Handlebar setup - how to I achieve the best one?

starbuck

I recently became the proud owner of a 2013 Giant defy 1, which I intend to use for riding a lot of sportives.

This is my first road bike, after coming from many years riding mountain bikes, and I'm still getting used to the change in riding position.

Question I have is, how do I setup the handlebars (angle, brake lever position etc) so it's right for me. Being new to road bikes, I don't know what the correct position even looks like.
I used to have sore fingers (between thumb and forefinger) when I first started riding it, and after advice from a friend, I angled the bars up a bit. I do still get sore wrists after riding for a while though.

How to I find the best setup for comfort? (as I've entered the new forest sportive and am doing the london to brighton ride in June). I am also thinking about doing "the long one" which is about 126 miles, but to do those sort of distances, I need to be comfortable on the bike. I have ridden 60+ miles before on my mountain bike, so I'm no stranger to distance (but that bike is setup perfectly for me).

My LBS does a "velofit" bike setup for £65, but I'm not sure of the value of this against trying to get it setup myself (as I've never had a problem with my MTB setup, although it did take some fettling before I settled on the best setup). Would it be worth trying to get in the ballpark then tweaking it myself, or going for a bike fit?

pride4ever

Look at videos/pictures of the Pro riders to give you a basic idea of set up.

elderone

From what I,ve read on here a bike fit is the best option,and to be honest the quickest aswel to sort your problem.If money is the issue then search and read what you can then try things until you are happy.
Good luck.

Camcycle1974

starbuck wrote:

I recently became the proud owner of a 2013 Giant defy 1, which I intend to use for riding a lot of sportives.

This is my first road bike, after coming from many years riding mountain bikes, and I'm still getting used to the change in riding position.

Question I have is, how do I setup the handlebars (angle, brake lever position etc) so it's right for me. Being new to road bikes, I don't know what the correct position even looks like.
I used to have sore fingers (between thumb and forefinger) when I first started riding it, and after advice from a friend, I angled the bars up a bit. I do still get sore wrists after riding for a while though.

How to I find the best setup for comfort? (as I've entered the new forest sportive and am doing the london to brighton ride in June). I am also thinking about doing "the long one" which is about 126 miles, but to do those sort of distances, I need to be comfortable on the bike. I have ridden 60+ miles before on my mountain bike, so I'm no stranger to distance (but that bike is setup perfectly for me).

My LBS does a "velofit" bike setup for £65, but I'm not sure of the value of this against trying to get it setup myself (as I've never had a problem with my MTB setup, although it did take some fettling before I settled on the best setup). Would it be worth trying to get in the ballpark then tweaking it myself, or going for a bike fit?

Trial and error, There is no magic formula. The defy at least has calibrated handlebars so you can reference how you have set them up. Mine came set at no2. I have now changed them to no1 and moved two of the spacers to the top of the headset. Change one thing at a time then ride it and tinker accordingly. All part of the fun!

smidsy

Sounds like you have too much weight on your arms. This is often caused by poor saddle positioning.

hipshot

Sexist admittedly, but still probably one of the best setups.

Coach H

pride4ever wrote:

Look at videos/pictures of the Pro riders to give you a basic idea of set up.

Unless you have the flexibility and physiology of a Pro this is not a very helpful idea.

Without the benefit of a good bike fit unfortunatelly you are in the relms of trial and error.
You can get ideas from the 'Your Road Bikes' section. You could have a chat with your LBS without having a fll fit, they should dispense usefull 'help' if they are good and value potential customers. You could also contact your local club who will have a few sages of tried and tested advice.

For me the top line of the hoods and bend to the tops of the bars should be roughly horizontal, but the position of the bend will be dependent on the type of bars used to allow a good position in the drops.

EPO Delivery Man

When on the hoods your elbows should be bent, not locked out, so if you are over-reaching you may need a shorter stem. As a general rule the elbows should be bent at roughly 15 degrees. This gives a sense of cushioning and helps with road buzz.
If you feel you are leaning forward too much it might be your seat is too hgh.

But first i would get the seated position right, and pedal stroke. Then sort the bars, as you can raise, lower, lengthen, shorten etc and make them come to you and not the other way round.

Sprool

Agreed. ^ . Get used to the position after you feel the saddle is right. Then try tweaking the bar rotation and the brake positions. You will soon find after a few miles which works for you and which feels like it's worsened. Don't feel pressured to match the positions of ex-tour-de-france winners as this may not be right for your own physiology. I got some shims for my brakes to lower the reach. That helped. I tried a shorter stem. That didn't. I rotated the bars up and moved the brake levers down. That helped me. Then I bent my bars in a nasty accident and got some ergonomic ones with the flatter down section and had to start all over again