Frame upgrade

Vino2007

At present i have a Planet X Carbon in XL. Im 6ft 1.5 but have very long legs, therefore i feel very far forward on handlebars. I wanted to know if you could answer a few questions, as i cant seem to find any answers!
a. Do the pros ride with long top tubes or just harsher drops to the bars?
b. Is leaning further forward a reducer of power output?
c.What frameset for around £1300 would be lighter and stiffer (think Xl Planet x frame is 1200g approx),if i have to change
d.Why are Dolan Hercules (possible choice)only available up to 56cm!! Surely there is market for guys over 6ft!

Really sorry bout the multiple questions, its just its prob better i kept it to one post rather than a load :oops: .Oh and i race alot so aggresive position isnt a prob. Thanks !!

weeve

a. Do the pros ride with long top tubes or just harsher drops to the bars?

both. to get as flat as possible to wind....do your stetches...

b. Is leaning further forward a reducer of power output?

well if the pro's do it... no
whats important is position of you knees and hips over the pedals/seat...and flexibility...have you check you have the seat set back enough...if not adjust or get layback adjustable post

c.What frameset for around £1300 would be lighter and stiffer (think Xl Planet x frame is 1200g approx),if i have to change

many of the new wave of frames are lighter stiffer and you can get some great frames for that price...especially if you pick up a 09 or 08 model...but do you really need it to be? if you want stiff and cheap can always buy aluminium..how much power are you generating...top amateur level?

d.Why are Dolan Hercules (possible choice)only available up to 56cm!! Surely there is market for guys over 6ft!

I live in NL. Everyone is over 6'3...really. Neally all brands sell a 58, 60 or even 62 even the small brands...seems you all short arses over there (he said at 5'10....dooh)

skyd0g

How long is your current stem? Lenthening this may solve your problem.

mfin

This is the way Ive been told and learnt as a ROUGH guide. Think of yourself on any bike and think of it in two halves. First think of the saddle position up/down fore/aft relative to the BB... you could fit yourself to that with only half a bike to do it on in principal. Look up stuff about the front of your need falling in line with the axle center of the pedal (this is the forward knee and pedal when the pedals are level). That's a good start I believe. This Ive been told is the first bit of basic good bike fitting, I could be wrong though ...anyone?

The front of the bike is then down to getting both the reach and height of the bars right for your size/flexibility. Once you get this right you should be able to find which bikes you can apply your position too when you're buying with a bit of maths, I also use a handy mate who can cut through all the logic and reasoning from years of doing it cos it can get a bit confusing if you start questioning yourself! (It becomes pretty easy to suss if your bike choices mostly have the same seat tube angle) ...you'll just be able to think things like "nope, can't get my position very well on that frame over there cos it would mean 30mm of headset spacers and running a 70mm stem".

Suppose all Im saying is try to ascertain your fit measurements (i know for instance my saddle-height-bb-to-rails, fore/aft of bb, reach-to-bars and bar-drop, got them all kept on a bit of paper somewhere and they're set up the same on both my bikes) and if you haven't found them yet then ride and experiment, and bear in mind you will feel things like 3mm difference in bar height OR pro bike fitting?? Go somewhere really good to buy your bike and they'll do this ...or get one done on your existing bike and you can still fine tune it to your preference afterwards. (when looking at your fit measurements for a new bike remember to make a note of the BB height of the bike you took them off ...cos if you get a bike with a higher BB height your handlebar drop will have to increase too by the same amount)

Pros are flexy and tend to ride low and long... but long top tubes? Id say more tend to be riding the smallest frames they can get away with and hence you do see a fair few riding longer stems to compensate for the shorter reach on the smaller bikes.

As for 56 you mentioned... it might work, who knows... for instance I have a 56 and a 58 frame here of different makes and on the 58 I am running a 1cm LONGER stem with 15mm MORE spacers on it than I have on the 56 to get my position, my guts would tell me that would be the other way round but all makes measure up differently.