Bike fit help

cmyk

Just looking for bit of advice from more experienced riders here, but I bought my bike 2 years ago (from the internet), and reckon the frame size is a bit small for me due to saddle height in comparison with others yet the standover height seems right, about an inch clearance? This is a 57cm and I originally went by my inseam (33) to size the bike.

With drops it prob feels a little bit much of a stretch but have good flexibility. I now have risers on the bike, and feels really comfortable to cycle. Also been reading the distance from front of saddle to bar position should be the length of your elbow to fingers, this is a bit longer so maybe I could do with a shorter stem? Have attached a pic for illustration purposes. I'm wondering all this as I'd like to start upgrading a few parts, but if the frame is completely off for me, I might be better selling and starting with a more suitable frame. Bottom line is that the bike feels quite comfortable, don't get any pain or discomfort while/after cycling but at the same time I'm only commuting and doing short enough spins so maybe I'm answering my own question with that?

irishmotorist

I'm not the greatest frame expert in the world, but I think that what the frame experts will differ on is the best way to make you comfortable on a long ride. I'd say that the end result is comfort and once you're able to put a fair bit of pace in and feel comfort, the fine tuning will eek a little bit more speed out without compromising how you feel when you're finished.

That said, your inseam would indicate a ~6ft height which for a lot of bike will mean ~56" frame. From what you give, I wouldn't say you're too far off a reasonably fitting frame, but the minor tweaks will fine tune that. However, if you're comfortable, why change anything?

Is there anything in particular that you're concerned about?

cmyk

Thanks irishmotorist, I guess it was just the amount of seatpost I seem to have compared to others, that's all really. And maybe that drop from saddle to bars is too extreme, and yes I am 6ft 1"

lescol

Fabulous looking frame. If you feel the drop is too much try flipping the stem.

Lumen

If you want advice on whether the bike fits you, it's better to post a picture of the bike with you on it, preferably with the facing crank at 6 o'clock.

edit: also, if you want to know whether the bike will be comfortable on a long spin, go on a long spin.

cmyk

Great stuff lads, ok pic of me on the bike, but self timer and leaning against the wall slightly, but it's as close as I can get to my riding position....

TinyExplosions

If you're comfortable on the bike, then the fit is fine.. comfort is the most important thing

cmyk

Yep had figured that, but like I said, want to upgrade a few parts, and don't want to waste money if the frame size is way off. I've seen a few people post their bikes on londonfgss etc, and people tell em the frame is too small etc, with that much seatpost on show. Did a round 50km commute the other day, and felt fine, no pain etc. so I guess that's the answer.

Raam

cmyk wrote: »

I've seen a few people post their bikes on londonfgss etc, and people tell em the frame is too small etc, with that much seatpost on show.

You should see the amount of seatpost on show on my bikes. Yours looks fine to me.

scottreynolds

cmyk wrote: »

Great stuff lads, ok pic of me on the bike, but self timer and leaning against the wall slightly, but it's as close as I can get to my riding position....

You need to shave . I'm no expert at all. As you said with risers you look fine. I can imagine in the drops you may be a bit uncomfortable ut its probably as simple as a good stem selection. Lumen will drop by no doubt -- he's been watching cycling fit DVDs.

Lumen

Your position looks quite upright, which isn't a bad thing.

To my untrained eye you don't look to be overstretching as such, but your arms look too straight, if you have good flexibility you should be able to bend a little more at the hips and keep a more natural bend at the elbow.

Apologies for the following picture, at least this isn't the one of him naked.



You can see that even with quite a low position, his arms have a comfortable bend in them.

If you're comfortable and happy don't screw with it, but IMO that beautiful frame deserves drops, which would give you more options for hand positions, particularly when cycling into a headwind.

However, flexibility is only half the picture; you need a strong core to hold a low position, or else you'll be using your upper body to hold you in place, which can tire you out and cause injury.

A rule of thumb (debatable) is that you should only use your arms for steering, not holding position, which means you should be able to take your hands off the bars and maintain upper body position without undue exertion.

Just my 2c, all second hand.

edit: you can also see that Lance has less of a bend at the knee at the bottom of the stroke, but be careful when screwing with your saddle position - it's a recipe for injury!

DirkVoodoo

I was going to say that I also thought your arms looked quite locked out. It's not a good way to cycle as your arms won't damp vibrations as well so you could end up with pretty sore arms/shoulder/back.

How is your flexibility?

cmyk

Flexibility is pretty good, I might need to flip the stem or get a higher one for running the drops though. As for the lack of bend in my arms it was difficult as I was kind of leaning against the wall with one arm (*cough* I mean trackstanding). I do have a bit of a bend when actually cycling.

cmyk

Yep, I reckon I'd probably need to flip the stem to ride on the drops.

I have pretty good flexibility, my arms are probably a bit straighter than they would be when actually cycling, I'm kind of leaning against the wall there. (*cough* I mean trackstanding).

Just another one though, if I'd gone for a bigger frame I literally wouldn't have had much, if any, standover room?

Raam

cmyk wrote: »

Yep, I reckon I'd probably need to flip the stem to ride on the drops.

Try the drops without flipping the stem first. The whole point of them is that they are lower down. You can ride on the top part if you wanna sit higher. It might take a while to get used to.

cmyk

Great stuff, thanks all for the help, I'll try a few options now.