Damn…that is a great position out-of-the-box. You’ll be fast.
I wouldn’t change anything right now…get out and ride it and see how it feels. A TT bike outside feels very different than it does inside. Start there and adjust as necessary.
(There does seem to be a little hip rocking, so you could drop your saddle a few MM, but if it is the same as your current road height, just roll with it for now)
It’s been a gorgeous week here in the UK and things are warming up in my studio. I use sticky labels to mark body locations enabling the Dartfish software to track them more easily. Warmer, sweatier bodies and more cooling fans is creating wedding confetti as they blow off!
Does anybody have any recommendations or tips for stickers that stay put and won’t mark expensive shorts and jerseys?
Cheers
I have not considered this before, but my first instinct is to use a 2-part system with a magnet inside, and marked sticker on the outside of any clothing. Far from easy or idea, especially on locations like the hip (in shorts), but it’s a system that is non-permanent , but quite stable.
For the body away from clothing, maybe dry-erase markers or some elastic band with the some more permanent marking on them.
Thanks, @mcneese.chad
If I narrow down my main area of frustration it is the hip marker that’s the problem. The shorts wrinkle here and some of the really shiny fabrics won’t hold the sticker in place for long.
I’ve reached out to a few label printers but they’re concerned/marketing the label material rather than adhesive.
For customers with dirty bikes I’ve also considered using staples 
Yeah, I figured that might be the case. It’s a tough spot indeed. At a stretch, I could see using a “splint-like” design that has 2 bands around the thigh, and an adjustable “stick” with a dot on the end. Might take some fussing to get it located right, but is another outside-of-the-box idea.
@mcneese.chad I can see you’ve been inspired by lederhosen. A weekend dressing up pastime perhaps?
Not sure I want to open this can of worms but what do y’all think of this? I don’t have any complaints but would be open to advice. This photo was taken in the middle of a pack so just riding at my relaxed position. I notice when I’m lower on the hoods I’m moving a little further on the saddle judging by the amount of saddle I see behind my butt as a shadow on the ground
Bike is a 54cm Emonda H2 with uncut steerer and 12mm spacers under the stem. Has the taller seatmast because when I got this 5 years ago I couldn’t handle a long reach. Came with a 90mm stem which over time I’ve upped to a 110. I’m 5’9” with 32 inseam fairly long legs
Excuse the wrong number orientation, noob move. At this point I could probably be on a 56 but to me this is comfortable. Just more-so looking to make sure nothing with my hips and back and stuff looks very wrong
Not sure if this is bike fit or bike modifications!
Currently I’m on a 2016Cube Stereo 140 (18") which is a fun enough bike but over the years I’ve found myself getting less enamoured with playing in the woods doing the same run each time (mainly since I’m to scared to ever really jump/hit drops) so have started heading out further on things closer to XC jaunts.
In an effort to make the bike a bit more suitable I’ve got a newer Fox Float with working lockout, got the stem right on the admittedly tall top cap and lower than stock rise bars.
Now looking to make it feel less cramped so looking for longer stems (stock 45mm 0 degree), the great ebay has a few options at 50mm 0degree and 60mm -17 degree and 60mn 0degree options. What I’m worried about is wrecking the handling with such changes, my saddle is push fairly forward to work on keeping the front down when climbing.
I can grab so pictures of me on it assuming the forecast rain doesn’t happen! Any opinions either way? The 50mm is pretty much like stock so can’t see it changing it much but the 60mm might be too much? Or just what I need!
Hi there!
Not sure if anyone can help but I’ve had some issues recently. I’ve had a bike fit and heck up and it’s not feeling right at the moment. My cleats were changed but since this I’ve had a bit of inside knee discomfort and really numb feet after about an and a half.
Im not great mechanically so do worry a bit about making changes to stuff, but guess I’ll have to at some point.
Does anyone have any suggestions at all which would help? Super stuck with this!
Hard to make any suggestions with the limited info shared.
First and foremost would be to follow up with your fitter again. They should be familiar with where you started and ended in the fit, and importantly ‘why’ you got the changes you did.
We’d have to discuss the before and after, along with your current issues to make anything more than pure guesses that are not ideal, without far more info.
Sure thing! Thanks for the quick response really appreciate it. I’ll follow up with the fitter and see what they suggest.
Has someone had a MTB bike fit or can recommend a good fitter in Colorado?
