Ride Position

[Paul Davis]

I know that getting the correct ride position has a lot to
do with personal preferance and type of riding done but
would like a bit of advice.

I ride manly on-road and lots of rough country roads and
tracks and trails with some light off-road. I've always
liked a fairly stretched position and ride a 20" On-One
Inbred (mountain bike frame) which feels spot on for the
sort of riding I do. The On-One site recommends 80-105mm
stems for 20" Inbreds but I have a 110mm Easton EA50 stem
with 10 degree rise fitted and On-One XC riser bars. At
6' tall this is a little on the long side according to
On-One recommendations but feels right for the type of
riding I do and came about after riding with an
adjustable stem for a while.

This gives a postion where my back is flat and roughly 40
degrees to upright, arms roughly 90 degree to the torso and
a slight bend in the elbows with weight distributed (at a
guess) roughly 60:40 saddle to bars. This seems to fit in
with most articles on bicycle fit that I have read.

When riding gently and looking at the scenery the position
feels a tad stretched but when head down and hammering or
pedaling out of the saddle it sometimes feels like I could
do with an extra bit of length in the stem.

I was wondering what people think, I have recently had a
small amount of neck pain (not bad at all) which seems to
come from raising the head to look forward (although it
could just be the sudden increase in riding with the hot
weather) and a slight tingling in my fingers after long,
rough rides.

I guess that no setup is optimum in all situation. What do
people think?

Thanks, PJay

[Arthur Clune]

Paul Davis <pjay.davis@btopenworld.com> wrote:

: I was wondering what people think, I have recently had a
: small amount of neck pain (not bad at all) which seems to
: come from raising the head to look forward (although it
: could just be the sudden increase in riding with the hot
: weather) and a slight tingling in my fingers after long,
: rough rides.

Which sounds like your position is too long and/or too low.
Though the neck thing could just be that you need to get
used to the bike again, and the slight tingling could just
be the effects of being offroad.

Fit is a very personal thing, but I wonder if you should try
a slightly less stretched position?

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org (http://www.clune.org/) "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

[Doki]

Arthur Clune wrote:
> Paul Davis <pjay.davis@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>
>> I was wondering what people think, I have recently had a
>> small amount of neck pain (not bad at all) which seems to
>> come from raising the head to look forward (although it
>> could just be the sudden increase in riding with the hot
>> weather) and a slight tingling in my fingers after long,
>> rough rides.
>
> Which sounds like your position is too long and/or too
> low. Though the neck thing could just be that you need to
> get used to the bike again, and the slight tingling could
> just be the effects of being offroad.
>
> Fit is a very personal thing, but I wonder if you should
> try a slightly less stretched position?

I've been wondering about this. My bike's got a fairly long
stem and the seat most of the way back. Do I want to move
the seat forwards or the bars back? Does it make any odds?

[Arthur Clune]

Doki <doki@spamtronspidar.com> wrote:

: I've been wondering about this. My bike's got a fairly
: long stem and the seat most of the way back. Do I want
: to move the seat forwards or the bars back? Does it make
: any odds?

Or get a bigger big? Depends.

Are you comfortable where you are?

The common advice goes like this:

1) Set saddle height so that your knee is just bent at the
bottom of the stroke
2) Set saddle fore/aft position so that a plumbline dropped
from your knee lies over the pedal spindle with the
cranks level. There's some scope for ambuigity here
(front or rear of knee?) but I don't think it makes a lot
of difference.
3) Check saddle height again since you've just altered the
effective height.
4) Set distance to bars so that when you are riding on the
hoods you can't see the front hub (ie handlebars and
front hub) in line
5) Set height of bars so that your back is at about 45
degrees to the vertical when on the hoods. Adjust
the angle depending on your flexibility, belly size
and fitness.

That gives a basic road position. Then adjust to taste.

