Bar/controls angle and stem height

danchandler

I've just bought a road bike after years of mtb and trials with the aim of losing some timber and getting fitter. Just after a bit of advice really, what is the best bar angle to run on a road bike. I can't seem to get comfortable with my hands in the hoods, so I've moved the bars up and the controls down a bit to try and get more comfortable, but as yet my hands still ache after a ride. I run 90 psi in the front, and 110 psi on the rear. I'm fairly sure I've got my seat at the right height and position, so it's not that. How much does stack height affect the position? Below is a picture of my setup


Any advice from the more seasoned cyclists among you would be greatly appreciated, as I'm a noob to all this

drlodge

Doesn't look too far off. May be try a couple of things.
- move the saddle back a bit, this will put less weight on your arms/hands
- the shifter bodies look a bit low, I like the flat part where you rest your hands to be slightly angled - a bit higher at the front. The tops of the bars should be level (they look level) so this means unwrapping the bar tape to move the shifters back/up a bit.

ai_1

+1 what drlodge said

The best position is whatever stays comfortable. Comfortable on a long ride may not correspond exactly to your first guess depending on how the bars, tape and hood put pressure on your hands and wrists.
Most people, myself included prefer the bar fairly level and the hoods a little higher than you have shown. My hands were getting numb very quickly on my new bike during the first couple of rides. A quick tweak of the shifter position and bar rotation and I've been fairly happy since. Don't be afraid to fiddle around a little until you're happy.


Do make sure you don't just stay in the same hand position the whole time when you ride. Any position will get a little uncomfortable eventually. You'll almost certainly spend most time on the hoods when cruising but I suggest you get in the habit of moving around regularly. This helps keep you more comfortable and can help avoid hand numbness, neck, shoulder or back ache. You can move to the drops, the tops, the corners of the bar, grab the top of the hoods, etc from time to time, even if only briefly.

JayKosta

1) adjust the height of the stem so that it is comfortable to ride with your hands close together near the stem. You might have to 'flip' the stem to get more height.
With your hands in that position, your torso should be quite upright and with just a little weight on the bars. It should be a very comfortable position for riding.
If you are still too low or 'stretched out', you will need a shorter stem, and/or a steer tube extender to allow the stem to be higher.

2) adjust the angle of the bars so the top (from stem to hoods) is comfortable. So you are not 'sliding forward' or wrist pain.

3) adjust position of hoods on the bar for comfortable reach, and also have them tilt inwards slightly to match your comfortable wrist position.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

danchandler

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Think I've got it sorted now, the stem felt miles too long, I thought I was reaching out too much. So I acquired an 80mm bontrager stem from the lbs, put that on, slid my seat back a few mm so my knees are in the right place, and its spot on. The riding position is 100% more comfortable now. The handling is a little twitchy but I can live with that, just means I have to be smoother. Went out yesterday and did 19.1 miles in 1h 8mins, which is my fastest speed so far, so something is obviously better