I have performed a handful of MTB fits (for those other than just myself) over the years. Focus tends to differ a bit from a drop bar fit. Clipless pedal setup may be part of it, but not always. I tend to look at suspension setup with sag check and damper settings too. I add those since there are potentially less overall adjustments compared to a roadie. But, nailing things like bar rotation and lever position are still valuable considerations, beyond the necessary saddle setup.
Regarding fore/aft and knee health, I’ve never understood the reasoning. If your hip angle remains the same and you’re rotating around the bottom bracket, fore/aft doesn’t matter for your knees. If you alter the hip angle or change your effective saddle height, it matters.
Lately I was wondering the same. Starting situation: I have two bikes.
So, the only difference is the frame geometry.
In the past, when trying to make the fit as identical as possible, I always determined setback and saddle height. That´s it. So my decisive factor was the relation of setback and saddle height. The difference in longer reach of the Aerobike (+6mm) was not made up by putting the saddle forward.
Of course, the aero bike being lower and longer, my hip angle decreased (noticeably). Now I am thinking, if it would be better to “rotate forward around the bottom bracket” in order to get a more open hip angle (similar to the position on the Ultimate, which I like). For this, I would have to push the saddle forward a bit and lose the identical setback positions.
I am not trying to get 100% identical position (then I would not buy an aero bike) but I would like to know what will be the better option. Same setback, same hip angle or a compromise of those? Of course the goal for the aero bike is pure speed! I often heard that setback and sadle height were the most important things, but I wondered if this may be irrelevant (like the KOPS method) and just an oldschool misbelief!?
Are there any thoughts/experiences on this matter?
The two frames may have different stack, so your handlebars on one may be lower than the other.
One thing that is often not considered is weight distribution. Sure you can rotate your whole position around the bottom bracket and have the same angles on your hip, knees, arms, whatever but the more you rotate forward the more weight you put over your arms which can potentially cause pain, and or affect the bike handling. (Gravity does not rotate along with your position…)
About your situation, if your hip angle is too “closed” and causes issues you can solve this either by rotating the whole position as you describe or by raising and bringing the bars closer. Try to do whatever leads to a pain free and at the same time balanced position.
Yeah, Sure. There is a limit for everything. But as long as there is not too much Strain on my hands…
Why not? The same, aero position on both bikes is a desirable outcome (assuming it is comfortable). You’ll just be faster on the aerobike because of the frame…but getting aero on both bikes should absolutely be a goal, IMO.
Nor should you…you should make up any difference by having a shorter stem. Obviously it won’t be 100% perfect in this case since no one makes stems in 6mm increments, but going with a 10mm shorter stem is reasonable.
Sorry if this has been covered but it’s a big thread!!
I was recently fit on my gravel bike and have since bought a road bike. I’d planned to match the positions, but the the fit was a bit towards the aggressive side on my gravel bike. I was happy riding in that position but was 95% on the road. I’ve got some gravel events and more proper gravel riding coming up - I’m not racing but want to finish and be comfy at the same time.
Does anyone set up their gravel bike a bit more upright? I was thinking of matching my previous slightly more aggressive fit to the road bike, and raising the gravel bike stem maybe 1 cm and shortening by 1 cm.
I’d asked about reach and stack at my bike fit, and the fitter said I was comfortably in a range he though was good for my type for riding and flexibility with the longer/lower set up.
If it helps too, the gravel bike has Enve gravel bars (44 cm at hoods) and I’m going to go narrower on the road bike…probably 40 cm at the hoods with a bit of flare.
Thanks!!
Yes, most people do…especially if they are doing more dirt than road on it. How much more upright is a matter of personal preference. I try and keep mine very similar however…that said, my upper back / neck is still stiff from holding my head up for over 9 hours last Saturday doing The Rift.
You will then almost certainly want to use a shorter stem or increase your stack. Increased bar width has the effect of lowering you, so if you want to be more upright, you’ll want to tweak something else.
Why not? The same, aero position on both bikes is a desirable outcome (assuming it is comfortable). You’ll just be faster on the aerobike because of the frame…but getting aero on both bikes should absolutely be a goal, IMO.
I would not agree in this case. If you take both extremes (an Endurance bike and an aero bike) I am definitely willing to sacrifice a bit of comfort for more speed. The biggest factor for aerodynamics (by far!) is the human body, so your position on the bike. I would even say the frame is almost the least important part. So making my position a bit more stretched out/lower without going too much into the extremes is desirable for me.