The Bike Fitting Mega-Thread

I guess you meant “Posterior” Pelvic Tilt? This website I found yesterday actually describes perfectly most of my symptoms and I’ll definitely work on them. Thanks for your advices Dostring!

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Oh, right. I completely misunderstood. At least the cow vs cat position should have cleared that up. Anyhow, glad it helped anyway :man_facepalming:

For those going between road and TT set-ups what changes do you find are most common (I get it, the geometry is different the position is different etc)? I’m thinking specifically the stem length, crank length, or taller handlebar stack. What changed?
A little explanation. I’m building a TT/Tri frame more or less for fun. So I’m buying a lot of this stuff blind. I wouldn’t assume that just because I run a 100mm stem on my road bike means I’ll be running the same length on this build. Or cranks, or stack.

Would someone care to look at my current position? There are some detail in the other thread but to sum it up - I have been riding the bike for two years (30 thousand kms) with 14 cm stem. Recently changed saddle to a wider one. Had some problems with upper traps and switched back to 12 cm stem yesterday. That helped instantly but I had some lower back pain (it was an easy 2 hour ride with 10 mins harder).

I wouldn’t hurry with it too much but I am in the process of buying a new bike and should decide today what size I want (next opportunity will be in a month because of the restrictions currently in place). I chose a size that is 5 mm shorter and lower than my current bike - size L. I am afraid that one size bigger is too big - would be 20 mm higher and 5 mm longer than current frame. Thanks!

I’m surprised you need a larger saddle, have you measured your sit bones? you look like you are rocking your hips quite a lot.

You could try more narrow bar also, they tend to be fairly cheap and easy to try out, so might be worth doing.

Also frames are designed usually around a 110-120mm stem, and will handle best with one of them, also try to look at the stack and reach of the frame and compare it to your own rather than top tube/seat tube length.

@Dostring

I wasn’t clear that were differences on frame stack and reach as you suggested to do. I did have my sit bones measured. How accurate the measurement is, I don’t know. Was Selle Italia system.

Heh and I thought 90% of a BIke fitter’s job was to flip the stem from angled down to up.

Okay… I think it’s time to ask a question. Just had a perusal of this one…


From my previous bike fit - I have these notes.

  • Mildly shorter left leg when assessed on plinth (~5mm) - note that clinical assessment of leg length has fairly wide error margins
    Adjustments:
  • Moved left cleat fwd ~5mm to help accomodate leg length discrepancy and adjusted both cleats out maximally (shoes in) to allow more external hip rotation over top of pedal stroke

According to the Steve Hogg page that’s bad mojo?
Should the cleats always have the same fore/aft adjustment?

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I’m finding this year I’m riding almost exclusively in the drops, to the point I’m only in hoods to mess around in pockets or when stretching and don’t like it much. It has me wondering if I can remove a spacer, is there any other measurement that might need an adjustment due to the lowered bars that may not be obvious when riding? I’m starting from a solid 2019 fitting but wasn’t able to get into my fitter this spring before everything went haywire so I’m thinking I might try it out, I did a lot of back/shoulder work over winter for the first time and I think it has me more solidly supporting myself.

@mcneese.chad would love some of your expertise here, or anyone else that understands bike fit.
Bike Position - YouTube

I am wondering about my handlebar height, I have it low at the moment but I am not sure if I should maybe raise it to make holding aero hoods position easier?

I will check this out, likely in the morning.

Do you have any other issues than the question on this position?

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Not really, sometimes it feels like I am stretching too far forward, but in the video it doesn’t look that way. My arms are always fully extended, and I see people riding with bent arms looking comfortable so I assume there is some issue there maybe?

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@IvoKrakic Be interested to say what Chad says here but for background have you just got on the trainer there, are you ‘fresh’ and are you putting any meaningful effort in? You look very chilled! Most people change position significantly when under load and especially as fatigue.

I would politely suggest you would get more out of a video at Sweet Spot after a decent Sweet Spot workout (or say using last interval).

When at FTPish efforts can you lift your hands off the bars and hover them? Moving from position to position there you look like you keep one contact point solidly positioned to support yourself. That is always trickier to judge inside as you don’t have the wind resistance pushing your body back.
If you fall forward when you lift hands off at FTP you may too benefit from strengthening exercises but there is only so much you can do if your ‘balance’ on the bike is very front heavy.

