Please view this pic of my shoulder angle whilst riding

Raffles

I offer you all my sincerest apologies for my attire, but I was away at the beach today with my family. You guys who are well experienced in bike set up, please cast an eye over my shoulder angle and the soft bend at my elbows. From a bit of background research Ive read fitting articles mention about arm / shoulder bend not exceeding 90 degrees otherwise the rider will not be comfortable on the bike. The pic was snapped by my wife as I trundled slowly past my garden gate , much to the bewilderment of neighbours . From what the pic tells you, does the fit aspect as it relates to arms and shoulders look ok, or is anything catching your attention.

My left knee is almost under my chin because Im going so slowly Im half expecting to fall over at any minute by the way, pesky time delay snapping shot with camera.

Wirral_paul

If anything, it looks a little too cramped (so maybe a slightly longer stem needed, or the saddle moving back). How does it feel?

Not ideal to set position up from photo's, so dont take anything as gospel.

Raffles

Wirral_Paul wrote:

If anything, it looks a little too cramped (so maybe a slightly longer stem needed, or the saddle moving back). How does it feel?

Not ideal to set position up from photo's, so dont take anything as gospel.

Longer............gosh that takes me by surprise Paul. The stem fitted is a 100mm FSA OS-150 type. When I set my hands down they fall naturally onto the hoods. Im pulling the brakes in the pic because any faster and my wife wouldnt capture the shot. My reason for trying hard to get the position just right is because id been getting muscle pains down left side of my neck after about 30 miles when I tried a 90mm stem before.

Id be wary of moving the saddle position paul, Ive it set up so as it feels perfect......height, foot angle and knee position the KOPS is bang on. Ithink if the saddle went back, id also lose the angle which I have at my elbows.

dru

simple little test.

hands on the drops and have a look and see if you can see the front wheel hub.

If you can not (and its because its blocked by the handlebars) then its about right.

Raffles

Dru wrote:

simple little test.

hands on the drops and have a look and see if you can see the front wheel hub.

If you can not (and its because its blocked by the handlebars) then its about right.

Lots of sources say its hands on hoods, not on drops.

I tried it that way and the front hub is obscured by the bars.

Raffles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtdRrDsTQ8



There is an interesting clip which concerns fitting for an elite cyclist and shows his body angles. After viewing this clip, would you say that looks like a comfortable riding position ? To my untrained eye that looks to me like the guy is stretched out too much and it wouldnt take very long before he gets a sore neck ..............do you think the bike is set up too long for him , his arms look ramrod straight to me.

migrantwing

Raffles wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtdRrDsTQ8



There is an interesting clip which concerns fitting for an elite cyclist and shows his body angles. After viewing this clip, would you say that looks like a comfortable riding position ? To my untrained eye that looks to me like the guy is stretched out too much and it wouldnt take very long before he gets a sore neck ..............do you think the bike is set up too long for him , his arms look ramrod straight to me.

Agreed! Looks very stretched out. Hips seem to be moving quite a lot, too, suggesting that saddle height/position is wrong, also...but that could just be the angle of the camera.

Raffles

migrantwing wrote:

Raffles wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtdRrDsTQ8



There is an interesting clip which concerns fitting for an elite cyclist and shows his body angles. After viewing this clip, would you say that looks like a comfortable riding position ? To my untrained eye that looks to me like the guy is stretched out too much and it wouldnt take very long before he gets a sore neck ..............do you think the bike is set up too long for him , his arms look ramrod straight to me.

Agreed! Looks very stretched out. Hips seem to be moving quite a lot, too, suggesting that saddle height/position is wrong, also...but that could just be the angle of the camera.

and that is using the retul fitting system which I am sure costs a right few quid to deploy. im really puzzled by that vidclip beacause all my instincts say to me that bike position is plain wrong

Blonde Cyclist

Raffles wrote:

migrantwing wrote:

Raffles wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtdRrDsTQ8



There is an interesting clip which concerns fitting for an elite cyclist and shows his body angles. After viewing this clip, would you say that looks like a comfortable riding position ? To my untrained eye that looks to me like the guy is stretched out too much and it wouldnt take very long before he gets a sore neck ..............do you think the bike is set up too long for him , his arms look ramrod straight to me.

Agreed! Looks very stretched out. Hips seem to be moving quite a lot, too, suggesting that saddle height/position is wrong, also...but that could just be the angle of the camera.

and that is using the retul fitting system which I am sure costs a right few quid to deploy. im really puzzled by that vidclip beacause all my instincts say to me that bike position is plain wrong

As someone who has been through the Retul process twice (2 different bikes) I think it is possible that you could end up with something that looks quite unconventional. What they do is look at your flexibility and discuss comfort/ power compromises and then stick a set of receptors on you. By doing this they can capture your 3D motion on the bike and check the angles that you are actually hitting. And it's not just the obvious ones, but things like what set up helps you keep you knee most linear (compared to the top tube). You get an awful lot of data and to be fair I've really felt the benefit from it (FWIW I think I have come out with a fairly conventional, if aggressive, set up). What I have learnt is the flexbility of the rider (and any underlying injuries) which will make a lot of difference.

cyclingsheep

Hmmm, I'm always a little wary when people suggest to start shifting bars and heights when riders mention pain, especially when the OP says the pains start after 30 odd miles. As you up distances and exertion muscles all over your body get worked over not just your legs and just like your legs these muscles need to be broken down to come back stronger, they're just harder to target. I used to get sore neck and shoulders after 30 miles but as my distances increased the pain decreased and now doesn't start to kick in until I get to distances my body is not used to. There is one exercise that I know of which targets the neck and may help but I'm not convinced you're far off with your position, IMO

P_Tucker

Raffles wrote:

I offer you all my sincerest apologies for my attire.

Apology not accepted. Furthermore, wearing an old marquee with three holes cut in the top doesn't exactly make it easy to give positional advice.

P_Tucker

Anyway, god knows. The only useful advice you can ever get is that once you find a position that doesn't give you any pain, make a note of it so you can recreate it should for e.g. your bike get nicked and you need to set up a new one. None of the bike fitting services AFAIK have any actual science behind them, all the technology used is just effectively a load of sparkly lights to persuade the gullible to part with a wad of cash. I await the indignant rage that this statement will provoke, yet suspect that no-one will prove me wrong (as usual FFS)