I dont sit in the right place.

 

[peelywally]

i think you might have the wrong frame size , have you tried other frames ?

tall seat post is usually an indication of wanting to be more dipped for aerodynamics when sprinting its not a good idea for longer riding , youve angled seat and bars to compensate by the look and sound of it .

lots of fiddling with seat and bars/stem might resolve this or you might have to accept it , did you get a fitting for the bike if you did and its new maybe go back for another .

 

[lukesdad]

Moving a saddle forward will increase the weight onto the hands and arms. This could actually be the problem you re having not over stretching.

 

[Mikeoupe]

I think I'm getting to the bottom of this, my original problem seems to have been caused by starting with the saddle too high, I'd then adjusted it too far forward with it's nose on the low side. That meant that with the bars in a low and level position I was bunched up and had too much weight on my arms / hands etc which I was trying to compensate for by raising the bars.

I've since lowered the seat quite a lot, moved it back just beyond centre, raised its nose, dropped the stem around 6mm and levelled the top of the bars. I've just come back from a 20 miler and it felt like a different bike, no problems with my arms at all and the saddle felt just right, in the process of course the bike felt lighter and more nimble. The only minor problem was some very mild knee pain upon my return which lasted for 5 minutes so I will look into that. I've got some minor tweaking still to do I think, a few mm here and there. I also think that some of this has do do with my getting used to a road bike after several years of a MTB, which I sometimes used to ride 25 miles on nothing other than the road.

I didn't have this bike fitted to me, I bought it used (though as good as new) via good old ebay, I just wanted to give road biking a go to see if I liked it, which I do very much. It may be that I re-sell this bike and get myself properly fitted to a nice machine. I suspect this one is a bit small for me but I think there is enough adjustment in it to keep me comfortable for the moment.

I'm learning loads, thanks again for everyone's patience and help!!

Anyway this is how it looks after this morning ride;

 

[rockyraccoon]

Nice u got some improvement. I also had a bit o pain on my knee. I managed to sort that out by adjusting the cleats position on my mtb shoes. The things is by changing the cleat position u might or not is some cases have to adjust the saddle again... good luck..