Raising the bars will have an impact as pushes centre of gravity back, but also reduces reach - with that big spine curve you can end up more hunched. It is a little trial and error. It is simply to simulate raising the bars - stick a foam roller over the top of the bars and rest yours palms on it. If you can’t do this it’s a sure sign you have too much weight forwards by the way.

When I have worked on my position and that of friends (mine was with pro-fitter/physio) those with excess weight on the hands who were showing a ‘short effective’ spine (that big curve) and benefited from more saddle setback (with corresponding reduction in height). That unloading can allow more overall reach as the hands are unloaded and the body is better balanced. Again this will differ massively on the road, I can run the same saddle some 2cm further forwards on the road than on a trainer.

Edit: Having a look at your FTP video, you look to be bobbing a fair bit and hunched (is this the case?) This may be more representative of your true position than the other video, hence I say video when slightly stressed/fatigued and under load.
The hunch could be the body shortening under load, very typical, and the body rotation moving hip angle and causing bob through a change in position versus saddle/pedals/BB. That is of course a bit of guesswork but IF you have issues lifting hands off the bars (unloading at FTP) would suggest even more so that unloading the front would be good, if creates comfort and does not upset handling.

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I’m getting my new bike fitted in an hour, can’t wait!!!
The steerer tube was not yet cut so I was riding around like a cruiser with monkey bars :smiley:

Wow thank you for detailed response. I will get some ftp efforts in today and get a video.

I do feel that I have too much pressure on my hands. They tend to go numb when riding outside for long. If I am understanding you correctly, moving the seat back and raising the handlebar would help?

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I would start by moving the seat back 1cm and down 0.5cm. Have a feel for how that lets you rotate the pelvis and shifts your centre of gravity. This extends reach of course but if you find it lets you take weight off the arms you may find you can rotate the hips and extend the spine too. This may contrary to expectations move your shoulders forwards and the angle of the upper back/neck may then need a slight bar raise and reward a longer stem - it is all trial and error and although there is good practise and guidance someone can give you, your specific physiology and adaptations can mean results are not always desirable.

As with anyone I would say make very small changes changes slowly and steadily, bit by bit, or be prepared to drop down to a lower output for a period to ease back into a new position.

Critically if you move the saddle back and make a corresponding height decrease you are to a point keeping leg extension the same. What rotating the pelvis (if works for you) could do however is raise you up higher on the saddle or make you sit further back on saddle, and mean you need to lower the height even more than expected. About the worst thing I think you could do is over-extend the knees and injury yourself.

It is pretty apparent if you put a seat too far back, pedalling feels lump and strange. Don’t confuse being too high for that though.

When you go back outside you might find you can ride a position a few cm further forward purely due to wind resistance pushing your body back. After 6 weeks on the trainer in lockdown I did a short road ride and wanted a somewhat more aggressive position.

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Any idea why my hands would feel like they’re bearing more weight than they should when in the hoods? I went from a 11cm to a 12cm stem, but I had to switch back because the reach was pretty uncomfortable. The bike I’m trying to dial in is my 2018 Crux. The measurements I’m using are from a fit I had on my road bike many years ago that have worked on my road bike fine. I’ve duplicated the reach and drop, but I’m wondering if the Crux has more aggressive angles that affect how the bike fits. Any help would be appreciated. Thx.

You say reach and drop are the same so assume that is from the saddle? If from the saddle and not the BB you rely on the saddle being the same (shape, size and condition, i.e. not sagging), the same height and setback, and at the same angle.
If from the BB (reach and stack) cleat position can impact where and how you sit and pedal and alter setups - same too with different stance widths (different cranks, pedals etc).

Even if the saddle is identical and identically placed are you the same as years ago? Over time bodies change, you could be more muscular (polite way of saying heavier) or position changed due to other physiological factors. Personally my fit changes throughout the year depending how much riding and what type, that’s without counting injuries if they happen.

To check too when you say on the hoods, does that mean you are ok on the tops and drops and it just the hoods where you have discomfort?

Thx for the reply. Yeah I did use the point of reference the tip of the saddle. The saddles are not identical, but similar. So I guess that might be the issue. Also how do you measure the saddle setback w a plumb line if the chainstays flare, affecting the where the line sits? Thx so much.