Setup advice

Beastwooduk

I know its not ideal but just got this bike and clipless so want a rough idea of fit before tweaking the setup. Any advice greatly recd thx

image by beastwood2007, on Flickr



image by beastwood2007, on Flickr

smoggysteve

Can you see the front wheel hub or is it obstructed by the stem? If you can see it with your hands resting on the hoods like in the bottom pic, you need to adjust your setup so it is obstructed by the stem. Be that moving seat forward or back or getting a longer, shorter stem, or even adjust height of bars by moving spacers above the bars on headset.

Your leg when straight should have your heel resting on the pedal when unclipped at the 6 o'clock position of the crank. Too low a seat can cause sore knees and back, too high and you roll your hips and can cause groin injuries and again hyper extension knee pain.

Best thing is to get a general set up, go for a ride taking an alan key set and adjust from time to time as you feel you need it. Small adjustments of no more than half a cm at a time and only adjust one thing at a time. 4

Others will have other ideas I am sure, This is the way I have always set up my bike and it has always worked for me. Hence the reason I am not a fan of bike fits. Most of it can be done yourself with a bit of patience , a tape measure and a plumb line.

Another thing I generally use for seat position is place elbow on very front of saddle, fingertips should touch headset cap. This is not always that accurate but is good for a rough guesstimate. Again, others may find this works, some may not.

cyco2

Have you tried googling "position on a racing bike". Because there's loads of advice out there.

NewTTer

Brutally honest, bike looks a little small mate, ignore the stuff about the stem blocking the view of the front hub, the stem is at 90 deg to the hub, its the handle bars you use for this comparison, and you don't want to adjust your for and aft saddle position to adjust that, otherwise your saddle position will be wrong, although you can adjust with stem length. Looking at the pics I am guessing you can see the front hub in front of the handlebars as it all looks a little to small and cramped.

Do not adjust your saddle height with the crank at 6 o'clock this isn't the longest extension as it is travelling back up then, but use the length indicator advised above but with the crank inline with the seat tube.

Do some googling plenty of info out there or you could as I am sure many will advise go pay for a bike fit, I personally view that as a waste of cash for something you can sort yourself.

If the Bike is new take it back and get the next size up,

andrewjoseph

I too think the bike is too small.

imposter2.0

As above - looks too small..

smoggysteve

If you can ride it comfortably it is not too small. You can make a small bike fit you. A too big bike no but small yes. You can get a longer stem and move the seat further back on the rail. Yes is does look a bit small under you. That is not to say you cannot get it fit to you. I have seen loads of people ride bikes that look a bit small for them comfortably. End of the day, thats the part that matters.

me-109

I would say that it looks short, rather than too small. That may actually suit you fine depending on how flexible you are at the waist/hips. If you ride quite upright then go for it.

NewTTer

Me-109 wrote:

I would say that it looks short, rather than too small. That may actually suit you fine depending on how flexible you are at the waist/hips. If you ride quite upright then go for it.

If he was anymore upright he may as well be on a shopper with a basket on the front, if he has just bought it he needs to take it back and get it exchanged for something that fits him, why mislead him with this "looks to short", "If you ride upright" nonsense. Stop worrying about being politically correct and tell the guy the truth FFS

imposter2.0

Me-109 wrote:

I would say that it looks short, rather than too small.

Generally, the shorter the TT, the smaller the bike - ergo, the bike is too small.

MichaelW

Too small
When taking photos for bike fit, take 2: feet at 3:00 and 6:00, hands on hoods and drops. Use a plain background and dull/indirect lighting. Take photo from the side, not 3/4.

One of the best guides to general bike fitting (inc non racing) is Peter White.

markhewitt1978

SmoggySteve wrote:

Can you see the front wheel hub or is it obstructed by the stem? If you can see it with your hands resting on the hoods like in the bottom pic, you need to adjust your setup so it is obstructed by the stem. Be that moving seat forward or back or getting a longer, shorter stem, or even adjust height of bars by moving spacers above the bars on headset.
.

I've heard that in different ways, one with your hands on the hoods, one says have your hands on the drops.

Now if I'm on the hoods the front hub is in line with the bars, however if I'm on the drops it's ahead of the bars.

Beastwooduk

thanks for advice guys, ill try to redo photos was rushing onto the bike with a 10 sec timer hehe, its a 53 as my last bianchi was a 55 and had to use a shorter stem and struggled to get comfy, im only 5ft 7, the front hub is hidden by the handlebar when relaxed on the hoods, ill do soem reserach and set the saddle as best i can and see if a longer stem will be needed. thansk all for your input

andrewjoseph

Set the saddle height and fore/aft position to get your knees comfy when pedalling. Stem length/angle and height to set reach to bars.

Don't try to obscure the hub with the bars to get your fit. Get your fit right and you may or may not obscure the hub, it's a red herring.

If you want to keep the frame I suggest a longer stem and maybe angle it down, then adjust spacers under stem.