More details here:
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/BikeFit/index.cfm

Most tourists and audaxes end up with a more upright
positon. Short distance TT'ers a much, much lower one.
MTB'ers will tend to use a shorter, more upright position to
give better bike control in the rough stuff. etc, etc.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org (http://www.clune.org/) "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

[Doki]

Arthur Clune wrote:
> Doki <doki@spamtronspidar.com> wrote:
>
>> I've been wondering about this. My bike's got a fairly
>> long stem and the seat most of the way back. Do I want
>> to move the seat forwards or the bars back? Does it make
>> any odds?
>
> Or get a bigger big? Depends.
>
> Are you comfortable where you are?
>
> The common advice goes like this:
>
> 1) Set saddle height so that your knee is just bent at the
> bottom of the stroke 2) Set saddle fore/aft position so
> that a plumbline dropped from your knee lies over the
> pedal spindle with the cranks level. There's some scope
> for ambuigity here (front or rear of knee?) but I don't
> think it makes a lot of difference. 3) Check saddle
> height again since you've just altered the effective
> height. 4) Set distance to bars so that when you are
> riding on the hoods you can't see the front hub (ie
> handlebars and front hub) in line 5) Set height of bars
> so that your back is at about 45 degrees to the
> vertical when on the hoods. Adjust the angle depending
> on your flexibility, belly size and fitness.
>
> That gives a basic road position. Then adjust to taste.
>
> More details here:
> http://www.coloradocyclist.com/BikeFit/index.cfm
>
> Most tourists and audaxes end up with a more upright
> positon. Short distance TT'ers a much, much lower one.
> MTB'ers will tend to use a shorter, more upright position
> to give better bike control in the rough stuff. etc, etc.

Sorry, I was talking about an MTB and making the cockpit
shorter. I'll experiment with moving the saddle first, after
all, it's free.

[Arthur Clune]

Doki <doki@spamtronspidar.com> wrote:

: Sorry, I was talking about an MTB and making the cockpit
: shorter. I'll experiment with moving the saddle first,
: after all, it's free.

It is, but if your saddle fore/aft position is correct
then the way to make the cockpit shorter is *not* to move
the saddle.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org (http://www.clune.org/) "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

[Doki]

"Arthur Clune" <ajc22@york.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:c97emk$2tt$3@pump1.york.ac.uk...
> Doki <doki@spamtronspidar.com> wrote:
>
> : Sorry, I was talking about an MTB and making the cockpit
> : shorter. I'll experiment with moving the saddle first,
> : after all, it's free.
>
> It is, but if your saddle fore/aft position is correct
> then the way to make the cockpit shorter is *not* to move
> the saddle.

I've no idea if it is, to be honest.

[Michael Macclan]

On Fri, 28 May 2004 15:48:58 +0100, Doki wrote:

> "Arthur Clune" <ajc22@york.ac.uk> wrote in message
> news:c97emk$2tt$3@pump1.york.ac.uk...
>> Doki <doki@spamtronspidar.com> wrote:
>>
>>: Sorry, I was talking about an MTB and making the cockpit
>>: shorter. I'll experiment with moving the saddle first,
>>: after all, it's free.
>>
>> It is, but if your saddle fore/aft position is correct
>> then the way to make the cockpit shorter is *not* to move
>> the saddle.
>
> I've no idea if it is, to be honest.

If that's the case you should set it up in accordance with
Arthur's instructions before even thinking of using it to
shorten the cockpit. Getting the saddle position wrong can
lead to all sorts of biomechanical problems and injuries.
--
Michael MacClancy Random putdown - "He has no enemies, but
is intensely disliked by his friends." -Oscar Wilde
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk www.macclancy.co.uk

[James Hodson]

On Fri, 28 May 2004 15:49:03 +0100, Michael MacClancy
<herzelNOSPAM@o2.co.uk> wrote:

>If that's the case you should set it up in accordance with
>Arthur's instructions before even thinking of using it to
>shorten the cockpit. Getting the saddle position wrong can
>lead to all sorts of biomechanical problems and injuries.

Hi Michael

I agree with both you and Arthur and this one. Going with
Arthur's 1-5 instructions, I find that in general that my
stems are too long. So, for me, assuming a more or less
correct frame size, it's get the saddle in the right place
and go from there.

Having said that, the fitter I get (fitter meaning
smaller gut!) the more stretched out I find comfortable,
within reason.

James