could this be my answer??

foo-fighter

Hi all,
following on from my recent post about saddle comfort, and having to fit a shorter stem due to me thinking maybe my bike is to big for me. Yesterday evening while sitting in the pub with a friend enjoying a pint or 5, discussing my bike issues,said friend may have struck upon a good point. She said that she can't drive some cars because the seats wont adjust far enough forward for her and that other cars have pedals that are to close together for her to be comfortable with, so im now wondering if something similar can be true of bikes. Could it be that i just dont suit specialized and their geometry?? Any thoughts on this would be great

Thanks
Si

slowbike

foo-fighter wrote:

Could it be that i just dont suit specialized and their geometry??

I tried several bikes before I found one that felt right ...

Unless you want to buy a new bike you're probably best off getting a bike fit - my setup was close enough out of the box for me not to really notice the difference (much to the annoyance of the fitter - "Does that feel better?" "no, no different really" ... )

xpc316e

We are all unique in our proportions, and a bike that fits one 5'10" rider probably will not suit another of similar height. So it is quite possible that you are not suited to your current bike, but unless the frame is much too small/large for you, there are ways to fine tune it so that it fits.

A bike fit may be the answer, but I am always wary of people who say things like 'this measurements needs to 107% of the distance between your whatevers'. Bike fit is an art, not a science, but an experienced fitter will put you somewhere near the optimum position. Again though, something which feels better on a rig in a shop may not work for you 50 miles into a ride. I tend to sort out issues myself by changing only one thing at a time. I had not owned a road bike for over 30 years when I bought one recently, so I started from scratch. It has been a lengthy business; tweaking this, riding, tweaking it again, riding until I was happy with seat height, then working on bar height/stem length, bar width, whether I needed pedal extenders, etc. Tedious, but worth it in the end, and I am sure that a conventional bike fit wouldn't have been any less bother.